TCG Back to the basics: How To's and FAQ

OffshoreDrilling

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Aug 28, 2007
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This thread is intended to be a basic guide for new forum users with common questions and a quick reference for some of the forum features you may not be familiar with. As The Chicago Garage changes, this post will evolve to reflect the latest information.

*please bear with me as this thread is being constructed. If you have any suggestions, or would like to create content to be added, reply in a post below*

The Chicago Garage (TCG) is more than an automotive message board. We are Illinois' largest and most active car enthusiast community! All makes, models and modes of transportation are welcome. Whether you've got a minty numbers matching muscle car, a rusted out pickup for hauling your home project materials, Harley Davidson with $10,000 in chrome accessories, a project car that hasn't run in 10 years, spend your time at the race track or half mile, or are simply wanting to talk cars from the safety of a keyboard, we welcome you.

Things Unique to TCG:

-We are largely "hands off" in forum moderation. Some forum sections have a sticky thread with guidelines for new thread creation and responses. Please observe them! There are some basic, common sense and unwritten rules which are followed forum wide.

-TCG Lingo. Just as a group of friends or family might come up with their own slang or lingo for certain things, we are a community and have some of our own language. There is usually an inside joke or story behind it. If you're not clear on something, just ask.

-TCG: WE KNOW DRAMA. A good debate or argument is always entertaining and can blow up into a multi page thread in literally minutes. Blatant and repetitive personal attacks not meant in good fun are a big no no. Moderators will clean things up as needed, make their job easy and keep it (kinda) classy-ish.

-NWS(not work safe), NSFW(not safe for work) content needs to be posted within the NSFW section of the site. If you absolutely MUST post something questionable in regard to content POST A NSFW TAG next to it. Example: If you're posting a picture or video of questionable nature, post a link to it, not the image or video itself into the thread. Many of us use the forums all day long and don't want to lose our jobs over someone else's decision to post in the wrong section.

-We have members from literally every walk of life and profession here. Offering/asking for help with off topic (non-automotive) questions are abundant and encouraged. Financial decisions, personal issues, furnace and AC repairs, unofficial legal assistance, diet and workouts, conspiracy theories, you name it. After all this is The CHICAGO Garage, almost guaranteed someone "knows a guy".

Site Navigation:

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From left to right, top to bottom:

-Forum: takes you to the main forum listing section, navigate to your chosen sub-forum from here.

-User CP(control panel): This is a deep dark hole of sub-menus. Many of these items are accessible in a multitude of ways. This is where you would edit profile information (eg. signature, avatar), various settings for forum behaviors (hiding photos, blocking of users, email and password), private messages, managing thread subscriptions, reviewing your user reputation.

-Members: a complete list of TCG usernames

-Casino: games of all sorts. because you never know when work is going to get slow and your palm starts itching but can't view the NSFW section. Earn casino cash by posting.

-Live Feed/Chat Box: a page dedicated to the chat box and a live feed of posts as they're made

-Garage: a virtual garage to post photos and details of your current vehicle stable. This section doesn't see much use. Post up a new thread about the updates to your ride(s) or bump an existing thread about them. They get much more exposure and give other members a chance to comment.

-Arcade: Similar to casino, minus the itchy palms. There is a leaderboard for top scores in each game. Additionally, you'll get a small trophy icon displayed by your user name if you have a high score.

-itrader: think of it as an eBay seller rating. Review people you have transactions with.

-Community: drop down menu of links for quick access of some buried items

-Calendar: A compilation of all forum members' birthdays and official TCG events

-New Posts: Lists all threads with unread posts since your last visit.

-Search: self explanatory, the advanced search lets you add filters and narrow down potential results

-Quick links: misc. commonly used links which may be buried in other sub-menus

-Log Out: Logs you out of your username

-"folders" logo and text: A bread crumb trail of what sub-section you have wandered into

-Advertisement: this is NOT spam! These advertisements are forum sponsors. Many of us use their goods and services, they pay for the ad space here which helps support some of the costs of running TCG. PM [MENTION=5]Mook[/MENTION] for any questions about becoming a sponsor

-Notifications: The number indicates the number of notifications you have. Post "likes" and quotes, unread private messages, new iTrader notifications, etc.




Forum subsections, posting and thread creation:

Site Features:

ChatBox: On the title page reached at www.thechicagogarage.com there is a real-time updated chat box located near the top and center of the screen. This is a great place for a quick brain dump. "this bears game is a joke" "ughhh shouldn't have eaten that taco bell" "al;ksdjf;lksjd;j" More often than not, there are appropriate threads to post such musings and any new content on the site is great.

Live Posting: As posts are made in a thread it will automatically update itself in real time. No need to refresh a page over and over to try and catch the latest response. A small message box will pop up in the lower right hand corner of your screen letting you know new posts have been added below.

Mobile Theme: The website detects when you're using a mobile device and will post a large link on the home page prompting you to (optionally) use it by clicking said link. Mobile is a streamlined version of the site and does not offer all the features of the full size desktop version.

How To's
This does not cover ALL the available features Only the lesser used or more complex to execute

-Shout outs/mentions: Not all of us browse the forum in the same manner and may miss posts intended for us. A mention of a user in a post will send them a notification which will provide a link to the location they were mentioned. If you use Facebook, it's the same as "tagging".
1. You need to know the FULL and CORRECT spelling of the user's name which you want to tag. They are searchable in the Members link at the top of every page.
2. There are two ways to go about a shout out. First is to open the "go advanced" link below the new post text entry box. You will find an icon that looks like a speaker in the menu over the text box inside here. (Hover your mouse over any of the icons for their function).
3. Simply click the speaker icon and it will add the correct tags to your post. Type the desired user's name between the two boxes of code and post.
4. The second way to do this is manually typing @ username (no space in-between): [MENTION=5]Mook[/MENTION]
 

Bru

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May 24, 2007
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Here's another basic: POST! Post your car, any modifications, track times, a cool photo. Or anything you're interested in: RC cars, boats, cameras, stereos, etc. A forum is only as good as the content generated by members, so POST!
 

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