Have you had a good look around our new(ish) 26 website? We were so eager to get it up back in February after a nasty bit of hacking to the old site that we didn’t introduce you to it properly. So here are just a few tips for getting the most out of the 26 website.
Your member profile
Your member profile page is a blank canvas where you can shout about your skills, promote your latest work and build your online profile through 26.
You can get to your profile page by logging into the 26 website (click the login button on the menu bar or go to https://26characters.org.uk/my-account) and then choosing My profile from the MEMBERS drop down menu. Click on edit and create your profile (fields in red have to be filled in). If you tell us where you live, it helps us have a better idea of where our members are for organising events and projects.
TIP* If you update your profile it will show in the list of members on the homepage, as this displays most recently active members.
You can add other members as friends and send private messages to them using the add friend button under their profile picture.
Your account page
You can see this when you’re logged in. It shows whether your membership is active, what level of you have, what your username is and what email is linked to your login. There are links there for you to edit your profile, change your password, see any recent purchases you’ve made through the 26 website (see our excellent shop for the chance to buy the whole 26 back catalogue) and to renew or cancel your membership. All your past invoices are there in case you need to print any off for your records.
If you’re having trouble with anything just use the contact form on the right hand side of the page to email admin – we’ll be with you in a jiffy!
The message board
The message board on the old 26 website was a well-used resource where people posted jobs, talked about things affecting them professionally and just chatted. On the new site we’ve split our message board into six different areas:
- Hot topics
- Jobs
- Pose a question
- Share your knowledge
- Training
- Views
This seems to have scared everyone off. What do you think? Does the new message board work for you? Did you know it was there?
You can see the latest posts in the footer of the homepage and on the sidebar of members’ profile pages.
Tip* If you’re interested in a particular topic, subscribe by clicking the subscribe link above the post – you’ll get emailed when there are new posts.
Projects & events
As a member, you get the chance to participate in our projects and get first refusal when we sell tickets to 26 events.
All our projects (live and archive) are listed on the projects & events page. Click on a project image to go to the project page and read all about it.
Projects & events – dates for your diary
We’ll post everything from project deadlines to event dates here. Keep checking the page to see what’s coming up.
Projects & events – Training – 26 Trade Secrets
Here you’ll find all there is to know about Trade Secrets – training by 26ers for 26ers. See what workshops are coming up and read summaries and feedback on past courses. There are also links under Other training to writing training courses around the UK.
Get in touch with us, tell us what you think, ask us a question. Go on – we really want to hear from you.
And just for fun… 26 images
Our visual scrapbook of images of the number 26. Send yours to admin@26.org.uk and put it in our gallery and put it in the newsletter if there’s space. Do let us know where you found it, and feel free to write a caption if you’re feeling creative.
So that’s it – a quick jog through the main features of our website. Do explore, and please let us know if there’s anything we can do to make it better.