System Help Pages

There are a lot of instructions that should probably be written about how to use the site. Since I have written the software, I will do my best to write up some things when I have time. If you have anything to add, please let me know.

Table of contents:

• Signing up as a member
• Logging in
• Forgot my password
• Changing your password / member information
• Using the "New" markers
• Subscriptions
• What does [...more posts snipped...] mean?
• Guest, User, Member: Which am I?

Signing up as a member
To sign up, go to http://waterline.boatertalk.com/user/register.php and fill out the form. A password will be emailed to you on successful register. If you are trying to use a userid which is already in use, your registration will not go thorugh. Please pick a new userid and try again.

Logging in
To log in, go to http://waterline.boatertalk.com/user/login.php and fill in your userid and password.
Note: This requires that you have cookies enabled on your browser.

To Enable cookies in Internet Explorer:

• Click Internet Options on the "Tools" menu located at the top of the browser window.
• On the "Privacy" tab, move the settings slider to Medium or Accept All Cookies. Click OK.
  

• Click on "Edit" within the "Privacy" Tab
  
• Type in http://waterline.boatertalk.com then click "allow".
  
  

• Select "Preferences" on the "Edit" menu.
• Click on the arrow next to "Advanced" in the left hand menu and click "Cookies."
• Select "Enable all cookies" or "Enable cookies" for the originating website only.
• Click "OK" and then click "Refresh" on the browser menu when you return to the web page.

Forgot my password
Waterline has a system where you can have your password emailed to the address you registered with. To request your password, click on the "Password?" button on the main menu. That will bring you to a page where you can enter your userid and your password will be emailed to your registered userid.

Changing your password / member information
Need to change your password? Want to update your favorite runs? Or change the class of rivers you are paddling?
If you are logged in, you will get a "Your Info" button in the button bar of any forum you visit. Click on that button and you will at the place where you can change your information, including your password.

Using the "New" markers
"New" markers let Waterline viewers mark where they were the last time they visited Waterline. After clearing the "New" markers, all new posts since the last clearing will have a new indicator next to it.

Subscriptions
Waterline subscriptions are an email based feed for news on Waterline. Subscribing to a message of forum is very easy. Just press the "Subscribe" button at the level you wish to subscribe. If you want to subscribe to a particular message, press subscribe while in that message and all responses to that message will be emailed to you. If you want to subscribe to a forum, press subscribe on that forum's main screen and you will receive all messages posted to that forum in email. To unsubscribe from any message or forum, simply press the "Unsubscribe" button anywhere you see it. You will be given a list showing everything you are subscribed to. Check the checkboxes for subsriptions you wish to remove, and press the "Delete Marked" button.

What does [...more posts snipped...] mean?
This marker indicates that there are more posts in the thread that you can no see because your have your thread depth set. The default thread depth is currently 3. That means this marker indicates that the thread goes more than three posts deep. To increase the depth, change the value in the thread depth control. A value of -1 turns off the depth feature. The reason for this feature is that threads tend to drift off topic as they get deeper.

Guest, User, Member: Which am I?
There are three different categories of people who use Waterline. The first is someone who just looks at the information on the site, but does not have a userid so they do not contribute information. These are the "guests". The next type is made up of those who have a login userid and contribute to the information on Waterline, but have not signed up for a membership. These people are referred to as "users". Last is a "member". This is someone who has decided that Waterline offers a service that they are willing to contribute financially to by buying a membership. Members get some special features in return for their support.