PLEASE NOTE: This page is now out-of-date and had been replaced. For up-to-date information please see the latest H2G2 FAQs.

Index | About h2g2 | Registering | Exploring | Preferences | Personal Space | Conversations | Guide Entries | Journal | Contributing | Moderation | Editorial Process | Review Forums | Technical | GuideML | Cool Things | Legal | Miscellaneous

Welcome to the 'Personal Preferences' section of the h2g2 FAQ. This is where you can find information about the settings you can make on h2g2 - things like your Nickname - and how to make changes to them.

If you want to see a complete list of questions answered by the h2g2 FAQ, you can go to the h2g2 FAQ Index at any time.

Contents of this Section

• What are Personal Preferences, and how do I find mine?
• What Personal Preferences are there for me to change?
• What are skins and what can I do with them?
• Why are some Nicknames in bold italics?

What are Personal Preferences, and how do I find mine?

Your Personal Preferences contain various bits of information about you and the way you use h2g2. You can find your Personal Preferences if you have registered and are signed in, by clicking on the 'My Preferences' button in the left-hand margin.

[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]

What Personal Preferences are there for me to change?

You can alter the following bits of information by clicking on the 'My Preferences' button and then clicking on 'Settings', or by clicking on 'Settings' on the tool bar on the top of each page, once you are signed in.

• Display Name
  Once you have clicked on 'Settings', you can enter a display name - or nickname - in the 'Name' field. This is the name by which you are identified on h2g2, and it's a good idea to change it to something more dynamic if you want to stand out from the crowd - but it's totally up to you. A word of warning: if you leave the 'Name' field blank, it will default to your Username - the name you log in with. This may not be ideal. For instance, you may have used your real name as your Username and you might not want to have this publically displayed on sites across the BBC.

• Skin
  See the next question for more about skins.

• Email address
  Once you are on the 'Settings' page, you can change the email address assigned to your BBC iD account by clicking on 'Change your email address'. Please note: you can not use the same email address for more than one BBC iD account.

• Password
  Once you are on the 'Settings' page, to change your password, click on... you've guessed it... 'Change your password'. Enter your original password, then your new password twice. If you've forgotten your password, then you can get a new one emailed to you by signing out, then signing back in, and clicking on 'Forgot your password?' and then following the instructions.

[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]

What are skins and what can I do with them?

You can view h2g2 through different 'skins' - the same information is shown in a different design, so you can choose how h2g2 looks in your browser. Currently we have three skins to choose from - Brunel, Alabaster and Classic Goo - but we hope to add more in the future.

To see this page in Classic Goo, click here, to see it in Alabaster, click here, and to see it in Brunel, click here.

Brunel is the default, but pick the one that you like the best. The only functional differences between the three ae that Classic Goo doesn't have a 'Front Page' button (but clicking on the h2g2 logo in the top-left corner takes you to the Front Page anyway), and Brunel has a different set of buttons and added functionality in the Posting and Entry Editors.

[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]

Why are some Nicknames in bold italics?

These are genuine staff members who work for the BBC (and specifically the h2g2 site). This is to prevent people masquerading as staff members, should anyone be insane enough to want to do so.

[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]