USER HOW-‐TO

Likes

A "Like" is when you click the button "Like" on someone’s post at the

bottom right next to reply, or somebody clicks to "Like" your post. It

saves you wasting a post with "I like your post" type of comments, which

may be considered as spamming. To see how many "Likes" someone has

you can view their profile card or your own profile card, you can also find

it in your profile.

Starting a New Discussion(Thread)

Click on the forum that you want to post in. Then at the top right there

is a button titled "Post New Thread", just click on this and it will take

you to this screen below

Add in your title to your thread ie; "Hello I'm new". Then type into the

box underneath. When you are done with your message and want to post

it click on the "Create Thread" button just below. This will create a basic

thread with no polls or pictures.

Replying to a Post

At the bottom of the page there is a Post Reply Box where you can type

into and add media and/or pictures and go to more options if needed.

Then click on the "Post Reply" button underneath. The post box will look

like this but have your avatar at the side...

Searching for new threads/discussions and Posts

To look for new posts that you have not read through yet the quickest

way to do this is to click on the "Forums" tab at the top left then click on

the "What's New" tab.

The other way to look for new threads is to go to the forum that you are

interested from the main forums page and click on that. Then all the

threads that you have not read yet will show up in bold and if you have

posted in a thread your avatar will show up as a very small avatar over

the thread icon.

Reporting a Post

There may come a time when you feel the need to report a post to the

staff for example; abuse, spam or trolling. To do this just click on the

"Report" which is to be found at the bottom of the post in question. This

will bring up a box like this one;

Then just fill in your reasons for reporting the post and click on "Report

Post" button. The staff will receive your report and handle the situation

from there.

Uploading Media Files Like You Tube

When you post in a thread you have the ability to upload media files from

places such as You Tube. To do this you will find a small film reel icon in

the post reply section. Just click on this and it will open up a pop up and

enter the URL into the space provided and click on "Embed".

Uploading a Picture to a Post

There are a few different ways of uploading a picture to a post. To

upload a picture from the internet just click on the small tree picture

icon. This will bring up a pop up where you can insert your link to your

image, then click on "Insert".

To upload a picture from your computer click on "Upload a File" to the

right just below the post bit. This brings up a pop up where you can click

"Choose File" and browse your own computer for the picture you want.

Once uploaded you can choose whether the Thumbnail size or Full Image

in the post. Then click "Post Reply." Note that the picture will be

automatically resized to fit the post space if needed. Please try not to

upload anything larger than 650px x 650px

Quoting a Post or Multiple Posts

Quoting a post is as easy as everything else is to do on the forums. All

you need to do is to go to the post you want to quote and click on the

Reply text at the bottom right of the post. If you want to quote multiple

posts just click on the Reply for every post you want to quote.

Search Function

There is a search function where you can search the forums for any

words. This is advised to do if you are unsure if a topic you want to post

has already been discussed. Just put your key words into the search bar

at the top right of the page, shown below;

This will open up a larger search box like this;

Now you have the ability to search for posts by a particular member and

or go to advanced search, which gives you many more options such as

searching a particular forum.

Your Profile

To get to your profile, firstly click on your name at the top right to bring

down your preferences. Then click on your name. This will take you to

your profile page... Here you can see everything from who is following

you to your status updates.

Your Preferences

To get to your preferences then just hover on your name in the top right

and then click Preferences. From here you can change everything from

your personal details to your alert preferences. Just click on the tab on

the left to take you to that page of options. It is worth going through

them from top to bottom to amend or check them on a regular basis.

Let's start at the top.

Your Account

Your Alerts ; This will show you your recent alert activity. You can get

alerts for everything from who is following you to who liked a post of

yours.

Your News Feed ; This will show you what others are up to that you

follow.

Likes Received ; This will show you all the likes you have received, from

who and for what post.

Watched Threads ; This will list for you all your watched threads.

Personal Conversations

View Conversations ; This will list all the personal conversations that

you have been involved with.

Start a New Conversation ; Does what it says, it gives you the chance to

start a new conversation.

Settings

Personal Details ; This is where you can edit everything from your

gender to your home page. Just remember to click save at the bottom.

Signature ; You can add your signature in here. It is recommended to

preview it first then save.

Contact Details ; From here you can amend you email address associated

to the account if needed and you can also add your identities like twitter

to your profile so people can contact you on a social network.

Privacy ; Here you can decide if people can see your online status or

even who may see your profile.

Preferences ; This is where you can choose to view other peoples

signatures or change the style you are viewing.

Alert Preferences; Here you can amend the alerts that you receive.

People you Follow; This will list everyone that you follow.

Facebook Integration; Associating with Facebook makes it easier to

share interesting things with your friends and import content from

Facebook here.

Password ; You can change your password here.

Privacy

Everyone should take the time out to check and set their privacy settings

on any forum. On Savannah cat Chat this is very easy to do. Just hover

over your name at the top then select Privacy. Here you can do anything

from showing your online status to who can view your profile page. Just

select the section you want to change and click on the selection you

want then click save at the bottom. Below is an example;

Watched Threads

You have the option to watch any thread you like and to receive emails

when there are new posts in that thread also. To do this go to the thread

you want to watch and click on Watch Thread in the top right of the

thread. You will get this pop up asking if you want to receive email

notifications if someone posts in that thread from now onwards.

To view all your watched threads just simply go to your Name at the top

of the page and click on watched threads. This will take you to a page

that will show your watched threads if they have new posts in them. To

view that thread just click on it.

What is an Avatar?

Avatars are small images that help to represent you on the forums and

that appear next to every post you make and on your profile and profile

card. Example of a profile card (you see this when you click on

someone’s avatar in a post) is below. Savannah Cat Chat by default does

not have a personalized avatar picture upon registration, but there is

sometimes an exception. The situations are:

- Without a gender this is a question mark.

- With a gender selected you will get a default gender avatar; male or

female icon.

- If you are a member of gravatar.com, either it recognizes your email

and syncs the avatar, or you could enter an (alternative) email and test

that, if found, select that one.

- And of course, you could upload your own custom avatar.

The user does not have to think about resizing anything. In the avatar

editor there's a preview of your uploaded avatar, you can move the

mouse around here to refocus the square.

Uploading Avatars

To upload an avatar go to the top of the page to your name and hover

the mouse over it so you get a drop down box appear with a list of

functions, click on Avatar. This will bring up a box like this...

In the first box you can upload your chosen picture to become your

avatar from your computer and it is recommended that it is at least

200x200 pixels. Click on "Choose File" and select an image to use. Then

click on "Okay" at the bottom.

You can use Gravatar. Gravatar is an image that is classed as a social

avatar and can be used in many different places. You have to be a

member at gravatar.com and upload your pictures there. Click on "Use a

Gravatar" then fill in your email address and click "Test" then "Okay".

Uploading the gravatar will auto resize it to the size Savannah Cat Chat

needs. Uploading the avatar will auto resize, but gives you the option to

crop the avatar. In the avatar editor there's a preview of your uploaded

avatar, you can move the mouse around here to refocus the square.

Signatures

A signature is text or images or both that a member will have show up

underneath very post they make. For example;

How to get a signature

To get a signature you need to first decide what you are going to use and

find out if you have permission to use it. Then go to your name at the

top right and hover over it, then click on signature. This will take you to

the box where you can add in a signature. It's advised to click preview

before save to make sure you have it the way you want it first. Then

click save.

Status Updates

A status update is a little piece of information about you like how your

feeling or what you are doing much like Facebook or Twitter. You can

Update your status 2 ways, either by hovering over your name at the

top right and filling in your status at the bottom of this box or by going

to your profile and adding in a comment there. Your status update will

show on your profile and also on your profile card. On a members profile

you can also comment on someone’s status update by clicking on the

comment text just right of their status.

Following People

Want to keep an eye on what your friends are doing? Well that's easy, you

just simply follow them. You can "Follow" people on Savannah Cat Chat

very easily. Simply click on their avatar to bring up their profile card

and click on follow.

Personal Conversations

A personal conversation is like a private thread/discussion viewable to

only those invited to join the conversation. You can invite people at any

stage in the conversation. You can invite up to 5 members to participate

in the conversation. If there is a response to a conversation or you have

been invited into one then you will get an alert in your inbox at the top

right of the page.

To start a new conversation

Hover over your name at the top right of the page then click on

preferences. Then this will take you to your preferences page where you

can click on start new conversation.

Click on the conversation and it will appear like this;

You can reply using the box at the bottom which will have your avatar

next to it much like a normal post.

Inviting Others

To invite more people into the conversation just click on the Invite More

at the bottom of the Conversation Participants to the right of the page.

You will get a pop up where you can add in more members. It is worth

noting that when added the new participants can view the conversation

that happened before they were added.

Leave a Conversation

Once you are done with the conversation and wish to leave just click on

the Leave Conversation text at the top right of the conversation. This

will bring up a pop up asking if you still want to be informed of future

conversation in that particular personal conversation.

Your News Feed

Your News Feed is simply a view of what your followed friends are

posting, liking and doing. You can get to this through your account. Just

hover over your name at the top right of the page and click on New

Feed. SO, here you can follow what your friends are doing and also you

can choose to hide them from the news feed by clicking on the hide

button on the right of their feed.

Forum Speak

ADDY - Address

AFAIK - As Far as I know

ASL - |Age Sex Location

AFK - Away From Keyboard

ASAP - As Soon As Possible

ATM - At The Moment

B4 - Before

BRB - Be Right Back

BBFN - Bye Bye For Now

BBIAB - Be Back In A Bit

BBL - Be Back Later

BBS - Bulletin Board System

BF - Boyfriend

BS -

CSS - Cascading Style Sheet

DL - DownLoad

DND - Do Not Disturb

DOB - Date Of Birth

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

G2G - Got To Go

GF - GirlFriend

IE - Internet Explorer

IMHO - In My Honest Opinion

IMO - In My Opinion

IIRC - If I Recall Correctly

IRC - Internet Relay Chat

JK - Just Kidding

K - Okay

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

L8R - Later

LOL - Laugh Out Loud