I. Registration. II. Navigating the MessageBoard

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1 I. Registration Registering to the CRI MessageBoard forum is quite simple. Click on the Register tab. You will then be prompted to enter a unique User Name, Password and Address. Be sure that the Address is the same as the one The Bob Ross Company has on file for your CRI profile. You are then asked to enter the anti spam human verification image. After doing so, check the box for notifications if you would like updates from the administrator. Also, please agree to the Forum Terms & Rules. Click the Submit button and you re done! Please note that your request for registration is pending approval. We do not want anyone intruding on CRI discussions! Please allow 24 hours for your registration to be approved, although generally this will happen within an hour or less. II. Navigating the MessageBoard The MessageBoard is divided into logical sections, including a list of forum categories and links running down the page, as well as several tabs across the top (underneath the banner). Lets take a look at these tabs first. They are Control Panel, Search, Calendar, New Posts and Logout. Also, just below these tabs is a hotlink to your profile display. (We ll talk more about the profile display later.)

2 (a) The Control Panel Let s briefly examine the user s Control Panel settings by clicking the Control Panel tab. With the Control Panel now open, you are presented with another series of tabs. The first of the tabs is Edit Profile. Here you may change your password, enter any personal information you wish and upload profile and avatar pictures. Remember, that unless you specify otherwise (See Preferences>Invisible Mode), your profile info is visible to other Registered Users. In the Preferences tab, you may set certain display preferences and enable interaction within the forum. As stated above, you may also select Invisible Mode as you navigate the MessageBoard. While this is an option, we discourage using it as it is counter intuitive to the whole purpose of the CRI MessageBoard! The remaining tabs (Topic Subscriptions, Forum Subscriptions, Event Reminders) display current subscriptions and reminders and allow you to unsubscribe to different Forums and Topics. The

3 significance of these tabs will become more apparent as you familiarize yourself with the MessageBoard posting system and Calendar. (b) The CRI MessageBoard Calendar The calendar is an exciting feature of the CRI MessageBoard which allows users to view upcoming events posted by The Bob Ross Company. You may change how you display the calendar by choosing a view (Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) from the Calendar Mode dropdown menu. Notice that the events are hot and you may click into a particular event. By doing so, you may request an Event Reminder for that event. Specify number of hours, days or weeks prior to the event start to receive an notification. Event reminders are also listed in the user s profile settings. Also, below the calendar is a navigation utility (Select Action) that will allow the user to jump to a new month and or year in the calendar.

4 (c) The Forum and Link Categories To navigate backwards in the MessageBoard, you may click on the desired location in browsing tree as shown above. Click on forums. Currently there are two forum categories (News from the Bob Ross Company and General CRI Discussions), as well as a number of links to documents, order forms, quizzes/polls, websites of interest and the CRI Gallery. Most of the action will take place in the Forum Discussions. News from the Bob Ross Company contains topics posted by the Bob Ross MessageBoard admin staff. Registered Users do not post topics in this forum, however they may comment on posted topics. The user also has the option to subscribe to this (or any other) forum. Simply click on the subscribe button from within the forum to receive daily or weekly updates (via ) to forum contents.

5 The other forum is where CRIs will likely be spending most of their time, The CRI Discussion forum. After clicking into the forum, CRIs may post topics about ideas, questions, painting techniques, etc. Click the New Topic button to open the following entry form: CRIs may subscribe to individual Topics and the entire forum as well. This is where the main CRI interaction takes place. After clicking in too a particular topic the user may select More Reply Options to insert photos or attach files along with their reply. We hope that this forum will help to unify Bob Ross CRIs all over the world and provide a supportive environment for any issue that may arise for a CRI. Also, note that forum contents are searchable! You may search for topics and replies. Searching can be done by keyword or by UserName. (The only area of the MessageBoard that is not searchable is the CRI Gallery and the comments made within the gallery.) The remainder of the MessageBoard is comprised of various self explanatory links. CRI documents may be accessed, printed and downloaded. Quizzes and polls are available for testing your knowledge of Bob Ross trivia. Links to other Bob Ross sites are also available. And, of course, you can upload your masterpiece to the gallery to share your work with other CRIs.

6 (d) Other Profile Options One other nice feature of the User Profile may be found by clicking either of the links (Welcome, UserName, View your profile as it looks to everyone else) shown below. This is where you can access your MessageBoard photo albums, upload a new profile pic or gain quick access to all of your posts and topics. Personal MessageBoard statistics are show here as well. Remember, this is your profile just as everyone else sees it. III. A Final Word We would like to take the opportunity to express our deepest appreciation to all of our Certified Ross Instructors. It is after all, you guys who carry the message and spread the Joy to countless individuals all over the globe. Remember that you are making the world just a little more peaceful, a little more content a little happier. Bob, indeed, would be proud. We hope that this MessageBoard will become an invaluable tool in helping our CRIs to move mountains one artist at a time. Happy Painting! The BOB ROSS COMPANY