FOUR SIMPLE THINGS To Do To Get Started

[Terri Benning]

Hello, and welcome to our new Totem Talk online community!

Should you already be a member of any other Ning Network, you can use the same user name and password for all of your ning based sites, including this one.

HOW to JOIN the TOTEM TALK Website:

1. CLICK the SIGN UP BUTTON

You will find it on the top right part of the page.

2. TO SIGN UP:

Enter your e-mail address, password, and birthday. Be aware that if you sign up, you are agreeing to the Terms of Service and their Privacy Policy. Click on the links to make certain you are comfortable with the NING network policies.

3. CREATE YOUR PROFILE

Create your profile with your full name, gender, and country. If you live in the United States, it will also ask you for your zip code. Fill out this information, and respond to the profile questions that you are comfortable answering and then click the JOIN button.

4. Once you have joined, you will be taken to a WELCOME MESSAGE

Here are FOUR SIMPLE THINGS you can choose to do right away to get started:

a. Invite Friends
b. Add Profile Photo
c. Add Content to Your Profile Page
d. Join Groups of Interest

(1.) INVITE YOUR FRIENDS

You may have friends who would also enjoy being part of our new online community, and you can invite them to join the site by clicking on the INVITE tab on the top menu bar. You can invite as many friends as you like to join you on the site at any time by simply using the INVITE tab.

(2.) ADD A PROFILE PHOTO

You can upload a profile picture which can be of your face, a pet, a favorite animal totem photo or painting, a landscape, or your favorite artwork. The image options are endless and the choice is yours; these are simply some ideas to help get you started.

Profile photos allow others to find your personal page more easily in the MEMBERS section of the website, and they also give others a sense of who you are and a place to begin an initial conversation with you as well. It's also a great way to express yourself in a non-verbal way and to invite conversation stemming from responses to the image you've chosen to use on your personal page. Rotating your profile picture from time to time also helps keep your profile page fresh and lets others know you're still alive and active on the site.

(3.) ADD CONTENT TO YOUR PROFILE PAGE.

You can add your favorite photos, artwork, music, quotes, books, movies, and more to to your profile page to make it uniquely your own and to express yourself more fully on the site. You can add embed code to your favorite videos to the text boxes on your profile page, as well as "widget" codes from your favorite online sites and webpages. You can add your Facebook "badge" code, and/or badge codes from other sites you belong to as well.

Simply click on the EDIT link on your profile page TEXT BOX to add video and widget codes, along with pictures, links, quotes, playlist.com music players and other personal links and information to your profile page.

You can add content such as inviting friends, uploading photos, adding an event, adding a Blog post, upload a video, add music, start a discussion, and you also have the option of adding other features to your page.

CLICK HERE for more information on how to ADD CONTENT to your profile page.

(4.) JOIN GROUPS OF INTEREST

Check out the GROUPS listed on the TOTEMS A - Z tab on the top menu bar, and JOIN all of the groups that interest you. You can choose to receive emails from that group by "following" new posts to the group, or you can "stop following" and the emails will not be sent to you. It is your choice.

SOME SIMPLE SUGGESTIONS

Here are some suggestions of how you can create your own page and begin to network with other members in the Totem Talk community.

Click on MY TOTEMS Page:

To set up your page, you can do as much or as little as you like to make it your own.

#1 - You can add a photo.
#2 - You can send and receive e-mails through the site, invite friends, and adjust your settings.
#3 - You can send and receive gifts.
#4 - You can see what the latest activity is on the site.
#5 - You can add text in the Text Box.
#6 - You can add photos.
#7 - You can add and receive Comments.
#8 - You can join the Groups that interest you on site.

OTHER THINGS TO DO on the TOTEM TALK website:.

On the TOTEM TALK HOME PAGE, there are other options to check out.

a. See a listing of all the members.
b. Add or check out the events.
c. Read the Welcome Letter and join the public ADMIN. Group for more information about the site features.
d. Check out the latest videos. Feel free to add some of your own.
e. Check out the Blog posts. Feel free to add some of your own.
f. Download a Badge to post on your website or Blog.
g. Check out the latest activity of all the members.
h. Listen to music. Feel free to add more sound tracks to your own personal page.
i. Check out who has a birthday today.
j. Check out the Totem Talk photos. Feel free to add some of your own. You can make them public for all to view or only show them off on your page. It is your choice.
k. You can start a Forum discussion or respond to a previous Forum topic.
l. You can check out the various Groups. Feel free to join any or all of them.
m. You can chat with other members who are currently on-line. Anybody logged into the site shows up as being on-line.
o. You can subscribe to the site by adding the RSS feed.

Check out the other links on the left and right side bars on the HOME page to get even more involved.

Tips & Warnings

* You will get a welcome letter from NING. It will state: Welcome to Ning! Now that you are a member, you can easily create or join any social network on Ning with your Ning ID. You can sign in to Ning here: http://www.ning.com. Thanks, The Ning Team

* You will get a welcome e-mail from Totem Talk on the Ning Network. It will give you live links to do four things: Welcome to Totem Talk Community! There are 4 simple things you can do to get started: (1) Invite your friends to join you. (2) Add Content. (3) Add a profile photo. (4.) Join the groups that interest you.

* You will get an e-mail every time somebody invites you to be a friend on this site. You can disable this e-mail message if you like.