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Your MEMBER PROFILE is part of your registration process. It is created by you immediately after you join. You can choose to skip it and fill-in the blank fields later; but it's best if you dig right in and complete it immediately! Though the task seems a bit overwhelming at first it is a necessary step in the evolution of your membership and you'll soon discover there are so many pull-down menus and check boxes that it only requires about fifteen minutes of your time.
Let's walk through some of these steps with our new member, Lewis. Figure 1 on the right shows the beginning of the fields Lewis will need to "fill-in" in the MEMBER PROFILE.
You'll notice it's very clear that the fields in RED are not seen by other members. These fields are utilized by our management team to know exactly who our members are. Lewis, our member in this example (login name "lewlew") has joined a few days before and is currently MODIFYING his MEMBER PROFILE to keep it up to date. See his "first name" (Lewis)? Other members will know Lewis by his Login Name ("lewlew") throughout the Member Directory.
Lewis (aka "lewlew") finds there are many "pull-down menus" making the task of completing his MEMBER PROFILE much easier. In Figure 2 at the right, Lewis is choosing from the menu "I am a..." the highlighted selection "Single Gay Male."
As you can see by this menu, there are many choices to let other members know how you identify yourself, including "gay couple." Since Lewis is a single gay male, he has selected that.
In the next example, Figure 3 at the right, Lewis has completed the modification of his MEMBER PROFILE, clicked the modify button and is transported to THE MEMBER WELCOME PAGE. From now on, this is the page where Lewis will enter when he first logs-in to the Hospigaiety.com web site. Notice that the Welcome Page uses Lewis' real first name! Each member's Welcome Page will recognize each seperate member. At the top of the 
MEMBER WELCOME PAGE is a full navigation bar which allows members to navigate through the member's only area.
This navigation bar is LINKED to each separate member who joins. It will navigate to the SPECIFIC pages created for and by the individual members.
In the navigation bar is a link called WELCOME HOME (see below) which is the link for the MEMBER WELCOME PAGE. If you click the Hospigaiety.com logo it will log you out and take you back to the non-member's area of the site.
While we're here, let's take a quick look at the member's only navigation bar below. NOTE: This navigation bar is NOT ACTIVE! If you click these links, it will not take you to these pages.
Each area is clearly defined. The second button is your Member Profile, clicking there will just let you see what the other member's see. You can't modify, update, or change your Member Profile by clicking there (this is a security feature and keeps other members from editing your profile). To modify, update, or change your Member Profile you would need to click the link on your MEMBER WELCOME PAGE labeled "modify." This way you and only you can modify your profile. The other "buttons" on the member navigation bar are:
I think you'll immediately understand the navigation bar's many uses. This navigation bar is on the top of every page in the member's only area of the web site. Once you login and give your password, you are in the secure area and do not need to login again. However, if you step away from your computer for 15 mintues or more, and then try to navigate, a security "timer" will not allow anyone else to travel through these secure areas without re-entering the user name and password.
From the MEMBER WELCOME PAGE you can choose where you'd like to go next. On the Member Welcome Page there will be announcements of updates for our members. You'll also see if messages are waiting for you, how many members have joined and if anyone else is currently online.
In Figure 4 at the right, Lewis has discovered there are two new messages waiting for him. If Lewis had checked his E-mail before coming to the web site, he'd also have seen there were E-mails alerting him to these messages. Lewis will click the link "2 new messages" and go to his MESSAGE INBOX to read the messages that are waiting for him! There is also a link to READ MESSAGES in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
In Figure 5 at the right, Lew has arrived at his personal MESSAGE IN BOX and can see the title of the two messages waiting for him. One reads "Texas Holiday" the other reads "Accommodation in Texas." Lewis lives in Galveston, Texas, USA and it appears that two members have contacted him about staying in his spare room! Lewis clicks the message "Accommodation in Texas" to read the message. He could choose either message, in this example, Lewis chose the bottom one.
Figure 6 at the right shows Lewis the message is from the member with the login name "tomtom."
TomTom's message tells lewis he is planning a three day vacation on specific dates (they're listed in the lower part of the message out of this view) and Lewis wants to find out MORE about TomTom before he replies back to him. To do this, Lewis will look at TomTom's profile. After reading the message, Lewis will click "tomtom's" name, this is a link to this member's profile. Notice that "tomtom" calls Lewis by his login name, "lewlew." At this point tomtom and lewlew only know each other by their login names.
Figure 7 at right is TomTom's MEMBER PROFILE. It is here that Lewis can find out a lot of information about this member. This is also why it is very important to complete the member profile as soon as you join. Lewis sees that tomtom lives in London, England!
Lewis is planning a trip to Eureope in a few months, and this may be the member he can stay with when he tours England!
Lewis can read more and more about tomtom, finding out tomtom's hobbies and interests and he sees that tomtom is also a single gay male.
You'll notice, too, that even though tomtom entered his real name and his street address, those were RED fields, and therefore not visible to other members in this view of tomtom's MEMBER PROFILE.
The next step that Lewis wants to do is illustrated in Figure 8. Lewis takes a look at tomtom's photo (for our purposes we've uploaded a photo of Oscar Wilde; but this would actually be a REAL photo of tomtom. If the member has not uploaded a photo, a "Put Photo Here" will appear.
Photos are a very important part of the member + member equation. Members really DO want to see what the other members looks like -- I know I do! The communication between members -- as we've illustrated here -- is by messaging. Clicking on a member's name will take you to the page to send them a message. An E-mail (using the recipient's E-mail address) is sent to the member telling him/her there is a message waiting for him/her online in the secure, password protected area of the member's messages. All the member must do is login (using their member login name and a password) and click on the Read Messages link in the navigation bar.
Other possibilities not covered here are changing your password, searching using your own set of parameters, creating an Address Book of member's names, and uploading photos. Most of these items you'll be wise enough to figure out on your own -- so seek and find... knock and the door will be opened... and as you write your messages to other members, let them see the smile in your words. Have fun, explore the world, and enjoy!