Last Updated:   February 28, 2005

• FireSociety Basics
• Account Management
• Authoring Articles
• Rating Articles
• Forums
• Blogs
• Community Policies
• Website Design

What is FireSociety.com?

FireSociety is quickly becoming America's Grassroots Community -- a place where grassroots conservative citizens can add their input to the debate, chat with other citizens and even launch their own citizen grassfires. Our user-friendly interface is designed to get you in the debate in just minutes! Go to the registration page and sign up! It's easy and it's free!

How do I join FireSociety?

Go to the registration page and sign up! It's easy and it's free!

Why should I register?

Registration has the following benefits:

• It's FREE and easy!
• It gives you the ability to:
  • Post new articles
  • Discuss and Rate articles
  • View your article history
  • Post and Reply to Forum Posts
• Access to the FireSociety Newsletter
• It enables us to better customize the site to your needs

Can I make suggestions for functionality that I would like to see?

Yes. This site was built for the community. We made assumptions on the most important functionality for the site initially, but we fully expect future functionality to be driven by the community.

What is the best way to give you my opinion or feedback on the site?

The best way to give us feedback is on the site itself through discussions in our Community Forums. These forums are targeted at a variety of topics, issues and discussions related to the community itself. We encourage you to share any comments, ideas, or suggestions.

Of course, if you don't find something relevant to your particular need, please feel free to use our feedback page.

I cannot find what I am looking for. What should I do?

First, try and search the site being specific about what you are looking for. If that doesn't work, try posting to our forums.

Does FireSociety have RSS Feeds?

Yes, our RSS Feeds may be found here.

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I am having trouble logging into FireSociety. Help!

Try the following things:

1. Make sure that you are typing in your Email ID appropriately and not using your Display Name.
2. Passwords are case sensitive, so make sure that you don't have the caps lock on.

If you still cannot login, send us a note and we'll try to help you out!

What if I forgot my password or user id?

If you forgot your user id or password, please send us an email using the topic 'Account/Registration' and we'll help you out. If you forget your password, you can use the link on the login page to reset your password and have a new password emailed to you.

How do I change my password?

After you login, go to your profile page. There is a section to update your password there.

What is a Display Name?

A Display Name (or user id) is the way in which FireSociety uniquely recognizes you on the website. It can be your name, a nickname, or just something that sounds good to you. Your display name will be associated with and be displayed on all articles, discussions, and posts that you make. Be sure that you pick one that you can live with, because you cannot change it once it is chosen!

How do I activate/confirm my account?

After you register with FireSociety, you will receive an email at the address that you used when you registered asking you to activate your account. All you need to do is click on the link in the email and your account will be verified.

If you deleted the email or cannot find it, go to the homepage and in the login box, there should be a link to resend the email to you.

If you are having trouble activating your account, feel free to send us an email and we will help you.

How do I stop FireSociety from sending me emails?

Login to FireSociety and go to your profile page and uncheck the appropriate check box. There are certain administrative emails that we are required to send you per the FireSociety Terms of Use Agreement.

Do you give out my email address to third parties?

FireSociety respects your privacy and never gives out your email address without your consent. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information.

How do I access my account?

Login to FireSociety with your Email ID and password and access your profile.

How do I disable my account?

To disable your account click here. Note that you will no longer have access to your personalized content or other benefits of FireSociety if your account is disabled.

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Can I submit an article to be published on this site?

Absolutely. Don't be intimidated even if you are not a professional writer! We encourage everyone, no matter their writing skill, to submit articles about grassroots issues. Tell everyone about your experiences, something cool you've figured out, or just voice your opinion.

How do I submit an article?

In order to submit an article, you must first register with FireSociety. After you have registered and logged in, go to the main navigation menu and click on Articles and select Post New Article and follow the instructions. It's as simple as that!

What kind of articles can I submit?

An article is a complete idea about something concrete, much like a newspaper or magazine article. Examples include something that you know that not necessarily everyone else does, how you did something, or just your opinion on a particular topic. It must be at least 50 words, but typically should be at least 200 words.

Are there limits on the length of an article?

An article can be as long as you like, but if it is too long users may hesitate before reading it. Just like you are writing an article for publication in a magazine, keep it simple and focused. If it is a long topic, consider splitting it into a series of articles.

Why should I write an article?

By submitting an article, you are contributing to the FireSociety knowledge repository that improves the overall community experience. Even if you are not an expert in a particular area, your experience is still valuable to someone else who may run across the same kind of problem. FireSociety is the place where all of this knowledge will reside as a benefit to everyone.

Can I save an article?

Before you submit an article to the community to be published, you are allowed to preview the article. When the article is in the preview state, it is saved in draft form until you submit it by pressing the 'submit' button or you delete it by pressing 'cancel'.

I just submitted an article to be published. Why doesn't it appear on the site?

All articles are reviewed by a FireSociety editor before they are published to ensure the integrity of content. Expected turnaround time is within 24 hours.

Another possibility is that your article was rejected and sent back to draft form. This occurs if the article is inappropriate for the context of the site, contains offensive language, or something similar. Rejected articles appear under "Unpublished Items" in the "My Profile" section of the site.

If you submitted an article and it has been more than 48 hours, try 'searching' on your name or go to your 'account' to find state of the article. If it is still in the pending state, send us feedback.

What incentives are there to submit an article?

Currently, there are no tangible incentives to submit an article. However, there are many intangible incentives such as the warm feeling that you get knowing that you are helping someone else and the ability to save time by pointing people to the website rather than having to take the time to answer their questions yourself.

In the future, we expect to introduce programs for experts to participate in to provide more of an incentive. Preference will be given to those that have contributed the most and have been a member the longest when we introduce these programs.

What is the 'Categories' box for when I submit an article?

Every article must be associated with one or more FireSociety categories. This is used in order to better sort our articles when users browse them. Be as specific as you can when you classify your article.

What if I can't find an appropriate category to associate my article with?

If your article is associated with categories, select those that fit the most closely. If there is no clear category, select a general category. As a last resort, use the 'General Info' category and send us feedback.

Can I add an image to accompany the article?

Absolutely. You are encouraged to submit images that help users to visualize what you are saying in your article.

What kind of images are allowed on the site?

In order to post an image with your article, you must own the copyright of the image or have been given explicit permission to use the image for commercial use.The image must not infringe upon the copyright of a third party or any other aspect described in our Terms of Use.

What are the constraints on the size of the image?

Although you can submit a file up to 1M in size, it is scaled down in size before it is displayed on the site. This can result in blurry pictures, so the best remedy is to submit pictures that are under 100K in size, even less if possible.

Can I include HTML in my review?

Yes, but only a limited set of tags are supported by our editors. A list of the HTML tags and examples are included during the contribution process.

Can I include links in my article?

Yes, links are supported natively and through the use of HTML tags. If you enter the URL as normal text in the article (e.g. www.firesociety.com), we automatically convert it to a link for you.

You may also link to another article on FireSociety. To link to an article on FireSociety, use the article number displayed in the URL of the browser when you browse to that article. For example, to link to article 10056, use the syntax <A HREF="/article/10056">Link to Article</A>.

If you link to an external site, you must adhere to the FireSocietyTerms of Use.

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Can anyone rate an article?

No, you must be a registered FireSociety member and logged in to be allowed to rate an article.

I can't find the place where you can rate an article.

Make sure that you are logged in, and scroll down to the bottom of the article. The rating question asks you if you would recommend this article to another member.

I rated an article, but the number of ratings did not increase. Did you accept my rating?

The processing of ratings takes place in the background and is not updated immediately. It is applied within a minute or two.

Why should I rate an article?

Rating an article helps the community as well as the author understand the value of the article and whether or not other people should read it. It will also help FireSociety determine what types of articles are important to the community.

Can I change a rating once I have rated it?

No, you currently are not allowed to change your rating.

How does my rating effect the article's positioning on the site?

Every article has a score on our site and one of the major factors in the score is its rating. The higher the rating, the higher the score. The higher the score, the more prominent the article is on the site.

Does my rating effect the article's score the same as everyone else?

No. Every user has a credibility rating. Those with higher credibility ratings will have more of an effect on the article's score. The more you become credible on the site, the more effect your rating will have on any article.

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Why do the FireSociety forums look different than other forums I am used to?

The FireSociety forums are unique. Rather than using an existing bulletin board software package, we decided it was in the best interest of the community to build our own from scratch so that our site was fully integrated.

While this entailed quite a lot of work, it ultimately allows us complete control over features of the platform that aren't available to users of forum software. These include the ability to perform a single search across all content - articles, forums and discussions as well as enabling single sign-on for users.

How do I post a new question or comment in the forums?

You must be a registered member and log in to post to the forums. Navigate to the Forums page to find the forum and topic that most closely relates to your question. Click on the topic link in the forum to see a list of threads for that topic. Scroll down to the bottom of the thread list. Enter the name of your post in the subject line and your question or comment in the comment box and hit "Go". This will create a new thread in the thread list.

If you wish to respond to someone else's post, click on the thread that you wish to respond to, and enter your post at the bottom of the page.

What is a "thread"?

A thread is an online conversation about a specific topic. It is usually started with a question or a statement that begs an answer and/or further comments. For example, a thread that is started with a subject, "Who do I contact in my state for information about agriculture policies?" will contain the author's original question and all of the other members' posts on that topic.

Can I use HTML tags when submitting a forum post?

Yes, a limited set of tags area available for you to use. The same tags that are available for article posts are also available for forum posts.

Can I edit my posts after I have submitted them?

Yes, just hit the 'EDIT POST' link at the top of your post.

What if I can't find an appropriate forum to post my question or comment?

We have a dedicated forum (under the "I Need Help" forum) called "Build a Better FireSociety" for submitting suggestions for new forums and topics. That is a good place to start. If there is enough interest generated from the suggestion, we will consider adding it as a new forum.

Be sure to read through previous posts to make sure that someone hasn't already suggested a topic that you are interested in creating.

Can I get notified when someone answers my post?

Yes. When you make your post, check the notification box when you create a new thread. Alternatively, when you are logged in, go to 'My Library', select the items that you wish to subscribe to and hit the notify button. You can also use this feature to turn off the notifications by unchecking the items that you wish to turn off.

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What is a Blog?

Blogs, short for web logs, are online journals created and maintained by a single author and typically support group discussions around any number of ideas. They are often updated daily and the posts are generally listed in reverse chronological order.

What are the FireSociety Blogs?

The FireSociety Blogs are authored by our community experts who have built up credibility and proficiency. Because of this, they have been granted a soapbox in the form of a FireSociety blog.

How do I access the FireSociety Blogs?

The FireSociety blogs are located under the main menu under "Blogs". Click on the "Go To Blogs" entry to go to the blogs home page.

What is the best way to keep up with a blog?

By subscribing to the blog so that all updates to the blog are sent to you automatically.

How do I subscribe to a Blog?

In order to subscribe to a Blog, you must have an RSS reader. There are many free RSS readers available on the Internet. After your RSS reader is installed, go to the blog that you wish to subscribe to and drag the XML icon into your reader.

Can I author a FireSociety Blog of my own?

In order to have your own FireSociety Blog, you must be a FireSociety expert which is achieved by writing, reviewing, and participating in the community. Over time, if you prove yourself in the community, you will be granted expert status. Once you are a FireSociety expert, you are eligible to have your own blog.

How do I access the FireSociety Blogs?

The FireSociety Blogs are located under the main menu under "BLOGS".

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What does FireSociety consider inappropriate behavior?

FireSociety regards the following actions among others as inappropriate behavior when using our site:

• Harassing, degrading or defaming another person
• Posting pornographic, violent or other inappropriate images or language
• Using racial slurs or other language intended to offend other users
• Infringing on a third party's copyright
• Creating more than one account
• Opening a new account after you have been previously terminated by FireSociety
• Publishing jibberish or the same content multiple times

For a complete list of our policies, see our Terms of Use.

How do I report inappropriate behavior?

If you feel as if someone has violated a community policy as stated above, please use our Feedback Form. Specify 'Report Abuse' as the topic.

What happens if the policies are broken?

If a member breaks a policy, we will communicate with that user to fix the problem. If there are continued problems, the offending member will be put on probation. All articles written by that member will not be published until the policy violation is fixed to the satisfaction of FireSociety staff. A member will stay on probation until it is determined that they have earned reinstatement. FireSociety reserves the right to remove a member and any of the member's content at any time for any reason per our Terms of Use.

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The FireSociety website doesn't fit well in my browser. Am I doing something wrong?

We made the decision for the resolution to display best on computers at a resolution of 1024x768. Try changing your display resolution to fix this problem.

How do I report a bug on the site?

Use our feedback page to submit a bug, give us feedback on our site or anything else that is on your mind.

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