Making Gling Work For You: Part Eight

Hello Happy Glingsters! I hope you remembered your hiking boots and war paint today, because we are venturing into the Tribal Zone. My own experience on Gling tells me that Tribes are not used near enough. I figure there are a few possible reasons for this: 1. People don’t know what Tribes are. 2. People don’t know how to use Tribes. 3. People are afraid of Tribes because the jungle is dense and the natives tend to be restless. Today we get to cover all three reasons.

What Tribes Are

Here on Gling, a Tribe is defined as a group of people with some common interest. The potential of Tribes far over-reaches the definition, though. Tribes offer Glingsters a chance to socialize, make friends, ask questions, get answers and even build little huts if they want to! (You got me, there are no huts, but the rest is true :)

There are already a lot of Tribes available on Gling. Some groups are for dietary needs (dairy free, soy free), some are social groups (cooking for kids, dads who cook, moms who cook), some are localized by area and some are there just to help. Whatever group you fit into, chances are there’s a Tribe for it. If there is not a Tribe out there already, you can easily start your own! (More on that later)

To learn more about Tribes and find ones that interest you, click on the Tribes link in your sidebar or use this link

How to Use Tribes

To start with, you need to find a Tribe that interests you. On the main page for Tribes there is a directory listing of existing tribes. You can peruse these listings to find the Tribes that interest you. If you have a specific topic in mind, you can use the search box to see if there is an existing Tribe fitting that topic.

Each Tribe listing consists of the name of the tribe, the slug (or short name of the tribe), a description and member information. To enter a Tribe, click on the slug (don’t click too hard, though, slugs squish easily).

So, let’s say you are new to Gling and interested in learning about how it works. While scrolling through the listings, you see the Tribe named “Making Gling Work For You (newbie)”. This looks like what you are needing. Click on the word newbie to enter the Tribe.

You are now in the tribal headquarters! This main page will tell you who created the Tribe and when. There are also pictures of all of the members of the Tribe. Scrolling down a bit will show you the current discussion topics for the Tribe, and who posted each topic. To join the Tribe, click on the JOIN TRIBE button. You will then be asked to perform three tests...

Okay, there are no tests. Joining Tribes is very easy, and there is no limit to the number of Tribes that you can join and be a part of. Participation in Tribe discussions is very easy as well. If there is a discussion in progress that you would like to join, click on the the title of the discussion. This will show you all of the comments made so far, and give you a box to add your two cents.

To start a new discussion, scroll to the bottom of the discussion topics and click on the “more” link. This will take you to the main discussions page where there is a box to add new topics. When starting new discussions, don’t forget to tag them appropriately.

Starting a New Tribe

If, in spite of searching, you can’t find that perfect Tribe, or if you just have a great idea for a new Tribe, you can start your own. To begin, click the link that says, “Start your own tribe”. (It's at the top of the main Tribes page.) Fill in the information for your new Tribe.

Slug- Make this easy to remember, but short, sweet and to the point. For example, if you want to start a Tribe for people who eat gluten free food while crocheting with their feet, the slug would be “toe_crochet”.

Name- This will be the full name of your Tribe. You don’t need to add gluten free anywhere in the title, the entire Glingaverse is naturally gluten free. Some suggested titles for the Tribe above: Monkey Feet Crochet Snackers, Talented Feet and Crochet Hooks... This is pretty fun, there are so many possible titles!

Description- Jot down a few sentences to tell the other glingsters what your Tribe is all about. (i.e. Come talk about what crochet hooks fit best between the toes and what snacks won’t stain the material.)

Tags- See Part Two for tips on tagging.

Tribal Fear

If your reason for not using the Tribe section is due to reason three above, let me set your mind at ease. There are no jungles to wade through, and the natives are the same people who post the recipes you love. I give you my full guarantee that no harm will come to you while visiting the Tribes of Gling.

I think that just about does it. Not only for this post, but for this User Guide as well... It’s a shame, I’m going to miss exploring with you all! Luckily for all of us, I am notorious for ending something (like a meeting, or a series of articles) and then remembering something very important.

I hope you enjoyed this last (maybe) installment of Making Gling Work For You. If there are any editions you missed, or if you still have questions, please visit the Making Gling Work For You (newbie) Tribe.