This guide covers our old ProBoards v4 software. Click here for the ProBoards v5 Help Guide.

The Forum Restrictions section in the admin panel has two links for administrators to create specific restrictions on the forum; one restriction is for words that will be prohibited in discussion threads (Censored Words); the other for usernames and displaynames that will not be available for account registration (Reserved Names).

Censored Words

Here you can prohibit specific words from appearing in message boards and specify which to include. Further, you can designate words that will automatically be substituted in place of censored words. For example, you could add hello to the censored words list and designate the word hi as the substitute. Then, anytime a member tried to submit the word hello to a message board posting, it would automatically be replaced with the word hi. Below is an explanation of the options and features on the censored words page:

Censor Whole Words: With this option set to Yes, censored words that appear within other words will not be censored. For example, the word hi would not be censored if it appeared within the word high.

With the Censor Whole Words option set to No, censored words appearing within other words will be substituted. For example, if hello were the replacement for the censored word hi, each time you posted the word high to the forum, it would be altered to the new and meaningless word hellogh.

Below the Censor whole words option, you'll see a list of words censored on your discussion forum (if there are any), as well as empty fields where you can add new words. Once 5 words are added, click Save Censored Words and return to the Censored Words page to add more words. The Censored Words list is separated into 3 columns:

Delete?: If there's a censored word you'd like to remove from the list, check the box to the left of the word then click Save Censored Words at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Censor Word: This is the word that gets replaced with the replacement word.

Replacement Word: This is the word that will replace the censored word.

Once you have the censored words list set to your liking, click the Save Censored Words button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Reserved Names

This section allows you to Reserve member names on the forum so that users can not register with the name, nor will they be able to change their display name to a reserved name. The Reserved Names list only restricts new users and regular members of the discussion forum; forum staff can still change their display names to anything on the reserved names list.

When the Reserved Names page appears, the word admin will already be supplied. This prevents anyone from changing their forum display name to admin. To add a name, create a new line under admin and type in the name. Add only one name per line.

Remove reserved names by clicking into the box, select the name(s) and hit the delete button, like you would to remove an item from a word processing document. Once you have the Reserved Names page set to your liking, click Save Reserved Names at the bottom of the page to save the list.