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THIS ARTICLE IS CURRENTLY A DRAFT This site now gives you the opportunity for it to be installed as a WebApp (Apple) or Progressive Web App (PWA) (Google). For phones and tablets it installs an App (WebApp) on your phone's home screen. On a computer it installs the app into your dock. The app is a packaged version of the site that makes it work as (like) a regular app. It effectively wraps the site in a separate browser instance and makes it look like you're running a dedicated BlatChat application. As we were developing the site we really liked this feature and I use the site as an app most of the time on my phone. One of the really neat things this can do is that once you've installed the WebApp it gives your phone/tablet the option to receive "push notifications". You'll see in the Notification Settings (bell icon in the top top menu bar) that there are options to turn on "push notifications". Push notifications are how you get notifications appear on your phone/tablet when you're not running a dedicated app... for instance getting a Facebook notification on your phone when you're not in the Facebook app. Installing BlatChat as a WebApp and turning on push notifications will allow you to get notified of content you follow even when you're not looking at, or even have the Club site open. Push notifications are in addition to emails and in-site notifications which can all be turned on or off for various different types of notifications in Notification Settings. To be able to use the Push Notification feature on Apple devices you need to be running the latest version of the operating system. I believe this feature has been available on Android for a while, so you probably don't need the very latest OS to get this to work on Android. More information about setting up Push Notifications and the WebApp can be found here (this is generic Invision instructions - we're working on specific BlatChat instructions): https://invisioncommunity.com/4guides/how-to-use-ips-community-suite/content-discovery/push-notifications-device-side-r369/ HOWEVER, as of version 4.7.14 (November 2023) there is currently a bug in the site's core code that means you may get the wrong app icon after you install the WebApp. It's why we haven't been making a big thing of this feature yet. Sometimes installing the WebApp on your devices can just put a black icon on your home screen or sometimes it can be the site icon "7" but with a "1" in the bottom right corner of the icon. We have logged a bug report with Invision (the site platform provider) and they say they are working on it. Unfortunately it's not likely to get fixed in the next few weeks. So we only recommend using the WebApp feature on an "if it works for you that's ok" basis.

When editing a post you can also edit some aspects of images you embed. To make changes to an image: Edit the post containing the image you wish to adjust On a your device double click (desktop PC and Mac) or double tap (phone and tablet) the image You should see a pop-up box like the one below where you can adjust image properties If the image is a linked image from another website then the Link URL will show the address pointing to the image. You can change the image URL to another link if you wish. Note: Changing the size in the width and height boxes only changes the image’s display size. It does not rescale the image and so changes to this box’s width and height are non-destructive. It also means that clicking on the image will show the image at full resolution and not the size entered into this pop-up box. By default, when first inserting an image, the editor will reduce the displayed image size to be 1024 pixels wide. If the original image width (either uploaded or linked) is less than 1024 pixels to start with, then the editor will set its display width to be this lower original value.

Activity Streams give you a way to find content on a constant basis without having to create a new search every time you visit the forum. The default streams visible when you click Activity are: All Activity My Activity Streams Unread content Content I have started You can modify these default streams or you can create custom streams based on your individual needs. Filtering Streams When viewing any existing streams, you will see a set of filters at the top of the page, which you can change to your liking. Changing these will change the data shown in real time. All Activity Stream The All Activity stream which is available in the activity menu by default, will give you a rundown of all activity on the forum. You can view this in either a condensed view (one line per item) or the default expanded view you see in the screenshot below. Note: all other streams are set to Condensed view by default, but you can change this by clicking the Expand button. The forum will remember your last selection for each stream. Custom Activity Streams Within the default menu structure, under the Activity menu item, you will see a My Activity Streams option. Here you will see all default activity streams, and also the ability to create your own stream (on a per user basis). When selecting Create New Stream, you will be presented with the filters you wish to use for your new stream. Here a new stream is created for a specific forum on the site. Note you can select the cog icon at the side of any content type to select specific items under that content type. In this instance, a specific forum. Any new streams that are created, are then shown under the My Activity Streams menu, beneath the default set of streams. Editing Existing Streams There may be times where you wish to save a small change to an existing stream. Rather than creating one from scratch. After making an edit to any of the filters, you will see a save button (shown in red below), which will then allow you to create a new stream from your changes.

The website allows you to add any of the site's calendars to your device's (PC, Mac, phone, tablet) Calendar application (such as Google Calendar, iPhone Calendar, etc). The advantage of "subscribing" do a website calendar is that any changes made on the website will automatically be updated on your device. This process is performed by the website giving you a link to the calendar you are interested in and you then adding the link to your device. Don't worry, this process should be automatic on most devices. To subscribe to a website calendar: Click on Events in the top blue menu bar To locate your calendar click on the All Calendars drop down list (highlighted in green in the image below) and click on the calendar you're interested in Then click on the Subscribe button (highlighted in orange in the SECOND image below) Now click on the Subscribe to iCalendar feed on the drop down that has appeared (highlighted in red in the SECOND image below) This is where things will change depending on your device. You should complete the steps your device offers - usually the defaults will be fine Apple users: If asked whether to store the calendar on iCloud or device: Chasing iCloud will mean the calendar appears on all your devices Choosing device will mean the calendar events only appear on the device you're now adding this calendar to. If asked how often you'd like the calendar to be updated, just select how often you'd like updates to be reflected on your device. If you're a heavy site user then daily might be appropriate, if you use the site less, then perhaps weekly is ok. You should find that when you open your devices calendar, you will see events from the Club website. First Image Second Image

The news section of an Area or Group will give you details of upcoming events and information about the area/group. By following the news section you'll get sent notifications about new news items as well as updates to existing news. To follow an Area or Group news: Make sure you've joined the area/group you're interested in (see here for details) Click on the news tab for the area/group (highlighted in green in the image below) Click on the Follow button (highlighted in red in the image below) Note: An Area/Group has multiple follow options. You can: Follow the whole Area/Group on the Overview tab Follow the news on the news tab Follow the forum on the forum tab (only available on some Areas/Groups) Note: Joining an Area or Group is different from following it. Joining: By joining the area/group you are given access to that part of the website. Following: When you follow sections of the area/group you will then be sent notifications of new area/group content and changes. Joining an area/group does not automatically mean you are following the content of the area/group.

The Areas and Groups section of the site gives you access to local news and information. To join an Area: Click on Areas and Groups Find the Area you're interested in by either Looking through the list of Areas and Groups Use the map to find the area. If you hover over the pins on the map it will show you the name of that area (on a phone or tablet you can click on the pins to see the area) Click on the link to the area that you're interested in The Area/Group page will be displayed Click the Join button as highlighted in red in the image below. Note: Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are on the last page and don't have a location on the map. Note: Joining an Area or Group is different from following it. Joining: By joining the area/group you are given access to that part of the website. Following: When you follow sections of the area/group you will then be sent notifications of new area/group content and changes. Joining an area/group does not automatically mean you are following the content of the area/group.

Black stars and dots (shown in the image below): A GREEN star indicates the thread is featured, featured content appears at the top of lists. A GREEN circle indicates the thread is pinned, pinned content appears at the top of lists.

There are a few reasons why you may keep getting logged out while using the site. The site will keep you logged in as long as the "session" stays the same and your IP address stays the same (see at the bottom of this article for more information on both of these). You should click "Remember me" when logging in. If you don't click this check box when logging in then you may find you get logged out as you navigate around the site. Don't have the website running on multiple devices (see below for more on this) Roaming. If you are using the data connection on a mobile phone and driving around then the website may log you out because your IP address keeps changing. The website keeps track of what IP address you are connecting from, and will log you out if that IP address changes. Switching networks: if you move around and change network (going from Wifi to Mobile data for instance) then your IP address will probably change and you will be logged out. Don't have the website running on multiple devices In general having multiple tabs open or being logged in on multiple devices can cause problems. Where this can work is if you start with one tab and then open more tabs from that one. i.e. you use a browser option that's called something like "open in a new tab". New tabs opened this way will keep to the same session. Where this can fall down is if you then save those tabs (either because your browser has that as an option or you bookmark all the tabs) then when you open your browser again the sessions in those tabs will not be the same and you may find the site repeatedly logs you out as you navigate the site. More Info on Sessions A website session is something maintained by your browser and the website server. This website uses PHP session handling and so the site is restricted to whatever policies the latest version of PHP uses. More info on IP Addresses An IP address is like your home address. When a website wants to send data (a webpage or image) to your computer it needs to know where to send it, just like the postman. The system used by computers is called and Internet Protocol Address (a bit like your postcode) and is how data reaches your computer. If your IP address changes (because you've switched to a different network) then the website will invalidate the session and log you out. This is to stop your connection to the website being intercepted.

Although Notifications are on by default, you may override and customize these settings at any time. The quickest way to adjust your Notifications Settings is to click the "Notification Settings" link after clicking the bell icon (see image below). Alternatively you can go to Account Settings. Then to Notification Settings Then click into each category of content to change the individual settings. In the example below, Mentions & My Content is selected and expanded. The checkboxes on the left determine if you receive a notification by email and/or the Notification List (the bell icon at the top of the page.) When enabled, the number of current Notification List items is displayed in a green bubble next to the bell. To view those notifications, click on the bell, then on a notification to go directly to that piece of content. To play a sound when a notification is received via the Notification List, click on the checkbox on the bottom left of the Notification Settings page. Email notifications will be sent to the email address shown at the bottom right of that page. If you don't receive these emails, please check your junk folder and add USA7sClub@gmail.com to your safe senders list and/or Contacts to ensure these mails route to your inbox. Important note: when you receive a Notification Email and wish to respond to the forum member who sent you a Private Message or @mentioned you in a post, do not reply to the email. That will go to the Admin, not the intended recipient. Instead, click on the blue button in the mail that takes you to either the message or post.

You can choose to be notified when someone posts to a topic by enabling notifications and then following the topic. Enabling notifications is a one-time setting accessed by clicking on your username at the top right of every page and choosing Account Settings (shown by the red box). Then select Notification Settings under Other Settings (highlighted by the red box). And finally locate the Followed Content section and click the down arrow to expand the section. Select the Email checkbox if you wish to receive your notifications via email, or Notification List if you prefer to hear a sound or have your browser alert you. Notifications will be shown by a red bubble in the top right of your website page, next to the bell icon. The final step to receive notifications when someone posts to a topic is to follow the topic. This can be done automatically for all topics you create, or reply to, by checking the appropriate box under Automatically follow content in the screen above. Alternatively, you can choose to follow specific topics when you create a topic or reply to an existing topic using the Follow topic slider at the bottom left of the editor box where you type your post (highlighted in with the red box in the image below).

Reactions are a way to quickly respond to a piece of content with a simple icon. They can be used with: Forum Posts Gallery Images, News Article Technical Guides Blog Entries The current set of reaction options, their meaning and their effect on reputation (+1 or neutral) are shown in the image below: To give a Reaction, look for the Like icon (Heart-in-a-circle, shown in the image below) in the lower right corner of any content, tap the icon or hover your cursor over it, then select your Reaction icon from the choices that appear to the left. You can only leave one reaction per piece of content. If you wish to remove or change your Reaction, simply click the X next to the one you selected and start again. You will only see the X next to Reactions that you have submitted. Hover over or click any Reaction to reveal who submitted it.