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Serving communities within Erie, Huron, Sandusky, Ottawa, Seneca, & Lorain counties in Ohio USA.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ's, or Frequently Asked Questions, are shared here in regard to roles and permissions on this site (what people may do), and site controls (how things work).
- Who can use this site?
- Why do I need to use the Password Reset function each and every time I want to login to the site?
- How can I be told about Upcoming Events?
- How do I contact someone?
- How do Invitations work?
- What is meant by a Substantive Post?
- What kind of files can I upload?
- What is a Profile?
- What Subscriptions are required?
- How can I get e-mail notifications about new or updated content?
Who can use this site?
Anyone may register to use the site and, thereby, obtain basic posting rights for our forum and subscriptions control. Answers provided upon registration and other factors are used in assigning privileges. What we wish to evaluate is the role someone holds in connection with CEBUG. Some of the facts we consider are: where they live, if they have paid membership dues, their membership in another user group, business sponsors, and more.
Why do I need to use the Password Reset function each and every time I want to login to the site?
There could be one of two issues behind such a situation. The first being that the web software we are using is a bit peculiar in how it wants passwords constructed. What I mean by that is that it will encourage you to add a symbol of some sort (a punctuation mark, or some other character you can type using your keyboard) into your password. If, however, you make this symbol the very first character of your password or the last it may not store it properly into the database. For this reason, sandwich any symbols you want to use in your password inside ‘normal’ characters like letters or numbers.
The second issue is again an oddity about the web software in use. When you do a password reset request, you can do so using either your username OR your registered e-mail address. The login function of the site, however, insists you always use your username. If you’ve forgotten what your username is, use the password reset function to login this will be shown to you.
Requests to change a username, for whatever reason, can be made by contacting the webmaster using the contact form.
How can I be told about Upcoming Events?
We provide a number of ways to be notified about our Upcoming Events listed within our Calendar. All of these methods will also provide updates when changes occur, even those that are last minute due to inclement weather or speaker unavailability.
RSS Newsfeed
There is a newsfeed attached to our Upcoming Events showing on our site. This can be found here:
http://cebug.org/calendar/feed
E-Mail Notices
Those preferring to obtain e-mail notices will need to register on the site making sure they indicate in the Registration form that they live within the area we serve. When one of our officers sets up your initial role settings, a Subscription to Event notices will be established. That may be changed by the user at any time in the future while logged in. Simply collect on the My Account link showing in the left-hand column when logged in, and then the Subscriptions tab.
How do I contact someone?
Users wishing direct contact with another party must use the Private Messaging system housed within this site. Everyone registered on the site may receive such a message, however only those in certain roles may send them. This is the suggested method users should use wishing to reveal private contact information such as phone numbers or e-mail addresses to others.
Everyone is reminded that someone must be logged into the site to read the body of such messages. Under ordinary circumstances, no one other than the parties involved know what one person says to another. (Read more on our Privacy Policy.) The e-mail notification triggered when someone leaves a message for another will not include whatever was actually written. All users should periodically check spam folders for system messages such as this on a regular basis.
How do Invitations work?
Those registered on the site in certain roles may send an e-mail Invitation to another party from the site. The mini-form for doing this can be found in the bottom (footer) area. Please do keep in mind the site will be exposing your e-mail address to the person getting the Invitation so they can recognize it as coming from you. Depending on someone’s role, the site will also provide statistics on how many pending Invitations currently exist; those sent by yourself and others. Keep in mind there ARE limits as to how many Invitations may be sent out, again adjusted by one’s role.
What is meant by a Substantive Post?
Posting rights into one of our virtual SIGs require that someone must have made a few substantive posts within our forum. While we have no intention of setting a policy as restrictive as the definition for substantive content as found within online colleges, we do admit to using such policies to evaluate written posts. To explain what we mean by such a post, it must increase the understanding of the reader about the topic under discussion. References (links) to other sites are certainly helpful (APA format please) in backing ones points. Needless to say, we also have an expectation for professional writing quality in so far as spelling and grammar.
One factor we will not get too hung up on relates to minimal word lengths. Within the confines of this site, the quality of what is said will always matter more than the amount of words it takes to say something. From the perspective of those of us reviewing posts here, one that is short yet well-written will be far more welcome than one that takes a long time to make a point.
What kind of files can I upload?
Anyone creating a post within the forum may upload images (JPG, GIF, and PNG) within the Upload Screenshot box. Upon upload, the file will be converted automatically into a thumbnail image that will be shown below the body of the post. When published, someone reading the post can click on that smaller image to open a new window containing the uploaded file. Do remember, however, that all new forum posts will go into our Revision queue for review prior to publication unless the person making the post is in a role allowing immediate publication.
Members of CEBUG have additional permissions in regard to files they may upload. PDF & ZIP files may be attached to blog articles, if they so choose. Images intended to appear within the body of a blog post can be stored within their Personal Storage space connected to their profile. When open; members may upload, delete, create a thumbnail copy, or resize any image files stored. The editor included in the site software makes the insertion of images into articles an easy task as the majority of the coding is done automatically. More details on using the included editor/image management system can be found in the Content Preparations Guide.
What is a Profile?
The term Profile refers to the collection of personalized settings associated with the account of someone registered on this site. Logged in users may reach this area at any time by clicking on the My Account link showing in the left-hand column under their username. This is where someone can change their e-mail address or password, as well as define other controls or settings that affect the display of content and subscriptions (e-mail notifications). To alter any of these settings, click on the proper tab or link showing along the top. Depending on how long it has been since your last login, you may be asked to verify some information previously stored before changes can be made. When someone does change their e-mail address, we do send a confirmation message to both the old and new address about the change.
What Subscriptions are required?
At one time, certain subscriptions were required for all registered persons. With the recent re-vamp of the site, users may now adjust at any time to suit individual preferences. Upon registration, a Subscription to the Announcements section of our forum is usually created. This is the normal manner we use to inform everyone about changes of some sort. Depending upon answers provided within the registration form, other Subscriptions may also be created such as for our Event Notices. Those indicating they are Blog Fans, for example, will have one created for that content type.
Users may, of course, change their Subscriptions at any time. Those tracking active discussion areas in the forum, for example, may wish to adjust that type to a daily digest. Provided plans for future enhancements to the site bear out, we hope to soon provide support for HTML messaging.
How can I get e-mail notifications about new or updated content?
This section is intended to help those new to our site understand our subscription system used to send out e-mail notices about fresh or updated content. Certain default subscriptions are normally created for users when new accounts are approved. However, users can adjust those settings at will. There is even an option to suspend notices for a short time for those going on vacation.
To reach your subscription settings, login to your account and click on the My Account link found in the left-hand column under your username. Click on the tab for Subscriptions. The first page is the Overview page containing a summary of all active subscriptions regardless of type.
There are 4 general categories for subscriptions:
- Pages/Threads are connected to individual pages or threads within the forum or elsewhere on the site.
- Blogs are for subscriptions to individual blogs. (The content type subscription for Blogs is more universal in that it will trigger notices for ANY blog article.)
- Content Types are the most useful subscription type on a community site such as ours, as notices are sent regardless of who creates the item. (More on content types below.)
- Categories would be subscriptions connected to smaller groupings of some content type. For example, the Announcements section of the forum is considered a category of the Forum Topic content type.
The reason so many different content types exist on the site is to aid in the organization and the establishment of subscriptions. For example, take the Newsletter content type, which is used to hold messages from our sponsors about special offers and more. These messages can only be read on our site while logged in as they are accessible only by members of CEBUG. Anyone with an active account can establish a subscription to this content type so as to see how often we are receiving messages of that kind.
What follows is a brief overview of the names given to content types on this site and their purpose:
- Blog entry - Blog articles are grouped together within an online journal under the author's name, with the intent for long-term publication.
- Book page - A Book page is always linked in a tree-like structure to related content using a parent/child relationship. Another distinction for Book pages is the automated display of links to adjacent pages, providing a simple navigation system for organizing and reviewing structured content.
- Events - An Event content type is linked to the summary calendar showing throughout the site and within our Upcoming Events list featured at the top of all pages.
- Forum topic - A Forum Topic is the initial post to a new discussion thread within the forum.
- Newsletters - Used to store newsletters provided by sponsors and other contributing writers to the site. The majority of these are published as member-only items.
- Web Seminars - Notices about web seminars sent to us by sponsors, open to the public.
Beneath most content on the site, a link to establish Subscriptions may also be found. This would create notices for updates to that particular item.
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