techtips.jpg    Technical Tips and Guidelines

Our site is designed and maintained by club members on a Voluntary basis. This page is intended to help club members with basic and frequently raised issues, explain what photo quality is required for the site and provide a basic guide for outings reports. It also provides access to our Website statistics.



question.jpg    Frequently asked questions

Question 1
What browser is best for use on our website.
Answer 1
We recommend the use of Chrome or Firefox for best performance


Question 2
Sometimes I cannot see the page or document updates that I expect.
Answer 2
In order to speed up web browsing, Web browsers are designed to download web pages and store them locally on your computer's hard drive in an area called "Cache". Browser cache (also known as Internet cache) contains records of every item you have viewed or downloaded while Internet surfing. So when you visit the same page for a second time, the browser speeds up display time by loading the page locally from cache instead of downloading everything again.

Storing Internet cache makes the web browser faster as it usually takes your computer less time to display a web page when it can open page's elements or even the entire page from your local Temporary Internet Files folder. You sometimes need to overrule the browser cache, for example to see changes that have just been uploaded. This applies to both Web pages and documents loaded via the web, for example PDF files. You can confirm that this is the problem by using a different computer, tablet, phone or browser to the one you normally use.

Each browser has slightly different methods of refreshing your cache memory. For the latest versions of Internet explorer, Chrome and Firefox press the F5 function key. Apple Safari uses Apple + R or command + R

In some cases it may be necessary to manually clear the browsing history. Each browser has a different method of achieving this function. If you can't figure out how to clear your browser history, search the net to find out how to clear your particular browser. How to clear the common browsers is shown below (as at 7/10/2019).

Windows INTERNET EXPLORER 11(Yes, it's still available under "Windows accessories" at 07/10/2019,
- Select "Safety" (RHS up near the top of screen in toolbar).
- Select "Delete browser history".
- Then uncheck "Preserve favourites website data"
- Check the boxes, Temporary Internet files", Website files", Cookies & Website data", History", Download history".
- Select "Delete" button.
- Try accessing the website again.
- Consider if you need to check "Preserve favourites website data" or leave it unchecked.

Microsoft EDGE,
- Select the button with the 3 dots on the top right hand side of the Edge toolbar.
- Select "History",
- Select "Clear History",
- Choose what to clear by checking the boxes or preferably use the default settings,
- Select "Clear".
- Try accessing the Website again.

Google CHROME
- Select the button with the 3 dots on the top right hand side of the chrome browser toolbar,
- Select "History",
- Select "History in the History box,
- Select "Clear browsing history",
- Choose what to clear by checking the boxes or preferably use the default settings,
- Select clear data.
- Try accessing the website again.

Mozilla FIREFOX,
- Select button that looks like "|||\" on the top right hand side of Firefox toolbar,
- Select "History",
- Select "Clear your recent history",
- Choose what to clear by checking the boxes or preferably use the default settings,
- Select "Clear now".
- Try accessing the website again.


Question 3
What are the best browser zoom settings? Sometimes I would like to enlarge the pictures
Answer 3
In general browser settings are very much a personal preference, but our website displays best when the browser sizes are set at 80% for Google chrome, 80% for Mozilla Firefox and 75% for Microsoft Edge. Larger settings can be selected to give a better view of pictures. Also remember PDF files can also be enlarged for a better view.


Question 4
How do I exit a full screen page and why do I sometimes click on the "X" at the top RHS side of screen to exit a page and end up exiting from the site?
Answer 4
Some documents and pages are setup to open full screen on a new browser tab. In this case you need to close the BROWSER TAB and not the browser itself. For example if you open the Constitution document from the home page, a new browser tab will open in full screen mode. Close the RHS browser tab at the top of screen and not the browser itself at the "X" on the top RHS.



quality.jpg    Photo Quality

Internet speeds have improved significantly since we setup our website. We are now endeavouring to improve the quality and presentation of site photos over time. The following guidelines are suggested.

- Photos of committee members and activity leaders etc, are best in "portrait mode" showing head and shoulders, not full body or just the head. Group Photos of committee members or Activity leaders look best in "Landscape mode".

-All photos should be JPG files.

If you use Windows Gallery select create email, select the "medium size file size 1024*768 pixels", this is usually a file size of about 150kb.

Use Windows file explorer to select the "Pictures" folder, the required subfolder and the photo or photos. Select share from the toolbar and then "Email" with a picture size of "medium"




author.jpg    Share your outing experience

If you enjoyed an outing or event, maybe you would like to share your good times and photos with other club members.

- Use the instructions provided under the Report Layouts button on the home page to easily add photos to your word document. Preferably no more than 20 photos and captions per report). Mail your report to the Web Master who will include it on the Website.

- Alternatively, write a couple of paragraphs about the event, then choose a few photos (preferably no more than 20) and add a brief comment for each. Mail your report to the Webmaster following the rules for photo quality shown above.