How to Register & Post on the Forums
     Released November 22, 2008

and Why you should…

1.    To register on the Forums  - you can do this by one of the following two ways:
A.    Click on Daily Free Design, then on DOWNLOAD for the
design a sign-in/registration  page for the Forums will open

i.    If you have already registered, please fill in your username and password

ii.    If you have not registered, click on “Please Register an Account”

iii.     If you have forgotten your password, you can click on “Click here to reset password”
B.    Click on Forums on the left side of the page and the Forum page will open

2.   At the top of the Forums page, click register (on the left)Then you will see

1.    Choose a username for yourself  - if it is already taken, you will get an “invalid” response when you click complete registration at the end
(HINT:  Try to use something specific to you, easy to remember, and with a number in it to make sure folks do not have one like it.  i.e. Your granddaughter, Sara born in 2005, calls you Nana…
you can try nanasara2005
you get the idea

2.    Same goes for a password.  Make it something you will remember.  Now, be sure to WRITE your username and password down!  A small notebook near the computer is always a good idea for login information:
DesignsBySick Forums:  nanasara2005       pw  pigtail

3.    Type in your email address.  Type it in a second time to confirm it

4.    “Are you going to be good on this Forum?  Type YES if you are.
This lets us know you are a real person and not a spammer, please type YES

5.    Choose your timezone

6.     From time to time we need to contact you for one reason or another.  This is automatically “checked”

7.    If you wish receive email from other members, click in the checkbox.  If you do NOT wish receive email from other members, do not click in the check box.

8.    Click here to complete your registration

Next – you will see this page:

NOTE:  You will receive an email in your inbox.
You MUST follow the link in that email before you can post on these forums.
Until you do that, you will be told that you do not have permission to post.

CHECK YOUR EMAIL
You should receive one like this:

Dear (your username),

Thank you for registering at the DesignsBySiCK.com Embroidery Forums. Before we can activate your account one last step must be taken to complete your registration.

Please note - you must complete this last step to become a registered member. You will only need to visit this URL once to activate your account.
(to visit a URL means to go to a website)

To complete your registration, please visit this URL:
http://www.designsbysick.com/forums/register.php?a=act&u=6321&i=32272118
(the line above is a URL – a website address, you can CLICK on it and it will take you to the website and activate your account)
<a href=”http://www.designsbysick.com/forums/register.php?a=act&u=6321&i=32272118“>America Online Users Please Visit Here to be Activated</a>
(AOL users must click on this link above)
**** Does The Above URL Not Work? ****
If the above URL does not work, please use your Web browser to go to:
http://www.designsbysick.com/forums/register.php?a=ver
(If you the links did not work, click on this one)
Please be sure not to add extra spaces. You will need to type in your username and activation number on the page that appears when you visit the URL.
Your Username is: (your username here)
Your Activation ID is: (your activation number will be here)

If you are still having problems signing up please contact a member of our support staff at robnewt@gmail.com

All the best,
DesignsBySiCK.com Embroidery Forums

*******************************
Click on the URL in your email:
You will go to this page:

Each of those blue words is a clickable link.
This means you can click on the word and it will open a new webpage for you.

*Forums   will take you to the Forums

The Forum Jump has a “drop-down” box – when you click on the arrow on the right side, you will see a list of all the places you can go to on the Forums.  You can use this, or just click Forums and choose from the list of areas to post your message:

Posting on the Forums

is not be a difficult task.  If you are a member of SiCKDesigns Yahoo Group, you have been reading a lot about where everyone is located.
There is a place on the Forums to tell where you are from.  This way, if there are others in your area, you may decide to meet for tea one afternoon.  Strong friendships were created in sewing circles years ago and it is happening again all over the world.  On the Forums you can get to know folks, find out their likes and dislikes, and realize you went to school with them or attended the same church as children.
Under the “Chit Chat” section The “Where are you from” or “Introduce Yourself” is a great place to start.

I am betting there will be new friends made on these Forums.
The topics listed on the Forums are:

1.    Designs and Machine Embroidery

a.    The Daily Free PES
b.    QA- Questions and Answers
c.    Newsletter Discussions
d.    Design Search (looking for a design? You can ask here)
e.    Your Projects
f.    Embroidery Software Protection Coalition (we do not agree with their tactics, but you can read about them here

2.     Chit Chat

a. Introduce Yourself
b. Where are You From?
c. Bad News
d. Good News!
e. Chit Chat
f. Flaming and resolutions (flaming refers to angry posts)

3. Digitizing

a.  Questions and Answers
b. Digitizing requests (Got something you need digitized?  Ask here!)
c.  Digitizing Software
d.  Digitizing Advertising

4.  Sewing

a.  Questions and answers
b.  Your projects
c . Advertising

Take a look around. Post a message.  Say hello.

Once you have registered, all you will  have to do is post a message and go back to download your design.I hope this helps everyone understand and embrace the changes on the Website.

We try everyday to make things better for visitors and members.  We welcome everyone and hope they will take part in the Forums.  While you are there, say hello to CutiePie – she is the moderator for the Forums and works very hard to keep everything running smoothly.

Thank you …

Huggers,
Rob 

PS  Where to post idea:

“Where are you from” is a good one! and then either click on a message a “post reply”  - which means you will be replying to their message - for example, if you see one from Cleveland, Ohio, and you live in or visited or have family in..Cleveland Ohio, you may want to “reply” to that message so folks who are in that area will see your post is on the same topic.

If you are from an area not mentioned  - say - Bend, Oregon - you may want to “Start a new Thread” and in the subject, put “Bend, Oregon.”

Type your message into the box and then hit submit.

It will be fun to go back into the Forums and see who has replied to your message!  You may discover a group of folks live near you.  Many, many people have formed embroidery clubs, quilting clubs, etc over the Internet and they get together once a month to share a meal (pot luck or at a local restaurant), work on projects, and enjoy the new found friendships.   Many community service projects have been started at get-togethers like these.

I, personally, just moved to Texas and folks on the Yahoo Group told me about their group which meets once a month and I was able to attend their get together when I had only been in Texas 5 days!

It was really great to put faces to email addresses and online nicknames.