Hey everyone, I put together a quick and dirty tutorial for the Forum Homepage to familiarize new contributors with the layout and to serve as a refresher for established contributors.
Take a moment to read through it and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask on the thread! Thanks and happy surfing!
Banners: The images at the top of the forum are clickable and will take you to their respective threads. This is the first place to look for new events and fun things we have going on at the moment.
Google Calendar: Pretty much self-explanatory - all community events are listed here. Check often for new additions. This category is collapsible.
Upcoming Events: This is where you will find club activities. Things like the Rumble, Pinterest contests, and anything else club-related will be stickied here.
Categories: Again, pretty straight forward, this is a mega-list of possible subcategories to post threads. Social is the most common category used, but as long as the thread is related to the category, feel free to post a discussion in any subcategory you see fit*. This is also collapsible.
* There is one exception to this rule and that's Eden Link categories. Starting a topic in any of those categories sends an email to the administrator for the respective company. Please do not start threads in this category unless you are engaging a rep to answer a question about their product lines.
** I lied, there are two exceptions. Eden Programs - this is an admin only category. We post tutorials here. Just think of it as reserved space.
Announcements: This is where you will find important posts on Eden programs and announcements from staff about policy changes. It's good to look at this section at least once a week for any new announcements. This category is collapsible, as well.
Featured Discussions: Simply put, this is the section of sticky posts that we really want you to pay attention to - this is where we make contest announcements and post weekly summaries of what's going on and what's coming up on the forum. Yep, you guessed it; this category is also collapsible.
Forum Search: Learn it, love it, use it. It's a handy tool for searching this vast land we call the Forum. This category is collapsible. (Broken record? Me? Never! )
Sorting: This is one of the lesser known features of the forum. You can sort by last update, topic, number of posts, author, start date, and by category.
For those who are only interested in seeing new discussions posted since your last visit, sort with the "Started" option.
For those looking for discussions on a specific subject, "Topic" is the best option to sort by.
Last update will show you the posts with the most recent comments.
Other: Lightbulbs, Green Hearts, and Yellow Hearts
Lightbulbs show the number of comments since the last time you visited a discussion.
Green hearts are used to mark favorite contributors. You will be able to go to your "Favorite Contributor" tab and see their most recent comments or discussions.
Yellow hearts are used to mark favorite discussions and can be found in the "Favorite Discussions" tab. You can also set alerts to receive email notifications regarding new comments on threads you wish to keep up with.
All discussions you've started and/or participated in can be found in the "My Discussions" tab.
Take a moment to read through it and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask on the thread! Thanks and happy surfing!
Banners: The images at the top of the forum are clickable and will take you to their respective threads. This is the first place to look for new events and fun things we have going on at the moment.
Google Calendar: Pretty much self-explanatory - all community events are listed here. Check often for new additions. This category is collapsible.
Upcoming Events: This is where you will find club activities. Things like the Rumble, Pinterest contests, and anything else club-related will be stickied here.
Categories: Again, pretty straight forward, this is a mega-list of possible subcategories to post threads. Social is the most common category used, but as long as the thread is related to the category, feel free to post a discussion in any subcategory you see fit*. This is also collapsible.
* There is one exception to this rule and that's Eden Link categories. Starting a topic in any of those categories sends an email to the administrator for the respective company. Please do not start threads in this category unless you are engaging a rep to answer a question about their product lines.
** I lied, there are two exceptions. Eden Programs - this is an admin only category. We post tutorials here. Just think of it as reserved space.
Announcements: This is where you will find important posts on Eden programs and announcements from staff about policy changes. It's good to look at this section at least once a week for any new announcements. This category is collapsible, as well.
Featured Discussions: Simply put, this is the section of sticky posts that we really want you to pay attention to - this is where we make contest announcements and post weekly summaries of what's going on and what's coming up on the forum. Yep, you guessed it; this category is also collapsible.
Forum Search: Learn it, love it, use it. It's a handy tool for searching this vast land we call the Forum. This category is collapsible. (Broken record? Me? Never! )
Sorting: This is one of the lesser known features of the forum. You can sort by last update, topic, number of posts, author, start date, and by category.
For those who are only interested in seeing new discussions posted since your last visit, sort with the "Started" option.
For those looking for discussions on a specific subject, "Topic" is the best option to sort by.
Last update will show you the posts with the most recent comments.
Other: Lightbulbs, Green Hearts, and Yellow Hearts
Lightbulbs show the number of comments since the last time you visited a discussion.
Green hearts are used to mark favorite contributors. You will be able to go to your "Favorite Contributor" tab and see their most recent comments or discussions.
Yellow hearts are used to mark favorite discussions and can be found in the "Favorite Discussions" tab. You can also set alerts to receive email notifications regarding new comments on threads you wish to keep up with.
All discussions you've started and/or participated in can be found in the "My Discussions" tab.
