BENTLEY DRIVERS CLUB FORUM

This is the first of a series of Advertiser and Diary columns about IT. Some will cover topics relating to the web site, some may explain aspects of what club office staff do with the systems at their disposal and others may be on more general topics. If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please send an email to it@bdcl.org.

To get us off to a gentle start, this month I will describe the My Account area of the club web site and how to add your photo to your profile. Doing this will allow any member who searches for your details to get the full benefit of your beautiful features. Firstly, you will need to log into the site. Just go to www.bdcl.org and click on the "Login" button on the top right. You will then be able to enter your email address or membership number and your password. If you use your membership number, you will need to click on the little button above the entry box. Forgotten your password? Just click the text " Click here if you have forgotten your password" and follow the instructions to get a new one. If this is your first login, you will be prompted to change your password.

After a short delay while your details are checked, you should reach the "My Account Dashboard" page. While you are here, have a look at the details shown. These come directly from the club database so, if there are any errors, it is as well to correct them. I will explain how to do this in a moment. Also on this page, you can see the Noticeboard, which contains messages from fellow members, your region or club office. Click the "Noticeboard" text for details. There is also a section containing details of orders you may have placed with the club shop. Now click on the "Update Personal Details" link in the menu on the left. This is where you can correct any errors in your details, such as an out-dated email address. Or if you have not told club office your email address you can add it here and get the benefit of email communications such as Full Throttle. Please be careful to keep information accurate as it goes straight into the club database. So, for example, use capital letters for a UK postcode. Below the space for your mobile phone number is space for your profile photo. You will see that this is the shape of a passport photo. Differently shaped photos will be cropped to fit but, if you know how to crop and resize photos, it is best to crop your image to a size of about 150 x 200 pixels before uploading. If you click on the text "change", you will get the opportunity to upload a photo that is stored on your computer. As you upload the image, you will see a progress bar and the "change" text will change to "uploading ...". This could take a while if you have a large image, but eventually your image will appear here. If it does not, the image is probably too large and you will need to resize it either using the software that came with your camera or an online photo resizing service (just google "online image resizer"). Then go to the bottom of the page and click on "save all changes". Once the changes are saved, anyone who views your profile will see your photo. If you don't like the photo you have, you can change it at any time by following the same procedure. And that is it!

Hello, Paul, I wish you every success with this, and I'm sure it will appeal to those younger members who spent their formative years on mobile phones and who now suffer from repetitive thumb disorder.....and who will also understand this ''easy start'' process. !

Because I am of a certain age....or an un-certain age, you lost me after the first couple of lines ! ....and that is the problem with IT. I'm thinking ''why would I want to do this ?''

I'm very happy with the 19th century.......my day and business runs very well on a paper and pencil list of ''jobs to do'' A Tick alongside shows 'job done'.
A diary reminds me of where to be and at what time............why do I need any more information than that in life ? I'm sure I've missed the point somewhere along the line...but I don't care. I'm happy as is.

Ditto that!
I was.nt "online" until October 2009 and bitterly regret the necessity to change.
Prior to is, when seeking information I was invariably asked for email or fax to which I replied always to some amusement that "We still run on steam oop here". (But then we all do).

The dinosaurs flourished for 250 million years, mankind won,t last 1 million, the arrogant belief in its own genius will be the downfall.

It looks likes the dinosaurs are making a comeback! Some are enthusiastic about doing things online, others aren't. My father was born in 1916 and embraced technology from spark-driven stencil cutters to early word processors. He would have loved the Internet if he had lived that long.

My articles are aimed mainly at telling people what is available and generating enthusiasm. I know they are not wholly successful as some people don't even know they are there. But then I suspect some don't know that the Chairman's Chat is there either. Any help from the assembled expertise here is very welcome.