Are you having a problem registering or accessing the board? You'll probably find your answer here.

REGISTRATION ISSUES

Q. Why can't I register with a Gmail account? That seems mean.

A. Spammers were registering on our site with fake Gmail accounts and overloading our email servers. Since we require email validation to register, those fake registrations were creating a huge problem with bounce notifications. To stop this problem, we had to ban all Gmail accounts. We've also banned a few other known spammer email domains. If you get a message saying that you can't register with your email address, that's why.

Q. Why is it telling me that my IP address is banned? I haven't done anything wrong!

A. If your IP address is banned, it's probably because it's appearing on one of the Internet lists of known spammers. It's your responsibilty to know your IP address and compare it to the ban lists at Spamhaus or Stop Forum Spam. We won't do this for you. If your IP is on the list and you aren't a spammer, it's probably because you have a dynamic IP which was abused in the past by a spammer. You can contact the above agencies and try to have your IP address removed. THIS IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, NOT OURS!

Q. I registered, but I still can't see the board! Why?

A. If you registered and can't see the TOWN CRYER forum, it's because you didn't respond to the email validation request that was sent to the email address with which you registered. You must check your email and follow the instructions sent to you from Selfish Heathens. If you do not do this within 24 hours of registering, your registration will be deleted..

FORUM ISSUES - EXISTING MEMBERS

Q. I can't see the board anymore! Was I banned?

A. You were not intentionally banned or singled out to be banned. (Banning is done by a member vote, remember?) We are constantly updating our IP ban list based on the lists at Spamhaus and Stop Forum Spam. If you can't see the board, it's probably because your IP was added to one of those lists. You should check your IP address at those links. This is probably the case if you are using a proxy server (a.k.a. anonymous web browsing) to access the forums. Otherwise, you probably have a Gmail account. If it's not one of those issues, try clearing your browser history and cookies. If that doesn't work, check your firewall and antivirus software. If all else fails, use our contact form and tell us your IP address, email address, and username and we'll see if it's something on our end. Good luck!

Q. I deleted my cookies and browser history, checked my IP, and I still can't access the board! WHY?! You have to help me right now!

A. It is impossible for us to troubleshoot every issue. Perhaps your firewall is blocking access. Perhaps you have NetNanny software which is preventing access. Perhaps it's a browser issue. We absolutely cannot provide technical support in every instance. If the suggestions we offered above don't work, try accessing the board from a different computer on a different network. Take a laptop to Starbucks and use the wireless access there to test it. If that doesn't work, well, it sucks to be you. Sorry!

Q. I didn't see your notice about {insert thing here}. Why did you block me anyway? That's not fair! You didn't give me enough time to react!

A. Life is not fair, and this is why it doesn't pay to be a Lurker at Selfish Heathens. When we change something that we know will impact members, we always post a notice on the board in the Help Desk forum first. It's your responsibility as a forum member to read those notices and follow the instructions given. Sometimes we have to implement things quickly and can't wait a month for Lurkers to cruise through and get with the program. Too bad, so sad. If you use the contact form and tell us you missed it, we'll try to help you, but we aren't going to drop everything and do it right this minute. It might take us a day or two to get to it.