The Local: Germany's news in English

May 20, 2013

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Frequently Asked Questions

Registration matters

• Why should I register with The Local?
• How do I unsubscribe?
• How do I change my registration details?
• I forgot my password!
• Why can't I log in?

Editorial

• Why can't you spell 'skeptical'?
• How do I go about writing for The Local?
• Where should I send a press release?

Discuss

• How does the Discuss section work?
• How do I post a topic in a forum?
• How do I edit or delete a post?
• You deleted my post! It's censorship and I DEMAND an explanation!
• May I put a link to another site in my post?
• I've been banned from Discuss! Why?
• How do I stop my real name from appearing in Discuss?
• How do I report inappropriate posts?
• Why have you locked a topic?

Miscellaneous

• Who is The Local for?
• Who owns The Local?

Registration matters

Why should I register with The Local?

There are plenty of good reasons here. Or you can just take our word for it.

But remember that you won't be able to join in any discussions or put ads on our Noticeboard unless you do register. Oh, and it's free!

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How do I unsubscribe?

Not telling you. Oh, OK .

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How do I change my registration details?

Sign in using the email address and password you gave when you registered. Then click on 'UPDATE DETAILS' in the left-hand menu, and you'll be able to change your email address and your name.

To change your password, click on 'CHANGE PASSWORD', also in the left-hand menu.

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I forgot my password!

Luckily, you can click here for a reminder.

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Why can't I log in?

Make sure you are entering your e-mail address and password exactly as you did when you registered. It's case-sensitive, remember.

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Editorial

Why can't you spell 'skeptical'?

Ah yes, you've spotted it! The Local's readers and its journalists come from all over the world, but in the interests of consistency (and as a consequence of having been founded by Brits), articles are written using British spelling conventions. Despite this, we try our best to avoid confusion, and avoid British words like "lorry", when "truck" will do just as well. Still, sometimes we have to make a choice, and in those cases, "tap" will always beat "faucet".

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How do I go about writing for The Local?

We welcome proposals. E-mail the editor: editorial@thelocal.de

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Where should I send a press release?

If you have a press release about an interesting story related to Germany, please feel free to e-mail it to us: news@thelocal.de

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Discuss

Discuss is the name of our discussion forum, where you can debate news items and share your experiences of living in Germany – and indeed of anything else.

So how does the Discuss section work?

First of all, while anybody can read items in Discuss , only registered users may add to it.

There are a number of categories and those categories are divided into many forums. You can see a full list of these here

Within each forum are a number of topics. These can be started by The Local staff or by readers. Topics may be news articles for discussion, questions or burning issues that readers want to debate.

As a registered user, you may add comments, or posts, to topics to your heart's content by clicking on "Post reply".

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How do I post a topic in a forum?

Easy -- click on "Post new topic" on either the forum or topic screens. You need to register before you can post a message. The facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of the forum and topic screens.

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How do I edit or delete a post?

Unless you are The Local's administrator or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic that lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post. Please note that you cannot delete a post once someone has replied.

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You deleted my post! It's censorship and I DEMAND an explanation!

The Local is all about Germany and for people interested in discussing the hot issues in Germany today. And there are certain house rules.

Paramount among those is this: just as we're not in the business of offending our readers, whatever their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion, so we will prevent others from doing so.

You call it censorship, we call it editorial control. Our job is to provide an interesting, entertaining, informative and relevant site for our readers - if your post conflicts with that, then it just might be deleted. If you persist in posting material that we deem offensive, you might even be banned from the site. For more detail, please see our conditions of use.

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May I put a link to another site in my post?

Absolutely. We will only delete comments with a link if the link is too long for the page, if it breaches the conditions of use by linking to something unsavoury, or if it is totally irrelevant.

It's more aesthetically appealing if you can do it in this format:

[url=http://www.website.com]Link word[/url]

Then you'll just see the link word, rather than the whole address.

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I've been banned from Discuss! Why?

The most likely reason is that you have repeatedly breached the conditions of use in one way or another.

Another reason for a ban might be that you are causing us so much work - for example, with repeated provocative postings, postings which lead to a deluge of complaints from other users, or postings which undermine our business - that our only option is to ban you.

We don't like having to block people from Discuss and only rarely resort to it. If you feel you have been unfairly treated, please email us and we will look into it.

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How do I stop my real name from appearing in Discuss?

If you would prefer to use a pseudonym when you post in Discuss (and we would recommend it), you can simply change your name.

Sign in using the email address and password you gave when you registered. Then click on 'UPDATE DETAILS' in the left-hand menu, and you'll be able to change your name.

If you have already posted to the site, your new name will appear on your old posts.

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How do I report inappropriate posts?

If you see a post which you think is inappropriate (such as advertising, or a post which may cause offence on the grounds of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion) please report it to us.

Just click on the 'Report abuse' link under the post and enter your email address and reason for the report in the short form which follows.

We will investigate as soon as possible. If the post breaches our conditions, we will remove it and warn the poster.

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Why have you locked a topic/thread?

Occasionally a thread gets out of hand. That could mean that it has been taken over by bickering or is filling up with posts which breach our conditions. When we aren't able to deal with it on a post-by-post basis, we will lock the thread.

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Miscellaneous

Who is The Local for?

In brief, The Local is for anyone who is interested in finding out what's going on in Germany and who reads English.

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Who owns The Local?

The Local is owned by The Local Europe AB, a Swedish company which has run a similar website in Sweden, www.thelocal.se, since 2004.

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