FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
If you still require information after addressing this FAQ, then please either refer to the online manual, or enquire at our public forums.
How can I create my own site?
Please refer to the online manual: '2.5. How can I make a site, and are they free?'.
Help, I can't seem to login to my account.
Throughout Acorn Rack your username and password are the same, no matter which service you login to. If you are still unable to login to your account, then please fill out a password recovery form. You will be required to enter your username, and email address which you provided when you signed up, which an email shall be sent to.
This email will contain a link for you to follow, which will send you a second email containing your new password. We are unable to send you your original password as it is stored as a one way hash in the database. We recommend that as soon as you receive this second email you login and change your password to something you will remember.
How do I accept applications to my site?
When someone applies to your site, if you look on the Admin CP, you will notice "You have x new applicants" at the top of the main body of every page. Click on this link and you will be able to accept or decline each applicant.
The time zone is set at GMT, how can I change this?
It is very easy to change the time zone and how it is displayed. First off, log into your user control panel then go to User CP > Account setup. This section stores all of your information, including what time zone you live in, and how to display the date. Some sections of Acorn Rack however are preset to a specific date format in which you cannot change.
I updated one of my pages, and now it does not work as I intended, is there any way to revert back to the old code?
Yes and no. If you own a Professional or Enterprise edition site you can create backups and restore pages. This is available through the Admin CP > Backup pages.
If you own a free site then we are sorry to say there is no way for you to revert the changes. There is an option to restore the page to default, but this should only ever be used in extreme cases.
I do not understand the tags, such as [username] and [userlevel] that are used throughout the site, what are they for?
To put it simply, these tags are the key to a fully operational site. If you would like to find out more information on these variables or the syntax, then please refer to the online manual: '5.5. What are these [variables] I see in my code?'.
I have just wrote a Javascript script which works fine on my home machine, but when I transfer it to my Acorn Rack site it doesn't seem to work.
99.9% of Javascript errors within Acorn Rack is because of arrays. Arrays use indexes, which are the same as Acorn Rack variables. We have tried to make it as convenient as possible for people wishing to use Javascript arrays by not parsing any array indexes that begin with a number, or are 1 character long. This means you can use array[i] and array[1,2,3,4,etc] in complete safety. However, once you begin to create array indexes of whole words, such as index or key, then you will need to 'escape' the variable to tell the parser to treat it as plain text. You do this in the following way (notice the forward slash (/) at the end of the variable name):
[variable/]
I would like to expand my site, is there any chance that I could use PHP, ASP, or another scripting language?
For security reasons, server side scripting languages are disabled on Acorn Rack. However, client side languages, such as JavaScript and VBScript are fully functional. Please note that when using arrays in these languages, the output may be unexpected. To find out more, please visit the online manual: '5.5. What are these [variables] I see in my code?'.
I simply do not have enough time to accept every applicant that I receive, isn't there a way that I can automate this process?
Yes there is. Whilst logged into site, head towards the Admin CP > General options > General options. From here, you can change 'Auto-signup' to 'Yes: userlevel'. All members that now join will be automatically accepted and assigned to the userlevel you selected. Because of this, we recommend that you do not give the automatic signup level admin access.
An alternate way is to manually accept all applicants by changing the drop down menu at the top-right of the applicant table either to Accept all, or Decline all. This will change all the applicants status' to that option. Please note Javascript is required for this action.
The site is too much work for me to administer on my own, is there any way I can get other users to help me?
Absolutely. Admin CP > User Management > Userlevel management. From here, you can either change userlevel access levels so that they have more power, or you can create completely new userlevels. Confused by the checkboxes to the right of each userlevel? Visit the online manual: '5.3.6. User management' for more information.
Once you have created/changed the userlevel, the next stage is to assign the user(s) to that level. Head to Admin CP > User management > User management, find the user, then modify their userlevel from the drop down box next to their name. Click on the submit button at the bottom of the page to confirm the actions. Please be aware that giving users permission to certain admin sections can result in the site or the users being modified. These actions are irreversible. We recommend that you select users carefully before giving them admin access.