Announcement of the BCARC Forum
Why do we need a forum?
The BCARC site is a great resource for club announcements, meeting minutes, and club knowledge. And nothing about that will change.
This new forum will act as another useful resource that all club members can use to communicate, ask questions, and engage in discussion.
It provides features that the main website won’t such as:
- Live discussions between members
- Easy ways to ask questions and share knowledge
- Organized topics for nets, technical problems, etc…
- A live swap & shop
The goal is to make it easier than ever for members to stay involved and help each other.
How do I use the forum?
Forums are not as common as they used to be and as such many club members may not be familiar with how a forum works.
So I have created this tutorial to hopefully alleviate some confusion.
First you will need to create an account:
Step 1. Create an account by selecting “Register”
Step 2. Agree to the terms & conditions of the BCARC Forum
Step 3. Fill in the “user creation” section. Note: Your username is visible to anyone browsing the page, it may be advisable to utilize a username (not your name) i.e. “username12345”
Step 4. Finalize your user creation by filling in your amateur radio information, confirming your age, and your operating interests.
Step 5. Wait to be approved…
Due to this being for club members only, your callsign will be checked with the current club roster to approve your user creation.
Step 6. Start posting!
Are you knowledgeable in certain subjects? Make a post about it! Are you working on a new project? Post about it! Do you see someone needing assistance? Answer their questions!
This forum works best when the club as a whole utilizes it and keeps it active!
Common questions I anticipate and the answer to those questions:
- So what do I say on the forum? I’ve never used a forum, what do I do?'
- I have registered and have not been approved yet.
If you register and it is not approved in at least 2 days it is either due to me being busy with something, in which case I will try to get back to you as quickly as possible. Or your callsign was entered incorrectly, resulting in me denying your registration. In either case please email me at KR4EHX@pm.me
- What if I don’t have a callsign?
I have thought of this. In cases where you are a club member and have no callsign please enter NULL and I will reach out to you to confirm you are a club member. This process may take longer for someone without a callsign and for that I apologize.
- I want to talk about an Amateur Radio topic, but I’m not sure where to put it.
If your topic does not clearly fit somewhere in the forum, put it where you think it is most applicable. If you run into this problem often and think your topic should have its own category please email me at KR4EHX@pm.me or private message “webmaster” in the forum.
- Why are their rules?
I questioned whether or not rules were advisable for the forum and ultimately decided that it would be a good idea to have some. These rules are up for debate, please question them.
I have never really run a forum before and so I am sure I missed some loophole. In any case I want the forum to be a friendly and inviting place for amateur radio enthusiast and rules are the best way for me to ensure that happens.
- No one is talking!
When this forum first begins I anticipate a slow period, it may not happen but it could. To mitigate that I will personally be creating threads for people to respond and discuss with.
I want everyone to use this forum and to make sure that happens I will create weekly net threads, create discussions I find interesting, share topics I find fun!, etc…
I want you to use this forum! I want you to create discussions you find interesting, share topics you find fun. I want this forum to be a place for BCARC to share ideas and thoughts about Amateur Radio.
Written by,
KR4EHX