Gaia: How To's and FAQs - Tips, Tricks and Reminders

Re: TIP: Are Your Browsers Fresh and Secured?

http://firewithin.gaia.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:30:06 GMT

Thanx for the notice. Better safe than sorry. I have not changed to Firefox but am considering it.

Re: TIP: Are Your Browsers Fresh and Secured?

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:45:05 GMT

Good question, Samme.

Both leading browsers, IE and Firefox, do their best to improve their security feautres, e.g. through auto-updates.

But according to a recent study Firefox is more secured. See Study FInds Firefox Users Safest.

"Mozilla Firefox users are the safest Web surfers on the Internet, according to a study by The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Google and IBM's Internet Security Services. According to the study Firefox users were the most likely to use an updated version of their browser.

"Researchers determined Firefox users are by far the safest Web surfers on the Web during an 18-month study. The study based its conclusions of safety on how often users of different browsers updated to the most recent version of browser software. Much of the credit to Firefox's safety ranking stems from its ease of self updating by the software. Unlike IE which has to update via Windows Update, Firefox has a self-contained updating mechanism which translates into Mozilla users being far more likely to have the most up-to-date (and safest) version of their browser." [read more]

However, it's still important to remember that safe browsing practices would go a long way on making your browsing safe and secured.

~C

Re: TIP: Are Your Browsers Fresh and Secured?

http://princesamwise.gaia.com — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:47:05 GMT

Thank you ~C4 for this great info.
I have a question though. I know Firefox is good and all and a lot of people are saying so. But how exactly is Firefox secure? Do I just have to take it by "faith"? Because in Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista OS I have those anti virus program and then on the IE browser there's that thing where it will tell you if the website you are is not a hoax (trying to look like another website to get your personal info and password, etc). In FF3 it doesn't have this, maybe in the background but can you expound more on how really "secure" Firefox is, if that is not too much to ask. Thank you,
Samme

TIP: Are Your Browsers Fresh and Secured?

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:45:33 GMT

A recent study showed that 40% of people who surf the web don't bother with security updates. If you're one of the 40% of people who don't regularly update your browsers, please take the time to visit your browser's website for the latest versions and updates.

For Microsoft Internet Explorer Users:

Explorer 8 download area - http://www.microsoft.com/ie

Internet Explorer 8 and any other security updates available for your computer -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsupdate

For Mozilla Firefox users:

Firefox download are - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

For Apple Safari users:

Safari download area - http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

For Opera users:

Opera download area - http://www.opera.com/download/

For more tips on how to surf the web safely, check out http://surfthenetsafely.com/

Embedding the iTunes button

http://FenixRizing.gaia.com — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:37:31 GMT

How do I insert/embed that cool iTunes button that will take someone to "what I'm listening to right now"... Obi does it all the time and I can't figure out how to do it!!

Thanks for your help...
F.

Re: Is there a way to embed links in status report / thoughtful s

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:35:27 GMT

Gabrielle,

links are not allowed in Thoughtful Spot. but they are allowed in Statuses. just copy and paste the link (with the "http://") and the links will be automatically converted to live links on the status page.

~C

Is there a way to embed links in status report / thoughtful spot?

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:23:10 GMT

Matthew, C4,

I've been all over the place to find out whether embedding links elegantly in our status line and/or the thoughtful spot is possible, couldn't find anything.

C4, I saw in your profile that you copied the full link of Eckhard and Oprah's classes in your status line which kind of made my hopes go down - if YOU don't embed a link, I fear it won't be possible at all... or?

anyway, didn't want to give up before asking the two guys around who know EVERYTHING!

:)

sending love,
Gabriele

Spam Alert: Be mindful of the messages you receive

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:35:49 GMT

Hello Gaia Community!

This is just a little note to remind you to please be mindful of messages you receive from strangers (on this site or elsewhere), and to never give out any personal information unless you are sure that you can trust the other person.

No matter how careful we are in setting our community values, there will always be those who'll sneak through the cracks, or who'll want to take advantage of others. Below are some general guidelines for evaluating the trustworthiness of other members on the site:

– Check their profile. Did they fill out everything? Did they provide enough information about themselves? Do you share similar interests? How long have they've been a member on the site? How many friends do they have?

– Check their photo album. What kind of images have they posted on the site? Are they transparent enough in posting their own photos? Are they consistent with the images that they post?

– Check their blogs. This doesn't mean that members are required to post in their blogs. However, in general, members who consistently use their blogs are the ones who are more transparent. It's easier for us to evaluate their thoughts and intentions if they have been out there writing their hearts out.

– Check their postings such as comments and pod discussions. How do they carry conversations? Do you resonate with their tone? Do they sound authentic and sincere?

– Check the messages you receive from them. If they are asking for money or private information (e.g. address, email, full name, etc.), or giving you their own private contact info the first few times they send a message to you, beware! Most probably, they are spammers/scammers.

Remember: When in doubt, please contact the Gaia Support Team.

Here are more resources on how to deal with spammers/scammers:

Fight Spam on the Internet

Spam: Where to Complain About Frauds & Scams on the Internet

Also, by following these simple guidelines, you'll go along way in staying safe. :)

1) Never share personal information (such as SS number, bank accounts,etc.). That goes for all social networks, including our site.

2) Never send money or perform any commercial transactions on thissite. If you encounter any member asking for money, let them know thatit's a violation of our Terms of Use, and then please report them to us, immediately, so we can take appropriate action.

And please take scams and spams seriously! Other members depend on your wisdom and care. Please usethe SPAM Watch board to publicly alert us and all our members.

TIP: Claim your Gaia Blog with MyBlogLog

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:37:05 GMT

In case you want to claim you Gaia blog with MyBlogLog, here's a tip on how to do it.

1) Login to your MyBlogLog account.

2) Click "Add Site/Blog I Author"

3) Enter your Blog Name, Blogsite URL (e.g. "http://your-gaia-id.gaia.com/blog"), Blog Description

4) Click "Add Blog/Site"

5) You will get an authentication code. Copy this code.

6) Open a new browser window and login to your Gaia account.

7) Turn off Javascript

For Firefox: Tools > Options > Content > uncheck Enable Javascript

For IE: Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level
> scroll down to Scripting (near the bottom of list), Active
Scripting > Check Disable

8) Compose a new blog post, paste the MyBlogLog authentication code and save your post.

9) Go back to MyBlogLog and click on Verify. MyBlogLog will display a message that it has successfully verified you blog.

10) IMPORTANT: Make sure to turn Javascript back on.

That's all there is to it! Here's an example of a claimed blog:

http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/c4chaos/

Keep on blogging your heart out!

Thanks to Director Tom for the heads up!

~C

Re: TIP: How to Post Embedded Objects (e.g. Odeo, YouTube) on Blo

http://matthew.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:33:26 GMT

Yes, if you're using html in your post, you need to make sure that you turn javascript off before editing that post. If you don't, our editor will reformat the entry causing the problem you're experiencing.

Re: TIP: How to Post Embedded Objects (e.g. Odeo, YouTube) on Blo

http://alaynacole.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 00:49:33 GMT

Hello there.

I have found that when I do this, then enable javascript, it works. Then I go to update my profile with something else, and when I save it, my embedded stuff disappears. Do you know why?

Re: Tip: How to Make Your Groups More Awesome

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:54:14 GMT

I dislike tremendously the thought of starting up a redundant Group when one already exists. Efforts are far better combined.... but as James Luther Adams (Unitarian Universalist theologist) put it, "if you don't incarnate, you will dissipate".

Given the sea change in concerns about health care and health care reform in the United States, it's a world change whose time has come and is certainly worth talking about here - and it is the major point of my own advocacy.

There is already a Group on topic here - but it was started almost 6 months ago and has been quiet for almost as long. I am about ready to start up a second Group, and am trying to reach the original person who started the Group..... so far without success. If I can't reach him and get him either to reactivate or to (say) allow me to be an administrator so I can jump-start it, I don't think I have much choice except to start a second Group to replace the one that's withered away. Any other ideas?

Barry

TIP: French Subscription Procedure for French-speaking People

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 07:34:22 GMT

Here is a cool subscription procedure for French-speaking people. thanks XFactor!

(Crossposted from XFactor's blog)

J'ai choisi Zaadz pour deux raisons. La première c'est que tous mes collègues-instructeurs d'éveil évolutif l'utilisent ; la seconde c'est que, à ma connaissance, Zaadz est le premier système de blog international qui s'inscrit autour d'un système de valeur, celui de changer le monde. En fait, il regroupe une communauté de personnes qui, comme moi, sont plus intéressées par la création d'un nouveau futur, ensemble, que de parler de leur petits problèmes personnels pour rechercher une quelconque affirmation à travers les commentaires des autres bloggers.

En définitive, il s'agit de partager nos expériences et nos découvertes dans l'optique de changer le monde et la culture actuels. Nous en connaissons tous les limites et nous savons qu'il y a urgence si nous voulons permettre un futur pour les générations à venir.
Le seul Hic de Zaadz est que tout est en anglais et je ne sais pas si Brian pense s'internationaliser et créer un zaadz.fr. En attendant, vu que pour ajouter un commentaire il fait dabord s'inscrire sur Zaadz (c'est une contrainte mais aussi une sécurité contre les bloggers mal intentionnés), j'ai illustré ci-dessous les étapes qui permettent de s'inscrire sur Zaadz même quand on ne ne sait dire que Yes et No en anglais. Zaadzez bien…

Etape 1 : Lorsque vous souhaitez répondre à un blog et ajouter un commentaire il faut cliquer sur add a comment comme indiqué ci-dessous :

add comment

Etape 2 : Pour répondre à un commentaire il faut obligatoirement être inscrit sur Zaadz. C'est une garantie contre les bloggers mal intentionnés qui se refugieraient derrière leur anonymat (très fréquent hélas) pour agir de manière négative (et on ne veut pas changer le monde sur la base de telles intentions, n'est-ce pas ?). Donc il faut cliquer sur Join now! comme indiqué ci-dessous :

join now

Etape 3 : Vous recevez alors un formulaire qui vous demande différentes informations (voir ci-dessous). A noter que le nom qui vous est demandé est celui qui vous identifiera en tant que blogger sous Zaadz (comme “X FactoR” dans mon cas ou “démo” dans le cas de notre example).

join us

Etape 4 : Vous recevez un formulaire de remerciement vous indiquant que vous allez recevoir un email qui vous permettra de finaliser la procédure d'inscription (et qui permet de rejeter les junk mails, encore une sécurité contre les parasites).

Thanks

Etape 5 : En vous connectant sur votre système de messagerie (yahoo dans notre example) vous constatez bien que zaady vous a envoyé un message. Ouvrez-le.

yahoo

Etape 6 : L'email que vous avez ouvert donne un tas d'infos sur Zaadz mais nous comme on comprend rien et qu'on veut juste s'inscrire (c'est encore long ?), on clique sur le lien du bas comme indiqué ci-dessous :

welcome

Etape 7 : On y est presque. Là, on vous demande de saisir puis confirmer votre mot de passe et de cocher la petite case. Faites comme indiqué ci-dessous :

Etape 8 : Attention, on chauffe. Choissisez votre adresse Zaadz et votre titre comme indiqué :

set up

Etape 9 : Pour continuer cliquez sur Go for it comme indiqué :

go for it

Etape 10 : Ca brûle ! Invitez vos amis sur Zaadz. Si vous n'en avez pas, ce n'est pas grave car c'est optionnel :-)

home

Etape 11 : Ouf, ça y est ! Vous voilà un Zaadzster ! Vous pouvez personnaliser votre compte, envoyer et recevoir des emails, écrire vos propres blogs… ou tout simplement ajouter des commentaires (faudrait pas oublier pourquoi on a franchi toutes ces étapes !!).

home demo

Bon blog et n'hésitez pas à me contacter si la procédure n'est pas claire ou si vous voulez en savoir davantage sur Zaadz. Entre francophones, faut se serrer les coudes… lol

X FactoR

TRICK: Add Music and Videos To Your Profile via Dizzler

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:35:42 GMT

There's a cool service called Dizzler wherein you can create customized players and playlist such as the one I put together below using the Black SidePod skin. Neat. Here's something juicy: Once you've created your customized player you can post the embedded code on your Zaadz Profile by doing the following:
1) After customizing your player, copy the HTML code from Dizzler.
NOTE: Make sure that the player is small enough to fit on your profile. You can tweak the size by adjusting the width and height of the HTML code.
2) Disable Javascript on your brower. For example, if you're using FireFox, Go to Firefox -> Preferences -> (Uncheck) Enable Javascript
NOTE: Disabling the Javasacript makes the text box (text-only), meaning that you can post HTML tags as text.
3) Go to your Zaadz profile then click Update My Profile.
4) Tell us a bit about yourself section, paste HTML where you want to the display the player.
IMPORTANT: Make sure to BACK UP your information on the Tell us a bit about yourself section before making any changes, especially if you have a lot of stuff there already!
5) Save your changes.
6) Don't forget to Enable the Javascript. For example, if you're using FireFox, Go to Firefox -> Preferences -> (Check) Enable Javascript.
There. You now have a cool media player on your profile. Use this with compassion.
~C

Re: Tip: How to Make Your Groups More Awesome

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 03:45:01 GMT

Suggestion - for keeping the Group discussions active: Select one or two of your faithful contributors & invite them into Co-Administration. This creates a wonderful atmosphere of a variety of voices keeping discussions lively.

They both bring a warmth and awareness that keeps these pods active and growing.

Peace,
PJ

Re: TIP: Take Advantage of Tags!

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 23:05:31 GMT

yeah i feel your pain. there's a lot of indexing going on and our search feature is still a work in progress. but trust me on this, we have some good stuff planned for searching stuff on Zaadz.

in the meantime, continue creating pods that you are passionate about, take time to get to know people and invite those who can contribute. don't worry about "duplicate" pods for now, because we're going to have a functionality to "merge" pods soon!

speaking of pods, TIP: How to Make Your Pods More Awesome :)

~C

Re: TIP: Take Advantage of Tags!

http://WHITEWAVE.gaia.com — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:07:53 GMT

How's it goin'?

A friend and I are interested in pods that deal with kundalini, but the search capability is ... well, not capable. Every time I do a search in pods for it, I get the entire list with the most popular pods at the top. When I suspected that I might just be imagining a problem, and thought maybe these pods really DO deal with this because it is a popular subject and they may all have discussions dealing with it, I tried searching with a really weird word: "showering" and I got the same result.

I have been getting discouraged about the amount of duplication that is happening in pods because it diffuses the energy something aweful. We need to solve this problem now.

I tried using the address bar to search for this too, and it didn't work. Please help.

~Ww

Re: TIP: How to Post Embedded Objects (e.g. Odeo, YouTube) on Blo

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:14:52 GMT

You can also put those embedded objects on your profile too. Check out these profiles:

http://brian.zaadz.com

http://brondu.zaadz.com

NOTE: Make sure you don't overdo it though because embedded objects slows down page loads. People browsing your profile might get bored waiting for your profile to load.

~C

TIP: Use Photos and Images with Compassion

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:47:06 GMT

A picture's worth a thousand words. It also attracts attention. Adding relevant images to your blog and pod posts can spice up the experience of your readers and friends. Keyword here is relevant. It also helps to do it in moderation.

Here are some tips on how to use images with your blogs and pods.

– Know how to properly add photos. See: How to Bodhi-blog.

Now that you know how to add photos and images, the next step would be to know where to get them.

– It's highly recommend that you use your own photos and images as much as possible. Upload them to your Zaadz Photo albums and do a cut-and-paste from there. See:

HOW TO: Upload Photos to Your Zaadz Photo Albums

HOW TO: Add Photos to Your Photo Albums

– However, you can also use other images from external photo-sharing sites, like Flickr or Photobucket, provided that you are not violating the license of the images and the policy of the photo-sharing site.

For example, there are tons for photos from Flickr with a Creative Commons license which you can freely use. Just make sure that the type of CC license is applicable to how you are using the photos and images.

– Your last option from where to get images is from the Web. Although it's so easy to cut-and-paste images into your posts from other sites, this method is not highly recommended. Other sites frown upon using images stored on their servers. But if you really want to use images from outside sources make sure to link to the original source of the images and give proper credit to sources. It's just ethical do so. And since you're linking to images from other servers, be prepared for the images to be very temporal, meaning, they can be removed by their owners anytime.

-- Finally, make sure you read and review Zaadz Terms of Use.

So there you have it. Start using photos and images as compassionate as you can :)

Re: TIP: Take Advantage of Tags!

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:41:05 GMT

when in doubt, let us know of problems if you think they are problems :)