I am new here, can I become a member on this site?You bet! Membership is free. Please review our Terms of Service then join us here. If you are here to promote your business, please visit Advertise With Us.
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What do all of the icons next to usernames mean? ,  ,  and other various faces refer to that member's Community Karma.
 indicates the member is an advertiser on the site. Click on the icon to go to that member's page in our Business Directory.
 indicates the member is verified.
 and other number show the number of years this member has been online.
 means they are an EGO Weekly Trivia winner!
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How do avatars work?We use www.gravatar.com for our avatars. When you setup an avatar with them, you can use it on Elk Grove Online. You can manage your avatar settings in your account profile. Because the avatar images are cached for better performance, there will be a delay when you update your avatar before it shows on EGO. Avatars are for verified members with good or better Community Karma.
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Can I change my username?No. If you would like to use a different username, you'll need to signup for a new account. If you'd like to do this, you can close your current account under My Membership.
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Can I post information about my business?If you are an advertiser on the web site, yes. If you are unsure what you can post and where you can post it, please let us know and we'd be happy to help. If you are not an advertiser on the site, we request that you do not promote your business here. If you see value in your business being here, please visit our Advertise With Us page for more info.
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I have a new email address, how do I update my account?If you have a new email address, you can update your account by going to My Membership.
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Can I add an event to the calendar?Yes, any member can add an event to the Calendar as long as it is of general community interest and is in line with our Terms of Service. Some examples of past events added to the calendar include:
- Community meetings
- Garage sales
- Sporting events
- School events
- Holiday festivities
- Public service events
- Charity events
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What is a Calendar Event vs. a Community Announcement?A calendar event is a specific event that falls on a specific day. Events are typically: performances, classes, presentations, garage sales, etc. Any event that falls on a specifc day.
An announcement is something that may last for several days, but does not happen at an exact time. Announcements are typically: grand openings, ongoing promotions, etc. There may be a date range, but not a specific time associated with an announcement.
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I can't decide if I should post my happening as an Event or an Announcement, what should I do?When in doubt, enter it as an Announcement.
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Why did my event get removed from the calendar?If your event is a business promotion and you are not a paid advertiser, your event will be removed. If you think it would be valuable to post your business-related events here, please visit our Advertise With Us page.
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Can I ask a question in the opinion polls?Yes, any member can ask a question in the Opinion Polls. Questions submitted are reviewed for the following:
- Must be of general community-wide interest
- Must be an opinion-type question, not "How do I...?"
- Appropriate options for answers must be provided
Once a question has been approved, it will be placed on the site.
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How can I read my private messages?Click on "Private Messages" from the main menu.
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How will I know if someone sends me a Private Message?You can enable Private Message Notification in Your Membership. When this is enabled, you will receive a notification via e-mail that you have a message waiting for you.
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Can you remove my post from the forums?We typically do not remove posts. Make sure you are happy with what you are posting before hitting the button.
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Can I edit my post in the forums?No, you cannot edit a post in the forums. Proofread carefully before posting. If you are upset, you may want to sleep on it before posting. Regretting a post is no fun. ;)
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How come I unsubscribed from the forums, but am still getting email?You most likely have two accounts with us and need to unsubscribe them both.
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How do I delete my classified ad?We do not remove classified ads. You are welcome to reply to your original message indicating the item is no longer available.
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I'm getting e-mail everytime someone posts a message to the forums. How can I stop getting them?To unsubscribe from the forums, go to the forums and uncheck all of the checkboxes in the "Subscribed" column.
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I posted a message and it is no longer there. What happened?If your message violated our Terms of Service, it may have been removed by an administrator. Please take the time to review the Member Conduct section of our Terms of Service.
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Can I post a referral to a business?If someone is looking for a product or service and you have a referral for them, you are welcome to post it. Please consider however that this site is supported by our Advertisers and we may limit the number of referrals you can make to a particular business. If you are constantly referring them, perhaps they should advertise here. :)
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What does "bump" mean?To bump a thread is to post a reply in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
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How do I add a picture to my post in the forums or classifieds?When adding your message, click on the Image Manager button  . Then click on the Upload tab to upload your picture.
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What is Community Karma?Community Karma was designed in response to the sometimes abrasive nature of anonymous Internet forums.
Community Karma is a system developed to allow all members to recognize the efforts of their fellow members. Community Karma is the effect of a member's actions on the site as determined by other members through Forum Message Scores.
By making positive contributions to the site, you will have good  , very good  , or super hero  Community Karma. Making less than positive posts can reduce your Community Karma to neutral  , bad  , very bad  , or banned  . All members' Community Karma starts at good.
Although Community Karma will most likely not affect what you come back as in your next life, there are other reasons you might want to maintain good Community Karma. Members with good Community Karma can: - Score other members' messages in the forums
- Participate in special promotions
Members with banned Community Karma, can no longer post messages in the forums or send private messages.
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What are the objectives of Community Karma?
- Reward members who contribute in productive ways to the community.
- Remind members who may not always be so constructive that negativity toward other members of the site impacts the experience of many fellow members.
- Encourage a safer environment for members who have felt reluctant about participating in the forums in the past due to fear of undue antagonism.
- Empower all members, from the veteran forum posters to those lurking in the silent majority of forum readers, with a simple means of recognizing the efforts of their fellow members.
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What determines my Community Karma?The initial Community Karma level for all users is .
Each time one of your forum messages changes score, your Community Karma value is affected accordingly. There are ranges of Community Karma scores that correspond to each Community Karma level.
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What is a Community Superhero?A Community Superhero is a member that has been recognized so many times that their Community Karma score has climbed into the coveted range of Community Superhero !
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How can I change my Community Karma?To improve your Community Karma, post messages that are informative, funny, polite... You get the idea.
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What happens if I get Neutral or Bad Community Karma?If your Community Karma drops to neutral or bad you:
- lose the privilege to score forum messages
- lose the privilege to send private messages
- get a smile-less (neutral) or frowny (bad) face
- possibly lose the respect of your community
You can return to the land of good Community Karma by posting positive contributions to the forums. If you get banned Community Karma, your chances of increasing your karma decline greatly as you can no longer post messages.
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I used to be a Community Super Hero, but now just have shades or a happy face...what happened?Most likely, nothing bad. It is not easy to become, or to stay a Super Hero. :) If you used to be a Super Hero, and you now have Very Good Community Karma, that's okay...it's "very good", in fact. To maintain Super Hero-ness you must consistently post messages that are scored very high by your neighbors. Once you get up to "Very Good Community Karma" , chances are you will never go back down to "Good Communiy Karma" unless you are mean or rude.
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How can I score Forum Messages?First, you must verify your account. Then you need to agree to our Message Scoring Guidelines.
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Why does (insert username here) have bad Community Karma?Most likely, it is because they were rude in the discussion forums. Anyone who cannot maintain a civil tone during the course of a dialog does not belong engaged in conversation on this community website. Messages can be scored by other members, and this, in turn, impacts the poster's Community Karma. If a user has multiple accounts, all can be impacted by a Community Karma change.
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Is the Community Karma system working? I see someone with bad Community Karma who does not deserve it.Yes, with many years in service, the scoring and karma systems are working exactly as they are designed to. These member-powered moderation systems are in place to help maintain the rules and civility level of Elk Grove Online. Limits and monitoring are in place to prevent abuses of the system.
If you do not think someone deserves their low Community Karma level, you may have missed their rude messages, or you may not find their messages rude. While rudeness is somewhat subjective, the message score is determined by a calculated average of all the scores on a message.
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How can I have bad Community Karma when I have (insert nice things here)?Community Karma is not determined by your time on the site, your number of posts, or your good deeds in the real world. Those things do not entitle you to good Community Karma on Elk Grove Online. Your Community Karma is solely based on the quality of your posts.
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Is the website moderated?Yes, the site is moderated by the message scoring and reporting systems. Both of those systems are monitored. We utilize trends, analytics, and data analysis algorithms to let us know where intervention may be required and moderate accordingly. All scores and message reports are monitored by either automated or human processes. Systems are in place to detect attempted scoring abuses then to react by either preventing or limiting scoring.
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Why can't I score the same person over and over?The system works best when you don't concentrate your scores on an individual or a small group of people. If you are scoring one person too frequently, you will get a Share The Scores message. If this happens, you will lose the ability to score these people. You will be able to score these people again after you score some messages from other people. We are just asking that you spread your scores around. ;)
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I cannot score anymore, why not?Your scoring privilege may be removed if the system detects suspicious scoring patterns or if you are scoring the same messages with multiple accounts.
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I have heard people complain that the Community Karma system is unfair, not needed, etc.There are a few people who claim the Community Karma system is unfair because they feel people are abusing it to score them down. Often they don't realize there are systems in place to monitor the scoring system and check for abuses.
Sometimes people feel entitled to be rude to another member. Others feel they should be protected by their first amendment right to free speech here. This is not public space and the first amendment does not apply just as with any other place of business. Just like in a restaurant, you cannot approach another customer and insult them without repurcussions. Members are required to follow the site rules and an uncivil tone is discouraged through the Community Karma system.
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Why is my account locked?You either:
1. tried to log in too many times with an incorrect password, and your account was locked for security reasons. You can lookup your password in the log in page. Send us a feedback, and we will unlock your account.
2. violated the Terms of Service and are in a time-out. Your account will be unlocked in a while. Try back later.
3. had too many of your messages reported as problems and you are not verified. To unlock your account, you will need to verify your account.
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I have a question that's not addressed here, what can I do?Send us your question using our feedback form. If your question is answered here, you will probably not get a response to your feedback...that's why we post these questions here. ;)
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