BE Roadmap and Navigation Tips

[Tobin]

I am starting this thread to give new members, in particular, a place to go to if they are not quite sure how this site works. I offer some suggestions below, and hope others will add to them. These are only suggestions; there are not hard and fast rules, you can really post about anywhere. That said, the SOS thread is generally not for extended chit-chat.

The "First 7 days" thread is a good place to start, as it is a decent stretch of time for both aspiring abstainers as well as those seeking to "cut down" but needing to put some distance from drink in order to reassess the relationship.

[Edit: There's now a subforum of the General Recovery section entitled "Sobriety Challenges" - which contains a variety of lengths of time you might want to set yourself as a goal for staying sober]

Know you don't ever want to drink again? Try "the Road to Abstinence".

Know your goal is to cut down or moderate your drinking? Try the "Cutting Down" thread.

One of my favorites is "I will not drink today because . . " I like it both for its value as an affirmation early in the day, but also because I am inspired by the other posters.

"Postive things I notice when I don't drink" offers a steady reminder that life can really be better without alcohol.

[Bela]

This is from jhenni earlier today:

To find your own posts I think the best way is not to go the "view your posts" button which seems to take you to the forums where you posted meaning searching, but instead go to the members button, then find yourself and then there you get to see a "search users posts" on the bottom right. That is how I find a particularly good post somebody did when I want to re-read for inspiration and can't remember just where it is but do remember the poster.

Also for some reason many have found that sometimes you write a post (often long) and submit and it vanishes into the ether and never appears. I suspect at different times it has to do with different things. My most recent such episodes happened where not once but twice a post vanished. Turned out (according to my isp provider) that we had a "dirty line" related to recent construction and our connection had been cutting out a few seconds at a time repeatedly. So sometimes such things happen.

(Edit: The site's software is sometimes a bit twitchy when saving drafts; moreover drafts are more likely to disappear after you've put more time and effort into a lengthier post. I would suggest cracking open the word processor of your choice, saving the document and then pasting it into the reply pane. Stephen).

[jhenni]

Another thing I did not realize is that you can quickly get to the new posts once you have been on. If you have not been reading certain threads and don't want to then at the end of your session, go to "Board Index" and on the right click "Mark forums read." That marks everything as read and gives you a clean slate so to speak.

The next time you log in, go to "Board Index" and click on "View new posts" (middle on the left). This brings up a whole list and on the beginning of each forum is a little orange square. Click on it and it will bring you to the first new post.

Sounds obvious but it took a while for me to figure it out. I use Firefox, so I just right click on each and open in a new tab, then work through the tabs.

jhenni

[Bela]

I click on "view active posts" a lot - just to the right of the one jhenni just mentioned.
It shows most recent posts as well as all threads -- if you click at the bottom for extra pages.
It's a great way to see all the threads that are available.

[Tony]

There's also a monthly 'hop' thread eg 'The July Hop'

A 'hop' means any period of time not having a drink. The idea of this thread is to set your own target, a weekend, two weeks or simply the whole month.

A common abbreviation you will see is EAF this stands for 'Evil Alcohol Fairy', a visual technique for what is basically a craving.

[hamster]

Can someone clever please write some simple to follow instructions to upload an avatar? I can do my own but every time I try and type how its done I end up making it all sound so confusing.

Its not hard (cant be if I did it - darcy helped me do mine when I first joined) but I think some easy to understand instructions would be great.


Julie
x

[Yorkie]

Hi all, can anyone help me... Im a bit of a computer thicko and would like to add a picture to my profile... all the pictures that I have tried to put on are too big - how do I make one small enough to fit on?? love from Yorkie

[Yorkie]

Hi to all the newcommers... This is a really useful sight for help with finding your way around. I've posted on here to bump it up to the top where it can be seen. It took me a while to work out that there was more then one page to each forum....love Yorkie

[Bela]

I am really a fan of "view active topics" . . . it will list most recent postings across the four categories on the board index. This option is available at the top of the Board index page.

[Yorkie]

Hi Bela , thats great... just tried it out and it's a winning formula ... I wondered how you guys always managed to skip around so quickly...love Yorkie

[64Turtles]

To anyone new I have been around for about three months and still find new and different places to go here so be patient but certainly look around like a kid in a candy store as around here are some sweet ideas on how to be happy without (or moderated alcohol use of) alcohol. Stay awile but do feel free to fly out and dip back in........the price is right and the company compared to none!

[Rebecca]

I just found this site for sizing pictures.

http://www.shrinkpictures.com/

[Tobin]

The Late Lounge is now re-titled to cater to anyone logged in while the UK is asleep, just in case you're trying to find each other.

[Collumps]

Hi there is there a specific forum for helps and hints on distractions from drink and how to try and conquer the urge when it takes over?

[Bela]

If you are in dire need of help, post on SOS.
Lots of tips from folks on the various challenges . . . just ask for them and they will be forthcoming.
Also have a look on "Please post here if you are planning to drink" . . .

Also a thread called "Breaking the Cycle/Gaining Traction" has ideas.
There are also good resources on the General Website for BE.

Others may well chime in here with their ideas.
An inquiry on the General Chat thread would likely also result in the submission of some fav ideas from members.

[freedom1]

There's a thread on things to do instead of drinking (somewhere....??) ....

Edited to say... found it and bumped it up, in case its of some use to you, collumps.

[Bela]

Lots of new members . . . some of you might find some posts here of use or have your own good ideas to share.

[George]

A lot of people are concerned about maintaining privacy and anonymity. That is quite understandable. If it is of concern to you then have a look at:

http://www.torproject.org/

It's free, openware and it stops them out there sourcing and identifying you and where you are. Think about it.

[Eadburga]

Just a general question really. Is there a thread for the medical side of alcoholism ? the physical damage caused and also remedies and prescribed treatments both natural and traditional/orthodox. (Not that I'm planning any more damage !).

I did read the article on Kudzu, I wondered if there's somewhere we can discuss this sort of thing along with the sort of medical problems we've had ? I'm currently on a very limited diet due to the damage I've done to my upper oesophagus (last week), I'm looking for relief with that and I wanted to talk about prescription meds such as lanzoprazole and herbs such as goldenseal. I don't want to barge in as a newbie and start a new thread as there may be one already !

Thanks !

[Sandy]

Hi Eadburga
have a look on the physical and mental health forum. there are two pages
you may find what you are looking for or you can post your questions on one of the threads
Am sure someone will be along soon with advice
take good care of yourself
Sandy