Here we answer some frequently asked questions about our forum.
Does it cost money to register on the fruit forum?
Does growingfruit.org use any trackers or adware?
What’s up with the little colored circles by my avatar/icon in the upper right corner?
How do i scroll faster for long threads?
How do i use the search function?
How do i find other categories?
How do i create a thread/topic?
How do i post pictures?
How do i send another member a private message?
How do i change my viewing background color/theme?
How do i change or personalize my avatar/icon?
How do i change my password?
How do i change my profile description?
How do i add my location or zone for other members to see?
Is there a map to see if there are other members near me?
How do i manage my email notifications?
How do i manage my in app notifications?
If I need help, how do I personal message administrators of the forum?
Is there a more complete guide on how to use all the fancy features of this forum?
What are the official Usage Guidelines?
What are the official Terms of Service?
Joining the fruit forum is absolutely free! You have to register to be able to post to the forum, but registration is fast and free. Just click “Sign Up” in the upper right hand corner and follow the steps to create your account with the fruit forum. Then begin posting comments/questions and have fun.
The fruit forum uses no trackers, adware, or spyware of any kind. You may also notice the fruit forum has no commercial ads. It’s completely free to use. The fruit forum does generate some minor expenses in keeping the forum up and running. These expenses are covered through a request for donations every few years. Donations are absolutely voluntary. Generally, when a request for small donations is made, enough members donate to fund the forum expenses for at least a couple years.
Meaning of the colored circles in the upper right hand corner by your avatar/icon
Occasionally you will see little colored circles by your avatar/icon. These are notifications for you. They may look like this.
Notice the little green and blue circle above the avatar on the right. The green circle means that another member has sent you a personal message. The blue circle means that someone has replied to one of your posts, or has “liked” one of your posts. Congratulations, you are generating interest and activity by your posts and adding to the discussions of this fruit growing community.
To see the specific personal message or response to a post you made, click on your avatar. A drop down menu will appear under your avatar, showing the personal message or response to your post. Click on the personal message or response in the drop down menu and you will be directed there.
For those long threads, sometimes it can take a while to scroll up or down. However there is a “quick” scroll bar you may not have noticed. Here is a screen shot of a thread. The quick access scroll bar is circled in red toward the right.
It’s a bit hard to see. It’s light blue. That’s the quick access scroll bar. Click and hold that scroll bar to move it up and down. You can immediately go to the top or bottom of a thread, or anywhere in between.
How to use the search function
On the top right corner of the page, you will see a looking glass symbol. It looks like this 
Clicking that will give you access to the forum’s search engine.
Click on the and a dialog box will show up. Type in whatever topic you want to know such as “grafting”, old threads about grafting will show up for you to read.
Looking up old threads is very useful and time saving. If you can’t find info through the search engine, then you can create a new thread.
Go to the Growing Fruit homepage https://growingfruit.org/ Across the top are several buttons labeled, “Latest”, “New”, “Unread”, “Top”, “Categories”, and to the far right “New Topic”. Here’s a screenshot:
Click on “Categories” button. That will pull up all the categories on Growing Fruit. Scroll down to click on a category of topics you might be interested in reading.
How to create a new thread/topic
Go to the Growing Fruit homepage https://growingfruit.org/ Across the top are several buttons labeled, “Latest”, “New”, “Unread”, “Top”, “Categories”, and to the far right “New Topic”.
Here’s a screenshot:
Click on the “New Topic” button. Type in the name you would like for your topic. Then directly toward the right, click the button labeled “Category”. A drop down menu will come down for you to choose the category under which you’d like your new topic to appear. Hint: Most topics fit best under the “General Fruit Growing” Category. Please note, brand new users are limited to posting 3 new topics.
When replying to a post, or starting a new topic/thread, you may insert pictures from your computer or phone. Type your comment or question in the dialog box which pops up when you reply or start a new thread/topic. Place the cursor (the blinking vertical line) where you want your picture.
Next, at the top of the dialog box you will see several symbols. Look for the upload symbol which looks like this:
Click on the 
A dialog box will pull up asking you to add an image from your device (i.e. computer or phone), or from the Web. If you choose to upload a file from your device, then click the “browse” button to find the picture on your device. Note: For android (not Apple) phones, pictures are generally found in the DCIM folder. Look for the DCIM folder. Once you have selected a picture, click “Open”, Then click “Upload”. Voila, your picture should display in your preview. Please note, brand new users are limited to one picture.
How to send another member a private message
The forum allows members to send private messages to other members. To do this simply click on a member’s avatar/icon. That will pull up the members avatar box. In the right of the box is a “Message” button. Click that button to private message another member.
How to change your viewing background color/theme
You have some choices in the color and contrast of how your device views the fruit forum. That’s referred to as the “theme”. To change the theme, click on your personal avatar/icon in the upper right hand corner. Since every member has a different avatar/icon, a sample one is shown in this screenshot.
Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
Then on the left side of the menu, click “Interface”. You can then change the theme to one of the options. Note that “Dark GF” provides the most contrast for your viewing. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.
Please note the other settings you may change on this page (i.e. Text Size, Default Home Page, etc.)
How to change or personalize my avatar/icon
When you signed up for Growingfruit.org, the system assigned you a random avatar. It may look something like this (all system assigned avatars are a little different).
You can change or personalize your avatar from a picture. To do this, click your avatar in the upper right had corner. Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
This will pull up your account info. Scroll down to “Profile Picture”. Click on the pencil beside the picture. Then select on “Add Custom Picture”. Click “Upload Picture”. Upload the picture you would like for your avatar/icon. If you are satisfied with your avatar, click save changes at the bottom of the page.
Click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner.
Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
Scroll down until you see “Password”. Then click, “Send Password Reset Email”. An email will be sent to your email address on record instructing you to change your password.
How to change my profile description
Click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner.
Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
Click the “Profile” button on the left side of the screen. "In the “About Me” section, you are able to change your profile description. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom to save your profile description. This is the description other members will see when they click on your avatar.
How to add my location or zone visible for other members to see.
Making your location and/or zone visible to other members is helpful if you have any questions about growing fruit. It’s said, “All growing is local.” Knowing your location and/or zone helps other members diagnose problems you may describe in posts. It also helps others put your comments in your context when they know the area you are growing fruit.
To add a location and/or zone to your profile. Click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner.
Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
Click the “Profile” button on the left had side of the screen. In the “Location” box, you can type your location. Feel free to be as specific, or obscure, as you wish. Hey, you can even type “Earth” for your location (But don’t be a wise guy, OK 
).
Below that you can type your growing zone. Once you click, “Save Changes” other members will now be able to see your growing zone and location. All they have to to is click your Avatar.
Here is a map to find out your growing zone.
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov
Finding the map to see if there are other members near me.
The forum does have a map to see where other members are located. Placement on the map is completely voluntary. Members don’t have to put their exact address on the map. Many just put their nearest city or town for their map location. It’s both fun and helpful to see which members are near you. Many times, members near can be the most helpful with your fruit growing issues, since they are growing fruit in your local climate. Here is the link for the map.
You can also have your location placed on the map. To do so, please message Ryan @disc4tw and he will place your location on the map (or the nearest city/town, if you wish). Here is a link to click on his personal page to message him. Just click on his username, Speedster1 to be directed to his personal page. Then click the “Message” button to send him a personal message to be added to the map.
How to manage email notifications.
It’s possible to change the email notifications your receive from the forum (e.g. an email notification when someone replies to one of your posts). You can choose to receive no email notifications , or email notifications for when someone quotes one of your posts, or when someone messages you.
To manage email notifications. Click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner.
Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
Then click the “Emails” button on the left hand side. This will pull up the page to allow you to manage your email notifications. Don’t forget to click, “Save Changes” after you are done.
How to manage in app notifications.
It’s possible to manage notifications you receive while on a Growingfruit.org webpage. There are several ways which the forum program can notify while on the site. To manage the notifications you receive while using the forum. Click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner.
Then click the gear in the drop down menu.
Click on the “Notifications” button on the left hand side. That will pull up a page to allow you to manage your “in app” notifications. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page when you are finished.
Growingfruit.org has administrators (also known as moderators, and sometimes informally called staff) who voluntarily dedicate their time to keep the forum running smoothly. They serve to perform the “invisible” tasks which make the forum friendly and convenient to use. (i.e. Monitoring for and removing spammers attempting to sneak in advertising, ensuring a friendly dialog among members, removing posted content which violates the Usage Guidelines & Terms of Service, and to answer questions about the forum in general.)
You can find forum administrators here. If you would like to personal message a single administrator simply click on their avatar (their dialog box will pop up) then click on “Message” in their dialog box. Type your title and message. Then click “Send Message”. They will receive your personal message the next time they visit the forum!
If you need to personal message all the administrators/moderators at once, click on the following link for Moderators. Then click “Message” at top right corner. Type your message and title, and click “Send Message”. Your personal message will be sent to all the administrators/moderators at once.
The Discourse.org User Guide
If you have more questions about the forum software, see The User Guide for a tutorial on how to navigate this type of forum.
If your question about using the forum is still not answered, just post the question in the About This Forum category!