Hello!
So you decided the Garden was interesting enough to join. You filled out the membership application, and are now anxiously awaiting that magic E-mail invitation that will grant you access to the Garden.
But it's been awhile and you haven't gotten that E-mail... what's up with that?
Well, it could be a couple of things. If you just filed a few minutes ago, or even a day or so ago, we should be finishing up our side of the process and sending you that E-mail pretty soon.
But if it's been several days, then either your E-mail address wasn't quite right (because that's where we send your invitation), or your ISP or Anti-Virus program or E-mail program may have decided we were spam or junk mail (hard to believe, but it has been known to happen). So, if you use a Mail Program on your PC, say Outlook or Microsoft Mail, check the junk mail folder. Anti-virus programs can create their own junk mail folder in your E-Mail program, so check there as well. Finally, go to your Web-based E-Mail server, use their Web-based E-Mail link and check the Spam or Junk Mail folders there. It's likely been trapped in one of those places. Tell whatever program or server that filed it as junk to accept from the sender of your invitation all future E-mails
(1).
When you do get your invitation, read the E-mail carefully. It contains a link to bring you to the Garden. That link is a special link you only use ONCE. It is intended to get you into your member account so you can CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD. Don't use it as the way to enter the Garden because it will stop working very quickly.
And once one has used the invitation and have changed their password, then what?- Read the Rules. Available at the top of every page in that set of buttons, they will help you understand how the Garden operates and how you can get the most out of your time here.
- Go to the "Welcome Newbies" topic and introduce yourself. And yes, there will be that extra verification step required to post, but that's only for your first few posts.
- Look around the Garden, get a feel of the place, and then join in where you feel comfortable. There's a lot to read and see and do, so enjoy.
- Update your Profile. You can get to it from the buttons at the top of every page. Personalise your member account, set features to make the Garden more comfortable to you. Decide how you want to handle Personal Messages (called PMs), such as deciding if you want to keep a copy of each PM you send.
- Those folk with the "Admin Team" and "Gardener" badges are here to help tend the Garden, and are called "Gardeners". They are the moderators here.
This should be enough to get you started. Enjoy your time here.
-- The Gardeners
(1) One of the nice features here is that you can ask to be notified when a topic in which you are interested gets updated. That update is sent by the same E-mail address as your invitation. So if you don't want those notifications to vanish into a junk mail folder somewhere, just like your invitation did, you want your E-mail system to accept our E-mails to you.
