the ORG: help
From zefrank
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Report ORG bugs using the bug report form on the ORG help page.
If you want feedback, possible fixes or just to chat then check out our forum. Start a new thread if your bug hasn't been discussed yet.
the ORG - start quacking!
Current Status
The ORG was hatched with v0.30 at 12:00am on 2007.Jan.01
Current Version 0.38
Quacker Page
Click on your avatar or screen name on the left side of the window, and voilá, you end up at your Quacker Page. Up top it has information about when you joined, when you last logged in, the perhaps less than intuitive how far away you are from yourself, your pack name, and your awesomeness (don't worry, that feature isn't really fully functional yet - but if you do something quackspendicular, you'll probably earn a few points in spite of that.).
But wait, there's more! Below that, you'll find 3 sections. First, you'll see thumbnails of your pics. Thumbnails with a darker, thicker border have comments that you haven't seen yet. After that, you'll see your own, personal, Quackers and Paddlers along for the ride. (You don't know what those are? You are pretty new! Go check out the FAQ.)
home
You have four locations: home, school, work, and play. Your current default is shown here.
People
What do the username colors represent?
- pinkish=female
- brownish=male
To display the most recent logins in your vicinity, beneath the "people search" field, click on the radio button "recent visits" and the user names will be sorted according to their last login time.
Although you could use this to find out who is now on-line by zooming the map all the way out, it is much easier to see who is online by going to
what's new? >> Logins
Businesses/Housing/Jobs
You can use the ORG map like Google Local if you check the Businesses, Housing, or Jobs box. When you search, your results will be displayed on the map as gray markers. Clicking on a marker will bring up a small information box with the address and a more info link. All local results will be displayed on the right hand side (where user names usually are) and are also links.
Events
By clicking on the "Events" check box at the bottom of the map on the ORG home page you will see a list of events in your area. If you would like to add an event and have it show up on the ORG map, go to upcoming.org and register. Once registered, add an event and it will soon show up on the ORG.
Packs
Checking "packs" and doing a search will show you "local" packs. The engine will search all the pack leaders, and display the packs whose leader's location is closest to you.
Media
Checking "Media" will display members who have added a video or an image recently. The sidebar will display the user name, the type of media, when it was added, and how far they are from you. Clicking on a marker will bring up the users avatar and a more info link which will take you to their profile. You can chose if you want to display just videos, just images, or both. You are discouraged from uploading cute snapshots of your housecats, which are beginning to overwhelm the bandwidth and sensibilities of more practical users.
Blogs
Blogs search is the same as a media search. You will see the user name, their distance from you, and when their blog was last updated. Click on a marker causes the same action as in media.
Shuffler (was Favorites, and probably will become again)
'shuffler' replaced 'favorites' which replaced 'most popular'. But that's more history for those in search of factoids here in the help section.
According to SupportandComfort, "there's a whole dealie deal with Favorites lurking just beneath the flannel sheets."
Shuffler seems to have a heuristic that does a fuzzy ranking similar to what is described below. Since it sounds like favorites are coming back in 0.36 or so, let's leave this description and say that this holds for Shuffler within an order of magnitude: The most popular images, videos, packs and members at the ORG (not just yours) are displayed. For ranking members, the number of people who have clicked them as a favorite "faves" is displayed. For packs, the total number of favs for all people in the pack is displayed.
If you'd like to see more images and videos than what's on the first page, use the little arrows up next to header. You don't see them? Look a little harder. They're there. Honest.
packs
Packs are transient groups which will focus on creating content, and will be known for their members and their deeds, not their names. Existing packs can be renamed.
Packs aren't meant to be used for locations -- there's a nifty mapping technology one click away that lets you find folks nearby.
Finding Packs
The easiest ways to find packs:
- find members you think are interesting and click to see what pack they're in
- check "packs" on the map and browse around your neighborhood/city to find packs near you
- click "what's new" and page through the new packs
- click "what's new" and page through recent pack changes
- click "what's popular" and page through the popular packs
- say "screw it" and start your own pack, let people come to you
Managing Packs
Click on packs in the sidebar. From the header menu, you can now view the most popular packs, new packs, and recent pack activity. The last item in the menu is a context sensitive link: If you are not currently a pack leader, you are offered to "create a pack". If are already the leader of a pack, you will be offered to "manage your pack"
The "Manage Pack Page" lists your affiliation, if any, and also gives you the option to either rename, merge, or dissolve your pack.
Currently, you are limited to founding one pack, and each pack my only be affiliated with one other pack.
Forming Your Own Pack
To start your own pack you must first leave (quit) any pack you are joined to.
After you have left you can now created your own pack, you can also post a comment or add your own mission statement.
Once you have created your own pack you can stand alone or form an alliance with one other pack.
If you want to merge with a different pack later on, you must first break alliance with your current pack and then form a new alliance or you can stand alone.
The pack you join in turn can align their pack with another pack making your overall numbers greater.
Once you have joined a pack you can leave comments for other users amongst the aligned packs. Click on you aligned pack icon, then click comments, then click add comment.
You can also add a pack to your favorites.
If you are having trouble click on flag and chose one of the options.
Currently, there are no controls for who may join or exit your individual pack.
Are Hierarchical Groups (packs) Genius?
Yes.
what's new
6 Jan 2007: 1) If you lead a pack, you can "throw support" to the pack you're allied to. This will dissolve your pack and "throw support". 2) Notification of quacks. These appear directly under your new messages notification.
messages
Messaging has been improved. Messages from your inbox can now be either deleted or saved. You can now empty your deleted messages. Also, you can move something from the "saved" area back to the inbox, or you can delete it.
Sent items may neither be saved nor deleted.
Exporting Messages is in the works.
toys
quack attack!
"Which image is more awesome?"
Pick between two (of similar orientation).
add media
all things photo, audio, video related
locations
locations, changing location, map issues
invite a friend
Outside Goodies (things ORG not accessed from the menu)
FAQs
Help and other treasures
legal
be awesome
The ORG is a place to be as awesome as you can be. Go forth and be awesome!
Collaborate, connect, discover and be inspired.