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Old 04-30-2014, 12:24 AM   #1
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New Member Orientation 102

NOTE: Users are encouraged to also review:

Forums 101 - Set Up Your Account - Help, Tips, Etc and
Forum Community Rules (also linked on bottom banner)

As we race toward nearly a million posts and 25,000 members I thought it a good time to have a thread like this. Many of our newer members have communicated with me through the Private Message system that this is their first journey into the world of internet forums. It can be both exciting and daunting.

A few tips to help those with little forum navigation experience can perhaps flatten out the learning curve a bit.

TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS ONLINE SHOUTING! It's also generally poor online manners. Please be mindful of the caps lock button.

Excessive use of large or small fonts or colors other than the default black also make posts very difficult to read. Using them to highlight text to help making a point is okay but typing in all orange or magenta letters guarantees many will not bother reading it. Also keep in mind that anyone reading this paragraph through the App on a mobile device will not see a color or font change at all as the app does not support them and shows all that cutesy color and font as size 2 black, the forum default.

This is an international community and humor or sarcasm does not always translate well. We seldom have problems in this area but it is something to keep in mind. Try using a "Smile" or two if in doubt

Sometimes less is more. Excessively long posts with lots of non related questions are difficult to read, answer and ultimately lead to fragmented threads. Along these same lines would be quoting entire posts when only referring to one line of text. Cut and paste or snipping the quoted text down to size makes posts much more readable for others.

We are in general a fairly laid back group of folks who love talking about boats and boating who are very approachable. The real experts will chime in soon and offer better advice than I but it's a decent starting point.

It may seem overwhelming at first but soon it becomes second nature. Welcome and remember, boating is supposed to be fun, so by all means have fun here too.
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Old 05-06-2014, 11:34 AM   #2
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I would also encourage all members, new and long-time, to enter some info about yourself besides just your gender. We have some members here who have been regular contributors for 10 years or more but all we know is their screen name and gender. It's nice to know at least a first name, hometown and boat type. You can still maintain anonymity, if that's your thing, while telling us a bit about yourself.

It's so much easier to have a round table discussion when we know who's sitting at the table. Besides, you might make a friend or two by sharing information. We have many folks who have met and formed friendships with folks on the forum. I've had the good fortune to meet several TFers and have enjoyed their company in many social settings.
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Old 05-06-2014, 10:24 PM   #3
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Searching the Forum

Searching the forum for the topic of your question, issue or interest.

There are actually several ways to accomplish this. The first is located at the top of every page you view. About 2 inches down from the top of the page you will see a red bar about 1/4" wide, third from the right is the search key. Tapping on it opens a pop up that will allow you to type a keyword into it. Doing so and pressing enter or clicking the "Go" button will open a page with results. That option is not always the best.

Clicking on the tab in that same pop up that says "Advanced Search" will open a page that allows you many more options for your search. That is the better option.

However my favorite way to search the forum is through our custom Google search feature, it is found at this link. Trawler Forum Custom Google Search This IMO (in my opinion) is by far and away the best option for the most relevant results. That option can also be found in both mine and Janet H's signature line at the bottom of any of our posts.

For those of you that access the forum on a mobile device through our "app" will notice the 3rd option from the bottom of the tool bar is your only option. It's not the greatest but apps are not famous for offering powerful options. Apps will be covered in an upcoming post to this thread covering mobile device navigating in app.

That's all for now and as always feel free to send a PM(Private Message) to any TF Site Team member if you have any other questions regarding forum navigation or features.
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It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they've been fooled - Mark Twain
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Old 07-31-2014, 01:55 PM   #4
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Using the TF APP and Report Post Function

A large percentage of Trawler Forum traffic comes to us via mobile devices. Mobile devices such as phones and tablets are great and I use them often myself. There are many shortcomings to this convenience that we all should be aware of regardless how we access the forum.

When accessing the forum through a web browser on a mobile device the "look" of the forum layout is identical to the view you would have on say a laptop computer however many of the features of the forum will not work as designed, the "Thanks" button is just one example. This is due to the fact that mobile devices have limited computing power and storage as compared to regular computers so the programs ran on them lose some of their functionality.

If you access your account through the "Trawler Forum App" on a mobile device the look and layout is quite different. App's remove all the extra stuff from the website and boil it down to just the pertinent info only. Signature lines at the end of posts do not show nor do post counts, geographic location of the poster, boat name or any other info contained in normal posts. You can view that info but must tap on the users avatar photo to bring up another screen showing a very basic profile. Font changes do not show in the posts in app but the new generation app does show font color other than black now.

No matter how you access the forum there is one feature I would like to point out to all new users, we have a "report post" function. The report post function is there for those times when you may take exception to what a poster wrote. Online bickering accomplishes nothing and only escalates trolling, seldom ends it. Click the "Report Post" icon and a pop up window opens asking for a brief description of the issue and alerts the Site Team to the issue. Seldom can we be all places at once so it is best to report the incedent rather than wait for one of us to stumble over it. This feature is most vital to help us do our job of providing you with a pleasant forum. Most folks do not realize this report post function also works for private messages too. It is rare but we have had incidents in private messages that needed to be brought to our attention. If you receive unsolicited solicitations for commercial services or threatening/nasty messages from someone on the forum please do not hesitate to report the message, when you do an "un-editted" copy of the message in question is forwarded to the Site Team for investigation and action as needed.

As always if you have any question regarding forum features, procedures or protocols please feel free to PM any member of the Site Team. Click on our name and select the "Send Private Message" option on the drop down screen that appears.
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Old 12-23-2018, 07:51 AM   #5
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Forum 101 Link + Adding User Profile Detail Info

Quote:
I have a loop Dream. I am new to this forum and any forums for that matter. I don’t know how this works but ready to learn.
You have started by posting... now tell us a little more about yourself your boat and dream.
A good place to start is Forum 101
Forums 101 - Set up your account | Help, Tips, etc - Trawler Forum

To add info to your profile Click on USER CP (leftside of Top Banner)
Then YOUR PROFILE - EDIT YOUR DETAILS (Left side under Your Profile)
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Old 01-07-2019, 08:40 PM   #6
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Starting A New Post & Requesting a Post be Moved

Quote:
Ashamed to ask this but I’m a new member and can’t figure out how to do a new post. A little (gentle) help pls?
To start a new thread just scan & choose the correct sub-forum i.e. General Discussion and click on it near the top left you should find a "New Thread" button. That should get you started. Just take a few minutes and try to choose the "best" section to post your question - you will get better responses.
Also See: http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s...-etc-5739.html Post #4 for New Post Instructions

If you want / need a post moved click on the Report Post Button - (Triangle with Exclamation point) at bottom left of the post and add a note requesting a site team member move the post. We try to catch posts that belong in a different area but hard to catch all.

No problem asking - ask away someone will jump in to assist
Again Welcome
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Old 01-08-2019, 08:44 AM   #7
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Profile pictures and Avatars

Quote:
1 last last question - I notice that most members have a pic of their boat along with their other info to the left of their posts. I did add a pic to my profile (UserCP > Edit Profile Picture) but it doesn't appear when I post. Am I missing something?
Thx again for your patience!

No problem w/ questions

Profile Pics are different than Avatars - you can do both from User CP (Top Banner Left)
I think you entered a profile pic which shows up when anyone clicks on your user name your profile info pops up.
Avatars show up along w/ your posts and I think that's what you are after

Below the Welcome Mat is a sub-Forum on How To Use The Forum and a "Sticky" w/in that is Forum 101 which will answer many / all of your questions and is a great place to start.
I wouldn't recommend trying to study and remember everything but rather scan through it to become familiar and go back when you have questions.

Re: where to find Sub-Forums - From the TF Home Page / Screen if you scroll down you will see the various Sections / Sub-forum which help organize the posts & info contained within... in addition to the 2 already mentioned above which are part of the main Trawler Forum you will find: General Discussion; Marinas; Financial; etc

Below the Heading Trawler Forum you will find additional Headings & Sub-Forums

Classifieds
Maint & Systems
Cruising & Events
Builders Forum

You could also ask/search for an answer to any questions on:

Trawler Forum - FAQ

Hope that helps
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Old 05-24-2019, 07:16 PM   #8
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Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 50 Mk I
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 4,260
Quote:
How do you include a picture(s) in a reply?
Have a read of this thread
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s...res-30831.html
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Old 12-20-2019, 01:50 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Insequent View Post
For posting Picture info also see: http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s...-etc-5739.html Post #6
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