). Ordinarily this indicates the forums that haven't changed since the last time you visited. But if you're not signed in, the system assumes you've NEVER visited. Once you log in, any forums that have new topics or posts since your last visit will have a different icon (
), indicating unread content. Here's where the time-saving comes in. When you log in from your own computer (not a public computer), click the little check box for "Log me on automatically each visit." Then, once you're logged in, save the URL as a favorite. This saves a cookie on your system that does nothing but tell the forum software to recognize you every time. (Unlike, say, Amazon, whose cookies tell other internet sites like the Weather Channel what you've been shopping for that week so it can display targeted ads every time you try to check the weather.)
The next time you wonder if anybody's posted anything new on the forums, click the site name in your Favorites listing, then look for icons with the green light glowing. Unlike Facebook, which forces you to wade through dozens of unwanted cat photos or whatever whenever you log in, you can tell at a glance if any of the forums you're interested in have new content. Thirty seconds in and out.
THAT SAID, even if you do the "auto log in," write your password down somewhere and keep it, because it will time out if you don't check in every so often or it will "break" when you use the Tools feature of your browser to delete all of your system's cookies.
If you DO forget your password, please use the contact page (http://www.cardboardchristmas.com/html/contact.html) to tell us so. You can even request a specific password that you won't have trouble remembering.
Just don't request 1234. That's the combination I use on my luggage.
