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Please Start Here - Rules, Help, FAQ

Started by Sam, August 03, 2018, 07:13:46 PM

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Sam

Welcome to the Financial Samurai Forums! Anyone is free to search and browse the forums; only registered members can post.

Here are a few FAQs to get you started.

Who can join?
If you're 18 years of age or older and agree to the Forum Terms Of Service, please register today and join the community!

How do I register?
1. To register for your own free account, simply click on the Register link in the forum menu or use the link below. Copy and paste the URL into a new browser, www.financialsamurai.com/forums/register/

2. You will need to read the Forum Terms Of Service on the registration page, scroll to the bottom, and click the accept button.

3. Next, you will be asked to select a Username. It must be unique and can not be changed after your registration is complete. Your username will be publicly visible. If someone already has the Username you input, you will see a yellow caution symbol next to the Username field. Once you have chosen a unique Username, a green checkmark will appear.

4. Enter your email address and a strong, secure password. Please use a combination of lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and symbols.

5. Answer the verification question and prove you are not a spammer. All the answers can be found on the blog's About page. If you haven't read it yet, please copy and paste this URL into a new browser: https://www.financialsamurai.com/about/

6. Once you submit your registration, you will receive 1 of 2 welcome emails and will be placed into the queue for administrative review. You will not be able to login until your request for registration has been approved. We do not want spammers in the forums, and this process helps keep them out.

7. To help expedite your registration review, please send an email to: forums AT financialsamurai DOT com. Put your Username in the subject and answer all 3 of these questions in the email body:
* How did you hear about the forums?
* Which forum categories are you most interested in?
* In which city does Sam Dogen live?

8. If your registration is approved you will receive a second welcome email. The email body will state, "Your account has been activated manually by the admin and you can now login and post."

9. Login and join the fun!

I never got a welcome email. What do I do?
First, check your spam folder. If the email landed there, please mark the message "not spam" to help prevent any future notification messages landing in spam. If you did not receive an initial welcome email in your spam folder when you initially submitted your registration request, please wait at least 24 hours before contacting us as sometimes machines are slow. Remember, we manually approve all new member registrations, so it can take up to 48 hours for us to review your registration and send out an approval email notification. If you did not receive an email confirming your registration was approved in 48 hours and need further help, please email: forums AT financialsamurai DOT com with your Username, email address you are trying to register, and the answer to all three questions in step 7 above.

I'm getting an error when I try to login that says "An Error Has Occurred!" What do I do?
This is a bug that pops up occasionally because technology can be difficult and annoying sometimes. This isn't caused by a problem with your password. Usually the error will go away if you change the login dropdown menu from "Forever" to a shorter time frame such as "1 Month." Clearing cache and trying a new browser have also worked too.

I forgot my password and I'm having trouble getting it reset. What do I do?
If you're running into problems, please email forums AT financialsamurai DOT com with "Password help" in the subject line and make sure you are writing from the email address you are registered with. In the body of the email, please include your username. We'll do our best to help you get back online within 24 hours.

I submitted a Reply or a New Topic and it doesn't show up. What do I do?
When you first join the forums, you will need to answer verification questions before submitting content. There's also a chance your initial replies or new topics could be placed in moderation for review before they are publicly viewable. We will do our best to regularly release replies and topics that are placed into moderation, so please be patient. Please wait at least 24 hours before contacting us for support. If 24 hours has passed and you do not believe your post was in violation of the Forum Terms Of Service, you can email: forums AT financialsamurai.com with your Username and questions.

I want to use the smiley emojis and font formatting but all I see is weird code when I'm typing. What do I do?
There is a "toggle view" button you can push that should convert most of that code you see to viewable emojis and formatting while you type. The Toggle View button has a blue mouse pointer icon between two red brackets. It's located below the Font Face and Font Size drop down menus.

How do I reply to a specific person's response within a topic that has multiple comments?
Forum jargon can get a bit confusing so I'll try and explain in plain English... Let's say you're reading a topic that 5 people have responded to (ie 1 topic with 5 posts). If one of those five posts grabs your attention and you want to comment on or answer a question in that specific member's post, click on the "Quote" button that appears at the top right of that individual post. A copy of their post will appear in the box where you can type your reply. Scroll to the bottom and type your response below their quote. You can click the preview button before submitting your response to see what it will look like.

What is Karma? And what do the Applaud and Smite links do?
Karma is a forum feature for ranking member popularity. If you like something another member posted, click on the "Applaud" link that appears below their Username. This will increase their Karma ranking by 1 point. If you strongly dislike what someone posted or believe a member is violating the Forum Terms Of Service, you can click on the "Smite" link and report their post for moderation. This will decrease their Karma ranking by 1 point. You can up or down vote a member only once an hour. The smite link is intended to be used sparingly and should not be used to bully or harass members.

Why does "Apprentice" appear below my Username when I post? Can I change that?
The Financial Samurai Forums have post count based membergroup titles. Everyone starts out at the Apprentice level. The more you post and participate in the forums, the higher your post count will be, and the higher you will rise in the Samurai rankings. Join in the fun and strive to achieve legendary Kodenbushi status!  ;D

Apprentice, 0-49 posts
Aonisaibushi (Amateur Samurai), 50-99 posts
Chukanbushi (Intermediate Samurai), 100-499 posts
Seieibushi (Elite Samurai), 500-999 posts
Kodenbushi (Legendary Samurai), 1000+ posts

How do I flag a post for moderation?
If you come across a topic or reply another member has posted that you believe violates the Forum Terms of Service, please click on the "Report to Moderator" link at the bottom right side of the posting. We will do our best to review all content flagged for moderation as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience and support.

I have more questions on how to use the forums. Where can I get help?
The Financial Samurai Forums are run on a Simple Machines Forum platform. Please use the Help link in the forum menu for lots of answers to common questions. Here are a few links to the help guides. Simply copy a URL below and paste it into a new browser.
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Registering
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Logging_In
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Profile
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Search
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Posting
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Personal_messages

Where can I learn more about Financial Samurai and sign up for updates?
Please copy and paste the below URLs into a new browser.

A great place to start is my about page, https://www.financialsamurai.com/about/
You can also sign up for any or all of the below to stay updated with the latest from Financial Samurai.

* The Financial Samurai Newsletter, https://forms.aweber.com/form/70/414890070.htm

* Email feed for new Financial Samurai articles, https://forms.aweber.com/form/61/638448361.htm

* The Financial Samurai Podcast iTunes channel, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/financial-samurai/id1324765509?mt=2

In addition you can access my most popular articles here, https://www.financialsamurai.com/category/most-popular/

What are the top financial products and services you recommend?
Explore the latest and greatest list here, https://www.financialsamurai.com/top-financial-products/

Where are the Forum Terms Of Service?
You can access the Forum Terms Of Service anytime here, https://www.financialsamurai.com/financial-samurai-forums-terms-of-service/, which includes the rules of online behavior and privacy information.

Now please swing by the Welcome topic and introduce yourself! You can access it in the Getting Started section or simply copy this URL into your browser, https://www.financialsamurai.com/forums/getting-started/welcome!-please-introduce-yourself/

Thank you and have fun!
Regards,

Sam