1. Look for an email from BobcatAttack.com in your inbox. It arrives within a minute or two. If you don't see it, check your junk or spam folder.
2. Click the confirmation link in the email.
3. You are brought back to the BobcatAttack.com homepage with a message that your account has been activated. Click log in in that message to sign in.

1. Open the user menu at the top of the page and choose Login.
2. Enter your Email Address and Password, then click Login.

Once you are logged in, the user menu has links to Edit Profile, Private Messages and Logout. Don't have an account yet? Use the Sign Up link at the bottom of the Login window.

We can't tell you your password, but you can choose a new one in a minute:

1. Open the Login window and click Forgot your password?
2. Enter your email address and click Send Reset Link.
3. Open the email we send you and click the link. The link works for 60 minutes and can be used once.
4. On the page that opens, type your new password (at least 8 characters) twice and save it.
5. Log in with your new password.

Choose Edit Profile from the user menu. Your profile has four tabs:

• Login – your email address, whether to show it on your public profile, and your password. To change your password, type the new one in both password boxes; leave them blank to keep your current password.
• Personal – your first and last name, address, postal code and Time Zone. Every date and time on the website is shown in your time zone. You can choose whether your real name and your city/state are shown on your public profile.
• Message Board – your Public Post Name (the name shown on your posts), your signature, your picture (avatar), whether to jump to the newest post when you open a topic, and whether to email you when you get a private message.
• Other Details – optional extras such as gender, birth year, occupation and website, each with a switch for whether it appears on your public profile.

Things to know:

• Items in bold are required.
• Each tab has its own Save button. Saving one tab does not save the others. If you switch tabs with changes you haven't saved, the site asks whether to save them first.
• To post on the message board you must fill in your First Name and Last Name (Personal tab) and your Public Post Name (Message Board tab).

Before your first post, you need to read and accept the Message Board Posting Policy. The site asks for this automatically the first time you try to start a topic or reply:

1. The policy opens in a full-screen window. Scroll all the way to the bottom – the checkbox stays disabled until you have.
2. Check I have read and agree to follow this policy.
3. Click Accept.

You only do this once. If you were in the middle of starting a topic, you are taken straight on to it; if you were replying, click Reply again. If you decide not to accept, close the window – you can still read everything on the message board, you just can't post.

1. Go to the Message Board and open the forum you want to post in (for example, Ohio Basketball).
2. Click New Topic at the top right of the forum's list of topics.
3. If you are not logged in, haven't finished your profile, or haven't accepted the posting policy, the site guides you through whichever is missing (see the sections above) and then continues.
4. Type a Subject – a short, clear title that tells people what the topic is about.
5. Write your Message. The editor's toolbar lets you use bold, italics, lists, links, emoji, pictures and tables, and Preview shows how your post will look.
6. Click Post Topic.

You'll see a "please wait" message while it posts, then land on your new topic. If a forum shows no New Topic button, it is locked and only the administrators can post there.

1. Open the topic you want to reply to.
2. Click Reply on any message. To include the message you're answering, click Quote instead – it copies that message into your reply. (The Post Reply icon in the small menu at the right edge of the page does the same as Reply.)
3. Write your reply in the editor. Use Preview to check it if you like.
4. Click Post Reply.

If a topic is locked, you'll see a message instead of the reply form. Topics you haven't read are marked in red on the message board lists, and you can use Mark Read when you want to catch up.

Private messages are seen only by you and the person you send them to.

1. Choose Private Messages from the user menu. A badge shows how many unread messages you have.
2. Click New Message.
3. In To, start typing the person's name and pick them from the list that appears. (You find people by their post name – or by their real name if they've chosen to show it on their profile.)
4. Type a Subject and your Message.
5. Click Send Message.

To answer a message you've received, open the conversation from your Private Messages list and click Reply, then Send Reply. Replies stay together in one conversation, grouped by the person you're talking to. Whether you get an email when a new private message arrives is up to you – it's a setting on the Message Board tab of Edit Profile.

If someone is bothering you, you can block them from sending you private messages, hide their message board posts from you, or both. They are not told they've been blocked.

To block someone:

1. Choose Edit Profile from the user menu and open the Blocked Users tab.
2. Type their Public Post Name under Block a User.
3. Block Private Messages and Hide Message Board Posts are both on by default – turn either one off first if you only want the other.
4. Click Block.

You can also block someone straight from their profile: click their name or picture anywhere on the site to open it, then click Block This User below their picture (under Send Private Message). This takes you to the Blocked Users tab with their Public Post Name already filled in – you still choose what to block and click Block yourself.

Managing who you've blocked:

Everyone you've blocked is listed further down the same tab, each with their own Private Messages and Message Board Posts switches – turn either one on or off any time. To stop blocking someone entirely, click the delete button on their row (or just turn both switches off); either way, the site asks you to confirm before removing them from your list.