By the hand, let's bring them here...

[journey11]

To do a private message (conversation), go up to the upper right hand side of your screen and hover over "Inbox". This little box will pop up...then click "Start a New Conversation".

Then you'll get this...

Now you can get ahold of anyone you need to just by typing their username.

 

[journey11]

The best way to get an overview of all the current threads (in my opinion) is to click on "Recent Posts" up at the very tip top of your screen on the left (just below the TEG banner/pic of the flowers and walkway).

After you click that, you'll see this:

Just keep scrolling down and continue on page to page if necessary (where it says page 1 of 20 above).

"Alerts" are just a constant report of activity going on that pertains to you. Anything that happens concerning your profile or any threads you are watching or friends you are following...everything...you'll get a little note up there. It is directly beside where I told you to click "Inbox" earlier for the PM's, upper right-hand corner of your screen.

Another thing... If you hold your mouse-pointer over your own name, it will pop up a box that deals with all of your settings. You will want to go through each of those catagories individually and see if you need to change any of your settings, privacy settings, personal info, etc.

Anything else you have a question on, we're all happy to help! Please don't leave, ok?

 

[897tgigvib]

I started a "conversation" with Mary, and I added Thistle to it.

Journey, it looks like more people can be added to it as i made sure that box was checked.

 

[897tgigvib]

Yep, what journey says about starting a "conversation" is another way to do it!

With the "inbox" way journey is telling you about, you can go to your mail which is a lot like the old mail.

Or, on the drop down thing under the inbox word, click the words at the bottom of it that say start a conversation.

 

[digitS']

Mary. At the end of the first day with the new format, I was tired and a little cranky. There was just so much new to adjust to.

After such a long time with the old thing, TEG was like a comfortable pair of gloves - you thought I'd say shoes . See, I've got this avatar . . . but gloves & shoes have holes after awhile. My Hush Puppies . . . Did you know that the avatar (such a strange word) isn't even a picture of my gloves? No, they are from a publication by the U of I. See, my gloves are the most comfortable ones I can find that will hold up awhile. And, since I hate throwing anything useful away --- they end up with holes and my digitS' begin to take a beating.

That was the way things were with the old TEG. Nifty couldn't keep the format any longer. There were holes in the TEG fabric and he just wasn't willing to mend it. Time for new work gloves.

We probably should refrain from so many graphics. It "busies" the place up! I don't like words like "Alerts!" My first response to a word like that is to think, "Who the h-e double-hockey-sticks is this machine to "alert" me about anything??

Okay, this is where we all are with new technology. And, I'll put in another picture to show that it can be fun - I hope. But, it's where we are continuously with new technology. Thank you very much geeks for making life so difficult . . . and fun.

Until we get Hoodat over here, I'm probably the oldest person on the forum. I said it somewhere before, I thought I'd start a war the first time I messed around with a computer. Well, not really but, from long ago, I still remember how olde people used to handle a telephone. Pick it up and shout into it - "Hello!?" One reason they watched so much TV was to be sure that the dang thing didn't do something it was not supposed to!

Weren't it fun? Well, not always. It is stiff and pinches a little but things will ease up after awhile. You will be able to figure it out. And, if you have problems with it - it is more the fault of the geeks than anybody else. We are all children here.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Now I feel like crying again because you guys are all so nice!

Thistle, I know you would want to send me a pm at some point so I want to be sure to see it.

In the main menue are the categories with a plant before each one. I select one say Random Ramblings and I see blue dots before each post there. The blue dot does disappear when I've read it but not all of the time? Once all the blue dots are gone I go back to the main menue and look at Random Ramblings and the plant is still there. I thought the plant was like the red tomatoe and it would be gone when I read all those posts. This is the part that has me all frustrated. If I could just see this it would be like the old way and I would be happy!

Mary

 

[ninnymary]

Marshall, I finally found the green bar you were talking about! And I see the inbox and those alerts Steve was talking about. Ok, that is some progress for today.

But I prefer the old grinning smiley.

Mary

 

[digitS']

☺ Oh, I don't know!

Mary! You found blue dots that I've been missing!

If you hover your cursor over the dot it says to go to the first unread message. Wow. That makes it easy. I am guessing that if you go back to that page and there is still a blue dot - there are more than the first one that was unread. Maybe, you can just keep clicking 'em.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Steve, I've noticed that the main categories have all of the posts ever done. I think if I were to go to each one and open it that finally that plant would go away. But that would be zillions of posts. I wonder if you can check all of them as being read at once and then have that plant go away and start from fresh. I probably wouldn't want all of them marked as read maybe keep the current month as unread and start from there. This way I wouldn't miss any new posts. I hope I'm making sense.

Mary

 

[Smart Red]

I did Mark all Forums as Read again today after reading everything I could find. Then I went to New Posts and only this topic was shown because Mary had just posted a message.

I think this will work. . . . at least I'm feeling better about the change.