Quick Start Guide

[jegillikin]

Welcome to the Grand River Writing Tribe. Now that you’re here, consider attending to some housekeeping items:

• Join relevant groups. If you’re new and aren’t yet part of an existing writers’ group, you don’t need to worry about groups because your default permissions give you all you need to enjoy much content as our guest. However, if you’re part of a group, then visit the Groups page and request membership in the groups for which you are authorized. In general, you’ll pick tribespeople as well as the group you’re in. Approval for these requests is manual, so be prepared to wait for the relevant moderators to check in. Please do not request access to groups unless you’ve been approved for them.
• Complete your user profile by clicking the avatar in the upper right corner of the menu bar and selecting Edit Profile. Add your photo and various other bits of information (like a brief about-me paragraph or a signature for your forum posts) to help everyone else learn more about you. In your profile, you’re free to click-to-highlight your groups to have them display as badges next to your name. The three-dot blue button, too, exposes another set of menus, including two-factor authentication if you’d like to secure your account that way.
• Tweak your settings by clicking your avatar and selecting Settings. Here’s where you can really make your Tribe experience match your preferred communication style — the Settings menu lets you pick your default login landing page, set your email and notification preferences, and customize the way the forum looks for you.
• Chat … or not! The forum supports a chat feature. Using your avatar menu, you’re free to set a chat status, which will overlay your avatar while you’re logged in.

With those settings complete, you’re now free to browse the forums. The top menu bar offers shortcuts. The first icon takes you to the home page. The second, which looks like four lines, shows the category list (a tree of all the forums and subforums to which you have access to view). The inbox icon shows you everything you haven’t yet read — a handy way of keeping up with things! The clock icon shows you recent posts, while the tag icon shows you posts by tag. The flame icon exposes posts with many upvotes. Then use the person icon to show a user list, or the three-person icon to show a group list. The calendar icon shows events, and the phone icon exposes a contact list you can use to email the site administrators. By your avatar icon, you’ll see a magnifying glass (search!), a bell (notifications) and a chat bubble to launch or respond to chats.

One suggestion? Start with the Announcements & Info category, because official stuff happens there. Then, if you’re interested in joining a writers’ group, visit the Looking for Group category to get the ball rolling.

Welcome to the Tribe!