• Do I have to register?
• How can I use smilies and images?
• Can I add a hyperlink to my messages?
• Can I change the format of my text?
• What are Moderators?
• Are cookies used?
• What are active topics?
• Can I edit my own posts?
• Can I attach files?
• Can I search?
• Can I edit my profile?
• Can I attach my own signature to my posts?
• Can I have my own avatar?
• Are there any censor features?
• What do I do if I forget my Password?
• Can I be notified by e-mail when there are new posts?
• What does it mean if a forum has Moderation enabled?
• What is COPPA?
• Can't find your answer here? Send us an e-mail.

Registration is not required to view current topics on the Forum; however, if you wish to post a new topic or reply to an existing topic registration is required. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes. The only required fields are your Username, which may be your real name or a nickname, your State/Location, and a valid e-mail address (visible to forum moderators only.)

The information you provide during registration is not outsourced by NHEN.org Legal & Legislative Forum.

You've probably seen others use smilies before in e-mail messages or other bulletin board posts. Smilies are keyboard characters used to convey an emotion, such as a smile or a frown . This bulletin board automatically converts certain text to a graphical representation when it is inserted between brackets [].  Here are the smilies that are currently supported by NHEN.org Legal & Legislative Forum:

smile [:)] big smile [:D] cool [8D] blush [:I] tongue [:p] evil [}:)] wink [;)] clown [:o)] black eye [B)] eightball [8]

frown [:(] shy [8)] shocked [:0] angry [:(!] dead [xx(] sleepy [|)] kisses [:X] approve [^] disapprove [V] question [?]

There are several Forum Codes you may use to change the appearance of your text.  Following is the list of codes currently available:

Moderators control individual forums. They may edit, delete, or prune any posts in their forums. If you have a question about a particular forum, you should direct it to your forum moderator.

These Forums use cookies to store the following information: the last time you logged in, your Username and your Encrypted Password. These cookies are stored on your hard drive. Cookies are not used to track your movement or perform any function other than to enhance your use of these forums. If you have not enabled cookies in your browser, many of these time-saving features will not work properly. Also, you need to have cookies enabled if you want to enter a private forum or post a topic/reply.

You may delete all cookies set by these forums in selecting the "logout" button at the top of any page.

You may edit or delete your own posts at any time. Just go to the topic where the post to be edited or deleted is located and you will see an edit or delete icon () on the line that begins "posted on..." Click on this icon to edit or delete the post. No one else can edit your post, except for the forum Moderator or the forum Administrator.

For security reasons, you may not attach files to any posts. However, you may cut and paste text into your post.

You may search for specific posts based on a word or words found in the posts, user name, date, and particular forum(s). Simply click on the "search" link at the top of most pages.

The Forum does censor certain words that may be posted; however, this censoring is not an exact science so certain words may be censored out of context. By default, words that are censored are replaced with asterisks.

Changing a lost password is simple. All of the pages that require you to identify yourself with your Username and Password carry a "lost Password" link that you can use to have a code e-mailed instantly to your e-mail address of record. You will be required to create a new password. Because of the Encryption that we use for your password, we cannot tell you what your password is.

Yes, the Subscription feature allows you to subscribe to Topics. You will receive an e-mail notifying you of a post that has been made to the Topic that you have subscribed to.

The moderator or administrator can turn On/Off subscriptions for each Topic.

Click here for instructions on how to subscribe to email notifications of forum posts. Briefly: To subscribe or unsubscribe, you can click on the subscribe/unsubscribe icons ( ) for that Topic you want to subscribe/unsubscribe to/from. To Unsubscribe from any level of subscription, you can use the "My Subscriptions" link, located near the top of each page to manage your subscriptions.

Moderation: This feature allows the Administrator or the Moderator to "Approve", "Hold" or "Delete" a users post before it is shown to the public.
Approve: Only the administrators or the moderators will be able to approve a post made to a moderated forum. When the post is approved, it will be made viewable to the public.
Hold: When a user posts a message to a moderated forum, the message is automatically put on hold until a moderator or an administrator approves of the post. No one will be able to view the post while it is put on hold.
NOTE: Authors of the post will be able to edit their post during this mode.
Delete: If the administrator or moderator chooses this option, the post will be deleted and an e-mail will be sent to the poster of the message, informing them that their post was not approved. The administrator/moderator will be able to give their reason for not approving the post in the e-mail.