THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[Reluctant Gourmet]

How Do I Join The Reluctant Gourmet Cooking Community Forum To Add Posts & Recipes?

**NOTE** - Because of all the spammers trying to post "ugly" stuff on the board, I changed the settings to requiring activation of your membership. I didn't want to have to go this route, but need to protect the community from some of the smut that individuals try to post as best as possible. I check the board often and will do my best to activate all legitimate accounts quickly. Sorry it had to go this way. - RG

**EMAIL ACTIVATION** - After you sign up, you will receive an email with an activation link. It is IMPORTANT to give me your correct email address so I can send you this link. Once you receive this email, click on the link provided and your account will be activated.

Can anyone join The Reluctant Gourmet Cooking Community?
Of course, but you have to play nicely. You don't have to register to read and enjoy the posts but if you want to contribute, relpy to a post, leave a comment or recipe, you will have to register.

Where is the button to register?
At the top of the page you will see a bunch of check boxes. One of them will have a check in the box and say Register. Just click on that, fill out the form and you are ready to participate.

Is there a benefit to registering to the Cooking Community?
Yes indeed. As a registered member, you can add your own comments and contributions as well as keep track of your posts and send private messages to other registered members. Who knows, you just might make some good friends out there.[/b]

How do I actually Register?
When you click on the link at the top of the page that says "Register", a page will come up that says "Registration Agreement Terms". At the bottom of the page you will find three choices:

I Agree to these terms and am over or exactly 13 years of age
I Agree to these terms and am under 13 years of age
I do not agree to these terms

You have to be 13 or over and agree to the terms to join and you will be taken to a registration information page. Fill in your information, especially the boxes that have an (*) next to them. They are mandatory.

Important - The username and password are case sensitive as well as the Confirmation Code they ask you to supply.

Post your personal profile preferences and click "Submit". You are now an active member of The Reluctant Gourmet Cooking Community. Yeah.

You will now see a message that says, "Thank you for registering. Your account has been created. You may now log in with your username and password. Click "Here" to return to the Index."

Be sure to click on the Click "Here" because you are not logged in yet. You need to go to the main index page and log in.

How to Stay Logged In?"
Good Question! The forum has a built in timer and after a period of time (of which I don't know) you will be automatically logged out. If you are active in the community, this shouldn't happen.

Another way to become "Unlogged" is by accidently clicking on the Log Out button at the page when trying to click on something else. Hey, it happens.

Your Personal Profile - How to Change It?
Before you can change your profile you have to find it. At the top of the page in the same are where you found the Register check box, you will find another check box for "Profile". Click it and you should be back at your Registration page.

Now you can make changes to your profile, time zone as well as add your own personal Avatar (more on this latter).

After you have made your changes, BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE SUBMIT button or your changes will made.

Where's My Post?
"I replied to a post and saw it on the page, but now it is gone. What happened?"

You should know the administrator and moderators keep an eye on your posts and there are several reasons we will delete them including:

* Derogatory statements about another community member. Not nice and will not be tolerated.
* Derogatory statements about religion, race, creed.
* Spam or any link that violates our terms of use.
* Overly commercial posts and/or links
* Any post that we feel in inappropriate and/or offensive in any way.

This forum does not have to notify you if you post has been deleted. And note, we also have the right to ban any poster's IP address from participating in the cooking community without warning if we feel they are abusing it.[/b]