FAQ

Registration Issues

 

Using The Site

 

Product Page & Review Questions

 

Internet Browser Questions


 

 

Registration Issues

Why do I need to validate my email?

In order to get e-mail digests of your subscriptions (stuff you care about around the site) and notifications of private messages from your fellow users, you must validate your email. We also may send a newsletter periodically to update you on the goings on of the community. You can choose to receive any, all, or none of these by clicking the "My Profile" tab at the top of this page, then the "Edit Account" button at the top of that page.

 

I never got my email validation email.

If it has been more than fifteen minutes, check your Spam folder in your email client to ensure that it was accidentally quarantined. To resend your verification email, log in.  On your logged in home page, if you have not verified your email you will see an alert next to your avatar that says, "Your email address has not been verified. Please click here to re-send."  If you're experiencing additional issues, please contact us.

 

I forgot my password. What should I do?

From the Password Reset page, you can send a password reset email which will include a link to change your password.

 

How do I change password, email address, and my user name?

When you're viewing your own Profile page, there is a button that says "Edit Account." From there it's very easy to reset your password, email address, and other account details.  At this time, you cannot change your user name after you have registered.  For more information on how to edit your user profile, head over to our Community Profile Tutorial.

 

Using The Site

How are forums, articles, and product reviews different?

With so many options, which medium is appropriate for what type of content? While we believe it's ultimately up to you to decide, here's a bit of guidance. 

 

First, forums, articles, product pages (and reviews of those) are all separate features and different ways you can interact with the site and its members.  They are tied together across the site to make related information easier to find, but there are in fact many differences.

 

Type

What is it?

Suggested Use

Forums

  • ideal place for group interaction
  • here each user can start new threads, respond to existing threads and posts, etc.
  • learn more about using the forums in our Discussion Forum Tutorial

  • ask questions to the community
  • post links to interesting articles and start a conversation

Articles

  • authoritative and "collaboratively editable" articles
  • articles allow you to author an article on your own or create a piece in which many individuals can work together to write and edit an article
  • learn more about writing articles in our Article Tutorial

  • "How-to" instructions and guides
  • informational articles

Reviews

  • personal opinions of products AFTER having personal experience with those particular products
  • learn more about writing reviews in our Review Tutorial

  • candid and respectful personal opinions

 

Don't forget to tag your threads and Wikis, so that it shows up on the appropriate product pages and other areas so that others can respond and contribute!  Learn more about tagging in our Tagging Tutorial.

 

Do you have tutorials on using the site?

Here is the complete list of tutorials:

  • Community Profile Tutorial - learn how to edit your Community Profile, edit Your List, change your avatar, edit your Account Details, and change your password. 
  • Discussion Forum Tutorial - learn how to start a new thread, reply to a post, reply with a quotation, edit your post, and more.
  • Article Tutorial - learn how to create a new article, edit an existing article, etc.
  • Review Tutorial - learn how to write a review and edit your reviews.
  • Messaging Tutorial - learn how to send private messages and more.
  • Subscription Tutorial - learn how to add subscriptions, edit your subscriptions, and change your subscription settings.
  • Image and Video Tutorial - learn how to add images and YouTube videos to your forum posts and articles.
  • Add a New Item Tutorial - learn how to add a new item to the database, as well as how to edit existing product pages with images, links, descriptions, and more.
  • Tagging Tutorial - learn how to tag your forum posts and articles to make them easier for other members to find.
  • Search And Advanced Search Tutorial - learn how to use the basic search mode and the advanced search mode to find the forum threads, products, reviews, and Wikis you're looking for.
  • Followers And Following Tutorial - learn about following users to keep up with all their great content.

 

Where is my forum signature?
Members may have 144 pixels of height in their signature file.  Only active members on the site will have access to the signature editor.


To edit your forum signature, navigate to the My Profile tab.  Below your image gallery, you will see a section called "Your Forum Signature."  Below that is the "Edit Signature" button.  Click here, format your signature, and click save. 
 

What are subscriptions?

Our members create a great deal of content, but not all of it will be for you - that's why you can subscribe to what's interesting. You can subscribe to specific threads in forums, to individual articles, or to tags, or users so you receive updates of all of their content.

 

You can determine the frequency with which you receive these updates. When you're logged in, go to your profile and click "Edit Subscriptions" - here you can set the frequency of each subscription to Immediate, Daily, Weekly, or Site Only. Learn more about subscriptions in our Subscription Tutorial.

 

What is the difference between the Rich Text Editor and the BB Code Editor?

The Rich Text Editor allows you to create posts, reviews, and comments using our What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get editor.  You can create tables, embed images and videos, bold and italicize and more without have to type any special code for the formatting you want.

 

The BB Code Editor is a simplified editor with fewer formatting options but allows you to use familiar BB Code tags.  For quick responses without a great deal of formatting, the BB Code Editor is a great choice.  Our BB Code Editor supports:

  • Bold -
  • Italics - [i]
  • Underline - [u]
  • Insert URL - [url] or [url=http://example.com]
  • Insert image - [img]
  • Quote - [quote]
  • Smilie parsing
  • Strikethrough - [s]
  • Colored text - [color=red] or [color=#FF0000] or [color=FF0000]
  • Lists - [list] [*]Entry 1 [*]Entry 2 [/list]
  • Left alignment - [left]
  • Center alignment - [center]
  • Right alignment - [right]
  • Indent - [indent]
  • Spoiler - [spoiler]
  • Code - [code]
  • Video - [video]
  • Attachments
  • Text sizing
     

To change your editor preferences,

  1. Navigate to your user profile
  2. Click "Edit Account Details"
  3. In the section Site Preferences, use the drop down menu to select the Rich Text editor option or the BB Code editor option
  4. Click save when you are ready.

 

If I read something that violates the site rules, what should I do?

Most all content in the site has the option to rate or vote it up. This helps the best content rise up above the mediocre (or downright bad) content.  Beyond that, you can flag or report a forum post, review, image, article, etc. with the "Report to Admin" button.

 

Why did I receive an error when I tried to upload or download an attachment?

Only users in certain user groups are allowed to upload or download attachments.  If you received an error message that says "Sorry, you don't have the required permissions to download attachments.", then you are not in one of those user groups.

        

 

Product Page & Review Questions

What is A List?

Your Lists are a way of organizing the items you Own, Want, and Had. When you want to add an item to a list, simply go to that item's product page, and click "Add to List."  You can create new lists from your user profile at any time.

 

Lists are a means to connect you with other members with similar interests and experience who you can hopefully learn from or at least enjoying talking to. We also compile everyone's List data to provide you with unbiased statistics about what products the community is actually using.  Learn more about editing Lists with the Community Profile Tutorial.

 

I have a bunch of stuff that I want to add to my List, but it's not in the system.

At any time, you can add a new item to the database. It is, however, very important that you don't add a duplicate of something that we already have. If it's just a different color of something else in the system, please don't add it- just update the existing product. If we really don't have it and it fits within the existing categories, then go for it! Clicking the "Add Item" links throughout the site will prompt a wizard that will take you through the process of adding it to the correct product category. Check out a step by step guide to adding items with the Add A New Item Tutorial.

 

The stuff I want to add doesn't fit in any of your current product categories.

If we are not covering a product category that you think is vital to this community, please let us know via our feedback form.

 

Can I review a product I'm connected to?

The focus of our community is user generated content. To preserve its integrity, you should not review your own products or business or a business at which you have been or are currently employed. 

 

Can I delete a review once I've written it?

At this time, once you post a review, you cannot delete it.  However, you can always edit it.

 

Internet Browser Questions

The site doesn't appear properly in my browser.

If you're having browser problems, please check to see if you are using an A-Grade Browser.  Our site performs optimally on the browsers listed in the A-Grade Browser Support Chart.
 

I keep getting a popover asking me to allow access to my Clipboard.

Unfortunately, this is an issue with Internet Explorer 7 and 8.  To deactivate this popover, you will need to change your browser security settings:

  1. Go to Tools -> Internet Options.
  2. Go to Security tab.
  3. Select “Internet” zone, then click on “Custom level…” button.
  4. Scroll down to “Scripting” section (at the bottom few).
  5. Under “Allow Programmatic clipboard access” option, check or select (tick) Enable. Default action for this option is Prompt, which cause the pop-up message whenever there is any attempt to access the Clipboard.
  6. Click OK twice to exit from Internet Options.

 

Why can't I right click and use Firefox or Chrome's spell checker?
If you are using the rich text editor, the right click is needed to be able to pull up image and table properties, cut and paste, etc.  However, there is a work-around to be able to keep using it.  Simply hold ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) when you right click in Firefox, it will treat the right click as though it's outside of the text editor.

You may also consider switching your preference to the BB Code editor by modifying your Account Details preferences.  This editor does not use context menus which will allow you to use the browser's right click spell check.