User Help FAQs

A:  As an Anonymous User, you may view public portions of the site and use Contact Us to contact your Manager. To participate in the site, you must be Registered and Logged In. If you are a member of this community, click "Register" under the Login box to begin. Only members of this community may register in this site.

A:  Only members of this community, are eligible to register. To Register as a New User, click the Register link under the Login box. Complete the form, entering your new User Name and a temporary password. You will have to change your password the first time you log in. You will receive an email from “Support@yoursite” containing a link. To complete your registration, click the link in the email. You will be returned to the site where you can Log In for the first time and change your password.

A:  As a Registered User, you may use the Calendars, Categories, Chat, Forums and Charts; Upload and download files; blog, create Image galleries and File galleries; post comments; and vote for ratings of various features. Send articles or pages to the site; submit new links to the Directory; or take a quiz, survey, or poll. Suggest new Frequently Asked Questions; use content templates, structures or free tags; list users. Your personal tools are in the "My Tiki" folder: containing Bookmarks, Messages, Files, Calendar, Tasks, Note Pad, and Newsreader.

A:  First, there's Contact Us, to contact your community Manager. Contact Us is on the User Menu, fourth from the top. In the Management folder, you will find Support Tickets, Violation Reports and Work Orders. Click the image of a folder next to Management to open the folder. Support Tickets may be distributed to Board Members, Vendors or Committee members. Use Support Tickets for issues other than Work Orders or Violation Reports. Registered users may contact one another directly through the Messaging system. Open the "My Tiki" folder, and select Messages.

A:  The MyTiki folder is your personal space. Bookmark pages or websites by going to MyTiki and clicking Bookmarks and entering the page address. Your personal calendar, is a simple appointment list with reminders and topics that you may view daily, weekly or as a list. You also have a personal Newsreader, note pad and tasks. Tasks may be shared among users. MyWatches can monitor and notify you when something is edited, or added to a specific page or topic.

A:  If you want to receive an email when something is edited, or when new articles or forum topics are added, you create a Watch. A watch can be turned on and off in your MyTiki folder, on the "My Watches" page. To create a Watch, click the image of an eye... that appears at the top right of many pages and features. An eye with a red slash over it indicates that your Watch has been set. To turn off a watch, either click on the open eye, which then closes, or go to MyTiki, MyWatches page and delete any or all of your watches.

A:  Watches can be set for: Categories, articles, forums, galleries, calendars, Blogs, trackers and structures. For a category, you'll receive an email when things are added or removed from the category, and when items are modified. This can be useful as a document workflow, or in Project Management. A Watch for a web page sends you edits, new comments and comment replies for that page. A Watch for a forum sends new Topics but not replies. A Watch on a forum Topic, sends replies posted to that Topic. It does not notify you of new Topics or replies to them.

A:  To edit an existing page, you must be logged in. Click Edit at the bottom of the page frame. The site includes an Office 2003-style toolbar that formats your edit in Smarty code. If you use HTML in a page, be sure to click "Allow HTML" before you click Save. You have a 30-minute window in which to save your changes or they will be lost. You will see a warning, one minute before the edit expires.

A:  Work Orders are in the Management folder. When you submit a Work Order, it is archived to a database for Managers and Board Members. The database is sort-able, by address or issue, and is useful for addressing a variety of maintenance issues. Both you and your Manager receive the Work Order by email. Be sure to fill out the form completely, and describe your issue in detail. Your manager may respond to your Work Order without contacting you. Be sure to mention of you would like a call or email once the issue is resolved.

A:  Violation Reports are in the Management folder. When you submit a Violation Reports, it is archived to a database for Managers and Board Members. This database is sort-able, by address or issue, and is useful for recognizing patterns over time and tracking repeat offenses. Both you and your Manager receive the Violation Reports by email. Be sure to fill out the form completely, and describe your issue in detail. Your manager may respond to your Violation Reports without contacting you. Be sure to mention of you would like a call or email once the issue is resolved.

A:  Support Tickets are in the Management folder. This is a ticket tracking software. When you submit a Support Ticket, it is archived to a database for Managers and Board Members. Your manager may transfer your Support Ticket to a Committee member, a Board member or a Vendor. Be sure to fill out the form completely, and describe your question in detail. Don't forget to mention if you would like a call or email once the issue is resolved.

A:  There are several time/date & calendar-related features: The Mini Calendar is My Tike's personal calendar. A simple appointment list. The Event Calendars which show user created information such as events or appointments. Different Event calendars can be created, with distinct permissions for each. It is also possible to setup a Personal calendar here. This duplicates the mini-calendar feature but with integration with the other calendars (so you can see in one view both your personal events and the other events). The geographic names at the top of the calendars refers to the "time zone setting" for the site.

A:  The Chat feature is designed to allow users to enter "chat rooms" and hold real time conversations via instant message, with other users who are logged in to the same room. Chat allows for multiple "rooms", and multiple users per room. Users can move between rooms. The general method for using chat is to select a room, enter the room, and send messages by typing them in a text box. All recent messages for the room are displayed and updated periodically (period set by chat administration). Warning: all messages for a given room are displayed to users that enter the room, so do not use Chat for private conversations.

A:  The site is browsable through mobile phones or PDA browsers. This is currently limited to pages, Articles and Forums. Support for other areas and authentication is planned in future releases.

A:  The site is multi-lingual to more than 8 languages, based on the default language of your browser. Chat is also multi-lingual.

A:  Like a real Sandbox, the Sandbox is a place to play. You can test out ideas here, experiment with syntax or HTML safely. The contents of the Sandbox are never saved, so when you have something perfected - copy the contents and paste them into a page. Click "Edit", on any page to see its code. The User Help page also has samples of Smarty code.

A:  The Management page, contains the name and contact information for your community management company and managers. The address on this page is where all payments should be sent.

A:  The Documents and Board page is intended to hold all current information on the association. It contains the names of all association documents and Board of Director members with their contact information, or email link. Documents that should be here include: Declarations, CC and R's, Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, Maps, Amendments and Policies. These are available for download by any member. ... You could also use this page to list Committee members, Groups or Clubs.

A:  The Committees pages lists all the Committees in your community. It may be used for listing the current activities of the Committees, and volunteer coordination information for your community. This is also the place to list Groups, Clubs or other organizations in your community.

A:  The Local Information page is a created page, intended to provide information on the surrounding community to new and prospective buyers. Additions and updates to this information is always appreciated, and helps improve your community by creating interest.

A:  The Classifieds are free to all members. The Classifieds page is listed under Local Information, since it refers to your local community. List products for sale, lease, available to lend, or free, items. List services you may offer for a fee or for a fellow member for free. The more listings are here, the more involved your community becomes. You may also list things you can teach: music lessons, language lessons, cooking lessons. To create a Classified add, go to "Submit an Article" under News Articles. Under Type, choose Classified.

A:  I suggest you write Reviews of local vendors and restaurants for the site. To submit your Review, open the News Articles folder and select "Submit an Article", then select Review as the Article type. There are a few sample reviews to get you started. Be sure to select a category for your review.

A:  The Crime Watch page is located in the Local Information folder, since it refers to your local area. The Crime Watch page is intended to hold all current information on local Crime Watch efforts by local police, sheriff's office, or volunteers, as well as any Crime Watch coordination within your community. This is where you should list all those involved and how to contact them. Please keep this page updated, and be sure to list contact information for Crime Watch volunteers in your community.

A:  The Link Directory is located in the Local Information folder, since it's primary focus is local vendors. The Link Directory is for business listings only. By default, Directory listings are free, although some communities sell listings here to generate revenue. By default, your directory contains sample listings. To suggest a new listing for the Directory, click Directory. At the top of the page, click Add a Link. Other buttons at the top include: New Sites, that lists sites by the date entered. "Cool sites", lists links by number of visits.

A:  The Local Map page is located in the Local Information folder. This is a Google map of your local area. Other maps can be created. Maps of your community are found on the Board and Documents page, since these maps are specific to your community. Google maps are versatile tools. If you have ideas for maps that would help your community, please contact your admin, and request access to Google Maps in your site. Open the "My Tiki" folder, select Messages, then Compose. For "To", put admin.

A:  News Articles are the Articles submitted to this site by members. To submit an article, click the image of a folder next to News Articles to open the folder, and select Submit an Article. If Page Staging is activated, your article must be approved by a Board member or Manager. There are 3 types of Articles on the site: articles, reviews and classifieds. You may edit your article at any time. Submit articles of interest you find elsewhere, or write your own. Please include the source in your submission.

A:  All registered users can create Blogs. We encourage every family member to register and Blogs. Please keep topics upbeat and remember this is a family site. .... To create a Blog, click the image of a folder next to Blogs, and select Create or Edit a Blog. Enter the Title and a brief description of your focus. You may also create Blogs that others can post to, perhaps for a specific topic. Comments can be activated for each Blog. Please ignore the code box at the bottom of the Blog form, unless you are familiar with Smarty code.

A:  The Frequently Ask Questions section is a public section of the site, a utility for creating multiple "Frequently Asked Questions" lists. A brief sample of responses to common H.O.A. questions is included. You may suggest new questions for this section by clicking General H.O.A. Questions, and selecting "New Question" at the top of the page. Your manager's responses will be posted. Feel free to create new "Frequently Asked Questions" sections for your community.

A:  File Galleries are lists of documents up loaded to the site. On the File Galleries page, you may: create a New File Gallery, Duplicate an existing gallery, or view a gallery as a slide show of documents. Click the name of the Gallery to open it. ... To the right of each gallery name, the tools are: Go To, Properties, Up load, Permissions, and Delete. Please do not delete file galleries.

A:  The Forums, or Message Boards can discuss anything you like. You must be registered to create Forums. Forums may be public or private. Click the forum name to enter the forum. Forum type is used to classify topics. When the topic is new for the user, the type icon is red. Forum types are: hot, for important topics; announce, for announcements; sticky topics are always displayed on top of the list. Locked topics cannot receive posts. Click the topic name to display a list of messages for that topic. Forums may be searched, or sorted by date, title or score.

A:  Any member may create image galleries. Image galleries may be public or private. You can up load images from your computer, or another site. Maximum image size is preset to 64 megabytes. Gallery images can be used in any part of the site. To up load an image, click the image of a folder next to Image Galleries to open the folder, then select Up load an Image. Be sure to select the gallery for your image. Increase image load speed by reducing the file size before up loading. After up loading your image, you will see the code to use, to insert that image into a page.

A:  Newsletters are sent via email to all members, or a list of subscribers. Newsletters can be sent in HTML format, plain text format, or both. Other features include; controlled subscribe and unsubscribe; restricted to email of record; email address validation; unsubscribe instructions in the newsletter; granular object permissions for viewing or sending; and subscription by groups. It is best to create HTML newsletters in another interface and paste into the editor. Preview in HTML and text format. Retrieve, "Saved As Draft", newsletters by clicking the "Use" link, on the far right.

A:  Polls are a simple one question "straw vote". Statistics based on the answers are stored for viewing. Polls can be inserted into pages. You must be a Board member or Manager to create a Poll. Click the image of a folder next to Surveys & Polls to open the folder, then select "Admin Polls". Enter the name and description and click Save. Next to the Poll name, on the far right, click the spreadsheet to enter your options. Polls can also be categorized.

A:  Surveys can be viewed as extended polls. When you want to be more precise about your users opinions, and still have an easy way to create and view their results and statistics, you need to create a survey. A survey is a collection of several questions. Surveys must be viewed from a link, or by going to the List Surveys page. Click the image of a folder next to Surveys and Polls to open the folder, then select Admin Surveys. Enter the name and description and Save it. Then, to the far right of the Survey name, click the question mark to begin entering your survey questions.

A:  TikiSheets, or spreadsheets, perform calculations on user-entered numeric data and provides the resulting data in tables, graphs or charts. From the view page, the spreadsheet can be edited at the selected state. A link for revision history, is available from the spreadsheet view page. This tool is too complex to describe here. Message the Administrator to obtain detailed information on using this tool.

A:  Trackers can combine structured information collected from users. They are a powerful flexible tool. Each tracker has its own mini database and operates as a stand-alone feature. They can be fully integrated within pages. Users with Board or Manager permissions can devise trackers to collect any kind of information. Trackers can be forms for collecting and reporting data; report completed tasks; or track user input in a customizable form. Trackers cannot perform extensive calculations. Trackers are too complex to describe here. Message the Administrator to obtain detailed information on using this tool.

A:  Each page contains a menu of tools at the bottom of the page frame. Edit, opens the Page Editor; Remove, allows the page to be deleted. You may also: Rename a page; view its History; search for Similar pages; remove the last edit with Undo; Export a text file of the page to your computer; add your comment; or assign group permissions to the page. Locked pages can only be unlocked by the Author or, Admin. ... Admins can recover deleted pages. Message the Administrator to have a deleted page restored.

A:  At the top of the page, the icons are as follows: The "page and pencil" opens the editor; the "globe and links", provides a listing of every page that references this page; "the Printer" displays a printer-friendly version of the page; the pink square creates an Adobe PDF file; the Disk, saves it to your Note pad in "My Tiki" ; and the "Image of an eye", activates your page monitor. If your site does not contain a feature mentioned here, it means the feature has not been enabled.

A:  To Create a New page, you must be logged in. Below the menu, find a module named "Quick Edit a wiki Page". Enter your new page name and hit Enter. Your new page will open to the page editor. Click Save. Now your page exists. Edit to add your content. Be sure to add a link to the page elsewhere in the site, so that others can find it. To have a page added to the menu, Message the Administrator. To locate a page, open the wiki folder and select List Pages.

A:  Interactive sites are called wickis, because the inventor of this technology lived in Hawaii and chose this name for his invention. The wiki folder contains the following options: Last Changes lists the last changes to the site; List pages lists all pages; Orphan pages, lists all pages not included in the original site; Site stats lets you see statistics on site usage. ... Structures allow you to collect and sort pages into book form. This can be useful for many purposes, like directories.

A:  Help contains pages created by your administrator to provide you with useful shortcuts for page formatting in Smarty code. "Video Tutorials" are tutorial videos on using site features. The site "User Manual" is in Help in online form. The "Cheatsheet" contain tips on Smarty code formatting. Remember, when you use Smarty code, you can not have "enable HTML" selected. Of course you may create pages entirely in HTML, not using the tool bar, and they will work perfectly.

A:  The Manage folder is not visible to Registered users. It contains the custom database interfaces for Work Orders, Violation Reports and Support Tickets. This is where you view all submitted reports for your community. Only Managers and Admins may edit these pages. Board Members may view but not edit items in the Manage folder.

A:  RSS feeds from your site, are in the footer of every page. RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. RSS files are an easy way to syndicate news and articles from one site to many. For instance, RSS files can be used to gather Slash dot news and Fresh meat releases, and display them on your site. To get an RSS feed from your Blog for example, go to the page you want, and click the RSS link. Copy the code and paste it into a newsreader, like in MyTiki. All new content in your Blog will be fed to your newsreader. You have a newsreader in the "My Tiki" folder.

A:  To add an RSS feed from another site to a page of your site, message your administrator. Be sure to indicate the page name where you would like the feed to appear.

A:  Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, is a language used to describe the presentation of a document written in a markup language. CSS can be used to define colors, fonts, lay out, and other aspects of document presentation. It is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content, from document presentation. CSS specifies a priority scheme to determine which style rules apply if more than one rule matches against a particular element. If you would like to changes the CSS, message your admin.

A:  Structures organize a group of pages into an online book that can be easily navigated. The pages are placed in a hierarchy that you specify, with blank pages created where they do not already exist. Creating a structure is the fastest method for creating multiple pages at once. It's a great way to make a book. ... In a structure, backward and forward arrows allow you to navigate between pages. To work with Structures, you must be a Board member or Manager. "Message the Admin" to learn more.

A:  Use Support Tickets to suggest new permission levels or changes to existing permissions structure. All permission changes must be approved by your Board of Directors or Manager.

A:  Managers of your site have all the capabilities of Board members, plus the following permissions: admin the frequently asked questions, admin the Users, and subscribe users to newsletters.

A:  Board members administrate the following sections: attachments, banners, banning, Blogs, calendars, categories, charts, chat, the directory, file galleries, Forums, image galleries, Mail-In posting, Newsletters, Polls, Quizzes, Received Articles or pages, RSS modules, spreadsheets; Surveys, and the Work flow Engine. Board members receive automatic approval of pages, links, forum posts and chart submissions. Board members may batch up load files and images.

A:  Board members have all the permissions of registered users. They may also: broadcast messages to all users, change events. Edit articles, comments, content templates, spread sheets, structures or submissions. Attach documents to Forums; lock pages; create, delete or edit maps; remove articles, comments or submissions; rollback or re-name pages; create and send newsletters; admin and send tasks to other users; use the Work Flow Engine; and validate links. They can view site statistics, templates, user results, or spreadsheet history; or create information that is displayed based on date.

A:  Your site Administrator has all the permissions of Managers, plus the following: administrate the content management system, dynamic content, RSS, CSS, trackers, cache bookmarks, and configure modules and Google maps. The contact name, "admin", is used to contact the administrator through

A:  Any member may message the Administrator to request changes to the site. Those interested in contributing their expertise should submit a Support Ticket requesting access, since your Manager must approve all permissions changes. Volunteer input into the site's appearance and content is encouraged.

A:  Smarty is a "Template Presentation Framework", enabling quick deployment of your application, while maintaining high-performance, scalability and security. It enables the site to show or hide things, depending on permissions variables. Your site uses the Smarty Template Engine to control themes. The code in Users Help is Smarty code.

A:  It is important to understand that this site is not written in HTML. The page editor buttons create Smarty code, not HTML. Enabling HTML for the page with the check box at the bottom, interferes with the Smarty code in some instances. Each page needs to be in one language or the other, for most purposes.

Pages may be created in HTML, or HTML code may be pasted into a page.