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Help
Announcements
Welcome REI Co-op Members! We're glad you're here. If you can't access the Co-op Members section of the community, click here for instructions on how to join the section that's just for you.

Help

Help

    • Registering lets you take full advantage of the community, enabling you to:
      • Post new messages and reply to other members' posts
      • Receive email when someone responds to a specific post or topic
      • Exchange direct messages with other members
      • Personalize your community experience
      • Post comments on blogs that don't allow anonymous comments
      • Post ideas, vote on the ideas you like best, and post comments
      If you don't register, you can only browse, search for information, and read posts. You won't be able to give likes, vote on ideas, interact with other community members, or set customization preferences.
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    • Registering takes only a minute; all you need is a login name, a password, and an email address.


      To register:

      1. Click Sign in at the top of any page on REI Conversations.
      2. You'll be directed to a page where you can either log in with an existing REI account, or create an account.
      3. If you already have an REI account, go ahead and log into it and you'll be directed back to REI Conversations after successfully logging in.
      4. If you don't have an REI account, click the Create an account button.
      5. Fill in the required information in the registration form and submit it.
      6. You'll then be brought back to REI Conversations, where you will be prompted for a username.
        Tip: Most people create anonymous names for the sake of privacy and to help them feel more comfortable participating. Be creative, have fun with it, but choose carefully: you can't change your login after you're registered.
      7. Celebrate! You're now a registered REI Conversations user!
      Close

    • After you've registered and confirmed your registration, you can sign in and start participating.


      To sign in:

      1. Click Sign in at the top of any page on REI Conversations.
      2. You'll be directed to a page that prompts you for the email address and password for your REI account.
      3. Submit those details to log in, and you'll be brought back to REI Conversations.
      Close

    • Communities provide a place for members or participants to search for information, read and post about topics of interest, and learn from each other. Depending on how the community is set up, you'll find:
      • boards where you can post questions and answers
      • blogs where you can read and comment on articles
      • idea exchanges where you can suggest ways to improve products and vote for ideas that other community members have posted
      • and more...

      Guests (unregistered visitors) can browse or search the community for information. Members (registered users) can post messages or comments, track discussions, and get email notifications on posting activity and other community actions.

      Close

    • You are essential to the community, even if all you ever do is read messages or articles that someone else has posted. Communities offer all kinds of contributions: posting questions and sharing answers, leaving comments on blog articles or ideas, voting for ideas you like, or just searching for answers to your questions.

      We encourage you to visit often and participate. Ask your toughest questions. Chances are someone has a solution or can point you in the right direction. If you find a solution that works, let others know and pass on your own tips and insights. You might just have the answer someone else needs.

      Remember to thank community members who have helped you. Show your appreciation by giving likes to helpful posts, accepting a solution that answers your question, or posting thank-you replies.

      We want the community to be appropriate, friendly, informative, and fun for everyone.

      Be sure to read REI's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and this community's User Guidelines so that you know what to expect and what is expected of you when you're here.

      Close

    • Changing your avatar is an easy way to personalize your community identity. You can change your avatar as often as you like. Your current avatar appears at the top of the Avatar page.


      To change your avatar:

      1. Sign in to your community account.
      2. Go to My Settings > Avatars.
      3. Choose a new avatar in one of these ways:
        • Use an image from your Image Gallery. (Click From Image Gallery and click the image you want.) You can only use this option if you have uploaded images that have been approved.
        • If you have been granted permission, use your Facebook profile photo as your avatar. (Click From Facebook and click Set Avatar.
        • If you have been granted permission, use an image from the web. (Click From the Web and enter the URL for the image. Then, click Set Avatar.
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    • Your signature is text that appears at the bottom of your posts.


      To create your personal signature:

      1. Sign in to your community account.
      2. Go to My Settings > Personal Profile > Personal Information.
      3. Enter your signature text in the Signature box.
        Some communities let you use HTML in your signature. Check with a moderator if you have questions.
      4. Click Save.
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    • You can tell other community members as much or as little about yourself as you want. You can enter a short biography, your location, your interests, or anything else (within community guidelines, of course).

      To tell other community members about yourself:

      1. Sign in to your community account.
      2. Go to My Settings > Personal Profile > Personal Information.
      3. Enter information about yourself in the Biography field. You can also enter your name, location, company info, and any other information you want to share.
      4. Click Save.

      By default, all community users can see this information.

      To display your info only to people on your Friends List:

      1. Click Preferences > Privacy.
      2. Set show private information in profile to to friends only.
      3. Click Save.

      Remember that the Community Manager and Community Moderator will still be able to view your information.

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    • Your Friends List is a way to create your own community within a community.

      Depending on your privacy settings, the people on your Friends List can see your biography, other personal information, or online status. If you send direct messages, you can choose friends from a list instead of typing their user names.

      Note: Your Friends List is available only if your community supports direct messages.

      To add people to your Friends List:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the user name of a friend to see the friend's About user name page.
      3. Click Add user name to Friends.

      Note: You can remove a person from your Friend's List by clicking "Remove from Friends". Additionally, you can click "Ignore" to prevent specific users from contacting you.

      Close

    • You can customize the look and behavior of the community in many ways, including time zone and language preference, text size, menu behavior, message order, and privacy settings.


      To set your viewing preferences:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Go to My Settings > Preferences.
      3. Click through the various preference tabs and make the changes you want.
      4. Click Save on each tab where you make changes.
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    • To post a message:

      1. Go to the board where you want to post.
      2. Click the New Message link.
      3. In the Subject field, enter your message title.
        Tip: Make your subject clear and concise, as it's the only part of the message that shows up on the message-listing page.
      4. In the Body field, type your message. Be sure to include all necessary details, especially for technical topics.
      5. Format and spell check your message, as needed.
      6. Click Submit Post.
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    • Click Reply to respond to a particular post.

      The Reply Message screen is similar to the Post Message screen, with these differences:

      • When you reply to a post, the subject line is filled in automatically. You can change it if you want.
      • You can paste the message to which you are replying into the body of your reply by clicking Quote Message.

      Your reply is added to the existing thread. It won't create a new thread.

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    • Yes. You can use macros to create boilerplate text that you can paste into any message. You can create up to 9 macros.

      To set up a macro for boilerplate text:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Go to My Settings > Macros.
      3. Enter a short but memorable name in the Macro Title field.
      4. In the Macro box, enter your boilerplate text. (You can use HTML tags if your community allows it.)
      5. Click Save.

      Tip: To add text at the bottom of your posts, you can include that text as part of your signature instead of using a macro.

      To add your boilerplate text to a post:

      1. Go to a post.
      2. In the comment area, place your cursor where you want to add the boilerplate text.
      3. Open the Macros menu and select the macro you want to add.
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    • Likes is a content rating system that lets you vote for the messages you think are the most useful or important.

      When you give likes to a message, you are giving a thumbs-up for good content and a pat on the back to its author. Your likes help to boost the value of certain messages and enhance the reputation of their authors.

      Giving likes is as easy as a single click, but the impact of likes ripples across the community.

      Close

    • You can give Likes to any posts in the community except your own.

      To give likes to a message and its author, click Likes on the message.

      If you change your mind about the quality of the message, you can revoke your likes.

      To revoke likes you've given, click the Likes button again.

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    • Want to know who thinks a message is good? It's easy to find out which regular community members and community experts have given likes to a message. Likes from community experts can carry more weight than those from brand new members. (Community administrators can choose to have likes granted by experts carry more weight than likes granted by regular members.)

      To see who's given you likes:

      1. Go to the message page.
      2. Click the Likes total.
        The Who Liked this Message page shows you all the community members who've given likes to the message.
      3. Click Experts to see likes given by high-ranking members of the community.
        Experts are usually moderators and other users who had a likes weight of more than 1 when they gave the message likes.
      4. Click the Date Liked, User ID, or or likes link to sort this page by the date the likes were given, the name of the user who gave likes or by the likes count.
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    • There are usually two likes leaderboards on the community's front page -- one for authors and another for messages. The author's leaderboard shows who has received the most likes. The message leaderboard showcases the most liked messages. Links from the front-page leaderboards take you to the full leaderboard pages.

      To view the Top Liked Messages leaderboard, click view all from the front page module.

      To view the Top Liked Authors leaderboard, click view all from the front page module.

      Close

    • To see who's given you likes:

      1. Go to you profile page.
        Your Profile pages shows the names of community members who have given you likes, the messages they liked, your top liked messages, and the likes you've given.
      2. To see all of your recent likes activity in an area, click view all.
      3. Click the tabs to see more info about your likes activity.

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    • Your likes weight is the number of likes you give each time you click Likes!.

      If you're new to the community, your likes weight is probably 1 (each like counts as 1). More experienced community members might have a higher likes weight, so they could give two likes, ten likes, or more each time they click.

      Close

    • There are a few reasons why you might not be able to give likes to a post.

      • You've already given likes to this message (you can only give them once).
      • You wrote the message (you can't like your own messages).
      • Your community manager wants you to give likes only to a message that starts a thread and not to replies.
      • Your community manager has turned likes off for a message or a forum.
      • Your community manager has frozen likes for this message. You can still see how many likes the message has received, but you can't like it any more.
      Close

    • Sometimes a message gets so many likes that we run out of space to show the number. When that happens, you'll see a Hot Likes symbol or icon instead of the likes count on the likes badge.

      Close

    • To comment on an image:

      1. Go to the Albums and Images page of the image's owner.
      2. Open the album that contains the image you want to comment on and click the image.
      3. Click Like.
      4. (Optional) Click Add Tag, enter the tag, and click Add.
      5. Click in the comment editor, type your comment, and click Post Your Comment.

      Close

    • Depending on your starting point, you choose one or more images, choose the album where they'll be located, and upload. There are size limitations, of course, and a community moderator must approve your images before others can see them. You can upload images from:

      • Your Albums and Images page
      • Any of your individual Album pages
      • Post Message, Answer, Comment, Article, and other Post pages
      Close

    • You can change the name, add a description, and apply tags to an image, but you can't edit the actual image in the community. If you want to edit the image, you need to do that outside the community and upload the edited image.

      To edit information about an image:

      1. Go to your Albums and Images page.
      2. Open the album that contains the image you want and click it.
      3. Click Edit to change the image title, add a description, and enter tags.
      4. To display an image on the front of the album, click Use this image for the album cover.
      5. Click Save.

      Close

    • To insert an image in a post:

      1. Start a new post.
      2. Click Insert Image.
      3. Choose an image source location.
      4. Follow the on-screen instructions

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    • A private image is one that only you (and the Community Manager and Community Moderator) can see. When you upload an image, you can place it in a private album or public album. Moderators must approve all uploaded images before you can use them in a post or display them in your My Images list.

      To change the privacy setting for an image:

      1. Click the image to go to the image page.
      2. Click Image Options > Move Image.
      3. Choose an album and click Move. To make an image private, move it to a private album. To make a private image public, move it to a public album.

      Close

    • You use image albums to organize the photos and other graphics that you've uploaded to the community. By default, you start with two albums: Private and Public. Your community manager determines the number of albums you can create.

      To edit an image album:

      1. Go to your Albums and Images page.
      2. Choose an album.
      3. Edit the album name or description or change the privacy setting as needed.
      4. Click Save.

      Close

    • For your protection, your community requires a manager or moderator to approve all uploaded images before they can be displayed. Although you can see your uploaded images that are awaiting approval or flagged for review, other community members who view your images can only see the ones that have been approved.

      Close

    • You can use any approved image you've uploaded as your personal avatar.

      To use an uploaded image as your personal avatar:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Go to My Settings > Avatars.
      3. Click From the Community or From Uploaded Images.
      4. Click the image to use as your personal avatar.

      Close

    • Bookmarks enable you to list community content (boards, articles, ideas, topics, or individual posts) on a special page so you can easily find it again.

      To bookmark a piece of content:

      1. Go to the item you want to bookmark.
      2. To bookmark a location, choose (Location) Options > Bookmark.
        To bookmark a specific post, go to the post and choose (Post) Options > Bookmark.

      To view and manage your bookmarks:

      1. Go to My Settings > Subscriptions & Notifications.
      2. Click My Bookmarks.
        You can click a bookmark to go to the item.
      3. To delete a bookmark, click the check box for the bookmark and click Bookmark Options > Delete Selected Bookmarks.
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    • Subscriptions let you get email updates whenever new content appears in an area of the community that you're interested in. You can subscribe to a board, a blog article, an idea exchange, or any other location in the community. You can also subscribe to a specific post.

      To subscribe a piece of content:

      1. Go to the item you want to subscribe to.
      2. To subscribe to a location, click (Location) Options > Subscribe.
        To subscribe to a specific post, go to the post and click (Post) Options > Subscribe

      To view and manage your subscriptions:

      1. Go to My Settings > Subscriptions & Notifications.
      2. Click My Subscriptions to see a list of the items you've subscribed to.
        You can click a subscription to go to the item.
      3. To delete a subscription, click the check box for the subscription and click Email Subscription Options > Delete Selected Subscriptions.
      Close

    • RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication." It is a way for you to get the latest content from this community, along with many other sites that you visit, all in one place. With an RSS feed reader, you subscribe to web sites, and those sites feed you new content so you can stay up to date.

      To use RSS, you need a feed reader, such as Google Reader, MyYahoo, or the Live Bookmarks feature of Firefox. There are many free options. After you have your feed reader set up, you can find RSS feeds in the community by going to a board, blog, thread, or message and selecting Subscribe to RSS Feed from the options menu. There you will see a preview of the feed. Most RSS readers give you a button to click at this point. After you click it, the RSS feed appears in your reader as well as new content from that section of the community whenever it becomes available

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    • Direct Messages, which are subject to the same User Guidelines as the rest of the community, enable you to send direct notes to other community members. Direct Messages have two big advantages over email:

      • You don't have to know the other member's email address to send the note. (Also, you don't have to reveal yours.)
      • You can read and send direct messages without leaving the community, making it easy to a quick conversation with another community member.

      To use Direct Messages, you must be registered and signed in. You'll see a Direct Message icon at the top of your page. If you have any new messages, you'll see the number of unread messages next to the envelope icon.

      Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.

      Close

    • To send a direct message:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.
      3. Click Compose New Message.
      4. Enter the recipient's name in the Send to area.

        Note: Depending on your role in the community, you might be able to send a message to a group of users based on their role or rank in the community. If so, you can choose a role or a rank.
      5. Enter the subject for the message in the Message Subject area.
      6. Type the reply in the Message Body editor.
      7. Click Send Message.
        You can look for the messages you've sent in the Sent tab.
      Close

    • To read a direct message:

      1. Sign in to the community.
        If you have any new messages, you'll see the number of unread messages next to the envelope icon.
      2. Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.
      3. To read a message, click the message subject.
      4. To reply to a message, click Reply. Type the reply and click Send Message.
      Close

    • To reply to a direct message:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.
      3. To read a message, click the message subject.
      4. To reply to a message, click Reply.
        The recipient and subject are automatically entered for you, but you can edit them.
      5. Type the reply in the Message Body editor.
      6. Click Send Message.
      Close

    • You can delete messages one at a time as you read them, or in bulk from your Inbox.

      To delete a direct message:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.
      3. To delete a single message, click the message to view it and then click Delete.
      4. To delete all messages, click the Options menu and click Delete All.
      Close

    • To see the direct messages you've sent:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.
      3. Click Sent Messages.
      Close

    • Your Friends List is a way to create your own community within a community.

      Depending on your privacy settings, the people on your Friends List can see your biography, other personal information, or online status. If you send direct messages, you can choose friends from a list instead of typing their user names.

      Note: Your Friends List is available only if your community supports direct messages.

      To add people to your Friends List:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the user name of a friend to see the friend's About user name page.
      3. Click Add user name to Friends.

      Note: You can remove a person from your Friend's List by clicking "Remove from Friends". Additionally, you can click "Ignore" to prevent specific users from contacting you.

      Close

    • Most users in an online community get along very well. Sometimes, however, you might encounter someone you consider a nuisance. If you are receiving messages that you'd prefer not to receive, you can add the sender to your Ignored Users list. The system blocks all messages from users on your Ignored Users list.

      To add someone to your Ignored Users list:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click the message count or envelope icon to go to your Direct Messages Inbox.
      3. Click a message from the user you want to ignore and click Ignore user name.

      To remove someone from your Ignored Users list:

      1. Sign in to the community.
      2. Click Ignored Users to see the list.
      3. Click Remove from Ignored list to begin receiving messages from this user again.

      You can also search for community members and add them to your Ignored Users list.

      To search for a user.

      1. On any page, enter a user name in the Search box.
      2. Choose Users and click Search.
      3. In the Search Results, click the user's name.
      4. Click Ignore user name in the Contact area

      Close