You cannot start new threads or post replies on a vBulletin Forum

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Description of Problem: After you create an account on a vBulletin based forum you cannot start a new thread or post a reply to an existing thread. The problem is that your account has not yet been activated. You activate your account by clicking on the link in the confirmation e-mail that was sent to the e-mail address that you supplied as part of the registration process.

There are several things that can bring about this situation, where you cannot start threads or post replies. One is that you do not realize that you need to check your e-mail and click on the link in the e-mail to confirm your e-mail address. With version 3.7.3 of vBulletin, an informational message appears on the screen only for a moment then you are taken to another message with a link that takes you back to the forums home page. The message displayed on the screen giving you a notice about the confirmation e-mail and the link, is displayed on the screen for such a short time you can't read the entire message. So you are not made aware of what you need to do to confirm your e-mail address, especially if you are new to the web.

Another thing that can bring about this situation is the e-mail is deleted by the SPAM filter on the mail server that you are using. In this case you need to contact your mail service and find out how to create an exception to the SPAM rules that will allow you to receive the e-mail. then you will need to follow the instructions below to have the forum send you another confirmation e-mail.

Additionally and probably the most common cause would be the e-mail was delivered to your SPAM or Junk folder instead of your inbox. The confirmation e-mails are only valid for a certain period of time, usually less than 48 hours. To find out if the confirmation e-mail is still valid, just go ahead and click on the link in the e-mail.

If the confirmation e-mail was never received in your e-mail the most likely problem was that you either did not supply an e-mail address, you mistyped your e-mail address or you supplied a fictitious e-mail address. Which ever of these is the case the solution is the same.

Solution to the Problem: Get the forum system to send you another confirmation e-mail. This can be done without having to contact the forum administrator.

1. Login to the forum using the username and password you supplied during the registration process.
2. On the menu bar near the top of the page click on "User CP" - (User Control Panel).
3. Along the left of the page under "Your Control Panel" click on "Edit Your Details"
4. Then just to the right in "Edit Your Details {your user name is here}" the first section is "Registration Required Information"
5. Click on the "Edit Email & Password" button.
6. You will need to enter your current password in the "Enter your present password to continue:" text box so you can make changes.
7. Leave the "Edit Password" section blank
8. Look in the "Edit Email Address (Optional)" section to see if you entered your email address correctly.
9. If you did not enter your e-mail address correctly, correct it now and click the "Save Changes" button. Stay logged in to the forum.
10. If your e-mail address was already correct then enter a fictitious e-mail address. This is done so that you can change it back to the correct e-mail address. When the system sees a change it will send a new confirmation e-mail with a new e-mail verification link. Stay logged in to the forum. Go back to the e-mail address settings and change your e-mail back to the correct e-mail address.
11. Check your e-mail. Look in your e-mail inbox, SPAM/Junk folders (for the e-mail address you entered) and you should find an account confirmation e-mail. The subject line of the e-mail address will be "Action Required to Verify Email Change for {name of the forum}"
12. Click on the e-mail confirmation link to activate your account.

Now when you log in you should be able to start new threads and post replies to existing threads.

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