How do I post/reply to a Photo Ad?
You first need to register before you can login and post a photo ad, or reply to one that is set to anonymous mode.
(^top)
How do I modify/update/delete my photo ad?
You need to login and in there you'll see a list of all your ads currently in the system. From there you can either update/modify/delete any current ads you have using the links below each one. Note: top tip - Your Ad will go back to the top of the lists when you simply click the 'Update Ad' link under the ad concerned - a simple way to keep your Ad 'fresh' and seen.
(^top)
How do I remove my account entirely?
You can select Cancel Account from the User Menu. However, if you have no photo ads in the system then you are effectively removed from the site as far as anyone or anything is concerned. Since we never spam or allow access to any information to any 3rd party, there is no need to remove account information. Just remove any photo ads you currently have running and that's it, you're history until you place another ad. Register, activate, place an ad, have some fun, delete the ad and walk away - it can be as simple as that.
(^top)
How can I tell how many ads I have running at the moment?
You need to login and in there you'll see a list of all your ads currently in the system. From there you can either update/modify/delete any current ads you have using the links below each one. Note: top tip - Your Ad will go back to the top of the lists when you simply click the 'Update Ad' link under the ad concerned - a simple way to keep your Ad 'fresh' and seen.
(^top)
I never received my activation link.
If you haven't received your activation link, first check your bulk-mail/spam folder to make sure it wasn't mistakenly put in there, if not then please read on.
When you registered your email address with us, an automatic activation email was definitely sent out to the email address you supplied. However, some ISP (Internet Service Providers) such as AOL actively block emails for various reasons, so it is often a hit and miss affair, but it is not our fault, and nor can we do anything about it. Also, some ISPs 'queue' emails, which can have the effect of delaying the email by up to 24 hours - so you must be patient. However, if you haven't received an activation email after waiting 24 hours then the best thing you can do is forget about using that email address with our site, but set up another email address with one of the recommended webmail services below (for free), and register again with that. We know these work with our site.
www.hotmail.com and click on 'New Account Sign Up'.
mail.yahoo.com and click on 'Sign up now'.
www.yahoo.co.uk and click on 'Get Yahoo! Mail Now'.
Other things to note:-
1) Make sure you are careful with the spam blocking settings with these accounts or any accounts, as this can also sometimes block the activation email.
2) Make sure you are actually registering your correct email address! For example, many people register @yahoo.co.uk when their actual email address is @yahoo.com or vice versa! If you did something like this, then simply re-register using your correct email address.
(^top)
I can't click on my activation link.
You need to goto the activate by hand page and type in your validation code from your email accordingly and then press the continue button.
(^top)
I've definitely registered and activated but I still can't login.
Your photo ads login details are completely separate to the forum, so do not confuse the two - both the forum and the photo ads system require separate registration and login details. Your photo ads login is your email address along with the password you registered with. If you have forgotten your password then go to our password retrieval page to get it sent to you automatically.
Failing that, perhaps you aren't allowing cookies on your computer. This is required by the ads system as explained fully at the bottom of the photo ads login page. Carefully read that info to learn how to allow cookies for your given browser.
(^top)
My email address is currently 'Unverified'?
You need to activate your account using the link and/or instructions that were sent to your email address. If you didn't receive an activation email then please see here.
(^top)
I've forgotten my password.
Goto the password retrieval page and type in your email address there to get it automatically sent to you.
(^top)
How do I change my email address?
You need to login and select the My Account from the User Menu located on the right hand side of the site. Select Account Settings located near the top of your profile. This will show all of your account information, including your email address. Below this will be a link which you need to click titled 'click here to change your email address'. This will generate a new page where you will be able to enter your new email address. We will send you mail to the new email address you specify (this is to check the address is yours), the email will contain a link to click and then you're done!
(^top)
I can't see any pictures in the ads.
This problem has now been reported a number of times, and we've finally found out why. Some software is blocking them because they use a 'pop-up style' action when you click on them, in order to show you the bigger picture. Zone Alarm is one culprit (although there may be others). For Zone Alarm, you need to disable the banner/pop-up blocker bit for our site (allow www.swingingheaven.co.uk and photos.swingingheaven.co.uk) and hey presto, you can see them again.
(^top)
How do I make my pictures less than 50KB and JPG/JPEG format?
The easiest way is to use a modern version of "Paint" that comes with Windows. Start > All Programs > Accessories > Paint. Once you have it running you need to goto File > Open and then navigate to your picture on your computer to open it. Now simply reduce your picture down by going to Image > Stretch/Skew and bring the Horizontal and Vertical dimensions down to a suitable size. Now goto File > Save As... and make sure you select the 'Save as type:' as a JPEG and then press the 'Save' button (change the name if you don't want to overwrite the original). You should now be able to upload that new picture to your Photo Ad. If not, try reducing the Horizontal and Vertical dimensions down a little more until the picture you are left with is less than 50KB in filesize.
More powerful graphics software is available for freeware/shareware/demo/evalation via download from the following list of sites. In each case you can do something similar to the above, but you need to read the Help if you have trouble achieving the same result, i.e. reducing your picture's size and/or converting it to JPEG format.
VicMan's Photo Editor
Irfanview
Paint Shop Pro
(^top)
Where's my Photo Ad gone!?
It could be for a number of reasons.
Perhaps your ad was out of date? If you put up an ad for a "meet us on the 12th" and it's now the 13th, a moderator may spot this and remove it to save cluttering up the system with out of date ads. If you don't want your ad deleted for this reason then please modify it before it's out of date, back to being a general ad for example.
Perhaps your ad was in the incorrect category? If you've only had your ad deleted and not been banned, think yourself lucky. It wastes a great deal of our time moving/deleting ads that are NOT in the correct categories. If you discover your ad has been deleted, make sure when you place another one that you put it in the correct category.
Perhaps you had more than one ad in the same category? If this was the case, please make sure you simply modify and update ONE per category, as per the guidelines.
Finally, are you sure your ad is gone? When you login to the photo ads system you will see a list of ads you currently have in the system. Check this, just in case you misremembered your ad number.
I'm afraid we can't recover deleted ads. Just get on and post another, paying particular attention to all the rules and category choice, or you may find yourself with all your ads deleted and yourself banned the next time.
(^top)
I've been banned from the Photo Ads, please help.
If you've been banned, then any ads you had in the system will have also been removed. What you now need to do in order to resolve this problem is read, understand, and then follow the instructions below.
Firstly, read our Acceptable Use Policy to get an insight as to why this may have happened. Now, if this was a mistake, you have our apologies (obviously). If not, then it could be that you had too many ads in the system, or perhaps you had ads in the incorrect categories, or perhaps you've put something up that was seen as against the rules - fake/stolen pictures, advertising (spam), timewasting, a telephone number, illegal content, pay-for services, etc. Whatever it was, please let us know the gist of the entire ad (be honest, else we'll only be back here again in a few days time). You can get in touch via the Help Centre.
Some people are quite annoyed that we haven't had the 'courtesy' to inform them when and why they were banned. To this we say, if you didn't bother to read the rules and abide by them, then why should we bother to waste anymore of our time than we need to? We haven't got a great deal of time to help those who abuse this site and its Acceptable Use Policy, mainly because we're too busy helping the people who are trying to use it responsibly!
(^top)
