Registering
Registering is free and easy and can be done from any page on Investorville.
Simply click on the register
link at the top of the page. You do not need to register to read what others
have posted, but you do if you want to post messages of your own. Also,
by registering you will receive additional benefits, including a free subscription
to The Investorville Post, our email newsletter.
Choosing Name/Password
You get to choose the user name you will use. Since your real name
does not appear when you post messages, other citizens of Investorville
will know you by this user name. This is why it makes sense to choose it
carefully. The password should also be something that you can easily remember.
However, if you forget
your password, there is an easy way for you to retrieve it.
Moving Around the Site
In order to read and post messages, it may be necessary (especially
for people new to communities) to learn how to navigate the site.
Tool bars at the top and bottom of every page provide the necessary links
to move around Investorville as well as our other two sites, InvestorWords
and InvestorGuide. The
message boards themselves are organized hierarchically. There are five
sections, all of which can be reached from the home page:
1. Investing: Discussion of dozens of investing
topics, a question
of the month, and a board where you can ask
any question you want. We have recently added a board
to discuss our Preview
Version of the new InvestorGuide.com.
2. Stocks: Discussion of hundreds of specific stocks, organized into
folders based on the first letter of the company's name.
3. User-created
topics: If you donut see a topic that you'd like to discuss, start
your own board here.
4. Feedback:
Tell us what you think of the site, and how we could improve it.
Simply click on underlined text to go to the corresponding folder or
message board. Once you're inside the hierarchy, you can see where
you are at any time by looking at the top right corner of the screen. It
will show you the folders above the page you're currently on. You can immediately
click on any of them to go directly to it. Also, you can select any other
part of the site by using the ‘hop to’ list box at the bottom right corner
of the screen.
Who Should Post?
We here at Investorville want to encourage everyone who visits to post
messages. Every registered member has the right to post, but please
make sure to re-read the terms
of use for regulations regarding posting.
First Time Posting
First time posting can be intimidating for many people, especially
new investors, but it really shouldn't be. Beginners and seasoned veterans
are equally welcome in all boards. Citizens of Investorville respect each
other's opinions greatly and welcome the chance continuously to hear from
new users. And if you're just getting started, don't be afraid to ask a
few silly questions - we're all here to learn. We want to hear your opinion
from the beginning on whatever you are interested in, so please, jump right
in and begin posting!
Tips on posting messages:
1. Be sure to post the message on the appropriate message board. Avoid
straying from the topic of the board.
2. Be concise. This is always good advice, but its even more so on
Investorville, since many messages appear on a single screen, and other
readers will be tempted to skim inordinately long messages. As they say,
brevity is… wit.
3. When you see an article or other web page that others might be interested
in, we recommend that you include a short summary of the article along
with the link in your note (the FAQ explains how to add links to URLs in
your messages). Donut
include the whole text of the article, because it might be infringing
on a copyright.
4. Donut type your message in ALL CAPS, that's considered shouting.
5. If you're responding to a comment other than the most recent one,
start your message by addressing the appropriate username so it's clear
to everyone which comment you're responding to.
6. Read what others have posted in a group before posting, so you donut
repeat what others have already said or ask a question that's already been
answered.
7. You may from time to time disagree with what others have to say.
This is healthy, and indeed the whole purpose of the discussion is the
sharing of different ideas, so we certainly want spirited debate and differences
of opinion. But when this happens, please keep in mind that its safer,
more polite, and more persuasive to take issue with a personas comments
than to attack them personally. We want to foster expressive freedom, but
with civility.
8. Remember that words you post in a burst of inspired passion or indignant
anger will be there for you and everyone else to read long after those
intense feelings are gone. We donut want to discourage spontaneity, but
merely to remind you of the long-term existence and effects of what you
post.
9. Try to help out whenever possible. If you know the answer to a question
someone is asking, or if you have something meaningful to contribute to
an ongoing discussion, by all means answer the question or post your comments.
By fostering a community spirit, you'll be increasing the likelihood that
future questions of yours will get answered.
Reading Messages
Obviously there will be times when citizens only have time to read
messages. Reading in itself is an art form, especially on the internet.
As we explain in our terms
of use, you should always be careful about believing what you read
on Investorville (or anywhere on the internet, for that matter). These
messages are posted by other people, about whom we know nothing. Although
most of them are investors just like you, a few will have ulterior motives.
They may be insiders, stock brokers, former employees with grudges, or
others who may profit from presenting a biased view. We have tried to mitigate
this problem by avoiding very small companies, which are most prone to
manipulation, but we cannot offer any assurances, since we do not actively
monitor the message boards and since members can create new boards. Please
take everything you read with a grain of salt, double-check the facts before
investing, and donut treat the message boards as a substitute for your
own research.
Hot Boards and Overheard
We have set up a page with our Top
15 Boards of the Week, based on a combination of two factors: new posts
for the week, and total times a page was accessed for the week. We also
provide a 'Spotlight Board' of the week, to encourage discussion on whatever
is topical or cutting edge in the world of investing. Another page
we've created, the Overheard
page, displays the most intelligent and thought-provoking Investorville
posts from the past week. Make sure to check if you've been one of the
chosen features for the week!
Lingo
The internet has developed its own shorthand, and this is especially
true of message boards. This lingo can be daunting and confusing, especially
for the new user, so we've provided a list of some of the more common terms
and acronyms to help you out. You can find it by clicking here.
Starting a New Topic
At some point you may have an earth-shattering comment you want to
share with the community, but aren't able to find an existing board focused
on that topic. Some forums on Investorville enable you to create a new
board in such a situation, including: Investing, Ask Any Question; the
Stock forums (be sure to put it in the folder with the first letter of
that company), and User-Created Topics. Please take a little time
to gauge the proper placing of your topic in the correct forum; for example,
try to place specific stocks in the correct 'A-Z' Forum, and general investing
topics in the 'Investing' Forum.
The message boards that we create will have ‘Mayor of Investorville’
in the Originator column. Please be aware that in the ‘Stocks’ area, we
only create boards for stocks traded on NYSE and NASDAQ/AMEX. Although
there is no guarantee that these are good or safe stocks, they are less
prone to price manipulation by ‘touts’ than stocks traded elsewhere . Some
boards created by members are for micro-cap stocks, often listed on NASDAQ’s
OTC bulletin board system. Since these stocks have small market caps and
small float, some unscrupulous people will post misleading or false information
in an effort to move the stocks price. Rule of thumb: if the stocks board
was created by ‘Mayor of Investorville’, take all messages on it with a
grain of salt; if the stocks board was created by someone else, take all
messages on it with a pound of salt.
Posting Responsibilities
For official rules regarding posting procedures, please refer to the
terms
of use. We at Investorville believe that in order to earn the respect
of your peers, you must demonstrate that you respect the posts and differing
opinions of others. This does not mean you have to agree with what
everyone else says; on the contrary, we like to encourage constructive
debate among our users. Speak your mind and respect those of others. If
you see others violating our terms of use (e.g. posting ads, obscenities,
etc.), please report them to us so we can deal with it and make the boards
better for everyone.
Continued Use
Once you get over that 'first post hump,' we are confident that your
use of the message boards will continue far in to the future. And
please, if you find this to be a rewarding experience (which we fully believe
you will), feel free to encourage your friends and colleagues to join our
community. If you find a topic particularly interesting, e-mail that page
link to someone else by clicking on the link at the top of the page.
Opening a free Investorville EMail account
To gain a free Investorville email address, simply visit http://mail.investorville.com/,
and follow the quick and easy steps for registration. You will be asked
to choose a user name as well as a password. All addresses are given out
as follows: USERNAME@investorville.com. Each and every address is
completely secure, and since Investorville Mail is web-based, it can be
accessed from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a connection to
the Internet.
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