Here are common reasons for some problems you might be experiencing with the more interactive parts of our site.

Cookies are not enabled

Cookies are small text files that are saved on the users computer so that a website can remember things (such as your username) from one page to another. Many people turn cookies off in the belief that they are a security risk. This is a common misconception, cookies cannot 'spy' or capture private information that is not already freely available to the user and the website.

European law requires websites to say if they use cookies and for what purpose, so always check the site policies if you're at all worried.

The discussion boards and a few other features on our site use cookies to work therefore you should ensure that cookies are enabled.

To enable cookies:

Internet Explorer: Select the 'tools' menu > select 'internet options' > select the 'privacy' tab > change the 'settings' so that cookies are enabled usually 'medium' security should be appropriate > click ok

Firefox: Select the 'tools' menu > select 'options' > select the 'privacy' tab > check the box next to "accept cookies from sites" and use the drop down next to that to specify for how long they will be accepted> click ok

Netscape: Select the 'edit''menu > select 'preferences'' > select the 'privacy & security' > select 'cookies'' and enable cookies usually selecting 'enable cookies for the originating website only' should be appropriate > click ok

Opera: Select the 'file' menu > select 'preferences' > select 'privacy' and ensure cookies are enabled usually 'normal cookies' being accepted should be appropriate > click ok 

Security software is creating a block

Firewalls, Anti-Virus, Anti-PopUp and other types of security software can block the functionality of the website in much the same way as having cookies not enabled. If you are experiencing problems we recommend turning this software off, restarting your computer and seeing if this has made a difference.

Some of the software is particularly awkward to turn off completely so please consult the help documents with the product if you still are not having any success. 

Network Security

If you are accessing the website from work, college or university some of the problems you may experience could be due to the settings on the network.

Certain elements may be blocked on your network for security reasons or other policy reasons. You should speak to your IT department or network administrators for more information.