Getting started on the WES forum

WES_MembershipWES_Membership
in General

Welcome to all WES members!

Thanks for checking out our new forum for all Writing Equipment related matters.

This discussion is here to help with the set up of your profile and customising notifications.

Now that you have created your account you will be able to create new discussions, favourite discussions and manage your notifications for replies from users and more.

Notifications

A good place to start would be to control how you receive notifications of updates to topics. By default most email notifications are turned off, but we think you’ll want to have a little more communication via email so you don’t miss a reply or mention from someone.

So… On desktop, head over to the top right to the gear/cog icon and click that. You should see an option “Edit Profile”. Go ahead and click this.

On the next page you can control certain settings related to your account, including updating your password and managing your notification preferences.

To the right there will be a menu with the option “Notification Preferences”. Please click this.

On the following page you have the ability to set which notifications you wish to receive. In general we have all but the last set to on, otherwise we’ll end up getting an email for every discussion we’re every going to be in. But you’ll no doubt need notifications for bookmarked discussions, replies to your own discussions and when someone mentions your name. So go ahead and turn these on and hit “Save Preferences”.

Once this is done you can click your name at the top and you’ll be able to view your main profile view.

Profile

This page is in fact the “Profile page” as it were. The front facing page for you.

Here you can upload an image of yourself or something to recognise you by, view your about information and see your recent activity. On the right hand side you’ll also notice that you have notifications, an inbox for private messages, a discussions section which lists your discussions and a comments section which lists your comments.

All rather self explanatory :)

The little bell at the top reflects your notifications - this will show a number in it when you are logged on in the forum to inform you of how many new/unread replies etc you have.

Feel free to get posting and enjoy!

Comments

  • WES_MembershipWES_Membership

    Here are a few tips to help you create great discussions:

    • Make the discussion title or question as descriptive as possible. A good discussion title is a short preview of your post and is what gets people to click and read. A well written title is also going to help search engines better index your post which will bring more people into the discussion. For example, instead of ‘Won’t Connect’, try ‘Help, I’m having problems getting my Acme modem into bridge mode.’
    • Proof read. Spelling mistakes, typos, and bad grammar will distract readers from the point you’re trying to make. Vanilla automatically saves drafts as you type. If you’re writing a long post, save it as a draft and come back to it after a few minutes or as long as it takes your brain to forget what you had written.
    • Use minimal formatting. Overly formatted posts can also distract from the message and it encourages others to do likewise and you end up with a hard to read thread.
    • Put your post in the right category. The right category can be the one that has a relevant category name or it can be a category where this kind of post is often made.
    • Use tags. Tags are helpful for others to find keyword related posts. It also helps the site admins get a sense for what topics are popular.
    • If you want responses, ask for them. In marketing this is called a ‘call to action’. If you want others to comment, you can encourage them by asking them to do so. If your post is just an FYI then don’t.
    • Go easy on the insider jargon. Inside jokes and inside references can be fun and make the community unique but too much of it can turn off new members.
    • Add an image. Images add visual interest and make your post look great when shared to social networks. You can embed an image using the button bar or you can upload one from your desktop or phone.
    • Mention others. Credit other members if you are building off their previous comments or if you want to draw them into the discussion. Put the @ before a username to mention someone.
    • Take ownership. Most important of all, take ownership of the discussions that you have created. Respond to comments promptly and thoughtfully. Thank others for commenting on your discussion and help with moderation if things get heated.

    Thanks for posting! Have fun!

  • bobpbobp

    Well done

  • DotianDotian

    Hi

    Any chance you can increase the Categories to include other pen manufacturers? Onoto De La Rue, Swan Mabie Todd, Burnham, Mentmore spring to mind (the manufacturers of interest to me!)

    This may make it easier to choose which comments posted are relevant to the members.

    Cheers

  • WES_WebmasterWES_Webmaster

    Hi

    We don’t want to have too many categories, as that would clutter the front page of the Forum. The initial categories were set to reflect the prime support area that the WES Council members could support from there own experience, and could be removed or replaced if we thought other categories would be more appropriate.

    I would suggest you use the search function, as that will show just those postings that match the searched word or phrase.

    Regards

    David Wells

    Webmaster for WES

  • DotianDotian

    Hi

    Thanks for the explanation. I’ll certainly use the search facility as you suggest,

    Cheers

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