Welcome to the Tradescantia Hub Community! This post is a guide on how to navigate and use the forum. You can post a reply here if you still have any questions or need help.

When you're ready to participate, make sure to take a look at the forum rules so you know what's allowed.

The sections below are collapsible for easy navigation. Expand them using the dropdown arrows.

Using on web and as an app

You can always access the forum as a web page in your browser. It's pretty user-friendly and accessible, with both desktop and mobile versions.

You can also install it as an app on mobile. This is how it works on Android (but I haven't tested it on iOS):

Open community.tradescantia.uk in your mobile web browser
Open the three dots menu
Tap "Add to home screen" or "install app"
You will now have an icon for the forum in your apps list

When you use the forum on mobile (as an app or in browser) you'll be asked permission for push notifications. If you accept, you can manage the individual notifications you get in your settings (more on that later).

Signing up

On desktop, click "Sign Up" at the top right. On mobile, open the three lines menu at the top left and tap "Sign Up".

You can sign in using Facebook, Google, or Discord, to save you needing to remember a whole new username and password.

Or you can make a new account, by giving your email address and choosing a username and password. Make sure you give a correct valid email that you have access to. When you make your account, you'll be sent a validation link which you need to click to fully activate it.

Navigating the main page

The main page is a list of titles of all the discussions (or threads or posts) in the forum. Each entry also shows the icon of the member who started it, the member and time of the most recent reply, the tag(s) it belongs to, and the total number of replies.

By default, the list shows the discussions with most recent activity first. There's a dropdown at the top to choose other ways of sorting the list.

On desktop, there's a big button to start a discussion at the top left. On mobile, there's a small pen and paper icon at the top right to start a discussion.

On desktop, there's a sidebar at the left with a list of items. On mobile, clicking the title at the top centre of the page will open this same list of items.

The first four options in the list (the ones with greyish icons) will take you to different views:

All discussions shows you the main view showing all the discussions (that's the view you're probably looking at already).
Private discussions shows you your private / direct messages.
Following shows you discussions which you've participated in, or which you've chosen to follow (more later).
Tags shows you just the tags, which we're about to get to.

The rest of the options in the list (all the ones with colourful icons) are the tags (or categories). Clicking on any tag in the sidebar will take you to the list of discussions which belong to that tag.

You can search using the bar at the top (desktop) or in the three lines menu (mobile), to find threads about particular topics.

Starting a discussion

To start a discussion:

On desktop, click the big "Start a Discussion" button at the top left.
On mobile, tap the small pen and paper icon at the top right.

A popup will appear with a text entry box. Starting a discussion has four stages:

1. Tag(s)

Every discussion has one or more tags, which are how the forum is organised.

The tag chooser is at the top left. It will either be called "Choose Tags", or it will show whatever tag has already been chosen. Click or tap it to open the tags view. This will show a text box at the top with an "OK" button, and a list of tags to choose from.

The larger ones in the first part of the list are the primary tags. Every discussion must have exactly one primary tag, which is the main topic the discussion will be categorised by. Click or tap the tag you want to choose.

The others in the list (the genera like Tradescantia, Callisia, etc) are secondary tags. Those are optional, and you can add as many as you want. Click or tap any that you want to choose.

As you choose tags, they'll appear in the text box at the top. You can click or tap a tag in the text box to remove it again.

If you start a discussion while looking at a particular tag page, that tag will automatically be added. You can stil remove or change it if you want.

2. Title

Write your title where the placeholder says "Discussion Title". Make your title descriptive and useful so that other members know what your discussion is about! Don't say "Please help !!?!?! 🙁", say "How do I stop my Nanouk from getting brown spots?" (although if that's your actual question, the answer is: you can't, just make peace with it).

3. Content

The big text box is for the main body of your post. Some tags require certain information when you make a post - you can copy and paste from the rules to help you include everything.

There are lots of options for formatting and adding things to your post (more in a later section).

4. Post!

On desktop, click "Post Discussion" at the bottom left. On mobile, tap the paper aeroplane button at the top right.

Once you've posted a discussion, you can still edit the title, content, and tags. On desktop:

To edit the title, click the dropdown arrow next to the big "Reply" button at the top right, then click "Rename".
To edit the tags, click the dropdown arrow next to the big "Reply" button a the top right, then click "Edit Tags".
To edit the content, hover over the post and click the three dots menu at the bottom right, then click "Edit".

On mobile:

To edit the title, tap the three dots menu at the top right, then tap "Rename".
To edit the tags, tap the three dots menu at the top right, then tap "Edit Tags".
To edit the content, tap the three dots menu at the bottom right, then tap "Edit".

Reading discussions

When you start a discussion, or when you click on one of the titles in the main list, you'll be taken to the discussion view. The discussion is a list of entries created by members, starting with the original post and continuing down in chronological order (oldest first).

Each reply (or comment) in a discussion shows the name and icon of the member who wrote it at the left, the time/date it was written at the top, and some action buttons at the bottom.

If a comment was posted as a reply to another comment, the name of the member who posted the first comment will be highlighted at the start of the reply. You can click or tap this to be taken to the comment that was being replied to.

At the bottom of every post and comment there's an emoji icon which you can click or tap to add a reaction emoji. There's also a button to get an automatic translation of the post, if it's in a different language from the one you're using.

Replying to discussions

If you want to reply to the discussion in general, there are several ways. On desktop, you can:

Click the big "Reply" button at the top right
Scroll down to the bottom and click "Write a Reply…"
Hover over the first post and click "Reply" at the bottom right.

On mobile, you can:

Open the three dots menu at the top right and tap "Reply"
Scroll down to the bottom and tap "Write a Reply…"
Tap "Reply" at the bottom right of the first post

If you want to reply to a specific comment in the discussion, click or tap the "Reply" button at the bottom right of that comment.

Doing any of those will open up a text editor where you can write your comment. There are lots of options for formatting and adding things to your post (more in a later section). When you're ready to send it, click "Post Reply" or tap the paper aeroplane at the top right.

Once you've posted a comment, you can edit it by clicking or tapping the three dots menu at the bottom right and choosing "Edit".

Unlike on some other social media sites, it's completely fine and encouraged to respond to old threads if you have something relevant for the conversation - even if there hasn't been any other activity for a long time.

Sending direct messages (private discussions)

Private discussions are the forum's equivalent to direct messages. They're private, but they're actually structured the same way as public forum threads.

To start a private discussion, click or tap the "Private Discussions" option from the main discussions list. On desktop, click "Discuss Privately" at the top left. On mobile, tap the pencil icon at the top right.

You can also start a private discussion directly from their user profile:

On desktop, click "Private Discussions", then click "Discuss Privately"
On mobile, tap the three dots menu at the top right and then tap "Send [username] a message"

This will open a text editor popup that looks almost the same as the new discussion view. The only difference is that intead of tags, there's a spot that says "1 Recipient". Click or tap this to choose who to send your message to. A popup will appear with a text box where you can start writing their username and then choose them from the list.

You'll get a notification when someone starts or replies to a private discussion with you.

If someone flags a message in a private discussion, it will be made visible to the moderators to deal with.

Formatting posts

When writing a post or comment, there's a toolbar at the bottom of the text editor.

Posts are formatted using markdown, so if you enter any markdown syntax it will be automatically converted into rich text. You can also click the pen icon to toggle between viewing raw markdown and rich text.

The file icon on the left lets you upload a file like an image, which will be embedded in the post. Images are automatically resized to less than 1000px, so if you want to share a high-resolution photo you might need to post it somewhere else.

The "P" icon lets you choose text type and add headings. Most of the other icons should be familiar and provide standard options like bold, italic, links, bullet points, and emoji.

You can mention (or tag) another member by typing @ and the start of their name, then choosing them in the popup.

Your profile

Every member of the forum has a profile. Here's mine!

The main view of your profile shows your name, icon, and a list of all your posts and comments. You can click or tap in "Write something about yourself" to enter a bio. You might want to say what plants you're interested in, or give a link to your shop.

Click on your icon to upload or change it.

In your settings, you can change your password, email, and nickname (the visible name people see on the forum). You can also change your notification options, which leads us on to…

Notifications and content preferences

On desktop, the bell icon at the top right shows your notifications. On mobile, you can find the bell in the three lines menu at the top left.

You can change your notification settings in your profile, by deciding whether to get bell notifications, emails, or push (mobile) notifications for different types of event.

Some of the notificaions options are about discussions you're following. You will automatically follow a discussion when you reply to it. But you can decide whether to follow or ignore a discussion, regardless of whether or not you've participated in it. On desktop, the option is at the top right below the reply button. On mobile, it's at the top left. The button will say "Follow" or "Following". Click or tap the dropdown arrow at the right and you can choose from three options:

Not following - you won't get any alerts about the discussion, unless someone @ tags you. This is the default for new threads you haven't seen.
Following - you'll get notifications when there are new replies to the discussion, and it will show up in the "Following" category on the main page. This is the default for when you've participated in a thread.
Ignoring - the discussion will be completely hidden from the main page, and you won't get any notifications even if someone @ tags you.

You can also ignore a specific user, by going to their profile:

On desktop, click "Controls" and then click "Ignore"
On mobile, tap the three dots menu at the top right and then tap "Ignore"

When you ignore someone, you won't get notifications about any of their activity, even if they tag or direct message you. Their comments in discussions will be collapsed by default. Their discussions will still be visible in the main list, but with a crossed-out icon. You can unignore users from your, or their, profile at any time.

You can also choose to prevent anyone from starting private discussions with you from your profile settings.

Moderation and reporting

If you see a post or comment and you think it breaks the rules, please flag it.

On desktop: hover over the post or comment, click the three dots menu at the bottom right, and click "Flag"
On mobile: tap the three dots menu at the bottom right of the post or comment, and tap "Flag"

A pop up will appear which lets you choose whether the post is "Off-topic", "Inappropriate", "Spam", or "Other". It actually doesn't matter which option you choose. They all have a text box where you can write in more details if you need to. Then click or tap "Flag Post" to send the report to the moderators. You won't get a direct reply or notification when your flag is dealt with.

Each issue will be considered individually. Some of the actions moderators can take are:

Editing parts out of a post or comment
Deleting individual comments
Locking comments on a discussion
Deleting a discussion
Suspending a user temporarily
Banning a user permanently

If any of these actions are taken against you, you will be sent a warning notification which tells you what rule(s) you broke.

If you are given a warning or other moderation action and you think it was unfair, you can get in touch to appeal. Either start a private discussion with me (@Avery) , or email hello@tradescantia.uk

More info

The forum is run on a software called Flarum, with various extensions. You can learn more about how to use Flarum on the official website.