*Site Features, Tips and Tricks*
Written By Seneca 03/05/2007
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Please periodically review this thread to find out about the helpful things the website can do for us! This is just what I gather and post as I can, and site features change quite often since I started this in 2003, so you may be able to find more info on the Technical message boards. Also, please don't forget to read the FAQ!
New Features as of 12/06/06
Move From Waitlist
Some events have numbers limits applied to them, and when the RSVP count reaches that number, it automatically sets the event to "Full", and starts a "Waitlist". Now the Waitlist function is working so that the Event Host will see individual names on the waitlist followed by the phrase "Move To Yes From wait List". Event Hosts just need to start with the first one (on the bottom of the list, look at the date) and click the move link. Then Event Hosts will see the following message screen: "[Person] has been moved from the "Wait List" to the "Attending List". A message has been sent to [Person] letting them know this. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE".
Tips and Tricks
Meetin Tips Generator
A random selection of quick "Meetin Tips" now display along the top of your My Messages screen. If you have short tips to contribute, send the webmasters a message!
New Features as of 11/08/06
New Events Added
There is now a small section on the homepage that lists the last 3 events that were added to the event calendar!
New Features as of 10/30/06
News Write Up Fields
When posting photos and writing News articles, there are fields that let you enter in your Co-Host's contact ID and the Event ID. Entering in this information will show links to the Co-host and the Event.
New Features as of 10/08/06
Print 50 Next Events
There is a small link on the homepage directly in the dark blue "[City] Events" title bar that says (print). Click this link to get a printer friendly list of the next 50 city events.
New Features as of 08/24/06
Co-hosts Add to News Articles
Co-hosts can now write news articles as a followup to the events they help out with. You can also add a link back to the original event if you wish to. The idea behind this new add on is to add co-hosts to the news write up so they feel more apart of the event they co-hosted. By doing so you will help the co-host understand how easy it is to host and hopefuly get them to host events of their own.
Tips and Tricks
Making News Photos Look Better
This tip comes from Patrick in Detroit.
You may have had the experience of posting photographs in the news section, only to have them show up with chunky, ugly pixelization. I have found a way to improve the outcome, but if anyone has a simpler way, please post it.
The problem is the website automatically resizes photos to a set pixel width, but doesn't do a very good job. So good photos wind up with jaggies, like this.
The solution is to resize the photos before uploading them to the site. To do that, you need some kind of photo editing software like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
For the main photograph (the one that appears on the front page), resize the file to 600 pixels wide.
For the rest of the photos, resize them to 500 pixels wide.
The result is much better detail, like this. As an added benefit, the files upload quicker.
New Features as of 05/1/06
Chat Link
If an event on the calendar has a message thread attached to it, there will be a red 'chat' link shown next to the event title on the homepage. Click that chat link to view any messages that relate to that event.
Event Hosts: If you don�t know how to tie a message board thread to your event, search the rest of this news article for 'Make This Post Into an Event' or 'Start a Thread' and find out how!
Viewed Times
You can now see a count of how many times an event has been viewed by members. Click into an event and notice the 'Viewed X Times' shown near the top right corner.
MEETinGOOGLE Directions
You can now get detailed directions to an event by specifying a personalized 'Start' location. Instructions for how to do this come up when you view an event and click 'Directions' by the Address link. The start address you specify will NOT be stored in our database or used in any way. This address will only be turned into a cookie that will be stored on the PC you�re using. To remove this cookie at any time just clear your cookies from your browser.
New Feature as of 04/8/06
My Suggestions
This link is located under your My Settings area of the side menu bar. The idea is to help out your community by suggesting reputable places of business. As usual, please don't use this feature against the "self-profit" rule. Meetin is free for a reason! :)
Tips and Tricks
Where Do I Put the Name of the Place?
The How Will We Find Each Other? field on the event form is the spot for you to put the NAME of the venue (provide other specific details as needed if finding you within the venue won't be obvious). This is the only place on the form (besides the Description field) for you to put the Name of the event venue (sometime people try to put the name in the Address line, but that disrupts the Mapquest link) so go ahead and use the How Will We Find Each Other? field for this purpose.
New Feature as of 01/18/06
Event Waitlist
When an event with an attendee limit reaches its capacity, it will display as "Full". Now we have a feature which allows you to go on the "Waiting List" for the event. The idea is that if someone drops out, the next person on the waiting list will be moved into their spot--BUT it doesn't really work that way now, it is more of a "Maybe" in functionality. To go on the waiting list for a full event, view the event and click "Go On Waiting List?", click one of the waitlist options, and then the Update button. This is buggy! So the Host will have to manually go through the "Maybe/Waitlist" as spots open up and manually add the oldest RSVP to the event.
New Feature as of 01/12/06
Remove From Project
Event Planners now have the ability to remove members from projects that they've started. Click Manage Project. Under the Remove Profiles from this Project section, click the Remove button by the profile name.
Tips and Tricks
Manage your Meetin Inbox!
Click Sort by Person under a message to see all of the messages sent by that person grouped together.
Click See All to return to the standard Sort by Date view.
Tips and Tricks
Manage Long Links
Prevent long URLs from running off the right side of the page by shrinking them with this very cool (and free) utility called
Tiny URL. You just plug your long link into their generator, and they condense it into a much smaller link that won't disrupt page formatting.
Tips and Tricks
External Links
Ever notice that when you're on the Meetin site, that sometimes when you click on a link to an external page it won't display? But then...sometimes it does? To make sure your links are always good, be sure to put the entire URL (link) in, complete with the http part not just www part. This helps the site read the URL correctly, so it doesn't think that it automatically needs to prepend the meetin.org address to the front of your link!
New Feature as of 08/26/05
Spotlight Photo
When adding News articles and Photos, the first photo that you upload (the main photo on the News article) will be automatically pulled out to the MID website as the spotlight photo. The News articles are in chronological order, so a newly posted article with a more recent date will push down the older articles and take over the spotlight photo on the homepage.
Tips and Tricks
Use Feedback to Link to Your Online Photos
Provided feedback on events by clicking the Post Feedback link on a news article. This is also a great place for you to leave a link that points towards more photos you may have taken and uploaded to your own online photo site.
New Feature as of 07/26/05
Link to Blog + Photos
You asked for it so we added it! In your "My Profile" area you now have an option to link your Meetin profile to your own blog and/or photo sharing site.
New Feature as of 06/08/05
Printer Friendly Message Boards
You can now click to see a Printer Friendly version of a thread in the message boards.
New Feature as of 05/05/05
Events Co-Hosted To Date
Co-hosts now get credit for helping out Event Hosts! Click on a profile to view it and you can see how many events that person has Co-hosted. (If you don't know how to Co-Host, scroll down the page, because we've hooked you up with instructions.)
Tips and Tricks
Make Site Suggestions
You can suggest site improvements on the left side of the Suggest Site Enhancements/Bug Fix Report message board. Click the Message Boards link to see all the available boards (Meetin has a lot of boards!). Notice that site enhancements that have already been addressed are shown on the right side of that board.
New Feature as of 04/27/05
21+ RSVP Bold
All events with more then 21 people rsvped will now be automatically bolded. This will allow everyone to easily see which events are being picked up on by the group.
New Feature as of 04/15/05
Auto RSVP
The system now automatically RSVPs Event Planners as the first RSVP on their hosted event!
General Message Board Links
When posting a message to the General Chat message board, there is now a URL field to make it easy for you to include a link. ( example http://www.meetin.org )
New Feature as of 03/31/05
Pets
Just for a little bit of fun the "What pet would you prefer?" field in your Profile allows you to select from: Dog, Cat, Bird, Lizard, Rabbit, Snake, or No Pet. :) If you see an error in this field, all you have to do is click the Update button in your profile.
Tips and Tricks
Rules on Cross-posting
There are many other activity partner/social group/friends sites out there that do event planning. Please use proper judgment when cross-posting one of their events to the MID event calendar. Remember that the group must have a similar vibe to MID, no dating, for personal profit, or business networking groups please. If you have questions on whether to combine an MID event with some other group's event, please be sure to ask!
Updated Feature as of 03/11/05
Subgroups
When posting events to MID, in the drop-down "Event Type" box, please select only from the CAPITAL LETTER options. Those are subgroups, so when you select one, it groups all of the similar events into one subgroup on a separate page. This way people can go to the subgroup of their choice, and see at a glance all of the upcoming Sports, Happy Hour, or Dining events.
If you don't know what a subgroup is, you can check them out by clicking the Message Boards link, or by pulling from the drop-down "Group of Interest" box on the top of the side menu. You can also "join" a subgroup that you're interested in, and post messages that will go only to that group.
There are a number of groups from CHARITY to MOVIES & TV. All of Denver's subgroups are purposely unmoderated right now. The special BOARD ROOM subgroup is for members to ask questions of the local board about Denver policies and procedures.
If you absolutely can't fit your event into one of the CAPITALIZED subgroup categories (for instance, Book Club goes in ARTS & CULTURE) you can choose something else from the lowercased list. If that is the case, please let me know and I'll evaluate adding another subgroup.
Sub-Group messaging
This was a top priority request. Mikey added the ability to let all sub groups members message other subgroup members directly. These are soft messages, meaning it will not gum up your e-mail accounts but will send a message directly to the person to their MEETin message box. This will help greatly in planning events in the sub groups.
New Features as of 3/01/05
Jobs Message Board
Meetin.org members may be able to help you find a job. To view the global message board, start at the Home page, look at the Classifieds area, and click the [Jobs Wanted Needed?] link. Or you can access this and other discussion boards by clicking "Message Boards" from the top or side menu bars.
Tips and Tricks
Message Boards II
Please be sure to only post EVENTS on the main homepage message board. We use that boar ONLY for events and for admin announcements. If you want to start up a chat, ask for local resources, or just be silly because you're bored at work for the day, use the GENERAL CHAT message board. Off topic chat such as that is split into GLOBAL on the left side and DENVER specific on the right!
4/6/2005 Update: There are other new boards to browse through too, check out the General Chat | Politics Chat | Classifieds | Nerds Lounge | Jobs | Real Estate | Movies | Site Suggestion boards as well!
New Features as of 2/23/05
My Next RSVP
Keep track of what you've RSVPd for in a few different ways:
Look at the upper right side of the homepage for "My Next RSVP". This will show your next 2 upcoming events so you don't miss out on your RSVPs!
Or, Click "My Events" from the left-hand menu bar, and you can see the full list of everything you've RSVP'd for at a glance.
You can also click to see your full list of RSVPs directly from the homepage.There is a small link in the "My Next RSVP" area that reads "all of my rsvp events". Clicking this link will take you to the same full view as clicking on "My Events" does.
Enjoy, and never miss an RSVP again!
New Features as of 2/16/05
Places
"All I [mikey] added a new tool called places on the top of each cities home page. If you can please feel free to add bars and dance clubs and other cool things in here that meetin people use or out of towners would like to go see. Soon we can leave rating for these places if we have been to them. Trying to build up the places we go to or should go to. If I am missing a category please let me know." -Mikey
New Features as of 2/5/05
Message Purge
Messages in your MEETin.org mailbox that are more than 4 months old will be deleted from the server.
New Features as of 12/15/04
Remove Me From This RSVP
If you have RSVPd to an event, and then can not make it, you can remove your RSVP from the listing.
Click MY EVENTS in the MY SETTINGS toolbar area and select the event you wish to remove yourself from. Click Remove Me From This RSVP.
Change RSVP
You can also just change your RSVP from a Maybe to a Yes, or vice versa. Or even change the wording in your response from the same MY EVENTS area.
Click MY EVENTS in the MY SETTINGS toolbar area and select Change RSVP!
Un-RSVP Log
Event Planners can keep track of who has removed their RSVP from their event by consulting the Un-RSVP Log. Click here for an example. The Event Planner can access this log by clicking in the event and looking at the admin tools on the right hand side.
New Features as of 11/10/04
Printer Friendly Version
Click EVENTS in the menu bar, and near the top of the page under the MONTHLY VIEW link, you will find a link that says PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION. Click the link and you will have a clean listing of all of the currently posted events to print off in one fell swoop.
New Features as of 10/28/04
Co-host an Event
Mikey implemented a co-hosting feature where 2 members can put an event on together. Both people's pictures will display, and (I assume) that both planners will be able to edit and send messages to attendees. However, messages sent to the event planner from the event listing itself are still tied to the "primary host", i.e. the one who posted the event.
Click here for an example
To Co-host an event, view your friend's profile and look in the URL to find their ContactID. Put this number in the Co-Host Contact ID field when filling out the event form, and click Update.
Change Event Host
Also, if you are hosting an event, but then are unable to make it, you can transfer hosting duties to someone else. Use the Contact ID number again, and put it in the Change ContactID field, and click Update. This will change the event owner.
New Features as of 10/19/04
Weather
Click Home > Weather from the top blue bar to see the local weather for the next few days. This is helpful when you are trying to plan an outdoor event.
Subgroups
Hey guys, since we are growing so explosively, our Message boards may be divided into subgroups to help keep track of things. DC has already been through this due to their membership growth.
When posting events to MID, in the drop-down "Event Type" box, please select only from the CAPITAL LETTER options. Those are subgroups, so when you select one, it groups all of the similar events into one subgroup on a separate page. This way people can go to the subgroup of their choice, and see at a glance all of the upcoming Sports, Happy Hour, or Dining events.
If you don't know what a subgroup is, you can check them out by clicking the Message Boards link, or by pulling from the drop-down "Group of Interest" box on the top of the side menu. You can also "join" a subgroup that you're interested in, and post messages that will go only to that group.
There are a number of groups from CHARITY to MOVIES & TV. All of Denver's subgroups are purposely unmoderated right now. The special BOARD ROOM subgroup is for members to ask questions of the local board about Denver policies and procedures.
If you absolutely can't fit your event into one of the CAPITALIZED subgroup categories (for instance, Book Club goes in ARTS & CULTURE) you can choose something else from the lowercased list. If that is the case, please let me know and I'll evaluate adding another subgroup.
New Features as of 10/13/04
Friend's RSVPs
In the My Friends area, you can now see what events your friends have RSVP'd too. Remember, only add people to your "My Friends" that you actually consider to be friends. You are able to accept or decline any friend requests sent to you. Birthdays (not the year) are also viewable by people you've added to your Friends list.
Delete Msg Board Posts
A user can delete thier own posts from the Message Board.
Flags will Auto-Delete Posts
User post will be deleted after 5 "flags for deletion". So far people are generally just deleting their own posts instead of flagging. However flagging is useful for identifying posts from others which are inapparopriate and should be deleted.
New Features as of 09/30/04
Slideshow
There is now a Slide Show function on the Photo Gallery! Click Home > scroll to the Photo Galleries area > Select a Photo Gallery > Click the Start slideshow link in the upper left-hand corner.
Event Types
Remember, the strict rules we have on event planning are these:
1. No singles/dating events
2. No business/networking events
3. No events where you make money off of it as the host (so no Country Living, Party Lite, Sensaria, Avon, etc., or where you are the Company Owner, get DJ Gig Kickbacks for attendance, etc.)
As long as those 3 are satisfied, it could be a great event!
We have some other rules on posting events like: You must have attended some events before becoming a host; and don't post similar events in the same part of town for the same night, etc. If you have specific questions, just ask!)
Family B-Days
To help us celebrate birthdays, you can now find out what month members were born in (don't worry, no years! or days are shown). Click Home > Click Family B-Days.
It defaults to the current month, and you can choose another month from the drop down list. You can also opt out of this feature if you really don't want your birth month to show up.
Make This Post Into an Event
There is a new bit of functionality, where the person who STARTS a message board thread now has a link option at the top to 'Make This Post Into an Event' and it takes you right to the add an event page. Any threads or events with Red Arrows << next to them indicates that there is an official event posting/event thread, just click on it to read more info.
This is the preferred method because it makes it easy for attendees to go from the message thread that caught their eye, to the actual event post so they can read more details. Its a great tool! its also very easy to do!
Start a Thread
There is a reverse way to tie a message board thread to an event too! When you post an event and are viewing it as the host, one of the links on the right-hand side says "Start a Thread". Click on it and post the message board thread, it will automatically tie back to your event.
Private Event
Private events won't display for the general public in the list of upcoming events. Only you and those you have manually added to the event will be able to see the event in the event listing.
However :/ there is current a bug where ALL events can be seen if you look on the monthly view of the event calendar--whether the event is in draft mode, yet to be approved, private, etc. It is all being worked on.
So knowing that caveat, feel free to post a private event if you'd like. if someone clicks on that event from the calendar view, all they will see is that the event is Full.
To add a person to a private event, click on their profile and collect their contact id #. Then in your event listing, click on the link that says Add Attendees and enter that number. They will automatically be added to the RSVP list as "Yes".
If you have questions or comments about duties or performance of an event host, conduct of a member, concerns about how an event went off, or just general observations, please bring them directly to me. I need to know if there are issues so we can ALL work to address it and make sure things run smoothly, but I won't know if you won't tell me!
Thanks to everyone for all of the hard work they put into making Meet in Denver such a special place!
More Photos
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Please periodically review this thread to find out about the helpful things the website can do for us! This is just what I gather and post as I can, and site features change quite often since I started this in 2003, so you may be able to find more info on the Technical message boards. Also, please don't forget to read the FAQ!
