You can customize how the board works for you in the User Control Panel (UCP), which is found at the top right of the board under the Whippet World banner.


Once you are in the UCP, on the left hand side under Options click Board Preferences.


Global Settings
Users can contact me by e-mail - chose whether or not board members can click a button to send you a email
Allow users to send you private messages - turn off/on private messages via the board, admins and mods will still be able to send you messages
Hide my online status - you will show up as anonymous instead of your username when you're online
Notify me on new private messages - the board will send you an email when you have a new private message
Pop up window on new private message - a pop-up window will appear when you have a new private message (note, pop-up blockers must be disabled for this to work)
My language/timezone - self explanatory
Summer Time/DST is in effect - allows you to change the board time for daylight savings
My date format - format the date how you like it

Posting Defaults
Enable BBcode - bbcode are the boxes above the message that allow you to add bold, italics, underline, font color, etc. Most likely you want this on.
Enable smilies - unless you hate the smilies and would rather see their text representations, you should leave this on too
Attach my signature - this will check the box under every post/reply you make to automatically attach your signature. You can uncheck the box to not include it.
Notify me upon replies - please leave this on "No" Otherwise the board will email you for every single reply to your message. It's server intensive and there are better ways to handle it, like thread subscriptions, another new feature for this board.

Display Options
Display images within posts - if you are on dial-up, you can turn them off
Display flash animations - same thing, can be turned off for slower connections
Display smilies as images - if smilies slow you down or drive you nuts, you can make them show as text
Display signatures/avatars - you can disable the display of everyone signatures and/or avatars
Enable word censoring - turn on/off the software word censor
Display topics/posts from previous days - you can show all topics, or limit it to a specific time period
Display topics/posts ordering by - you can view the board ordered by post time, views, replies or subject
Display topic/post order - descending or ascending
Most people will probably find the defaults for this section optimal for viewing the board, but the first 4 options could be very helpful for slower connections.