Happy Anniversary tooyoo (a guide for new dooyooers) (hotshotsdesigns.co.uk/tooyoo/)

Member Name: aefra

Product:	hotshotsdesigns.co.uk/tooyoo/
Date:	04/04/03 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I can't imagine dooyoo without it

Disadvantages: None

It is now a year since Dave (ILoveJackDaniels) launched our sister website tooyoo. I don't think even Dave could have known how successful it would become. With a membership of 557 to date it has become a vital, although unofficial, part of the dooyoo community and he has our thanks. A few of our newer dooyoo members may have wondered why that aefra woman left a comment asking, "Why aren't you on tooyoo?" That is because I wanted to talk to you and had no way of contacting you; and those who registered as a result would have been gratified by the welcome they received.

What is tooyoo? Well, it is a guest book and chat site for dooyoo and ciao members only. A guest book is your very own page on which you can receive and leave messages - and tooyoo's is private if you wish. A general chat area is kept buzzing and a super way to get to know the people behind user names.

To access tooyoo go to http://www.hotshotsdesigns.co.uk or use the link already on many profiles. Click on "log in" and you will see an invitation to register. You will only need a user name (best use the one you already have) and a password. That is it. In order to browse tooyoo or "lurk" in the chat area there will be no need to actually register. But you will not be able to interact until you do. The front page of Tooyoo is attractive, easy on the eye and uncluttered. Full instructions for joining and using the site are there and you will find links to other member sites, funny sites and even a section to which members may send postcards to all from their holidays. The site is fast to use and pages are accessed very quickly indeed.

Logging in takes you to your personal guest book which at this stage is plain black and white. Do not despair, you who need to express yourselves in subtle or violent colour. Click on "settings" and you have options to colour background, lines and text in whatever combinatio
n you choose. Whether you are a pretty sky blue pink person, a psychodelic hippy or wish to identify yourself in rabid red and black, the choice is yours. I became totally and enjoyably engrossed in personalising mine in terracotta and green.

An additional feature is the ability to be "invisible" when logging on by using another tick box. This means that your name will not show on site if you are just cruising through to check your book, thus saving someone thinking you want to chat on the open page. Also in "settings" is the ability to make your incoming messages private and by entering your email address receive notification of messages waiting. Your email address remains secure.

Go to "help" and you will be shown how to give text effects and insert smileys. There are 14 smileys shown, ranging from smiles through winks and tongues to a black eye. When you first register, your guest book will be christened with welcome notes from tooyoo members, who will almost inevitably add a weird arrangement of smileys. Should you have any problems, Dave's email is on "help" and he is very helpful indeed.

To send a message, click on "members" (all these links are at the top of your page) and you will be taken to an alphabetical choice. Once you are within your chosen guest book, enter your text in the decently sized box provided, and submit. An important feature when sending messages to other tooyooers is the ability to click on a tick box to create a private message which can only be read by yourself and the recipient. A link back to dooyoo is at the top of the page, so you will not have to refresh. It does help to lighten Dave's site if you delete messages soon after they are read, much as you would release space on your own computer.

Each page has a link to the general chat area and you can pop in and join in. It took me a while to overcome shyness. Then, during a
time when dooyoo launched its new format and life became impossibly quiet as a result of teething problems, the chat area was the place to be as we mulled over everything and drank virtual tea (provided by teagirl).

I do hope that you will join us. Tooyoo is at the heart of our community. It is no longer necessary to leave queries or greetings in opinion comments and hope that they will be read. Everyone is available to everyone else and I can't imagine logging on to dooyoo and then not checking my guest book several times a day. If you receive a "Hi, how are you?" from someone, answer it and before long your page will become active. If you don't, then send a "Hi" yourself.

Should you not wish to interact that is ok. Perhaps you just like to write your ops and read some and stay at more of a distance. But there may be times when you need help from a guide or would like to add a comment on an op you have read without doing so publicly. Perhaps you would like some more information about a review which interests you. Just log in to tooyoo and your message will be appreciated.

Happy Anniversary tooyoo and many thanks to our clever and generous dooyooer Dave (ILoveJackDaniels).

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