Talk and Groups

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[edit] What are groups for?

Groups connect users. You can set a group up for the shared library searching, or to socialize through forums. Each group also comes with its own "mini-Zeitgeist" statistics page - currently disabled by Admin to help reduce server load. Switch back on date, not yet known.

[edit] Who might use a group?

Couples can keep their libraries under separate accounts, linked through a group. Book clubs and other organizations can use them to assemble a searchable "virtual library." Users in a particular city or area can use it to talk and see what interesting "statistics" develop. Finally, you can set up interest-group communities, like "history" or "romance novels."

[edit] Can everyone see our group?

You may choose whether a group is public or private. Private groups only show to nonmembers the group name, description, and the total number of books in members' libraries. In public groups, all information is viewable to everyone.

[edit] Are there any limits?

You can't use a group to connect free "shell" accounts to supersede the 200 book limit. Users who do this will find their accounts suspended.

[edit] How are Groups and Talk connected?

All the group forums are connected through Talk. With Talk, the forum system, you can see the conversations happening in all groups, or just your groups. You can also find just the topics that mention your books.

[edit] What are touchstones?

"Touchstones" are works and authors "touched on" by your message (in a group message board or talk posting). To add a touchstone, put brackets around the works and authors in your message - single brackets for works, double brackets for authors.

Example: "If I were on a desert island, I'd bring along that [Worst-case Scenario Survival Handbook]. If that wasn't allowed, I'd go for [Lolita] or [Pale Fire], or really anything by [[Nabokov]]. I'd also bring along [[Lisa Carey]], because she's my wife."

Touchstones will guess the appropriate works and authors to link to. If the wrong work or author comes up in the touchstone list to the right of the textbox, click "others" to specify the appropriate links.

[edit] What does "flag abuse" on a topic mean?

"Flag abuse" is a way for users to monitor the Talk discussions. If you see something wildly innappropriate (such as spam) in a post, you can click the "flag abuse" link, and a little red flag will appear. After four different users have flagged a post, it will be deleted. Definitions of abuse and more guidelines are on the Terms of Use page. Please do not flag posts simply because you disagree with what is said, or if someone criticizes your favorite book, author, or idea - that's not abuse, it's a difference of opinion.

[edit] How can I tell if I've read a topic already or not?

You can sort the topics in both Talk and in Group Forums by all three of the column headers: topics (sort alphabetically), unread (sorts all the unread topics to the top), or last message (most recent message on top). If you've already read something, it moves to "read" status (if you're sorting by "unread", then it will move to underneath all of the actual "unread" topics).

[edit] What's the star for?

You can "star" a topic to mark things you want to re-read, keep track of, etc. You can pull up a list of just these topics using the "My Starred" link on the left-hand side of the talk page.

[edit] What's the little "x" mean?

If you're tired of one topic that keeps appearing at the top of your unread list, click the little x to "ignore" that topic. It will swim down to the bottom of the list, never to bother you again. (Unless you want it back, in which case you can find it, and click to stop ignoring).

[edit] How can I search Talk?

If you are looking for a Talk topic or trying to find out if something has been discussed before, there are two main options. On the left-hand side of the Talk page there is a search box; however, the results from this search are mixed. Alternatively, you can search on Google, specifying "site:librarything.com/talktopic" before your search string.

[edit] How do I put links in a Talk message?

If you type (for example)

My favourite book is <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2770499">Little Women</a>.

It will show up like this:

My favourite book is Little Women.

Ignore the little blue arrow thingies. This wiki automatically puts web addresses in blue type, underlines them, and adds an arrow thingy. That won't happen when you type a web address into your profile editing page.

[edit] How do I include photos in a Talk message?

First, you need to have an account with a photo hosting service such as Flickr or Photobucket. Upload your photos into the service, and edit or resize as needed. Photobucket and Flickr provide html code for the photo, which can be copied to the clipboard and pasted into a Talk message. The photo will appear when the Talk message is saved.