Steve Saunders Goldwing Forums help

Welcome to Steve Saunders Goldwing Page Forums. This is the help page. Use the links below to get straight to the help topics you need, or scroll down to read the whole page. To go back to the Goldwing forum page you just left, click your browsers "back" button.

Forum Facilities
Uploading Images
Using Avatars
Private Messages
Linking to URL's
Linking to images on other web sites
I registered but I didn't get my account activation e-mail
I registered and activated my account but now it's disappeared
I forgot my username and password and can't log-in anymore
I can't login with my username and password and I know they are correct
Help! I can login but can't post messages
What is not allowed on this forum?
Login help

If the answer you need isn't here, you can contact us through the forum e-mail address;

Please don't bookmark the e-mail address as we change it every few weeks.

Q. What facilities are available for registered users on Steve Saunders Goldwing Page forums?
A. The main forum facilities are;

Post and view messages.

Send e-mails or private messages (PM's) to other users registered on Steve Saunders Goldwing Page forums.

WYSIWYG text editor (Internet Explorer 5 and later) with various font, styles and colours.

Topic list updates automatically when you post and use your "back" button.

Upload images with your posts.

View forum in different languages, currently a choice of nine.

Calendar function.

Picture Gallery with up to 5mbs space per member.

View forum in different time zone formats.

Attach avatars to profile. You can also change or delete your avatar.

Attach signature to posts.

Create polls on the forum.

Edit your own posts.

Edit your profile.

Add Mana (popularity) to other users.

Spellchecker option.

Option for e-mail notification when replies are posted to your own posts or when you have private messages.

Option for daily digest of all messages or e-mail notification on every new post. Remember to set your anti-Spam filter to recognize the new posts notification e-mail and PM notification from Steve Saunders Goldwing Page forums as these are the only occasions you will receive e-mails from the forum (except for the activation e-mail when you register). Be careful when choosing daily digest or e-mail notification for each new post, this means you will get e-mailed whenever a new message is posted or a daily e-mail if you opt for the digest. So make sure you tick the correct options.

Attach URL's to posts.

Option to view the forum with different skins, a choice of three is currently available.

Insert Smilies into posts.

Regardless of the computer or web browser you use, this forum will remember which topics you have visited. This is useful if you are using a different computer to view the forum while travelling etc. Note: This works only if you are logged in.

Further facilities will become available every few months as they are released by WowBB. The makers of the forum software are on the ball and release updates quite often and I will incorporate these updates as soon as they become available to me. Anyone interested in finding out what facilities are due out at any particular time can visit the WowBB site by clicking the link at the very bottom of the forum pages.

Q. I see lots of posts from Ireland, the UK, Spain, Denmark etc. Is this forum just for Europeans to use?
A. Of course not. The majority of our registered users are actually from the USA and Canada (where most Goldwings are sold). Everyone is very welcome to avail of this facility. It's a good idea to put your country in your profile so that you can get help from other members with knowledge of suppliers and events etc. near you if you need it. Bottom line is that all Goldwing riders and people with an interest in Goldwings will be made to feel welcome here and I guess that at least 50% of the posts here are from US and Canadian users.

Q. Can I upload images with my messages and if so, is there a limit to the size of the images?
A. Yes you can upload images, currently one per post. You can use the "attachment" box at the bottom of the message editor and browse to the image on your hard drive and upload it. Currently the size limit is 200kbs for each image and the images must be Jpeg, Jpg, Gif, Bmp or Png format. You can also attach Pdf files to posts. Images should not be wider than 700 pixels, this is to prevent the forum screen going wider than your monitor when large images are posted. The 200kb limit is to save server space, which I have to pay for out of my own pocket because the occasional donation I get never comes close to covering the costs of the site and forum. If you have a number of pictures you would like to share, you can send them to me and I will put them into the "Picture Pages" section of my site or better still you can upload them to your Gallery album.

Q. Can I have an Avatar (small picture beside my username in my posts) with my posts and if so, is there a limit to the size of the Avatar?
A. Yes you can attach an avatar by clicking on your "My Account" button and selecting "Avatar" from the account options bar. You can choose from the available avatars currently in the forum, or upload one from your hard drive by browsing to it. The avatar shoud be in Jpeg, Jpg, Gif or Bmp format and should be no bigger than 30kbs (30000 bytes) and the dimensions should not be more than 130 pixels wide by 130 pixels height. This limit is to prevent very wide avatars hogging the profile pane and leaving less room for posts. You cannot link to avatars on another site, this is to avoid leaving that function open to abuse. If you have a favourite image that you really want to use as an avatar but don't know how to reduce the size to within the limits allowed, just e-mail

and arrange to send the image to me (in Jpeg, Jpg, Gif or Bmp format) and I will resize it and mail it back to you so that you can upload it yourself.

Q. Can I link to other URL's in my posts?
A. Yes you can. There is an "insert link" button on the text editor for this purpose. When you click the button you will see a pop-up box to insert the URL into. The "insert link" button looks like this;

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Q. Can I link to images on other web sites?
A. Yes indeed. This is sometimes a better option than uploading images as you can have more than one image linked to in each post, you are effectively leaving the image on the site that you found it and are just linking to it in your post here. Please note that some sites will not allow hotlinking to images on their pages. You can use the "insert image" button on the text editor to link to an image on another site. When you click the button you will see a pop-up box to insert the URL of the image into. To get the URL of an image on a web site, just right click on it (Internet Explorer, I'm not sure how it's done in other browsers) and then click properties. In the Address (URL) line just copy the URL before composing your message here and paste it into the pop-up box that you will see when you click the "insert image" button. The "insert image" button looks like this;

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Q. Why do I need to be logged in to see uploaded images in posts and also to see other users profiles?
A. People who go to the trouble of signing up here will have an advantage over lurkers who may not have any intention of ever posting messages here. Don't forget that many forums won't allow lurkers to even read the posts unless they are registered and logged in. Here you can read all the posts and use the search function but need to be registered and logged in to view any images attached to posts or to view members profiles. The bandwidth here will be put to better use by registered users. Registered users are helping out other Goldwing owners simply by posting messages. The resulting database of helpful information benefits all of us much better than just lurking and never getting involved at all.

Q. Is there a limit to the amount of messages per day that I can post?
A. No limit. There is currently a 20 second duration between each of your posts. This helps to prevent duplicate posts created by accidentally clicking the send button twice.

Q. How does the Private Messaging work?
A. When you are logged-in, you can send a PM to another registered user by clicking on his or her profile and opting to send a PM. You will have an inbox, sent items and deleted items folders and you can permanently delete old messages to avoid clutter.

Q. I see "Mana" under the profile names. What does this mean?
A. Mana is just a popularity thing. If you think another forum user has been helpful with your questions, just click his profile and "add mana" to boost his or her popularity rating. It's just a fun thing, so don't take it too seriously.

Q. Why do some usernames have titles such as "Active Member", "Very Active Member" etc?
A. People with over 150 posts will have "Active Member" beside their usernames, those with over 250 posts get "Very Active Member." "Top Poster" is given to the single member with the most posts. This doesn't happen automatically as the Administrator has to manually edit the members profile. So if your post count reaches the required number to get an "Active Member" or "Very Active Member" title and you see no change, just send a PM to the Moderator or Administrator and it will be done asap.
Also, those members who have proved helpful to other users in the Technical Forum and who know their stuff about Goldwings will have the "Guru" title, regardless of number of posts. "Senior Guru" is for the Guru members who have been around a while and who visit the forum regularly and posted a very high number of helpful messages. "Guru" and "Senior Guru" titles are generally given out at the request of other forum members who nominate the particular members to the Administrator or Moderator, who in turn have a look at the nominated members posts before deciding to apply the new title. We also have titles for "Forum Welcomer", "Spam Hunter", "Forum Diplomat", "Forum Ferret" and others. It's all about doing something different from other forums and having a bit of fun!

Q. Will my e-mail address be given out to third parties when I register?
A. No. I have no interest in parting with peoples e-mail addresses for fractions of pennies or for any other reason and I don't participate in mailing lists.
This web site and forum are strictly non-commercial and are maintained by me as a hobby, for the benefit of Goldwing owners everywhere. I'm not trying to sell you anything and that's why you won't see flashing banners or fly-in adverts. It has been this way since 1999 and even though every week I get companies offering to pay for advertising space and rope me into affiliate programs etc., I'm just not interested in having my humble web site hijacked in this manner. Keeping the site and forum independent means that I don't have to be told what to do by anybody.

Q. When will I get e-mails from this forum?
A. Only when you opt for e-mail notification of replies to your posts (you can turn this option on or off in your profile) and of course your account activation e-mail when you first register. You should set your anti-Spam filter to recognize the notifications otherwise you won't know if you have any replies to your posts unless you log-in. You can opt to be notified of new messages in the "watched forums" part of your profile. If you opt for the daily digest, you will get an e-mail every day of new messages posted. If you opt for e-mail notification of every new post, you will get an e-mail every time someone posts a new message. So be careful! You can of course turn the e-mail notifications on or off whenever you wish. If the Moderator or Administrator (me) need to contact any forum members for other reasons (for instance if they breach the forum guidelines or if for instance the address of the forum changes and we need to let you know) we will either send a private message (PM) or send an e-mail using one of our own e-mail addresses. You will not receive spam from this forum as I am not trying to sell or promote anything. Like I mentioned elsewhere on this site, this is a non-commercial web site and the same applies to the forum.

Q. I registered but I didn't get my account activation e-mail.
A. The activation e-mail goes out automatically. If you didn't receive one then either your spam filter didn't recognize the e-mail as a "friendly" one, you entered an incorrect e-mail address when registering, or your Inbox was full. It's up to you to sort these things out before you register. If your spam filter bounces the e-mail back and asks for me to click on any verification links, it will just be ignored or deleted as I don't have time for this. When you register, you should expect the activation e-mail and take steps to see that you accept it. If you want the activation e-mail sent out again after you have fixed your problem, e-mail your username to me at

and I will send it out again. It may take me up to 48 hours for me to respond. In some cases, I may decide to activate your account manually instead. AOL e-mail accounts are a real problem, as AOL blocks forum activation e-mails. Because of this, we don't allow AOL e-mail addresses to be used for registration.

Q. I registered and activated my account but now it's disappeared.
A. You must post at least once within 24 hours even if only to introduce yourself, because we delete accounts if they don't post within that time. This is to deter spambots from registering and spamming the forum later on. There is a warning about this on the registration page which you should have seen, and we also send out a reminder either by email or PM before deleting accounts. If your account did get deleted, you will have to register again and remember to post within 24 hours this time.

Q. Help! I forgot my username and password and can't log-in anymore.
A. On the login page, just enter the e-mail address you used during registration. An e-mail that contains your username and a special URL that will reset your password to a random one will be sent to this e-mail address. Then you will be able to login again and if you wish, change your password to one that you are more likely to remember.

Q. Help! I can't login with my username and password and I know they are correct.
A. Press the "Reset the cookie used by this board" link on the login page and try again. Most login issues on forums can be fixed by clearing the cookie cache in your browser. The reset link on this forum makes this an easy one-click job. A guide to modifying your browser settings (if you need to) is in the FAQ section as well.

Q. Help! I can login but can't post messages.
A. Try lowering your Internet Explorer security settings. Also, please note that usernames with apostrophes in them can't be used on the forum and will result in an error message when you try to post. This forum software works best in Internet Explorer 5 and later. Also bear in mind that if you registered but never posted within 30 days, we may have disabled your ability to post messages.

Q. How long can my messages be?
A. 64kbs. That should be more than enough for the trigger-happy posters!

Q. What is not allowed on this forum?
A. Please do not contact me with questions (particularly Goldwing technical questions) that can be answered by forum members. The whole point of having a forum is for people to ask and answer one another's questions about their Goldwings and I set up the forum so that you can help one another out instead of e-mailing me with your questions. I prefer to leave the members to themselves without any undue input or interference from me! I just don't have time to deal with lots of individual questions, so sending me PMs or e-mails with questions that your fellow forum users can answer (often much better than me) will probably see you getting either no reply or an auto-reply directing you to post the question on the forums. There is little point in joining a forum and then just asking the Administrator your questions! I'm sure you get the picture now. You should only e-mail or send me (wingnut) a PM if you have questions about the forum or problems using it.
Spam and repeated flagrant advertising of your own companies products are a no-no. Posting your experience about products or items you find is great, we all like to hear about these things and share the information. But repeated spamming or plugging your products is out. Joining the forum just to plug your products or web site (and never posting anything else) is frowned on and will definitely see you banned from the forum.
If you want me to post a link to your company or site on my links page, then just let me know and I will oblige. Posting links to other sites with products that you want to let us know about is fine, so long as you don't just register here for that purpose only. You can have a link to your web site in your signature as well, but no images or links to images in the signature please, this just clutters up the forum pages. We do however make some exceptions, so make sure you ask for Admin permission first before putting an image in your signature.
No using this forum to promote your own or another web site or forum. Registering and posting here in order to promote other forums or web sites is regarded as spam and is not allowed here. Please find another way of advertising them.
No flaming or abusive posts please, or foul language in your posts either. No inflammatory, racial, political or other content that might offend your fellow forum members. Trolls and flamers will be banned. Have a bit of respect for other forum users.
When registering, don't choose a username with a rude, offensive or pornographic meaning. This is a SafeSurf rated site and we will just ban users with inappropriate usernames.
You agree, through your use of the BB service and Steve Saunders Goldwing Page forums, that you will not use the resource to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or you have the permission of the copyright owner to reproduce the item(s). If you do not agree with these basic conditions of use, then please find another forum.
It pays to actually read your posts before clicking the "send" button. No-one likes abusive posters, the best bet is to either ignore them and let them rant away to themselves until you can report them to the Moderator or Administrator with a Private Message. The Administrator and Moderator contact links are at the top of each forum. If you have a bone to pick with a particular member, please use the Private Messaging (PM) facility to do it with them instead of posting it publicly on the forum. Abusive posts/threads will just be deleted as they serve no useful purpose to the rest of the members.
The Technical Forum in particular should be used for posting technical questions and answers. There is a very high percentage of quality information to be found there and we have no room for posts that are counter-productive to maintaining a good technical forum for all Goldwing riders and owners to enjoy.
There is a foul language filter on the forum and it replaces any offending characters with asterisks where needed.
No links to porn sites, ever.
People who abuse the friendly and good natured style of this forum run the risk of being banned from posting messages here in the future. They may get a Private Message (PM) warning them about any objectionable posts, any further abuse of the Message Board will see their membership revoked without further warning or notice.
Your use of the forums on Steve Saunders Goldwing Page indicates that you have read, understood and fully agree with any and all conditions in these Forum FAQ's.

Login help.

Login problems are thankfully rare using this forum software. For instance, between July 2004 and July 2007, we only had five known cases of members not being able to login with their correct username and password. All three were able to login after either clicking the "reset the cookie used by this board" button on the login page, or by modifying their web browser settings as detailed below. Please try the instructions below before contacting the Moderator or Administrator.
First of all, if you see a "reset the cookie used by this board" link on your board's login page, try using it. If after using this link, the problem persists, you might need to check your web browser settings;

Internet Explorer 6 Users:

Go to Tools > Internet Options, click Delete Cookies and then OK.
Go to Tools > Internet Options > Privacy, and make sure that the privacy setting is set to Medium. If not, set it to medium, and click OK.
Go to Tools > Internet Options > General, click the Settings button, and make sure that "check for newer versions of stored pages" is set to automatically. If not, set it to "automatically", and click OK.

FireFox Users:

Go to Tools > Options > Privacy. Click on Cookies to open its options, and make sure that Allow sites to set cookies is checked. If this setting is already checked, click the Clear button next to Cookies to clear cookies.

If changing your browser settings did not help, check whether you are using a third-party Internet firewall/security/antivirus software. Some of these may block cookies, and cause login problems. If you still have problems, pop an e-mail off to us at and we will try and help. The support boffins at WOWBB (who created the forum software) are always willing to help us out if we can't solve problems here.

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