Getting Started

Guide/Book Page

Getting Started

This page is to help you get started using and enjoying the YachtPals site. If you get stuck, find a bug, or need some additional help, please contact YachtPals.com (using the link on the left of every page).

 

1. The first step in getting started on the YachtPals site is to create your account or log-in (using the box on the left).

 

2. My Account & Profile

Once you have been sent your confirmation email, and logged in, you can edit your profile. Got to “My Account” (top of your screen), and click the “edit profile” tab on the top of the page. Enter as much (or as little) information as you want (ignore the “My Boat” area for now), and click “submit” on the bottom of the form. This step is really important if you want to use all site features.

3. Create Your Boat Home Page

• Fill out the Create My Boat and Crew form, you can edit this later, so don't worry, and click submit.
• Add the boat to your profile (Go back to "My account" and click the tab that says "edit profile", enter your boat and click submit).

4. My User Picture & Easy to Remember Password
While you're on your "My account" page, why not upload your picture by clicking the “Edit Account” tab, you can also change your password to something easy to remember.

That's it! In a couple of days, you will be given a personalized address for your boat home page like this: yachtpals.com/boatname. No need for a boat card, just tell your friends to find you on YachtPals

 

Jump to more help with:

• My Account & Profile
• My User Picture & Password
• My Boat and Crew
• Add Crew to My Boat
• Buddies
• Home pages
• Cruising Guides
• Navigating this site
• Show any local weather on the front page
  

My Account & Profile

Start by editing your profile. Got to “My Account” (top of your screen), and click the “edit profile” tab on the top of the page. Enter as much information as you want (ignore the “My Boat” area for now). Click “submit” on the bottom of the form.

Editing your profile earns you enough points to be promoted to the rank of “Able Hand”, with lots of added permissions. As you create quality content on the site, you earn more points (watch your points grow on your “My Account” page), and earn even higher ranks (with more added permissions).

My User Picture & Password

You can upload your picture by clicking the “Edit Account” tab, in “My Account”. There are lots of other things you can do here too (like change your password), check it out.

My Boat and Crew

As an “Able Hand” you can now create your “My Boat and Crew” group.

1. Fill out the form (http://yachtpals.com/node/add/boat-group), you can edit this later, so don't worry, and click submit (don't forget to enter all your crew who are YachtPals members on this form).
2. Add the boat to your profile (Go back to "My account" and click the tab that says "edit profile", enter the boat and click submit).

Your "Boat and Crew" area is now ready for new content from yourself and your crew. Just "create something" from within your group, and it will magically appear on your Boat and Crew homepage (and on your personal home page as "Topics I've participated in").

You will be assigned a personalized address to your boat home page. The address will be yachtpals.com/yourboatname (for example yachtpals.com/windwalker). Now you can give this address to all your friends!

If you have no other crew, you're done. If not, continue to Add Crew to My Boat.

Add Crew to My Boat

1. To add other YachtPals to your crew, go to your boat page (My boats/groups, and click your boat).
2. On the left column, you will see your boat name with navigation within your Boat and Crew.
3. One of these links says “1 subscriber”, click this.
4. Now click the tab on top which says “add subscribers”, this is where you add your other crew members. Enter the user names, and click submit.
5. Click the “Configure member roles” tab; this allows you to choose what type of permissions those crew members have in your “Boat and Crew” group. A “Manager” has all rights (just like you), an “Assistant Manager” can do almost everything (except changing others permissions), a “Contributer” can add/rate content and edit book pages, and a “Member” can only view and rate content. Check a role for your crew members, and click submit.
6. The last step is for each crew member to add the boat to their individual profile (Go to "My account" and click the tab that says "edit profile", enter the boat and click submit).

Buddies

Now add some boaters to your buddylist. To do this just click on the “add to my buddylist” icon, listed after “Connect with Me:”, on any users profile page. It looks like this:

Home pages

Your “My Account” home page, and your “Boat and Crew” home page are created automatically based on the content that you create!

The address for your boat page will be http://yachtpals.com/your_boat_name (for example (yachtpals.com/moon_dance).

Nothing else to do but “Create something” more! Everything you make is attached to you and/or your boat, so each thing you add is another part of your own website. As we add new features, you can add them too!

Cruising Guides

The YachtPals collaborative "Cruising Guides" are meant to grow, adapt, and expand. If you find something wrong, or something you would like to add, just click the edit tab on that book page and make your changes (don't worry the administrators can revert back to the old copy if it gets messed up). If you have a location you would like to write about just go to that guide (for example: USA West Coast - Washington), and add a child page to that cruising guide, or add a new top-level book for your area if it doesn't already exist (view all books to see what's already on). It doesn't have to be perfect, just get it started and watch it grow.

Navigating this site

On the left of every page is your navigation box (it will have your user name at the top in orange if you are logged in).

Click:

• "Recent Content" to see what's new on the site
• "Browse" to start browsing through all the content (forums, blogs, books, etc.)
• "Create something" to create some content (blog entry, gallery image, cruising guide page etc.)
• "My account" to go to your profile page (where there are tabs available to edit your account and profile as well as see all your recent posts)
• "My boats/groups" to list your boats (My Boat and Crew) and groups you are subscribed to (click the My recent tab on this page to see only the recent posts in your boats & groups)
• "My blog" to view your blog entries
• "My guestbook" to go to your guestbook
• "My inbox" to go to your personal messages inbox
• "My buddies" to see your buddies and if they are online (click the Recent posts tab on this page to see only your buddies recent content).
• "Contact YachtPals.com" to send a email message to the YachtPals web team.

How to show your local weather on the yachtpals.com home page

1. Go to "My account", click the "my weather" tab, create new weather location for your area (or any area you want), click "save configuration" button.
2. Next click the "Edit account" tab, and look for the check box that says "Weather: custom user", click the check box, go to the bottom of the page and click the "submit" button.

Now everytime you come to yachtpals.com, you will see the weather of whatever location you choose!