Brian

Rich S, I think it is us who owes you a big thanks. You began the forum, and without that we would all be lost. You still have the finest Nihonto site on the net, and I think we all owe you a big thanks. Nigel..thanks for the comments. I may post a poll and see if we should reduce the amount of forums here. Perhaps the auctions and sales one should be incorporated into the Nihonto one? It seems the Tosogu guys may appreciate their own forum, but if requested by all..then I can combine that also. Will see what the members say in a few days. Regards, Brian

Welcome to the new home of the Nihonto Message Board. This forum was originally run by Dr R. Stein, and subsequently by Mr Rich Turner. Both provided a great resource for Nihonto enthusiasts, both beginners and more advanced collectors. Due to other commitments, it has now been passed on to myself, Brian Robinson. These are some huge shoes to fill, and I think if I can provide even half of the service, help and information that these 2 gentlemen provided, then we will have a productive and informative discussion board that I hope will be of assistance to all enthusiasts. Please remember that I am not an expert on the subject by any means. I do not even class myself as an advanced novice. The intention is to provide a place for the forum to continue to grow and provide assistance. Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of their knowledge level. Anyone with an interest in Japanese Swords is encouraged to join and participate at any level they feel comfortable with. The rules are very simple. 1-Please use any screen name you desire, but we ask that you provide at least your first name and initial, or initial and surname somewhere in your post. This can be by signing your posts, adding a signature in your profile or using it as your screen name. Anyone who has a GOOD reason for not doing this is welcome to contact myself, and I will look at this on a case-by-case basis. 2-Be polite, courteous and civil in your posts. We will not tolerate rudeness and abuse. Debate is fine, but when it turns into bickering or arguments then the topic will be closed and action taken against offending members. 3-Links to active auctions and sales ARE allowed here. All we ask is that you remind members that any comments are merely opinions, and as such are subject to independent verification. Please use your discression when posting info on these subjects, and use the correct forums. Members should remember that opinions can be wrong, and are just guidelines. They should be treated accordingly, and pure slander will be dealt with appropriately. Discussion should focus on items themselves and not on pricing. 4-Please try to remain on topic. There are appropriate forums for most subjects, and although some light banter is welcome...please remember that this is an educational forum and the topic is Nihonto. 5-Commercial messages are allowed within limits. The occasional commercial post is welcome, but please do not abuse this allowance, and contact a moderator if you are unsure if your message is appropriate. 6-All non-copyrighted info posted here becomes the propery of the NMB and can be used in any way such as subsequent quoting or in articles or submissions. 7-Have fun. This is an informal place, and we want to see you enjoy yourself here. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and welcome to the new Nihonto Message Board. I hope you find this beneficial to your interests. I would like to thank everyone in advance for their participation. Brian Robinson

There are a few ways to do this. You can link to a file on another site, you can upload the file to an independent hosting site and link to it here, or you can upload the file to be hosted here. Please note that we only have so much bandwidth, and therefore external links are prefered. However feel free to upload them here if this is easiest for you. Linking to a file on another webpage somewhere: Just copy the exact link on the other page and paste it into your post. The board will convert the link to a clickable link. No need to use the img tags, as this is added automatically. You can either right click on the image wherever it is, and select "copy image location" or "copy shortcut" depending on your browser. Then paste this into your post as is. Linking to a different filehost: We recommend using Imgur, or one of the other free hosts. This can be found at https://imgur.com/or google the others, and are free hosting sites that can also often resize images. Once you have uploaded your image, you will be presented with a table of links you can use. You can link to a thumbnail or a full size image. Either copy the "Direct link to image" and do as above (put it between the IMG tags) or copy the link marked "Hotlink for forums (1)" and paste this into your post. If you do this, you do not need to use the img tags above as they are included in the link. Uploading here: This is as simple as browsing to the file on your pc and clicking "add attachment" below the posting box. You upload the pics one at a time. You can upload documents, images and other files for downloading by members. You can upload 5 attachments per single post, and 2 per private message. Don't forget to submit the post after you have uploaded the images. You can preview your post first, save it as a draft, or just submit. Please keep in mind that 72-120 dpi resolution is fine for most pics, and those 300dpi settings on many cameras will only lead to huge files that will be blocked or edited. Here are a few tips: Check your filesize! Many use newer digital cameras that take pics at high resolution. The height and width may be small, but if your resoluion is 300 or so..then the pic is going to be huge in filesize. Over 1 meg big..the pics won't upload. A resolution of 72 dpi to 120 should be fine for most pics. If you need to change the image size, check the How-To Forum for free programs. Everyone should have at least one image manipulator on their pc! Best pixel size is no bigger than about 1200x1500 pixels. Bigger means your image will display as a download/view link instead of directly. Posting pics in a new topic: When you create your post...write your message. Then browse to the file on your pc by clicking the BROWSE button at the bottom of your post. The link to your file should appear in the box when you have chosen the file. Then click the ATTACH THIS FILE button, and wait for a while for it to upload. The page will reload and the name of your file will appear in the add attachment section. You can then repeat the process for more files, one at a time. 6 files max in one post. You can alse try the FLASH advanced uploader. Link is under the ATTACH THIS FILE button. Only once you have attached each file individually, then you can click the POST NEW TOPIC button to post it. Be careful you don't click PREVIEW without later submitting.If all else fails...read the How-To forum for more explanation or other methods such as uploading to imageshack. Posting pics when replying to a topic: We have a quick reply feature, at the bottom of the thread. This is for fast replying when you want to comment. If you wish to upload pics though, then click the MORE REPLY OPTIONS at the bottom right of the quick reply box. This will take you into the regular full reply box, where you have the image uploader. Simple!