IN - DEPTH SIGHTFUL DEPENDENT

INSIDE the Mani Forum Guide for desktop

( for mobile users, please read the desktop instructions before scrolling down to the bottom)

  • We set out to create a space for friends to connect, that not just rivalled similar social media platforms, but bettered them. We hope you agree that we achieved this aim!
  • More versatilty and functionality eliminates the frustrating experience of having to scroll past irrelevant posts. And certainly no advertising!
  • Those of you who are familiar with some of the global social media platforms may just want to learn how to use all of the features of the forum through trial and error. But if you get stuck and get a bit frustrated, here is a short guide for you to refer to.
  • And as a rule of thumb, the deeper you get into the forum’s settings, use the main menu to get back to the main FORUM or My hub pages.

Using FORUM & My Hub pages

The basic difference between these 2 pages is that the FORUM gives access to posts and updates on Groups and Members from  across the whole site. Whereas the My Hub page can be seen as your own dashboard where you can quickly access your own posts, friend requests, private messgaes and notifications.

You can access posts from friends or groups you have joined from both of these main menus, as well as posts you have liked (My Favourites) and posts you have been mentioned in through @your name (Mentions). Similarly, both menus allow you to narrow down what you see through the filtering option (highlighted).

FORUM main menu

My Hub main menu

There is a second menu which must be set to ACTIVITY to use the first menu. The BOOKMARKS option takes you to posts you have saved by clicking on the 3 dots on the top right corner of any post to enable saving to bookmarks. The profile icon drop down menu takes you to your profile ( see later).

Messages

You can also oversee any messages you have sent or received on the forum on the My Hub page by firstly clicking on the MESSAGES icon (an envelope), the central icon in your profile box. The menu perfroms like any email provider – (STARRED just means you have marked a  particular message as important).

Sidebars

The sidebars on these 2 pages follow the same principles. Both initially enable you to see personal notifications and messages but then the FORUM shows all latest activity regrading members and groups from across the site whereas the My Hub page only shows your Friends and Groups.

Posts

All fairly self-explanatory with a couple of extra features, including creating your own poll, uploading a file that others can then download and choosing privacy options and where the post will appear. You can add emojis, feelings and activities, locations and tag friends.

My Profile

Perhaps now is the time to raise the issue of privacy. Some of you may, understandably, not want your personal information available on the forum. The simplest way of remaining anonymous is simply not to enter any details at all- no photos, no contact details and no social media links. You will simply have a User Name to function in the forum. To take this a stage further, you could apply the setting to only be visible in this format to people in the forum you assign a FRIEND status. Click on ACCOUNT SETTINGS and then ACCOUNT PRIVACY.

However, if you’re happy to allow users to view your profile, to edit it click on the profile drop down on the My Hub second menu. This is the interface for completing your profile, should you wish to do so.

The initial ABOUT ME section is straight forward, so let’s look at the left side bar. Firstly the icons :

  • LIGHT BLUE – Home page of the site
  • YELLOW – Back to My Hub
  • PURPLE –  Allows you to add links to your social media accounts
  • GREEN – Profile picture (avatar) upload
  • PINK – Cover photo upload
  • RED – Logout (which you’ll never have to do)

Widget Settings

There may be a couple of surprising options here- e.g SKILLS and SERVICES. Adding information here may help find like-minded people and even lead to finding work!

Account Settings

Obvious and remember it’s in this menu you can make your profile only visible to friends.

Email Notifications

There are a number of options here in the Notifications section to enable or disable receiving emails when specific activities have occurred in the site concerning you.

 

 

FRIENDS

This page is where you can see everyone in the forum and send out friend requests.

GROUPS

This page is where you can see all of the groups in the forum, request to join them and create your own.

INSIDE the Mani Forum Guide for mobiles

Obviously the mobile version of the forum functions in exactly the same way as desktop, with 2 exceptions:

  • All menus are “hamburgers”! So, for example, on the My Hub page, you will have 2 hamburger menus, divided by your profile (see screenshot). The profile drop down is in the bottom right of the screenshot.
  • Sidebars. On both the FORUM and My Hub pages, they will appear after you have scrolled through a set number of posts.