How to use the boards
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If you are not yet a member of iVillage you can read our boards but you can't post a message. Becoming a member is FREE and just takes a few minutes to join.
Once you have successfully completed the form you will be asked to choose a membername. Your membername will appear on all messages that you post so it is a good idea to pick a name which is different to your real name.
You will see confirmation of your membername onscreen but you will still have to activate your account before you can use any member-only areas of the site.
As soon as you have joined you will be sent an activation email. Click on the link within this email to verify your email address and activate your account.
If you would like to add another membername you can do so by clicking here.
If you have problems joining or activating your account please contact our Customer Service department for help www.ivillage.co.uk/feedback.
Terms Of Service
At iVillage, our goal is to provide a safe, friendly community where members can find the information and support they need. When you join, you agree to abide by our Terms Of Service.
Members who break our TOS will be sent warnings and will automatically be banned on their third warning. iVillage reserves the right to terminate your membership at any time and without warning to you. For a more user friend version of our TOS please read the Rules Of Play, plus our Dos & Don'ts.
Finding the right board
At iVillage we have more than 150 message boards. To make it easier for you to find what you are looking for we have divided them into categories eg Diet & Fitness, Pregnancy & Baby.
Some boards appear in more than one category. You can find a list of all the categories in our Community Café. Alternatively use the Show me boards about search function at the bottom of the page.
Main page
The main page of each message board lists the board title, an introduction to the community and the name of the Community Leader or Leaders who host it.
In the light blue area at the top of the board, you will see the board title and above that you will see a welcome message. If you are logged in you will be greeted by your membername. If you are not logged in you will be greeted by the word 'Welcome' and a log in button. Once you log in you will see five links - my profile, favourite boards, board settings, my digests and log out.
Below the introduction to the board you will find a search field, an advanced search link and a show me drop down. The lower portion of the board lists the titles of messages posted to the board.
On the right hand side of the page you will see small envelopes next to messages, or discussions with messages, that you haven't read.
At the bottom of the board you will find a list of related boards in the purple box; these are other boards which we think will be of interest to you.
What is a CL?
CL stands for Community Leader - the name given to a member of iVillage who has volunteered to lead or 'host' a message board for us. You can recognise a CL by the cl- tag before his or her membername. Eg cl-welcome.
It is a CL's job to greet new visitors and extend the famous, warm welcome for which iVillage is renowned. While our CLs have a passion for their boards they are not experts or specialists in the subjects they cover, NOR are they obliged to reply to or enter into off-line email conversations with iVillage members.
CL positions do not come up often at iVillage.co.uk, but if you would like to be considered please send an email including your name, membername, the names of the boards you regularly post on and your phone number to
CLapplications@email.ivillage.co.uk.
Profiles
Creating a profile gives you a chance to express who you are and to help other members get to know you better. To view someone's profile, click on their name where it appears on, or under, a post they have written.
To create a profile, click on the profile link near the 'Welcome' message or click on your member name where it appears on any of your posts. Answer the questions and then save the page. If you would rather not answer a question leave the field blank and it won't be displayed on your profile. You can also choose a personal avatar (image) to display in your profile.
From your profile you will also be able to see your friends or ignore lists. When you add people to your ignore list, the messages they have posted won't be displayed to you.
Board settings & favourite boards
Right next to 'Welcome!' at the top of the message board pages you'll see a link to favourite boards and board settings. Use board settings to choose a time zone for message display, sign up for free email notifications, switch on our member to member email service, choose a personal icon and change your display settings.
Favourite boards provides you with a convenient place to store a list of your favourite boards. This page also keeps track of boards you have visited recently and tells you how many new messages have been posted. You can also quickly add boards to your favourites list at this stage.
Member to member email
Member to member email is a safe way for you to contact, or be contacted by, other iVillage members without giving out your email address on the public boards. When someone mails you via this service they will not be able to see your email address unless you reply to them. You will however be able to see the address of the sender.
If you receive unwanted mail via this service we recommend that you block the address and delete the email without replying to it. If you reply to the email you will give out your own email address.
If you wish to contact someone via the member to member email service you can do so by clicking the 'email me' link in their profile. Remember they will be able to see your email address when they receive your mail.
Emails will be sent to the address in your iVillage account details. To check, or change, this address go to our Member Centre and click on Update Member Information.
Email notifications & digests
There are three ways you can be alerted when messages of interest to you have been posted.
Email notifications: By ticking the Email notification box in your board settings, or where it appears at the bottom of each message you write, you will receive an email every time someone replies directly to one of your messages. To cancel email notifications untick the box in your board settings or under any post you write. Your notifications will be sent to the email address you submitted when joining iVillage. To check, or change, your email address go to our Member Centre and click on Update Member Information.
Email digests: There are two types of email digest. One will send you a roundup of all new and active discussions on the board of your choice, the other will alert you when new messages are posted within a discussion you are interested in. The difference between this and email notifications is that you do not need to have posted a message to be alerted.
To sign up for email digests click on the purple Get free email updates on this discussion or board button where it appears on any message.
You can manage your digests via your my digests page and can opt to receive digests once a day, once a week or never - which means you can easily turn them off if you are going on holiday.
Log in
Our message boards work best when you are logged in. When you are logged in the board software will:
Swap membername is a quick way to log out of one membername and into another and return to exactly the same board you started on. The swap membername link appears in the purple box at the top right hand side of each board's main page.
To log out click the log out link. You will then be taken to a page where you can log back in or browse the iVillage site. You will not be able to post on the boards until you log back in again.In the interests of safety and privacy, if you share a computer, use a public or work computer, you should always log out when you have finished using the site.If you do not log out other people who use your computer will be able to access your iVillage account details, identify you and messages you have written, and post message using your member name.
To ""unsave"" your member name from iVillage, go to the log in page. After you type in your member name and password, there is a box that says, Save password. Make sure this box is NOT checked. Click Member Enter.
If you want to remove your browsing history from your computer, visit our Staying safe online article.
Reading messages
Messages display the title of the discussion, the membername of the person who posted it, the time and date of the message and how many replies the message has received.
To read a message click on its title where it appears on the board, in outline view or in folder outline.
If you have already read some messages within a thread you will automatically be taken to the newest post when you return to it. For this function to work you must be logged in with the same membername.
If you read a discussion which contains posts that are more than 30 days old you will automatically be taken to the first unread message posted within the past 30 days.
Sorting & displaying messages
For a list of message display options, use the pull-down menu on the box that says show me. You can choose to see all messages posted, only messages posted today, in the past two days, in the past seven days, any unread messages, messages you have recently viewed, posts which you formerly opted to ignore or only posts containing polls.
Folders
On each board you'll see the main page is divided into sections. We call these folders. Folders are a handy way to organise messages within a board. All boards start with a General Discussions folder so if you don't know where to post your message this is a good place to start.
Outline view, folder outline & view whole discussion
To see a list of all discussion titles and responses on a board click outline view (top right). A pop-up will appear. Click on the post you wish to read and it will appear on your main screen. This pop-up will show you the 500 most recent discussions on the board. Alternatively click folder outline for a pop up list of messages posted within that folder.
Once you open a message you can also gain a quick overview of who has taken part in the discussion by clicking view whole discussion. A new window will open containing an outline of that individual discussion. Clicking the link to a message in this window will open the message on your main screen.
Posting messages
To start a new discussion, click Post a message. Type in a title for your message. If you like, you can select an icon that best sums up the mood of your post from the drop-down box. Clicking choose icon next to the drop-down will open a new window which displays all the icons next to their meaning. Type your message in the text box.
Once you've written your message click the Spell check button before you preview your message.
When you have finished composing and spell-checking your message, click Preview your message.
The preview screen will show you how your message will be displayed. If you are happy with your message click, Post. You will be taken to a page confirming that your message will be posted shortly. You will be offered a link back to the discussion if you joined a current one and a link back to the board you posted on. You will also see links that will take you back to all the boards, the iVillage homepage and a small number of related features.
If you wish to change your message before you post it use the 'edit' button to return to the compose page. Using the back button may result in you losing what you had written so far. If you do this by accident click the forward button on your browser then copy your message from the preview screen, go back to the compose page and paste it into the compose box.
New messages will appear at the top of the board.
