Share your experience!
1. My Settings
3. Kudos
4. Searching
5. Private Messenger
6. Accepted Solutions
7. Knowledge Base
8. Images
9. Blogs
10. Bookmarks
11. Community Basics
1. My Settings
My Settings allows you to change various personal information associated with your profile. The section explains how to change your avatar, signature, biography, create a friends list and tailor viewing preferences.
How do I change the image (avatar) next to my name?
The image next to your name is your avatar and it's an easy way for you to personalize your identity a bit. You automatically get an avatar when you join a community, but you can change it to something you like better.
To change your avatar:
How do I create a signature for my posts? (Rank dependant)
Your signature is text that appears at the bottom of your posts. This is your chance to be creative (within community guidelines, of course).
To create your personal signature:
How do I tell other community members about me?
You can tell other community members as much or as little about yourself as you wish, whatever you're comfortable with. You can enter a short biography, your location, your interests, or anything else (within community guidelines, of course).
To tell other community members about yourself:
By default, anyone in the community can see the information you enter on this page. If you're not comfortable with that, you can limit display to just the people on your Friends List.
Here's how to show your info only to people on your Friends List:
What is my Friends List and how do I add people?
Your Friends List is a way to create your own little community within a community.
Depending on your Privacy settings, the people on your Friends List can see your biography and other personal information or whether you're online. If you send Private Messages, you can choose your friends from a list instead of typing their user names.
Note: You can view your friends list in your private message window which can be accessed by clicking on the small envelope icon.
To add people to your Friends List:
How do I set my viewing preferences?
You can make a lot of changes in the way you look at community pages;from the time zone and language, to text size, to the way menus behave, the order that messages appear, your privacy settings, kudos leaderboards, and more.
To set your viewing preferences:
2. Posting Messages
Now that you’re registered you may want to participate in the community. This section outlines how to post messages, reply to others and set up posting macros.
How do I post a message?
Go to the board you want to post on, and click the New Message link near the top of the message list.
On the Post Message page, you will see a Subject area and a Body area.
How do I reply to a message?
Use the Reply button in a message to write a response to a particular post. You'll see a screen similar to the Post Message screen. There are a few differences:
Also, when you post a message as a reply, it will be added to the existing thread. It won't create a new thread.
How do I use macros?
Macros let you create boilerplate text that you can paste into any message with the click of a mouse. You can create up to nine macros.
To set up a macro:
Note: If you want to have special text at the bottom of post, you can put that text in a signature instead of a macro.
To use a macro when you post:
3. Kudos
If you want to give praise to another user’s content you need to know about Kudos. This section details what Kudos is, how to give Kudos and where to find the Top Kudoed Authors.
What are Kudos?
Kudos is a new content rating system that lets you vote for content you think which is the most useful or important.
When you give Kudos to a message or an image, you are offering a thumbs-up for good content and a pat on the back to its author. Your Kudos help to boost the value of certain messages and enhance the reputation of their authors.
Giving Kudos is as easy as a single click, but the impact of Kudos ripples across the community.
How do I give Kudos?
You can give Kudos to any posts or image in the community except your own.
To give Kudos to a message or an image and its author:
If you change your mind about the quality of the message, you can revoke your Kudos.
To revoke Kudos you've given:
The Kudos count is updated and the Kudos badge shows that you can now give the message Kudos again.
How can I see who's given me Kudos?
Want to know who thinks your messages are Kudo-worthy? Your Profile page is the place to start. You can also see Kudos activity for other community members on their Profile pages.
To see who's given you Kudos:
How can I see which authors have received the most Kudos?
There is a Kudos leaderboards on the community's front page called ‘Top Liked Authors’. The author's leaderboard shows who has received the most Kudos.
Links from the front-page leaderboard take you to the full leaderboard pages.
To view the Top Kudoed Authors leaderboard:
How can I see who else has given Kudos to a message?
Want to know who thinks a message is good? It's easy to find out which regular community members and community experts have given Kudos to a message. Kudos that come from community experts carry more weight than those that come from brand new members.
To see who's given Kudos to a message:
What is Kudos weight?
Your Kudos weight is the number of Kudos you give each time you click a Kudos! badge. If you're new to the community, you will probably give Kudos one at a time (your Kudos weight is 1). More experienced community members might have a higher Kudos weight, so they could give two Kudos, ten Kudos, or more each time they click.
Why can't I give Kudos to some messages?
There are a few reasons why you might not be able to give Kudos to a post.
Where did the Kudos number go?
Sometimes a message gets so many Kudos that we run out of space to show the number. When that happens you'll see a Hot Kudos symbol or icon instead of the Kudos count on the Kudos badge.
4. Searching
The new community will provide you with How To‘s, galleries and more. The search functionality will help you find what you need quickly. This section details how to search, advanced search techniques and filtering results.
How do I search for information?
To search the Community, type keywords for your topic into the Search Community text box and click the search icon. A page of search results will be displayed. Browse the search results in the same manner you would a message board.
To perform a more in-depth search, click the Advanced link found on the left side of most pages. This search allows you to limit your query to a specific board, specific parts of the message (subject vs. body) and other advanced parameters.
You can also search for Community members by clicking the Users tab on any search results page and using the search options on this page.
How does auto-suggest work?
Auto-suggest accelerates your search by displaying results as you type search terms. When you see the post or user you're looking for, you can go to the post or the user's profile right from the auto-suggest results.
To turn auto-suggest off, click Turn off suggestions in the auto-suggest list.
To turn auto-suggest on, click Turn on suggestions below the search entry area.
How do I filter search results?
Interactive search filters on the right side of the page let you refine the search results based on a variety of criteria: location, author, date, and others.
Filtering results is as easy as clicking one (or more) of the search filters. Want to limit your search results to accepted solutions? Just click the check box for Solved. Want only the most recent results? Use one for the date filters to see results for a day or a week ago.
You can also filter your results by both individual authors or all results from members who have the same rank.
For example, you could look for results by a specific community member, or look for all results written by community experts. Auto-suggest will help you as you type a screen name or rank.
Search filters work together, so you can see just the results in accepted solutions for the last month, for example. However, the filters for the type of post work a little differently than the others. If you choose Forums and Blogs, you see results from either forums or blogs (not results that are both forum and blog posts,it would be hard to be both).
You can see which filters are active at the top of the results list. To turn a filter off, click the X (Remove) button to the right of the filter.
How can I customise search results?
There are a lot of ways you can customise your search results to make them more meaningful.
How do I search for posts?
You can search for posts and knowledge base articles at any level of the community. When you type a search term, the system automatically searches at the current level. For example, if you're on the community front page, the system searches the entire community. If you are looking at a forum or blog page, the system searches that forum (and the associated knowledge base, if any) or blog.
Tip: Searches for posts always include relevant knowledge bases. However, you can also search just in knowledge bases.
To search for posts:
When you get your search results, you can use the filters on the right side of the page to limit the results as needed.
How do I search for people?
You can search for community members by name or by rank. The results show you profile capsules for the users who match your criteria. The name you search for must be at least three characters long.
To search for users:
If you don't see the user you're looking for in the auto-suggest list, click Search to see the full search results.
5. Private Messenger
If you want to contact someone but not in public, you need to use Private Messenger. This section provides instruction on reading, sending and replying to private messages as well as Friends and Ignore Users lists.
What is the Private Messenger?
The Private Messenger allows you to send private notes to other members of the community. Private Messenger has two big advantages over e-mail:
To use the Private Messenger, you must be registered and signed in. You'll see a Private Message icon at the top of your page. If you have any new messages, you'll see the number of unread messages next to the envelope icon.
Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Private Messages Inbox.
How do I send a private message?
To send a private message:
How do I read a private message?
To read a private message:
How do I reply to a private message?
To reply to a private message:
How do I delete a private message?
You can delete messages one at a time as you read them, or in bulk from your Inbox.
To delete a private message:
How do I see private messages I've sent to others?
To see the private messages you've sent:
What is my Friends List and how do I add people?
Your Friends List is a way to create your own little community within a community.
Depending on your Privacy settings, the people on your Friends List can see your biography and other personal information or whether you're online. If you send Private Messages, you can choose your friends from a list instead of typing their user names.
Note: Your Friends List is only available if your community allows Private Messages.
To add people to your Friends List:
What is my Ignore Users List and how do I add users to it?
Most users in an online community get along very well. Sometimes, however, you might encounter someone you consider a nuisance. If you are receiving messages that you'd prefer not to receive, you can add the sender to your Ignored Users list. The system blocks all messages from users on your Ignored Users list.
To add someone to your Ignored Users list:
To remove someone from your Ignored Users list:
You can also search for community members and add them to your Ignored Users list
To search for a user:
6. Accepted Solutions
Accepted solutions help highlight the best answer to a question. How to mark a message as an Accepted Solution is detailed below.
What is an Accepted Solution?
Accepted Solutions is a way for you to choose the reply that best answers a question that you've posted. When you accept a solution, both the question and the solution get special icons and links that take you directly from the question to the answer and back again.
An Accepted Solutions icon also appears on boards and in search results so you can see which messages have solutions.
You can mark a solution as accepted only for questions that you've posted (you started the thread). Community Managers can also mark one of the replies to a message as an accepted solution.
How do I mark a message as a solution?
If you've posted a question to a forum, you can choose the reply that best answers your question and mark it as an accepted solution.
To mark a message as a solution:
If you change your mind about the quality of the answer, or if another reply provides an even better answer, you can revoke the first selection and accept the second reply.
To revoke an accepted solution:
You can choose another solution or leave the question unsolved.
7. Knowledge Base
Knowledge Base, or How To’s & FAQs is a section of the community dedicated to capturing the most helpful information being shared. This FAQ covers viewing a knowledge base and nominating content to be included.
What is a knowledge base?
A knowledge base is a collection of articles that captures and organizes helpful information that exists throughout a community.
These are some of the features that make a knowledge base a great community resource:
How can I view a knowledge base?
There are a number of ways you can view a knowledge base article
To go to the knowledge base for a board or forum:
To search for a knowledge base article:
To go to an article related to a post:
How do I nominate content for a knowledge base?
If you come across a great material in the community, helpful questions and answers, or just plain useful information, you can nominate the topic as a knowledge base article.
Someone who is responsible for your community's knowledge base will evaluate the topics you nominate. Once a topic is accepted, a knowledge base author can use it as the basis for a knowledge base article.
To nominate content:
That's all there is to it.
How can I contribute to a knowledge base?
You can contribute to knowledge bases in a number of ways:
Every time you contribute to an article, by adding more information, providing clarification, or just helping to keep published articles up to date, you can receive credit for your contributions.
8. Images
As well as comments images can also be added to the community. This section covers viewing, uploading and commenting on images.
What is an image gallery and how do I view it?
An image gallery is a collection of images that you or another community member has uploaded. Each community member who has permission to upload images has an image gallery
You can view your own image gallery as well as the image galleries of other community members. When you look at another user's gallery, you see the images that the user has chosen to share.
To view your image gallery:
To view another user's image gallery:
How do I upload an image to the image gallery?
It's easy! Starting from the image gallery, you choose the image, give it a name, and you're done. There are size limitations, of course, which should be kept in mind.
To upload an image to the image gallery:
How do I use an uploaded image as my personal avatar?
You can use any image you've uploaded as your personal avatar. The first step is to upload the image. All you have to do is select it.
To use an uploaded image as your personal avatar:
How do I insert an image in a post?
You insert an image the same way as you did before, but now you have more choices about where the image comes from and how it looks. You can insert an image from your computer (this uploads the image to your gallery), from your image gallery (if the image has been approved), or from another location on the Web.
To insert an image in a post:
To insert an image located on your computer:
To insert an image from your image gallery:
To insert an image from another Website:
How do I comment on an image?
You can post comments and give kudos just like you would on messages or other posts. You might see a cool image and want to give the author kudos. Or you might want to comment on an image and start a conversation.
To comment on an image:
How do I edit an image?
After an image is uploaded, you can change the name, add a description, and apply tags to the image also later.
To edit an image:
9. Blogs
As well as commenting on community discussions you can also comment on blogs. This section details how to post a comment to blogs as well as sharing articles and subscribing to your favourite blogs.
What's a blog?
A blog is an online journal written by one or more authors. Blog articles usually appear in reverse-chronological order, so you see the most recent article first, followed by earlier articles. Some blogs have comments from readers, which you can read by clicking the Comments link at the bottom of the article. You may also be able to post comments to those blogs.
How do I post a comment on a blog?
It's easy. Posting a comment on a blog is a lot like replying to a message on a board. If the blog is open for comments, you'll see a Post a Comment link or a Comment count link at the bottom of the article.
To post your comment:
Some blogs display new comments almost immediately. Other blogs don't display new comments until the blog author or a moderator approves them
Where is my blog comment? I posted a comment, but don't see it.
Some blogs display new comments almost immediately. Other blogs don't display new comments until the blog author or a moderator approves them.
If your comment doesn't appear immediately, check back in a few minutes. If it still doesn't appear, your comment is most likely in the approval queue.
Can I edit or delete my blog comments?
No, you can't. Be sure to check your spelling and preview your comment before you post it; you can't edit a comment once it's posted.
How do I share a blog article with friends?
If you want to tell your friends about blog articles, you can use any of dozens of shared bookmarking, social network, or other tracking services, such as Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, MySpace, Google, StumbleUpon, Technorati, or Twitter. All you need is an account with the service and friends to share with.
To share a blog article:
Just choose a service and go. That's all there is to it.
Can I subscribe to a blog?
Yes. You can subscribe directly to a blog or an article, or you can subscribe to their RSS feeds. If you subscribe to an RSS feed, you can use an RSS reader to view new content that's added to the blog. If you subscribe directly to a blog or article, you receive an email alert when new articles or comments are posted.
To |
Do this |
Subscribe to a blog |
Go to the blog page and choose Blog Options > Subscribe. |
Subscribe to an article |
Go to the article and choose Article Options > Subscribe. |
Subscribe to an RSS feed |
Go to the blog or article and choose Blog Options > Subscribe to RSS Feed. |
What's a Permalink?
This is where permalinks, which always stay the same, come in handy. They take you directly to an article, rather than to the blog's front page, which typically shows only the last few articles.
To use a permalink:
That's all there is to it.