Welcome! If you are new to the Paddling.com Forums or need a primer on how things work, you are in the right place. Below we will cover some of the basic functionality and capabilities you’ll have access to:
How to Browse the Forums
By default, the Paddling.com Forums homepage will show all Latest conversations in the community but you can filter this list in a number of ways:
- By category : in the menu line, click the ‘all categories’ title and a list of all the categories appears.
- By tag : in the menu line, click the ‘all tags’ title and a list of all the tags are used will appear.
- By level of activity : if you click on ‘Top’ the conversation topics will be listed in order of most activity (views and replies) for a specific time period. You can choose whether this is for all time, or select a specific period such as quarter, month, week or just today.
- By what’s ‘New’ to you : by default, new topics are those created in the last 2 days that you have not opened yet to keep the list fresh and relevant. New topics show a small blue dot next to the topic title:
- By what topics are “Unread” : by default , unread topics are those that you have previously opened and read for at least 4 minutes, and that have new posts (replies) submitted to them. Unread topics show a number in a blue circle indicating how many new posts are in the topic:
Navigation Tools
For Search, the Menu, or your User page, use the icon buttons at the upper right .
Reading Topics
Click a topic title and read down the list of replies in chronological order, following links or previewing replies and quotes as you go. Use your mouse to scroll the screen, or use the timeline scroll bar on the right which also shows you how far through the conversation you’ve read. On smaller screens, select the bottom progress bar to expand it.
Jump back in
- Selecting a topic title will take you to your last read post in the topic. To enter at the top ↑ or bottom ↓ instead, click the reply count or last reply date.
- Topics above the light red line on a list are new or updated since your last visit. If you have read all the way to the end of a topic, the title will be light grey instead of black.
Related Topics
Sometimes conversations are clearer if topics are split, where posts are moved to a more appropriate topic, or two related topics are merged. If a post is moved, a link will appear that will allow readers to jump to that comment wherever it has been moved to, and the person who posted it will also be notified.
At the end of the original post you will also see lists of related topics that link to the one you are reading.
Taking Part in Conversations
Replying
Press any Reply button to open the editor panel at the bottom of your browser. You can continue reading (and even search or navigate to different topics) while you compose your reply.
Paddling Forums will show all posts in the order they are published. It does not make you chase down multiple threaded paths. However, it still gives you lots of ways to follow the context of conversations.
To reply to a specific post in a topic, clicking the grey Reply button at the end of each post and your reply is linked to that post.
- If your reply is the next one published after the post you are replying to, this will appear next in chronological order
- If yours is NOT next, then two things happen after your post is published:
- Your post will include a new link in its header with an image to show what this is ‘in reply to’ - clicking this link displays that previous post for context next to your reply
- The original post includes a count of replies at the bottom - clicking this link displays the content of the replies
Drafts
Drafts will automatically be saved as you write. If you minimise the editor or navigate to a different topic, the editor might disappear. To open a draft, return to the topic you were replying to or click the highlighted bar at the bottom of your browser, and the editor will reappear with your draft.
Quoting
To insert a quote, select the text you wish to quote, then press the Quote button that pops up. There is no need to quote a whole message, it helps to be specific. Repeat this for multiple quotes even from different posts and different users. The quoted text will point to their original source.
Mentioning
To notify someone about your reply, mention their name. Type @ to begin selecting a username. This search will also search the name fields in case you don’t know a particular username.
Emoji
To use standard Emoji , just type : to match by name, or traditional smileys ;)
Link Previews
To generate a summary for a link, paste it on a line by itself. To start a topic with a link, paste the link into the title field.
Formatting
Your reply can be formatted using simple HTML, BBCode, or Markdown :
This is <b>bold</b>.
This is [b]bold[/b].
This is **bold**.
If you want to get really fancy, try this 10 minute tutorial
Actions and Reactions
There are action buttons at the bottom of each post:
- To let someone know that you enjoyed and appreciated their post, use the like button. Share the love!
- Want to share a specific post with a fellow paddler? Grab a copy-pasteable (permalink) link to any reply or topic via the link button.
- Use the … button to reveal more actions. Flag to privately let the author, or the site staff, know about a problem. Bookmark to find this post later on your profile page.
Notifications
When someone is talking directly to you — by replying to you, quoting your post, mentioning your @username , or even linking to your post, a blue number will immediately appear over your profile picture at the top right.
When you have been sent a Personal Message you will receive this in your Inbox and a green number will appear over your profile picture to the left.
Click your profile image to scroll through all your notifications .
You can optionally receive all these notifications as push notifications to your desktop browser or Android device. Simply allow the site to send you notifications through your browser when it asks permission. But don’t worry, you can always adjust these notifications later if you’re out paddling too much 
.
Don’t worry about missing a reply – you’ll be emailed any notifications that arrive when you are away.
If you want, you can get notified about other things happening on the site as well, either at the category or topic level.
Topic notifications
You can change your notification level for any individual topic via the notification control at the bottom, and right hand side, of each topic.
Category notifications
Notification level can also be set per category. To change any of these defaults, see your user preferences, or visit the category page, and use the notification control above the topic list, on the right side.
Tag notifications
Notification level can even be set per tag. To change any of these defaults, see your user preferences, or visit the tag page, and use the notification control above the topic list, on the right hand side.
As always- be safe, be kind, and happy paddling!
