The shout outs are gURL's bulletin boards. In the boards, you can read, post and reply to messages on a wide variety of subjects. Please read our internet safety page.
Board Structure
There are 12 main topics that the shout out boards are categorized under. They are:
1. Shout out to gURL -- This is usually the first stop for new members. You can introduce yourself in the "welcome to gURL members" folder. This is also where you can go to promote your rooms (aka user profiles) and learn about other gURLs. The "shout out to the gURL staff" folder is where you can leave comments for the gURL staff. This folder is the place to voice your opinions about gURL, ask questions, and let us know what you want to see.
2. Advice -- The place to go to connect with your fellow gURLs, to give and get advice about almost everything you need. There are 10 boards with subjects ranging from relationships to school issues.
3. Crisis Center -- This is the place for support. Sensitive topics such as rape and suicide are discussed here.
4. Politics, Activism & Current Events -- A place to discuss & debate current hot button issues and other political & environmental concerns.
5. Spirituality, Philosophy & Religion -- Come here to talk about what you believe in (or not). Topics range from origins of the universe to prayer & worship.
6. Wordsmithy -- A place for all the poets and prose writers. You can post your work and comment on other gURLs' work. Or discuss your favorite poets and stories. Subjects range from love & relationships to sci-fi and fantasy.
7. Arts & Crafts -- This is the place to meet other illustrators, comic artists, cooks, etc. Come and discuss your favorite techniques and artists.
8. Media -- Post your thoughts on current music, movies, TV shows and more. The "fan clubs" folder gives you a chance to gush with other gURLs about your favorite celebs & singers.
9. Fashion -- Clothes, hair, designers, tattoos, shopping, makeup... all about the world of fashion and style.
10. International -- A place for an international discussion. Whether you're curious about different languages or you just want to find a pen pal in a different country...
11. Sports -- Discuss sports and everything sports related. There are 4 boards: court & field sports, athletics, winter sports and water sports.
12. Science & Technology -- Discuss the different sciences while finding like-minded science & tech junkies. You can also practice your HTML skills while hearing about the latest in computers and other gadgetry.
Each board is categorized under the appropriate topic. For example, you will not find a basketball board under Advice. You will find it in Sports. Within each board there are several different folders. The folders are there to help organize the conversations. This way, you'll know exactly where to go to post your opinions and thoughts.
Each of the conversations lives in a folder. So, for example, if you're in the relationships board, and you want to talk about your ex, you would post a message in "the ex" folder not in the "kissing/heavy-petting" folder.
All of the boards have at least one folder. Please try to keep conversations in the appropriate folder. If not, it will be hard for other users to find the conversations they're looking for. If you have any suggestions for new folders, you can feel free to send an email to community@gurl.com.
Reporting Inappropriate Posts
While we monitor the community, we cannot catch everything that goes on right away. Please help us by letting us know if you see something inappropriate in any of our community services. Messages that are considered inappropriate are those that have broken one or more of the community rules. You have two options to notify us:
1. "Report Violation" link -- This can be found in the "Options" menu at the bottom left hand corner of any message in the boards. Click the link, within the inappropriate message, select a reason from the violation pull down menu and add a comment if you wish. To send, hit the "Report Violation" button.
2. You can also send an email to shoutouts@gURL.com. Make sure you include a link to the inappropriate post as well as a copy of the message and the name of the board and folder. Also, make sure to include the username of the person posting.
When you click on a board, you will be taken to the board's main page. There you'll find the community rules and a brief description of what the board is all about. In the left column, you will see the most recent conversations. In the right column, you will see a listing of all the other boards in that topic, along with a search box.
When you click on the "Start Reading" button, the page will refresh and the right frame will disappear. In the left frame you can see the titles of all the recent conversations, along with all the folders on that board.
To read a message, just click on the title.
The left frame also lists the number of replies the message has received and the time it was posted. New messages will be marked.
In the compose message window, you can choose different options for font, font size, color and paragraph alignment. If you are using Windows with Internet Explorer 5.0 or above, you can also choose WYSIWYG editing. If you are using a Mac, Netscape or an older version of IE, you can use your own HTML code by checking the "source" button at the bottom of the message.. (To read more about HTML, check out the gURL Guide to HTML.
Once your message is written, you have a few options to consider before you post to the board. You can preview your message, run spell check, attach files or hit cancel if you no longer want to post the message.
You also have the option of emailing your message out to your friends and other gURL users. Enter up to 10 emails at a time, separating them with commas.
Underneath the green buttons, there are two options. 1) "Post to the Message Board," and 2) "Reply via Email." If you don't want other gURL users to read the message, you can choose "Reply via Email." This will send the message to the person you're replying to and will not post the message on the board. I don't think this is a very good idea because it takes the conversations off the board (weakening the board). Since members can easily email one another via the member-to-member link, it might be better to not encourage them to take conversations into email.
If you are logged in, you have the ability to edit or delete any of the posts you have written. Just click on the "Edit" or "Delete" link on the bottom of any message that you've written.
Sorting Messages (this is the language used on the ivillage help page)
In the left hand frame, there's a pull down menu under the words "Show conversations." This allows you to choose how you'd like to see the posts. For example you can choose to show all conversations from today, all conversations from 2 days, or all conversations from 7 days back. You can also choose to see conversations with polls, among other options.
Navigating Messages
The first message of the conversation always appears at the top of the page, with each subsequent reply following after it. If there are too many messages to fit on one page, you can navigate to the next page by scrolling down and clicking on the page number you want to go to.
Another way to navigate is by using the message number links. In the top right hand corner of each message, underneath the date and time, there is an underlined number. This is the numbered link assigned to that message by the boards system. For example, the first message of the conversation will be numbered 1.1, the next message will be numbered 1.2, the third will be numbered 1.3 and so on. When you reply to a message, the boards system will track what message you replied to. So, for example, if the third message in the conversation, 1.3, is a reply to the first message 1.1, it will say "1.3 in reply to 1.1" .
Since these message numbers are links, you will be able to jump to different messages in the conversation by clicking the number associated with that message.
Message Options
The options menu appears in the bottom left corner of every message. It gives you a list of different choice for what you can do with the message. The options are:
Email this Message -- This allows you to forward this message via email. You can also add your own comments along with the forwarded message.
Ignore User -- This feature allows you to ignore messages written by a particular user. If you choose to ignore a user, the messages they write within the conversation will no longer be visible to you. If the user starts a conversation, you will not see their message, but you will see all of the replies. None of the other members will know whom you've chosen to ignore.
Add to Friends -- Adding a person to your friends list enables that user to have access to certain parts of your room that you assign as "friends only." It also assigns an extra icon that only you will see, which indicates that this user is your friend. None of the other members will know who is on your friends list and who isn't.
Print Message -- This gives you a printer-friendly view of the message.
Report Violation -- You can choose this option if you feel that a post is in violation of the gURL community rules. Select a reason from the violation pull down menu. Add an additional comment if you wish and then hit the "Report Violation" button. This sends the message off to the gURL staff where it will be reviewed.
Rating Messages
In the bottom right hand corner of each message, there is a "Rate" symbol with stars. If you click on that, you can rate the message on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest). This can be a good way for you to see how interesting other people find the messages to be.
Signatures
Before you edit/create your signature, please remember that the gURL community rules also apply to the signatures. Please do not include any pornographic, racist, hateful or otherwise inappropriate images.
Note: To make your posts easier to read, we recommend a maximum of 5 pictures in your signature. Signatures that are too long may be edited at the discretion of gURL staff.
To create or edit your signature, you must be logged into the gURL boards. Once you're logged in, click the "my room" link at the top of the shout out boards. From there, click "my board settings." In that window, scroll down until you see "Personal Signature."
You can edit your signature two ways:
1) WYSIWYG
This stands for "what you see is what you get." Instead of entering HTML tags, you can just type directly into the white box. The formatting buttons at the top let you pick the font type, color, size, etc.
2) Source
If you choose the source option, you will have to enter everything in HTML. This is slightly more advanced, and more complicated than WYSIWYG. It involves entering HTML tags for specific formatting features. You might want to do this if you have previous knowledge of HTML and you want something really specific in your signature. To learn more about HTML, check out our gURL guide. (http://www.gurl.com/findout/guides/pages/0,,625086,00.html)
Once you are finished entering information for your signature, scroll down and hit the green submit button. If you forget to do this, the changes will not be made.
For a more detailed explanation on how to build your signature, check out the gURL guide to signatures and get free gURL blinkies.
To "test" your signature, you can go to the siggy testing folder on the web board: http://messageboards.gurl.com/gl-web/messages/?topfolder=7
Subscribe
In the top right hand corner of the message (above the time) there is a "Subscribe" link. You can choose this if you want to subscribe to this conversation. This means that you will receive an email with a list of all the responses to that message.
There is also an option to subscribe to the board (also known as a forum). This means that you will receive an email composed of all of the active messages in that forum.
To manage your subscriptions, click the "My Subscriptions" link located in the subscribe window.
Invite
In the left frame, underneath the list of folders is an "Invite" link. Clicking this allows you to enter the email addresses of people you would like to invite to the board.
How to Make Your Own Poll
Right below the "Post New" link in the left frame, you will find "Create Poll." When you click this, you can enter your own poll question, along with the answers you'd like the readers to choose from. This is also where you can choose other poll options such as: when the poll expires, how you would like the results to be viewed, and whether or not a person can change his or her vote.
Search & Advanced Search
The "Search" box can be found at the bottom of the left frame, underneath the listing of folders and conversations. Search lets you search all the messages in the boards using a keyword. It will search all the messages from the past year.
The "Advanced Search" link can be found at the top of the left frame underneath the "Create Poll" link. Advanced Search gives you the option to search by message number, or to search specific boards, folders and dates. You can also search by user, so if for example you want to see all the messages that a specific person wrote to you, you can enter your username in the "To" box and enter their username in the "From" box.
Boards Navigation
At the top of the page there will be a breadcrumb that shows you exactly what board you're in. For example: you are here'CONNECT: shout out boards>books & magazines. Below this breadcrumb you will see two drop down menus. The first drop down menu includes all the boards in that topic--for example, it will say, "see all media boards." That drop down menu will show you all the boards in the Media topic. The second drop down menu includes all the shout out boards in the community. This way, you can jump to any shout out board, regardless of what board you're in.
Sometimes, you will only see the "jump to a shout out board" drop down menu. This means that there are no other boards in that topic.
Right next to the title of the board, you will find the following links: "log in/out," "my room," "my board settings," "my favorite boards" and "help."
Log in/ Log out
To log in to the community, click the "log in" link, enter your username and password and hit submit.
To log out, click the "log out" link. My Profile/Room
Once you're logged in, you can view or edit your room. To view, click the "My Room" link. To edit, click "My Room", then click "Change Profile." You can jump to different places in your room by clicking on the tabs labeled: "Main," "Upload Picture," "Favorites," "Personal" and "View Friends."
To update account information such as your email address or password, click the "My Prefs" link located under the "Change Profile" link.
My Board Settings
To edit your board settings, click on the "my board settings" link. From here, you can edit your homepage, time zone, signatures, personal icon, and gURL to gURL email options.
My Favorite Boards
To add or delete boards to your favorites list, click the "my favorite boards" link. It will display all your current favorites along with your most recently visited boards. You can check the boxes next to the ones that you'd like to add or delete.
Community Moderators
Members of the gURL staff monitor the boards to make sure that gURL users are not violating the community rules. These moderators are there to keep the content of the boards useful and fun for everyone. If a moderator contacts you and asks you to stop a certain behavior, you are required to do so. Failure to follow community guidelines can result in the cancellation of your gURL membership. When a moderator posts to the board, her nickname will contain the prefix gURLstaff_ or gURLmod_. This is done to help prevent confusion about who is and isn't a community moderator. Please read and understand the community rules.
Volunteer Moderators
Occasionally we allow qualified users to become volunteer moderators for the board. These moderators will work with the community manager and other moderators in enforcing the gURL community rules. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer moderator, please send an email to community@gurl.com.
Community: Tech Help for Message Boards
If you're having technical problems, please read the information below. Some technical problems are common and can be solved easily. If your problem isn't listed or solved by taking the action described, please send an email to: community@gurl.com. Please include the following information in your email:
Browser type and version (for example, Internet Explorer 6.0). If you're not sure what version you have, check the "Help" menu on your browser.
Internet service provider (aka ISP) and type of connection. For example: AOL and dial-up.
Type of computer and operating system. For example: Dell with Windows XP.
Are you behind a firewall or using a popup blocker? If you're not sure, ask the person who set up your computer.
Describe your problem. If you saw an error message, please include it.
Has this problem occurred before? How often does it happen? Does it happen all the time or just every once in awhile?
1) Our boards are compatible with most types of computers and browsers* but they work best with Internet Explorer 5.0 and above. If you are running an older version of Internet Explorer or are using Netscape and you're experiencing technical problems, we suggest that you upgrade to Internet Explorer 5.0 or above. You can download Internet Explorer for free at the Microsoft Website.
(*gURL does not support WebTV, Netscape versions 6.0 and below, and certain branded browsers.)
2) Check your browser and cookie settings. These settings can affect how your browser interacts with our message boards. We suggest that you set your browser to accept cookies and enable Java.
To enable cookies, we recommend you set your browser's security settings to "medium." To accept cookies:
Netscape 7 users: Go to Edit > Preferences > Privacy & Security> Cookies > Enable All Cookies
Internet Explorer 6 users:
Go to Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Accept All Cookies
Then, close your browser window. You can continue to stay online, just close the program. Then open your browser window again.
AOL 9.0 users:
To enable cookies for Internet Explorer version 6.x:
On the AOL toolbar, click Settings > Internet Settings (AOL 7 & 8 users: Select Preferences, then Internet Settings) > Privacy tab > Advanced > Override Default Settings.
To specify that you want Internet Explorer to always allow cookies to be saved on your computer, click "Accept."
To specify that you want Internet Explorer to ask whether or not you want to allow a cookie to be saved on your computer, click "Prompt."
If you want Internet Explorer to always allow session cookies (cookies that will be deleted from your computer when you close Internet Explorer) to be saved on your computer, click "Always allow session cookies."
Click "OK" to close the Advanced Privacy Settings window > click "OK" to close the Internet Options window > click the "X" in the upper-right corner to close the Internet Settings window.
If you're still having problems once your cookies are enabled, please use the form on the help page to contact us.
3. Some programs, such as pop-up blockers, firewalls and parental controls can interfere with certain features of our boards. If you are using one of these programs, we suggest that you temporarily turn it off or adjust its settings.
4. Try clearing out your cache and your cookies. (Note: Clearing cookies will delete all cookies files on your computer. If you have saved passwords at different sites, it will not erase your account but it will delete the cookie on your computer that holds your username and password to those sites. When you visit the sites again, you will need to reenter your username and password into their log-in form.) To do so:
Internet Explorer > Tools> Internet Options> General Tab> Delete Cookies
Netscape > Tools > Cookie Manager > Stored Cookies Tab> Remove All Cookies
You may need to close and reopen your browser for these changes to take effect. Sometimes it's necessary to restart your computer.
5. If you are a Windows user, you may wish to install the most recent updates and patches on your system. These updates can affect how your browser sends and receives information. To find out more about these updates, please visit the Microsoft Website: http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp.
