Getting used to a new platform can take some time, we get that. That is why we created this getting started guide! The topics are divided into different sections to help you find what you are looking for.
If you can’t find what you need, please add tabifolk as a contact and send us a message!
The Basics
Members' Home
When you log into tabifolk, you will be taken to the main activity feed. You can return to this page by clicking on the Home button in the top menu.
It is a great way to see what is happening and learn about accessibility from around the world. Once you have scrolled to the bottom you can always load more and keep scrolling!
The activity feed shows Activity Posts in groups (ie sharing a link, picture or short comment), new Discussions Topics, and Replies to discussion topics.
For Posts and you can add a comment directly from the feed or react to it.
New Discussion Topics allow users to “Quick Reply” or the opportunity to “Join Discussion” by going to the discussion topic. Replies give you the opportunity to “Join Discussion” so you can see the original post and other replies.
You can filter the feed to show All Updates, only updates from My Tabi Contacts, or only updates from My Groups to see information useful to you.
On the right, you can jump to your groups and see recent discussions.
On mobile, you can find a link to your groups at the bottom of the screen.
Exploring Your Profile​
Your profile page is all about you.
It displays your name, picture, when you joined, social media links, etc and lets other users get an idea of who you are.
Hint: Clicking your background image or profile picture allows you to change them. You can also drag your background image to fit better with the icon on the left that appears when you put your mouse on the image.
Under the basic information is a menu to other pages in your profile.
Profile
This is the default tab and shows the information you entered including your username, website, and places you are knowledgeable about. There is a link to edit your profile in the top-right corner of this panel.
Groups
Groups shows a list of the groups you are currently a member as well as groups you have been invited to join. You can accept or decline the invitations here.
Discussions
Discussions gives you quick access to topics you have started, and replies you have made.
Tabi Contacts
A list of your Tabi Contacts on the website with quick links to send them messages. (Hint: A green dot by their profile picture indicates they are currently online.) You can also see your contact requests and accept or decline new contacts.
Editing Your Profile
When you register with tabifolk, your profile only has your user name. Let’s spice it up a bit!
To edit your profile, you can click on your name in the top menu and chose Edit from the Profile menu. Alternatively, when viewing your profile, there is an Edit Profile button on the Profile tab.
There are three main parts to the Edit page.
Edit
You can edit your basic information on this page. It has three main sections.
Under Identity, you can change your username. This is the name other users will see when you post something. It is always public.
You can let people know where else they can get in touch with you on the Website and SNS tab. Your website will show up on your main profile page on the Profile tab, and SNS links will appear as icons by your profile picture. You can chose if these pieces of information are public, only viewable to your Tabi Contacts, or only to you.
tabiFolk is here to help people connect. One way to do this is to let people know about the places you have been. You can add your current location (you are the local expert!) and places you have been to before. You can chose if these pieces of information are public, only viewable to your Tabi Contacts, or only to you.
Profile Photo
A profile photo helps you be more than a generic sillouette, it helps others know who you are!
You can upload a picture from your computer or phone, or take a photo from your phone or webcame if you don’t have an image at hand.
After the picture is uploaded, you can crop it to make it look even better. Clicking Crop Photo will save your image.
You can also delete your image whenever you want.
Hint: If you have a registered Gravatar image, it will automatically be used. You can always change it afterwards.
Cover Photo
The cover photo allows you to add some flavor to your profile page. You can upload a file from your computer or phone (for best results, upload an image that is 1950px by 450px or larger).
After the file is uploaded, it will appear on your profile page. On the profile page you can drag the cover photo to ensure the best parts are showing.
You can also delete your current cover photo from this page.
Navigating tabifolk
Where was that again…?
Getting used to a new platform can be a bit confusing. We totally understand. Here are some basics for getting around TabiFolk and finding what you need.
Desktop
When viewing Tabifolk on a computer or tablet, the main menu is at the top of the screen.
The top bar of the website has links to the main website sections (Find Groups, Groups by Destination, Groups by Topic, tabifolk blog etc) as well as a home button which takes you back to the main activity feed (you can also click on our logo to go back to the main activity feed as well. Hovering over the menu will show links to the related groups. (On smaller screens, these menu items may be cut off with a “…”. Clicking the “…” will show the hidden menu items.)
To the right of the top menu, your profile image are displayed next to buttons for Search (click to bring up a search box), your mailbox, and notifications. If you have new messages or notifications, a badge will appear next to the icon. Clicking on your mailbox or notifications will show unread messages/notifications as well as a link to see more.
Clicking on your user name will show options for viewing or editing your profile, changing various account settings, and logging out of Tabifolk.
Mobile
To fit smaller screens, the menus are rearranged a bit on mobile devices.
Top Menu
The top menu on mobile shows the tabifolk logo, a search icon (click to open a search box), and notifications icon (click to show unread notifications, or see all notifications).
Hint! Tapping on the tabifolk logo will bring you back to the main activity feed.
If you click the three bars on the left of the top menu, you can access many of the main areas of the site and your profile.
Bottom Menu
On the bottom of your screen in mobile you will find quick access links to Home, your groups and your discussion topics.
Searching tabifolk
Instead of poking around looking at this or that, sometimes you want to get right to the point! The best way to do that is to search.
At the top right of the website their is a Search tabifolk button with a magnifying glass icon for searching the site (it is only a magnifying glass when viewing on mobile). When you click the icon, the entire top menu turns into a search bar.
As you start to type something in the search box, the site will suggest items that match your criteria. If you find something that looks like what you want, you can click on the suggested result to go right to the result.
If you want more control of the results you can hit the enter key to go to the search results page. From there you can filter what type of results you want to be shown on the left – all results, blog posts, discussions or replies, members, activity or activity comments. On the right the results are shown with an excerpt of the result. Clicking the search result title or icon will take you to that page.
Account Settings
Account settings is boring to talk about, but has some pretty important stuff.
It can be accessed from your profile menu on the top right of your screen (desktop), or the bottom of the mobile menu. The account settings page is divided into several sections.
Login Information
You can change your registered emails or change your password here. If you logged in with a social network, you can set your password.
Notification Settings
To help you stay in touch with the tabifolk community, we will send you emails or notifications. You can change which notifications you will receive (or choose not to receive) from this page. Subscriptions to groups and discussions can be modified on the Subscriptions section of Notification Settings
Privacy
Select who can see what parts of your profile. While usernames are public, other data can be set so only contacts can see it, or completely private.
Blocked Members
If you have blocked any users in the past, you can see them here and unblock them if you wish.
Group Invites
By default every member of the community can invite you to join their groups. Optionally, you may restrict group invites to your connections only.
Export Data
You may download a copy of all data you have created on this platform. Click the Request Data Export button to start a new request. An email will be sent to you to verify the request. Then the site admin will review your request and if approved, a zip file will be generated and emailed to you.
Delete Account
If you wish to delete your account and remove your data from tabifolk. you can do so from the Delete Account tab. Be warned: Deleting your account will delete all of the content you have created. It will be completely irrecoverable. If you still want to go ahead with the account deletion, check the box next to “I understand the consequences.” and click the Delete Account button. You will be logged out and all of your data will be removed.
Using Groups
Finding a Group
Groups are the backbone of society, and on tabifolk. They are were users come together to discuss specific topics.
A link to the Groups page can be found on the top menu (or mobile menu). There are groups covering a variety of topics from podcasts to virtual travel to funny pictures of accessibility fails.
You can narrow down the groups by using the search box in the upper right corner.
The order of groups can also be changed by activity, number of members, alphabetically, group type etc.
If you click on a group, you will go to its page where you can read about the group and see the latest updates. If you are interested click Join Group to participate.
Alternatively, you can join a group directly from the group list by clicking Join group to participate.
If the group is public, you will join immediately. If it is a private group you will need to be accepted by the organizers before joining.
Activity Post vs Discussion Topic
You can interact with a group via posting Activity or starting a new Discussion topic. But which should you use?
Activity Posts
The Activity Feed shows everything that is happening in the group (including new topics and replies), but you can also share activity here.
In general, Activity Feed posts get pushed down by other Activity Feed items and should be something timely like sharing a news article, YouTube video, or short comment (up to 3 lines) that doesn’t necessarily require a reply. It will be seen by those looking at the group now (or soon after posting), but may be missed by others viewing later. Think of it as a post on Instagram or Twitter.
Discussion Topics
Discussions are for more in-depth interactions between users. If you want to share your in-depth review of a location or experience, or if you want to gather information by asking a question like “how do I use the subway in New York in a power wheelchair?” – discussion topics are the best way to do it. These last forever and can be found via searching by other users.
(Note: Not all groups have discussion forums. For example, group for sharing vacation pictures is more suited to having only an activity feed.)
Group Activity
The group feed is the main page of a group. It shows all the activity happening.
While the main way of group interaction is via Discussions, you can use the activity feed to share links or videos.
If you are a member of the group, you can share updates with the group on the Feed tab. Click in the box Share a link, video, or picture… and enter what you want to say. You can change text formatting (bold, italic, etc), add images, documents, GIFs, or emoticons.
When you are done, click Post Update and your update will then appear at the top of the feed. Other members of the group will be notified and can interact with your post by reacting to it or commenting on it.
For quickly checking for updates posted in the past, there is a simple search feature available near the top of the feed.
Discussions
The world is a big place, so it can be comforting to ask for advice before setting out. This is what the discussion forums are for.
The feed tab is for sharing quick links and videos etc but when you have a question or topic where you want to write more information or want a detailed answer the Discussions tab is where to do it. (Note: Some groups do not have a Discussions tab due to the nature of the group.)
The discussions are listed chronologically and clicking on a topic will jump into the conversation.
Starting a Discussion
While you can learn a lot from reading the discussions on tabifolk, you can get even more from the site by asking questions and sharing information.
If you want to start a new discussion, join the group that fits the topic you want to start, go to the Discussions tab and click the New Discussion button at the top of the discussions list.
A new form will appear on the screen. In the area next to your profile picture, you can enter the title of your discussion (being descriptive will help others find your discussion). In the area under that you can share your discussion, question or information you want to share.
The icons under the main text give you options to format the text (bold, italics, bullet list, numbered list, quote, link, html formatting), add images, attach documents, or insert an emoticon.
By default, Notify me of replies via email is checked and you will be subscribed to the topic so you will know when there are replies to your discussion (you can uncheck this if you want but will not receive any notifications).
When you are ready, you can press the Post button to share your discussion with the community! If you decide not to post, you can click Cancel next to the Post button.
After posting, you will be taken to your new discussion page.
You can edit your post later by clicking the button above the discussion text with three dots in it and choosing Edit.
Replying to a Discussion
To answer a question or keep a discussion going, you can reply to the conversation.
There are two ways to reply – replying to the conversation in general, or replying to a specific user’s comment.
For the most part, you will want to reply in general. Your reply will be added to the bottom of the conversation as the newest entry. To do this, click the Add Reply button at the bottom of the discussion.
If you want to reply to a specific user’s comment, click the Reply to this comment button next to their name. Your reply will be inserted under their comment to show it is a reply to that comment, not the conversation in general.
As with starting a new discussion, a new form will appear and you can type in your message as well as format the text, add emojis etc. Note that you cannot change the subject. Clicking Post will insert your reply to the conversation.
Group Members
The Members tab shows who is in the group and what role they play.
Organizers and moderators are responsible for the group settings and rules. Organizers can change group settings and Concierges can help make sure everyone follows the rules. Most users are Members. Members can post updates to the group.
Looking at the Members tab is a great way to find new friends on tabifolk as members of groups generally have similar interests.
You can click on members to see their profile, or click to add them as Tabi Contacts directly.
Inviting Others
Enjoying a group, why not bring others into it! Once you are a member of a group, you can invite other members of tabifolk to join the group.
On the Send Invites tab, you can click the plus symbol next to a user’s name to add them to your invite list. You can filter the list to show only your contacts and you can search for specific members.
Before sending your invite, you have the opportunity to customize the default invitation email wording. Once you have decided on who you want to invite and are happy with the you can click the Send button to invite the users to the group.
They will receive a notification and can choose to join the group if they are interest.
After being sent, invited users will show up in the Pending Invites section until they accept or reject the invitation. If you are the member who invited the user, you can withdraw the invitation.
Managing a Group
If you have been promoted to group organizer in a group you joined, or if you created your own group, you will have access to the Manage tab in the group.
This will give you access to changing the group Details (group name and description), Settings (privacy and user abilities), group Photo and Cover Photo. These settings are them as when creating a group.
In the Members section, you will be able to promote/demote members of the group as well as remove them from the group or ban them completely.
You can add or remove your discussion forum from the forums section.
The final option in the Manage tab is the option of deleting the group entirely. Deleting a group will completely remove ALL content associated with it. There is no way back. Please be careful with this option. You can also chose to delete or leave the discussion forum (to potentially use in another group).
Member Roles
When a member joins a group, he or she is assigned the Member role by default. Members are able to contribute to the group’s discussions, activity feeds, and view other group members.
When a group member is promoted to be a Concierge of the group, the member gains the ability to delete any activity feed items that may violate group rules, excluding those posted by organizers.
Organizers have total control over the contents and settings of a group. That includes all the abilities of concierges, as well as change group status from public to private, change the group photo, manage group members, and delete the group.
Sending Messages
As a group organizer, you may want to message your group members from time to time as the group (not individually). This can be done with the tabifolk messaging system. To send message to your group members, go to the Send Messages tab in the group.
Enter the content like you would like to send, just like any other message.
To send a message to one member, or a sub-group of members, select Send Private Message and chose the members you would like to message.
By default, the message will be a group thread. Group threads allow members to reply to everyone in the group when replying to the message. If you want the message to just be between the group organizer and each member one by one, select the Send Individually before sending your message.
When you are ready, click Send Message and your message will be delivered to the selected members’ mailboxes.
Interacting with Tabi Contacts
Making Tabi Contacts
Tabi Contacts are tabifolk’s equivalent of friends and requires the consent of both users since it adds the ability to directly message the other user.
Requesting to be a Tabi Contact
If you find a user you would like to add as a Tabi Contact, visit their profile page and click the Add as Tabi Contact button.
Additionally, if you are looking at the members of a group, a Connect icon can be found under each user for a quick way to request becoming a contact.
After you make the request, the user will be notified that you would like to connect. If they accept your request, you will become contacts and have the ability to message each other directly as well as see information they marked as being for contacts only.
Accepting Contact Requests
When a user requests to become contacts, you will be notified and have the opportunity to accept the request or pass on it. You can click on the link in the notification, or go to your contacts via the My Tabi Contacts link in the left side menu (or mobile menu) and selecting the Requests tab. A list of pending requests will be shown with buttons to accept or reject the request.
If you choose to accept the request. You will complete the process and the other user will be notified that you have accepted their request. You will then have the ability to message each other directly as well as see information they marked as being for contacts only.
Removing Tabi Contacts
While we hope it will never be necessary, you can remove Tabi Contacts at any time. Go to the user’s profile, and click My Tabi Contact. The button will change to say Remove Tabi Contact, click the button again to finalize the removal.
At this point, you will no longer be able to message each other. You can always request to be contacts again in the future.
Messaging your Tabi Contacts
tabifolk has a built-in messaging system that lets users send private messages without exchanging email addresses and therefor maintaining privacy. To prevent unwanted messaging, users must become Tabi Contacts before messaging is available.
To access messages, go to the Messages icon in the top right of the screen (or My Inbox in the mobile menu).
The Messages icon will show your latest messages so you can jump right back into the conversation, or you can click View Inbox to see all of your messages.
Desktop
On desktop, your inbox has a list of conversations on the left, and shows the content of the selected conversation on the right. You can search messages by user name or content from the search box on the left panel.
To start a new conversation, click the Compose icon at the top of the left panel. A new message will be created and you can add one or more members of your Tabi Contacts to the conversation by typing their user name. (Note: You can automatically start a conversation with a Tabi Contact from their profile page by clicking Message.) Once a conversation has started, you cannot add new members.
You can only add users you are connected with and when in a group conversation (more than one user), all users must be connected to each other.
Type your message into the message box at the bottom of the right panel and click Send Reply when you have finished. You can format your text, as well as add images, documents or GIFs and emoticons with the icons under your message.
The menu (three dots) at the top right of the right panel offers some options for deleting the message thread, marking it unread etc.
Mobile
On mobile, your inbox has a list of conversations. You can search messages by user name or content from the search box. Tapping on the conversation will bring up the conversation on a new page. You can return to the message list by clicking the back arrow at the top of the conversation.
To start a new conversation, click the Compose icon at the top of the left panel. A new message will be created and you can add one or more members of your Tabi Contacts to the conversation by typing their user name. (Note: You can automatically start a conversation with a Tabi Contact from their profile page by clicking Message.) Once a conversation has started, you cannot add new members.
Type your message into the message box at the bottom of the right panel and tap Send when you have finished. You can format your text, as well as add images, documents or GIFs and emoticons with the icons under your message.
The menu (three dots) at the top right of the right panel offers some options for deleting the message thread, marking it unread etc.