For all new people on the board: Weclome, and please read these handy hints and tips to help you feel at home here

A hearty welcome, and here are a few bulletin board tips that I have been collecting in the time I've been on here. Hope it helps to make your BB time more fun and useful!
BUMPING
Bumping means you wish to move that particular post to the top of Page 1 so others will see it, but you don't have any additional comment to make about the recipe. Often people will do this when they see someone hasn't answered a post yet, or no one has yet come up with the sought recipe, or they think their own post has been overlooked. So we use the word "bump" as a place-holder. Anytime you respond to a post, that post automatically goes to the top of Page 1. You could use any word you wanted, but bump makes sense because you are "bumping" it from a back page to the front page.
SEARCH ENGINE
1. The search engine is in the top left corner. Type in an ingredient (blueberries, for example), and it will pull up every recipe in the archive with that word in it. How effective your search is depends on several things, such as your spelling and the spelling of the original poster. If you know a recipe for Mustard Chicken is in there, but the poster has consistently spelled it MustErd, then your search for MustArd isn't going to turn it up. Similarly, a search for Crock-Pot, Crockpot and Crock Pot might bring up different posts, as would a search for slow cooker.
2. You can also type in the name of a recipe (Mustard-Crusted Chicken) if you know it, or of a particular post, and the engine will pull it up.
3. Another way to find old posts is to type in a particular poster's name (Candykisses, for example), and check the box that says "only nicknames," and it will pull up all the posts by that particular person. The search engine can be lots of fun!
POSTERS' NICKNAMES
If you click on the blue name of the poster, you can see when that person began posting on the BB, when she or he made her latest post, and how many posts that person has done, historically. It's sort of interesting sometimes.
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PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD
1. There are people here from every state in the U.S., and from other countries as well. There are all professions, all levels of education, all ages, all living situations, etc. How do we know? Occasionally someone starts a post that asks ages/birthdays, or how people chose their nicknames, or what they do for a living, or how far they got in school, or how many kids they have, etc. After reading some of these, over time, you will come to know just how much variety there is on this BB (Bulletin Board). We all definitely have in common our interest in cooking, reading recipes, and sharing our food finds with others of a like mind!
2. There are several other bulletin boards on this site, such as boards dealing with specific recipe categories (desserts, main dishes, breads) and other interests such as Birds and Blooms or Kitchen Chat. In general, Kitchen Chat attracts people who want to chat about lots of different topics, with a recipe thrown in now and again, whereas Recipes tends to attract people who primarily want to talk about food and recipes, with a bit of personal stuff thrown in on the side. There's no rule though, and the boards reflect the personalities of the members on them at any given time. The best advice is to find your place and then make yourself at home. There are lots and lots of nice people on all these boards, and many have established personal friendships that began here.
3. Some people are reading from home, some are sneaking a guilty peek while at work, some can only get on a computer at the public library, and some can only get computer time at 11 p.m. after all the chores are done and all the kids are in bed. Why tell you that? Only because it pays to recall that when people respond late to a request, or don't see your post, or seem not to care when you post something. Trust that we're reading it, but sometimes we just don't have the time or ability to post something back!
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GETTING THE MOST RESPONSE TO YOUR POST
1. If you are seeking a recipe from other posters, it's helpful to type ISO: Meatloaf with dried cranberries in it, or whatever specific thing you are searching for. The more specific you can be in your subject line, the better, because people who only have a short time available to look at the bulletin board might pass yours by if the subject is too cryptic. (ISO means "in search of.")
2. If you want to post a recipe, it's helpful to post it like this: Rec: Fresh Blueberry Pie, or whatever is the title. ("Rec:" gives readers the clue that a recipe is enclosed in the post, and it might make them open it up.) Again, be as specific as possible. Rec: Pie isn't going to attract as many readers as Rec: Coconut Cream Pie with Meringue Topping .
3. Some people include the acronym SOB in the subject line if their post doesn't include a recipe or recipe talk, and it is off the recipe topic. SOB stands for "surf on by" or "scroll on by." This is code for "ignore this if you only want recipes."
4. If you are supplying a recipe to someone, and you are starting a new post, how about doing it like this: Rec: Candy-Coated Peanuts (special attn. Moonchild) . That way the recipe name is there for all the people who need to scan quickly, and the requester's name is there in the subject line as well so they will be sure to see it.
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TRICKS FOR EFFICIENT READING OF THE BOARD
1. Once you click on a particular thread, the color of that subject will change for you from blue (unread) to brownish (read). This is a quick way for you to scan the Bulletin Board pages and look for the blue unread threads, if you want to do that.
2. Some posts have hundreds of responses (example: Almond Lover's Society). So if you are following a certain lengthy post, and you have read everything on the first few pages of that post, it might be helpful for you to approach it this way: when you see that post appear on Page 1 again, which means that someone has responded to it, click open that post and click the multiple arrow to get to the last page. Then read the post from the last item backwards, until you get to the place you have already seen. That will save you from starting at the beginning and clicking through multiple pages on a post you are very familiar with.
3. If you are going to post a recipe or something and you would like to keep track of people who answer it or ask questions about it, click on the box that says "email me when anyone answers my subject" before you submit your post. That way, when someone responds, you will get an e-mail link to their response sent to you automatically.
4. Type "abbreviations" into the search engine if you want to know some clues about all the abbreviations you will see here, such as DD, DH, DS, GS, GD, LOL, ROFLMAO, etc. It's a shorthand code, but once you see what they all stand for, you'll no doubt find it easy to remember and you won't have to consult the list.
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REGULAR FEATURES
1. There is a daily post in which people discuss what they are making for dinner that night. It's a quick check for some people, and gives them ideas if they are feeling dry on what to cook. You know the feeling…there's tons of food in the house and you have absolutely no idea what to cook for dinner!
2. There is a "Cookin' Seniors" post that began in late May, and is aimed at that age group (although all are welcome to participate, of course).
3. There are occasional threads on which different talented BB members post music or their "siggys," which are fancy illustrated signatures that express their personalities. They post them here because it's a handy way to collect them all in one place. They also collect them in one thread because people with slow Internet connections find it difficult to open posts if they contain music or siggys (it can take forever to load), so out of kindness and deference to that, the siggy experts have kept them in one or two threads so as not to frustrate those other people.
JUST A WARNING
This board is addictive. Your chores will go undone. Your family will forget who you are. You will log more hours than you thought possible just checking up on whether anyone posted anything interesting in the last half hour. You will rip through your children's' inheritance buying new printer cartridges. Don't say we didn't warn you!

Older BB members: Please help me to keep this bumped when you see we have a new member.

Thank you!

bump

Dorothy,

very well done!!!!!! This will be a post like abbreviations - it will be a reference bumped for new members for years to come. Great job!

Two things I would like to add:
1. This is a public board. And as much as we like to get to know people here, Please be careful with what personal information you give out. Many people read this board, but never respond (lurkers). There is nothing wrong with that, but keep in mind that not all lurkers are good people! Please, please be careful with your personal information.

2. This board is full of people from all walks of life. We have all kinds of personalities, professions, hobbies and skills. Sometimes miscommunication occurs and feelings are hurt. Sometimes things are worded wrong, sometimes people just want to cause trouble. Whatever the reason, please keep in mind that this is bound to happen with such a large, diversified group. Let the person know they offended you and how, they may not even know they did it.

This really is a genuinely (sp?) nice board. We look forward to talking with you :-)

dawn
:-)

Dorothy, this is a great post. You did a very thorough job -- certainly answers all the questions I had when I first came to this board. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Thank you so much for that information! It was helpful, and welcoming. I especially liked the part about letting someone know if they offended you. After all, no one knows you, and if you don't tell them, and they keep doing it, you just pile up resentments - which don't need to happen if you just tell someone how you feel.
Thank you again, Mel

BUMP:

Outstanding job, Dorothy! We ALL thank you!!!
Ellen
P.S. Did you mention that ALL CAPS is like yelling?!?! That one always cracks me up!!! If you did-ignore this!

Dorothy: What a great post!! This enlightens the new posters plus tips a lot of others may have not have known. I give you a big hand for all your work & thoroughness.
Tam

great informative post dorothy
excellent job!
kathy

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