BootsnAll Travel Community

How do I...

Welcome to the boards! Whether you are thorn-tree refugee (more on that later) or a vagabonder, this "How To" guide to the boards is sure to answer some of your questions. If you have one regarding the forums, e-mail us and we’ll put up an answer on the site!

What does the name below my avatar mean? How can I change it?
The names below your avatar are light-hearted descriptors that change depending on how many posts you have. Once you hit 500 posts, we’ll customize it for you!

What are personal topics? How do I start one? How do I know if I have one? Can I delete them?
Personal topics are discussions between you and another Bootsnall member. Only you and those you invite can participate in your private discussions. To start a private discussion, go to “Personal Zone” and click on “Contacts”. Then, type in the user names of the people you would like to have a private discussion with. You can change this at any time. Add their names and then go to “Private Topics” under the “Personal Zone” category. Click on the “Post New Topic” button on the bottom of the page. A list of all your contact will appear. Highlight the people you would like to invite and press “Add”. When you have selected all the names, click the “Invite” button and follow the rest of the steps. Usually, people click the “Post” button when inviting people. Choosing “Read Only” means that the person or people with this option cannot comment on the discussion. Then, write an entry like usual!

You can find out if you have a private message by checking the “Private Topics” area or clicking on the “New Since Your Last Visit” option under the “World” button each time you visit. There is also a blinking "PM" button that will appear when you log onto the boards as well. Topics are displayed with the most recently updated post on top.

How do I change my profile?
Click on the “Personal Zone” button and go to “Profile”. Here is where you can edit your biography, avatar and signature.

How do I upload a unique avatar (picture)?
1) You need a digital picture of what you want to be your avatar. The maximum size of the avatar image is 55 pixels by 55 pixels...pixels is a measurement of space for digital images.

2) You can set your custom avatar by logging in and accessing your "Personal Zone" area. Go to this area by clicking the "Go" icon near the top left of the main forum page.

3) From there, choose "View/Edit Complete Profile," which is at the top right of the "Profile" section.

4) Under "Public Profile Fields," there's a section called "Avatar/Picture URL." Click on that "edit" button and then either pick a file to upload or enter the URL of a picture you want to use. Make sure all pictures are in jpeg (.jpg) format. If you're using a URL, make sure to enter the complete path, starting with the http://.

How do I search the forums?
Go to “Find” and enter in a few keywords.

Why are the post times all funny? Can I change them?
The post times and date format are set to a default, which is the time and date at our headquarters in Portland, Oregon, USA, which is on the West Coast. If you want to change the times to display those in your own time zone, go to “Personal Zone” and click on “Preferences”.

What does the “world’ icon do?
When you click on the world icon, which is located above the forums, you have the option of seeing “new since your last visit” or “today’s active topic” which are topics that have been written about that day.

What does the “house” icon do?
The house icon appears above the forums when you have clicked on a specific topic, i.e. Member’s Forum. When you click on the house icon, a list of all the forums and discussions appear. This way, you don’t have to hit the back button to go to the list of all the forums; you can go there directly.

What’s does the “notify” button do?
If you take a particular interest in a topic and you don’t want to search for it every time you visit the boards, or if you’re interested in knowing when people reply, hit the notify button. This allows you to track individual threads and can enable you to create a “What’s New” page under “My Space” which lets you see what’s happening in your favorite discussions. You can only use the “notify” button while you’re on an individual thread.

Do you have another help section?
Yep! Go to “Tools” and brush up on the basics.

What do I do when I see a post that conflicts with the Posting Guidelines?
On the post/thread that is questionable, click on the little exclamation point icon in the lower right hand corner of the post, and leave a message for the moderators.

<-------- Curse you Sean.... Curse You!

quote:

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Once you hit 500 posts, we’ll customize it for you!

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ServeYourWorld.com -How to Volunteer Abroad
Eurailblog.com -4 Months in Europe, Starts Mid-May

Nice FAQ, Sean... I've been using this for quite a while, and still learned some things!

Hey LiveNomadic - I think your classification fits...

"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour." -- Sir Ernest Shackleton

Don't make me come up there and hurt you with.... maple lea...no... snowma... no... mounti... NO NO NO...

Dammit... there is nothing dangerous in canada...

_____________________________
ServeYourWorld.com -How to Volunteer Abroad
Eurailblog.com -4 Months in Europe, Starts Mid-May

Only attack beavers... but they're sicced on Americans. There's a commercial about that... a Canadian goes into a bar, and starts being made fun of by an American. The American's like "so, where's your beaver?" and the Canadian goes "right here" or something, "attack!" and the beaver goes after the American. If you ever get the chance, go online and search for Molson Canadian commercials. Their huge selling point is knocking Americans, but the commercials are hilarious. I'll find some links once I get home (I probably shouldn't look up beer while on the Government of Canada Internet network)

Heh heh. I'm now at the 500+ post mark... and still a travel deity. :Þ

"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour." -- Sir Ernest Shackleton

ROFL... ok... best commerical ive seen in a while:

Here is the link:

http://www.canadaka.net/cka/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=11

_____________________________
ServeYourWorld.com -How to Volunteer Abroad
Eurailblog.com -4 Months in Europe, Starts Mid-May

Is that the only one you watched? I hope you also saw the office ones... the first series (2 ads) has an American getting jerseyed, and the other one (on the second page) is about the famous "office glenn". Hehheh. So funny... they also have our Heritage moments up there! How did I not know about this website?!?! I usually find my beer commercials off www.beer.com (the Brewskies) or by diligent searching.

"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour." -- Sir Ernest Shackleton

Commercial for BnA:Where else but at BnA can an American and Canadian be buddies... (I know, I know, need to polish this up a bit).

quote:

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Originally posted by Sean:
_ _How do I upload a unique avatar_ (picture)?
If you want to upload your own, you must first have a place to host it.
1) You need a digital picture of what you want to be your avatar. Acquire that first.
2) The size of the avatar is 48 pixels by 48 pixels...pixels is a measurement of space for digital images.
3) Upload the picture on to web-accessible server. Make sure you remember the url of that image so you can…
4) Save that url into your avatar profile settings.

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Okay, maybe I'm stupid, but how do I find a place to host my picture?

Meghan

~Levity~

I just use ImageShack (http://www.imageshack.us/) which I found using google and is free.

Thanks aopaq! Now let's see if it works...
Meghan

~Levity~

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Originally posted by meagicano:
Is that the only one you watched? I hope you also saw the office ones... the first series (2 ads) has an American getting jerseyed...

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I love the way you wrote "jerseyed," and kind of inherently assumed that it's in common usage the world over

I ought to take a look at my Canadian Oxford dictionary and see if it's in there...

(I suppose after all that I ought to explain... To jersey someone is to pull his/her hockey jersey partway over his/her head during a fight so they're partly imobilized and can't see and you can whale away on him/her.)

(Hrm... This probably ought to be in chit chat, but I can't post a reply to a different forum I don't think...)

I have a new travelling goal. Make the word "jerseyed" used throughout the English speaking world... hmm.

Any luck in the dictionary?

(Sorry for the off-topic.. I just need to know if it ended up in the dictionary or not, heheh.)

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"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour." -- Sir Ernest Shackleton

Question...what does "Karma" mean on the "my space" menu?

Karma Level tells you how many posts you need to change that title under your name. It also tells you where you are on that list...

I would like to know how can I place a picture in this window?
I have some pictures in my pc and I would really like to share them. But unfortunately, when I subscribed I didn't get the manual...

Thanks

Rastapaul,
In order to post a photo, the photo has to be stored on the internet somewhere. Just having it on your PC won't cut it. There are lots of photo-hosting sites available. Many are free and allowing linking. (You get what you pay for....free sites may or may not host forever, etc.) The first step is to get your photos hosted somewhere, then it's a matter of linking to them within the post. To do that, you use the little "photo-like" button up in the message tool bar (second from the right).

The photos should be re-sized properly, before linking, otherwise they generally appear ENORMOUS, take a lot of time to open even with a high-speed connection, and generally screw up a thread.

Hey Man thanks. I was hoping I didn't actually need hosting. I guess I will have to go through all that trouble, but hey! Its worth it. Wait till you see these picutres!!!

I don't think I can but thought I'd ask anyway- Can I change my display name? The space in it is really annoying because it creates a "+" in my blog address which will make it harder to remember for people. :/

I should've thought harder when creating it. Ah well. Thank god for mass emails and the Crtl-C command.

Rastapaul, you can always set up your own travelblog with your BnA membership and upload photos to that. You can also sign up for something like Flickr which is a great photo hosting and sharing service. They have a free version which allows a certain amount of uploads per month.

haley k, we'll look into how to change the blog URL for you. It may be simple, it may be a pain in the butt.