Welcome to our Help page, where we attempt to answer most common questions regarding the site. This page is continually being updated as we receive new questions and inquiries from our readers.

Current Common Issues


Trouble accessing the subscriber boards?

If you're a brand new subscriber, or you have renewed a subscription that lapsed, and you're able to access the pay articles, but not the pay boards (with a note that you need to be subscribed to access):

First, simply try to reload the board.

If that doesn't work, try to visit a free board first, then go back to the subscriber board.

If that doesn't get you in to the subscriber boards:

  • Log out
  • Delete browser cookies (for at least the last week) -- if you don't know how, Google it. It's easy.
  • Log back in
  • Go to the subscriber board
  • If it blocks you again, Reload, and that should get you in

If that doesn't work, email us at staff at techsideline dot com, and we'll help.

Help With Questions Related to Site Usage (scroll down for answers):


  1. How do I change my account information?
  2. How do I turn off auto-renewal on a subscription?
  3. How do I change my credit card information for auto-renewal?
  4. My subscription auto-renewal failed because my credit card expired, and I updated it, but I still don't have access to the pay material. Why not?
  5. My credit card is up to date, but I keep getting emails saying that it expired. Why?
  6. Why do I keep getting logged out all the time?
  7. My subscription auto-renewal failed, even though my credit card information was correct. What now?
  8. Will you/can you renew my subscription for me, using my credit card information you have on file?
  9. How do I update my password, email address, etc.?
  10. How can I change my message board/account avatar?
  11. How can I change my username?
  12. I forgot my username and/or password. How can I retrieve them?
  13. I keeping getting notifications when [blank] posts. How do I stop that from happening?
  14. I'm getting a Cloudflare error when I try to access the site. How do I fix that?
  15. When are you going to have an app for the iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.?
  16. Why am I listed in my account details page as having a free account and a subscriber account?
  17. Where are all the old archives?
  18. How do I subscribe/unsubscribe from email notifications?
  19. I contribute to Friends of TSL. Why isn't my message board badge showing?

1. How do I change my account information?

You have the ability to change most every aspect of your account information (i.e. password, email address, credit card, etc.) from your ACCOUNT page, with the exception of your Username. To access the your ACCOUNT DETAILS page, you must first have an account and you have to be logged in. (You can log in in the header of the site.) After logging in, just click your username in the header of the site to go to the Account page.

2. How do I turn off auto-renewal on a subscription?

Make sure you're logged into the site, and go here:

3. How do I change my credit card information for auto-renewal?

Make sure you're logged into the site and go here:

4. My subscription auto-renewal failed because my credit card expired, and I updated it, but I still don't have access to the pay material. Why not?

If your renewal fails because your card expired, we will not attempt to re-bill you (due to a bug in the third-party software we use), so to get back into rotation, you'll have to re-subscribe. To do so, go here:

5. My credit card is up to date, but I keep getting emails saying that it expired. Why?

We've got a bug in our system that sometimes causes it to reference your old credit card expiration date -- instead of your newer, correct one -- when deciding if your card has expired. It uses the correct date for billing, so that's not a problem, but the emails are annoying. If you're convinced you have updated your card, and your billing is working fine, then you can ignore the emails. You'll only get a few of them.

6. Why do I keep getting logged out all the time?

Sorry, we know this is a pain. We have to manage logins across three different systems: subscriber articles, subscriber message boards, and account screens. Sometimes, in tracking all this login status, things just get out of whack. It will usually pass over time. Sometimes it helps to clear cookies for virginiatech.sportswar.com and log back in fresh.

7. My subscription auto-renewal failed, even though my credit card information was correct. What now?

For some reason, our renewal system fails a lot of renewals, even though the credit card information is correct and current. This often happens to the same subscribers multiple times. We don't know why this happens, and we're sorry, but we're unable to fix it. The solution is to start up a new subscription on your existing login whenever it happens. Make sure you're logged into the site and go here:

8. Will you/can you renew my subscription for me, using my credit card information you have on file?

We are not able to do that, because we don't actually have your credit card information stored. That's stored with PayPal, and we don't have access to it. So you'll need to renew it yourself. To do so, go here:

9. How do I update my password, email address, etc.?

Make sure you're logged into the site and go here:

10. How can I change my username?

We have to do that for you. Email us at [email protected] with three new ideas for usernames, and we'll set you up with the first available one.

11. How can I change my message board/account avatar?

The only way to change your avatar -- the picture associated with your account -- is through our message board system. You have to have a history of posting on our message boards.  If you have posted on our boards, then make sure you're logged in, and go to our Message Board Member List. Search on your username. On the results page from the search, click on your username, then look for "Upload Avatar Image Below" and follow the instructions.

12. I forgot my username and/or password. How can I retrieve them?

If you've lost or forgotten your password or Username, go here and use the "Lost Password" function to have us send you your user ID and a link to update your password.

13. I keeping getting notifications when [blank] posts. How do I stop that from happening?

That's happening because you followed [blank] on the message boards. To stop it, the next time you get a notification, click it. Underneath [blank]'s avatar (picture) is a button that says, "Following." Click it, and it will change to "Follow." That will stop the notifications.

14. I'm getting a Cloudflare error when I try to access the site. How do I fix that?

If you get a Cloudflare error that looks like this, it is usually solved by clearing cookies in your browser for sportswar.com sites.

15. When are you going to have an app for the iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.?

Our site uses "responsive web design," so it automatically formats itself for proper display on your browser for your computer/laptop, tablet, or phone. We don't have a need for a separate app, per se. We may program one in the future, but for now, we're working on the main browser-based site.

16. (Subscribers only) Why am I listed in my account details page as having a free account and a subscriber account?

That can be a little confusing, but it's a quirk of our new user management system. Your "free account" gives you the ability to post on the message boards, and your "subscriber account" enables you to get into pay areas of the site (including pay message boards).  If your subscriber account expires, you'll still have the free account that you can use to post on the free boards.

17. Where are all the old archives?

They're all here. From our menu, select "News and Features -- Complete TSL Archives." Or just click here. Or, if you know what the article was about, Google it, with "techsideline" added to the end of your query.

18. How do I subscribe/unsubscribe from email notifications?

To manage your email notifications, go here: Very important note: if all you want to do is unsubscribe from TSLMail, un-check the box next to TSLMail, and that will remove you from the list (there's no need to click any sort of Save or Submit button). In this case, you'll still receive our system emails, about subscription expirations, etc.

If you want to remove yourself from ALL mailings, then check the "Unsubscribe from all e-mail messages" box. Then you won't get any emails from us at all, including auto-generated emails about your account. We don't recommend this, though.

19. I contribute to Friends of TSL. Why isn't my message board badge showing?


Because that part of the message board code is broken. It's been broken for a long time. We have reported it many times. It's still broken.

Not Receiving Emails from TechSideline.com

We can only reach you if your email address (in our database) is kept up to date and if your Internet Service Provider doesn't block the emails (some ISP's consider server-sent emails to be SPAM). In order to ensure our emails reach you, check with your Internet Service Provider and learn where to add us to your white/trusted/accepted emails list. You will want to add '[email protected]' and '[email protected]' to the list.

If you maintain more than one email account, please be sure to check them all to make sure that our emails aren't going to an alternate address. If you have an email address in our database (i.e. subscription and/or message board account), you may edit this from your ACCOUNT DETAILS page after logging in.

If Your Question Wasn't Answered Here

If none of the options above have helped you, or if you have a suggestion or comment, please contact us at your convenience.