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Using this website

On this page we hope to explain everything you need to know to get involved with the online community.

If we haven't explained something well enough for you to understand please contact us.

Discussion forums

You may use the discussion forums (or just, forums) for carrying on conversations with other members.

To access a forum:

• Open the 'Contents' drop-down menu and choose 'Forums'.
• You then choose a forum to enter from those available.
• You will see topics within the forum (assuming some have been made already).

Next you can either go into an existing topic, or start a new one.

To go into an existing topic:

• Click one of the topic titles to enter the topic.
• Read through the existing posts (if there are lots they may be split across pages, so you might need to click a 'Next' button until you get to the last page).
• If you would like to reply, enter your post in the 'Quick reply' box and click the 'Quick reply' button. All other members will then be able to see your reply, and members who have already posted within the topic will be given an e-mail notification about it.

To create a new topic:

• Click the blue 'Add topic' button.
• Fill in the form.
• Click the grey 'Add topic' button.

Personal topics

Use personal topics to have private conversations with individual members. Personal topics are much like regular forum topics, except only you, the member(s) you are talking to, and the administrator(s), may see a personal topic.

Go to any member's profile and you will see a 'Start personal topic' link that can be used to contact that member. After clicking the link you can create the topic as normal.
You can also start a personal topic with the author of an existing forum post by clicking the 'Whisper' button shown beneath that forum post.

You will be sent a notification by e-mail if someone starts a personal topic with you, and you will also be given a notification on the top of the website, in red.

You can access any existing (new or old) personal topic from the 'Personal topics' link at the top of the website.

Changing your settings

Click the 'Control panel' link at the top of the website to change your settings. You will find links (on the left) to:
- Edit profile (edit information about yourself, and change your password)
- Edit avatar (we've supplied lots of avatars for you to pick from, or you can upload your own)
- Edit photo (upload a photo of yourself)
- Edit signature (change the text that is shown underneath all your forum posts)

Chat rooms

If you'd like to chat to other members directly then you can enter a chat room, or have instant messaging conversations. To access these features click the 'Chat lobby' link at the top of the website.

At this stage we don't expect that a lot of users are going to be online at the same time, so it is better to use the forums.

Points

Every member can gain points as they contribute to our online community, in ways like…
- Posting on the forums
- Contributing content to the site, such as images of the day

As you gain points you gain 'rank'… and online everybody wants to be of the highest rank!

Your online rank doesn't reflect your actual rank from your career, everyone starts again equal on the website!

News

You can add news to the site. The website will put the news into a validation queue and the administrator(s) will be e-mailed so that they can validate the submission.

Calendar

You can add calendar events to the site. The website will put the event into a validation queue and the administrator(s) will be e-mailed so that they can validate the submission.

Galleries

You can add an image or add a video. By default your gallery will be put into your own personal gallery, but you can also choose other galleries, such as the gallery corresponding to your graduation year. The image/video will put the news into a validation queue and the administrator(s) will be e-mailed so that they can validate the submission (super moderators and moderators will also be able to validate).

It is often easier to add images/videos via the add links that are shown inside individual galleries.

Images of the day

You can add an IOTD to the site. The website will put the IOTD into a queue and the administrator(s) will pick a new one from the queue whenever they choose to.

Journals

Only the administrator(s) may upload new journals. If you'd like to contribute to the next journal see the instructions on the journals page.

Notifications

You can keep up-to-date with all the content on our website using an RSS Feed Reader, such as FeedReader. RSS is a technology that allows you to subscribe to a news feed, so that you get regular updates delivered to your computer.
Think of it as the digital subscription to a newspaper.

When you visit any page of the website in a modern web browser such as Firefox 3 or Internet Explorer 7 you will see a little feed icon (like the image to the right) adjacent to the address bar. If you click this you will be given an option to subscribe, and if you've installed some software like FeedReader, the subscription can be made via that software.

Different pages on the website provide different feeds. For example, if you are viewing a gallery, the feed will allow you to subscribe to get updates whenever new images and videos are added. These updates are automatic and almost instant.

The feeds you are most likely to want are:
- News
- Calendar events
- Galleries
- Forum posts
- Birthdays
- Journals
- Images of the day