There have been a few posts recently about the value of displaying members’ locations when posting and since then, I’ve been keeping my eyes open on any anything posted by people new to the forum, new to the club or new to MX5s. Almost without exception (and I include myself in this when I joined last November), the location details are missing. Do the administrators of this forum think there’s any virtue in making it mandatory to enter this information when signing up, or at the very least changing the titles on the boxes to make it clearer where such information should be entered if desired?
Hopefully this is constructive criticism and not a moan.
I had trouble posting my location, as some of you may remember a few days ago - you helped me out.
In the end, Ian told me that one’s location should be listed in the “where do you live” box, and not in the “city” box. This might seem logical to some, but obviously not everyone, otherwise we wouldn’t be discussing this again now.
I have always thought that there should be an “idiot’s guide” to this forum - after all, not everyone is computer-savvy (I most certainly am NOT !), and a start-up guide for new members would, I’m sure, be much appreciated. It would also stop newbees from posting things in the wrong sections (like I have done on the odd occasion - thanks for correcting me Ian !).
I’ll second Chris on the “City” versus “Where do you live” confusion as I presumed “City” would be enough for my location to appear. Experimenting got me there in the end but maybe making it clear that “Where do you live” is how your location becomes visible would be good.
Have a look at the “My New Ride” thread, started by Dutchie.
In it, I have relayed the result of my recent ‘lightbulb’ moment on posting photographs - OK, my brother told me how to do it ! Anyway, have a look, it will save me having to type it all out again !
Also the thread entitled “My MX-5” by yours truly contains some pics I uploaded over the past couple of days.
From my experience, when compiling a guide, it’s always best to assume that some people will have no real experience of any aspect of forums and of being a member of an “online” club. On that basis, the guide should include how to correctly complete the “application form”, how and where to post new threads, how to add photos, how to reply, how to reply with quotes, when to use the “Thank” button, how to add an avatar, navigating to specific areas (e.g. first unread post, an explanation of the Tag As Favourite and any tips regarding the Search facility.
The thing that I’m still not certain about is how (if at all) the individual area forums interact with the main forum. For example, if I put a post on the South West forum, will it appear on the main forum?
I could be completely wrong of course, in which case hopefully someone else will come along with better ideas!!!
The subjects that crop up most often seem to be the inclusion of avatar pictures, how to add a location, how to post photographs, how to reply with quotes, and how to ensure a new post goes into the correct section.
I’m a self-confessed ‘techno-thickie’ - this is my first foray into this kind of forum, and I’ve made mistakes with most of the above. Other members have helped me with some features, but it was two months before anyone explained to me actually why photographs had to be posted on another web site first, because this site cannot, or simply does not, store large picture files. In the end, my brother (the family I.T. geek !) told me a fool-proof way to add pictures (using the ‘copy and paste’ method), and I’ve had some success with his system over the past couple of days.
I think I have got the hang of most of these things now, but it was not without a lot of head scratching and swearing, and corrections from Ian.
I’ve suggested that there should be an ‘Idiots Guide’ for new members. Perhaps this is not a very good name for it - maybe ‘New Member’s Guide’ might be more PC. I called it what I did, because I was the idiot who didn’t know how to navigate this site when I started !
It was only the help of other members that got me to where I am today with proficiency in the way I participate on this forum. It would have been so much easier if there had been a guide to help new members do the basics. It would make Ian’s life a bit easier too.
I’m a worse techno-phobe than Chris. I actually shake when I try to do something new, or that I’m unsure of, and I still can’t manage the Avatar picture or adding photos to a post.
I didn’t realise anyone was as technologically stupid as me !
As I suggested to Eadwig, have a look at my post on Dutchie’s ‘My New Ride’ thread. I’m simple, so I tried to make my suggestions regarding photo inclusion, as simple as me !
Obviously one really needs a digital camera, and a PC to upload the pictures to. Then unfortunately, these pics have to be uploaded to a third-party web site, like the Photobucket site that is recommended by some members. However, I use my own web site (the model railway one that I use for my business), and that seems to work too.
With all these things in place, actually including them on your posts is easy - it has to be, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do it (you ask my brother !).
The ‘My MX-5’ thread, by your’s truly, has some photos I have taken of my car around Frome - have a look.
It’s been mentioned before about how to post pictures in the message box on the forum.
I did a little how to before, here it is again, you need to use Photobucket to host/upload your pictures to. If you can do that the simple part is over, it really is easy peazy to get them on to here or any forum.
So once on Photobucket you will have a selection of your snaps, you then need to click on the picture of your choice and get it on the screen. Best to have two tabs/pages open, one of this forum with the reply box ready as if you are replying in a thread and the other tab/page of Photobucket displaying the picture you want to copy and paste.
Now at the RH side top of the page you have your picture on you will see a selection box something like the one in the image below
You click the fourth box down next to the wording IMG, it will glow yellow, that’s it you have copied it. Next you open or bring your page up and the message/reply box of this forum (or any other forum) and right click and paste the link you copied into the forum text/message box. All you do then is add your text (if any) then hit post or preview.
That’s all there is to it, do it once and it all comes natural after then.
Thanks Chris and Mick for your helpful posts, much appreciated! It would be great however if you could just download pics directly from the camera, but I guess that is not as easy as it seems! Please don’t go into details, I won’t understand a word of it!
