[DocSanae]

Since this forum--Coffee Talk-- is where most people check in most often, I am posting navigation pointers here.

Please take a look at the two navigation bars at the top of the page, below the Renewed Reflections title logo.

The bar in light blue with dark blue letters, starting with "Home" on the left is for the entire Renewed Reflections web site. "Home" will link you to the top page of Renewed Reflections proper.
The link buttons for the "eStore", "Recipes", "Reflections"--articles by Craig "Big-T" Thompson, the host of this site, as well as "News", "Information", and "Blog" among others are also there. If you haven't checked them out already, please do so.
Incidentally, "Forums" means this message board, so that link will bring you right back to the top page of the message board. "Chat" will lead you to the same chat room that can be accessed from the Chat Room button on the second navigation bar.

The second navigation bar in blue with white letters right above the header before and after pictures, starting with "User CP" on the left, is the navigation bar for this message board.
"User CP" will bring up your control panel, where you can edit your avatar, signature, bio etc, write&send/receive&read private messages, among other things.
Please check out "FAQ" for general technical info on vBulletin and also this board.
"Members List" will bring up the list of members. Quite obvious, I guess.
"Calendar" will show you birthdates of members who have them up in their profile, and you can also put up any event there planned for this board, that other members can participate, if you wish.
"Chat Room" button brings up the link to the chat room, whether the entire page, or just the floating box. You can also check and see who are chatting, as if anyone is in the room, a numeral indicating the number of people in chat will appear on the button. If you see [1] there, just jump into the room, someone is waiting for others to show up.
"New Posts" will bring up the list of threads with new posts since your last visit if you are a member and logged in. The list per page is 25, so if more than 25 threads have new posts since your last visit, the list can run a number of pages, so be sure to check out the number of pages that appears on the top and bottom right hand corner of the list.
If you are not a member, or not logged in, this link will be invisible.
"Today's Posts" will bring up the list of threads with posts within the last 24 hours, whether or not there are new posts since your last visit.
"Search" is useful when you are looking for a certain subject, posts by specific members, etc. Advanced search will help you be more specific.
Clicking "Quick Links" will bring up a list that will link you to other pages on this board.
"LogOut" is for logging out, but do you reall want to?????

Last but not least, above the board nav bar, on the right corner, you will see a blue block that says, when you are logged in, "Welcome, (your screen name)" Below this, when you last visited, and "Private message" is listed. If you have received a private message--PM-- you will see the number of unread messages listed there. The "Private Message" is linked to your message box, so just click on it to go to your message box and read the PMs.

Happy huntings!!

[DocSanae]

Some further pointers in using this board.

First off, there are a number of specific posts we would like for you to check out before posting.
Personal Information and Privacy.
New Forum Rulz
Links to Useful Posts : Links to posts that were previously stuck in Coffee Talk and other forums, with useful info like no-no meds and yes-yes meds, before surgery tips, post-op eating tips, etc are listed in this thread.

Forum specifics.
Main-> News Please Read includes news from the administrators and moderators on the board, so please check in regularly.
This forum also includes Tech Questions which has the how tos for stuff like posting your pics, tickers and such, so if you have any Qs regarding the tech methods for posting, please check there, and post your Q if you can't find the answer to your particular problem.
If you have any suggestions on improving the board, please post your suggestions in the Site Suggestions, another sub-forum there.

Winning At Losing has the most number of forums, from Coffee Talk and its sub-forums for miscellaneous subjects that do not fit into other forums, to Buy, Sell and Exchange for finding and exchanging things you need during your journey.
For posting your profile and your before and after pictures, the suitable forum is Your Profile, and its sub-forums, Personal Thoughts and Before and After Pictures.
Stupid Questions is a place for various questions you have along your journey (please remember, technical Qs belong in Tech Questions), so if you are wondering about something, check this forum out, as well as other forums for specific subjects.
There are also areas for Non-Ops and Family and Loved Ones here.

Gastric Bypass Pre-Op Issues includes discussion of Basic Qualifications, Insurance, Types of Surgery, and Preparing for Surgery.

Gastric Bypass Post-Op Issues includes Exercise Plan, Diet with sub-forums for What Did You Eat Today, Vitamins and Nutrition, and Recipes shared from members. There is also a forum here for Plastics.

Profiles are for recommending health professionals.
If you wish to share info about your surgeon, or see who other members recommend, check into Weight Loss Surgeons and Hospitals. We would like lots more input here, so if there is anyone you would like to recommend, please do so. However, a word of warning. This forum is moderated, so any new thread that is started is subject to the approval of the administartors/moderators before being enabled to view. If you have posted and can't see your post, please wait until the admins/mods can verify. On occasions, if the new posts/threads are considered more fit for other forums, then they will be moved to approriate forums.

Happy postings!!

[DocSanae]

As well as checking the New Posts/Today's Posts, don't forget to take a look at the icons (as shown below) on the left of forum/thread titles to see if any unread posts are up.

Icons for the top page of this message board.
Forum Contains New Posts
Forum Contains No New Posts
Forum is Closed for Posting

[DocSanae]

If there are any unread posts, the title of of the thread including the unread post will be in boldface on the index page of the respective forums.

Icons for the respective forum index page.
New posts
Hot thread with new posts
No new posts
Hot thread with no new posts
You have posted in this thread
Thread is closed

[DocSanae]

If you wish to start a new thread in any of the forums, click open the New Thread button on the upper right hand corner at the top of the index of the threads for the particular forum.
Please be sure that the thread you start is appropriate for the forum.

If you post something that is entirely out of place for any particular thread that is going on, the moderators/administrators may separate your post into a new thread, so if you can't find your post where you originally put it, do a search and it will come up. Or, if you have the "receive email notice for reply" feature on, you will receive an email whenever someone posts replies, which will lead you to the moved post.

Also please be aware of our Privacy Rules with all your threads and posts.

Incidentally, when posting, it goes without saying that offending words, insults whether it be personal or general, or any other words or contents that are considered unfit for public view will be edited or deleted altogether, so though we trust you are all ladies and gentlemen, and will behave as such, we make the request here to abide by these rules and mind your manners.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Happy postings!

[DocSanae]

In posting links:

1)Newbies, please be aware that you are unable to post any links unless you have at least ten previous post. (In other words, you will not be able to post links until your 11th post.)

2) Please keep links of products and product sites to basically products that you have actually used/ are using, unless it is in answer to things that others have posted are looking for. In this case, please post the link in a reply post in the particular thread, and not in an individual thread. The same applies to links to professionals, please link only the professionals you are in personal contact with, and can vouch from your own experience. Also please be aware that links for your personal sites and blogs that are non-profit is allowed, but for profit sites basically will not be permitted, as this site is not a free ad site, and is a privately sponsored site. Threads and posts including links to such sites will be monitored by the administrators/moderators, and the posts/threads removed whenever considered as spam. Please be aware that this site has an eStore and it sales helps in the upkeep of this site, so sites that posters are business owners of that sell merchandise that has the potential of competing with our eStore will be deleted as spam as well as any obvious spam threads, posts and links.

3) If any links are considered spam links, please be aware that you could get infractions that under certain condtions will ban you from the site, so be extra careful about the links you set.

[DocSanae]

WOW moments forum added into Coffee Talk.
Please post your WOW moments there.

[DocSanae]

Latest WLS News.

Please note that this forum is moderated--that is, the administrators/moderators must approve the threads before they can be "seen".
This is a forum where links to recent press releases on WLS and obesity related issues are posted upon selection and approval by T2DMan, and not an area for members to start their own threads. Only the posts put up in threads already existing can be "seen".
For your own news threads, please post in Coffee Talk, or any other forums that is appropriate for the particular news per the explanations of the forums that are in the second post in this thread.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[DocSanae]

Please help us keep the board clean! Our numbers of members are increasing by leaps and bounds, meaning more people posting along with more spammers and people distributing unpleasantries. The administrators and moderators are hard at work behind the scenes keeping the traffic clean.

If you notice any private messages (PM's) or posts that are offending, insulting, spam, or infringing the privacy rules, you can use the report button and report the PM/post to the admins/mods.

We have just added the PM reporting function to the forum. When people report inappropriate PM's, we are able to investigate, delete where appropriate and hand out infractions. Infractions can limit your posting privileges for a certain number of days, or depending on the situation, even result in you being banned permanently.

This is the report button. It is at the bottom of the member profile of each post and PM. Click on this, and a report page will appear where you must post your message, then click "Submit report." Please note, as it is noted on the report page, that you are to use this ONLY to report spam, advertising messages, and problematic (harassment, fighting, offensive, or rude) posts.

Incidentally, you cannot send/receive PMs until you have at least 3 posts up, so if you find you can't send PMs, it may be because you have not cleared the restriction. However, if there is anything you need to contact the leaders of the forum about, you can PM us regardless of the number of your posts.

[DocSanae]

In all your posts and threads, please respect the privacy the each and every one of you are entitled to.

Personal Information and Privacy Rules.
The information is in the above link.