What is This Forum About?
Anything carpet cleaning related, secondarily any surface cleaning related topics (i.e. any type of flooring indoor/outdoor, countertop etc.) are all good here. Heck, even what you moonlight as or a hobby of yours is welcome, just post those types of items in the "My Other Life" category.
Of course, there are some things that are off-topic or extremely controversial or hotly debated and are not allowed here ever. Topics such as these:
- Sex
- Religion
- Politics
- Racism/Hate
Any of which will get the offending content removed, you warned and eventually banned.
But you're not one of those people, now are you?
Before Creating New Topics, Please Try This First
Make sure that you take a look around and/or do a quick search before just starting a "New Topic" - There's a good chance that someone may have already created the very topic you want to open. See: http://honestcleaner.com/search.
You Have a Hidden Helper:
The forum software we are running attempts to help you with this with an "on-the-fly" automated search while you are in the process of creating a new topic. This shows up as a blue boxed message stating: "Your topic is similar to..."
Choose Appropriate Categories: When creating a topic, try to select the correct category so that it is easier for others to find and search for. If you can't seem to find the right category, that's fine. Just leave the category blank (or choose the default Everything category) if none of the categories seems to fit. The Admins will try and help you with this if and when they catch it.
Be Descriptive:
Try your best to be as direct and descriptive in your topic title as possible. If you just post "mah TM is broke", you may find that it will end up lost, buried and ignored under a pile of other more descriptive topics. Also, by using descriptive words in your topic you help this site gain better exposure through Google rankings.
Title Caps. They Just Look Better:
If you can remember, try and "Title Cap" your new topic. It makes the main page look more pro. The Admins may catch it and do it for you so don't be alarmed if you get a "Your post has been edited" message. It's just us trying to make things look as nice as possible. (Sometimes in the CC industry, aesthetics take a back seat to utility, but it doesn't have to be that way. We can have both.)
Things to Avoid Doing
Please do not use signatures on your posts. Each post should be about the content and the conversation.
NO SPAM:
Please do not spam the community with your web site link. No one appreciates people who sign up and then spam the community with self-serving, self-promotion without contributing. If you have something to sell contact the Admins. Otherwise let people get to know you and naturally reveal that you offer solutions they may benefit from.
This also means no affiliate links in posts. Nobody else will appreciate them, and you will be flagged by other users since this community has a built in "Trust System" that allows other users to recommend the banning of non-compliant/abusive members.
NO TROLLING:
Please do not be or act like a troll. People posting nonsense, demonstrably false statements, propaganda, or inflammatory remarks repeatedly against another for no reason other than to cause disruption, disharmony and discord will be warned and then banned. We want this to be a welcoming place for civil discussions and learning.
But again, you're not one of those people, now are you?
Creating Avatars
If you want a pretty avatar to go along with your regular forum account, you can either sign up for a "Gravatar" It's a globally recognized avatar used on many, many sites especially WordPress. Simply signup with the same email account you used for Honest Cleaner. Or ,you can just go into your profile, edit "Preferences", and add the image you want there.
Getting a Members Attention
Sometimes, you want to notify a particular member that a post is about them or requires their insight, skill, opinion etc. to do so just hit the "@" and a drop down menu will appear. Just enter the first few letter of their member name and select the member you want. The system will email that member notifying them that a post requires their attention.
Video Embedding
What the heck is "embedding" you ask? Embedding a video means actually displaying the video to be played within the post instead of just posting a simple link to it. To embed a video simply place it's link on a separate line apart from other text.
VIDEO EMBED INSTRUCTIONS:
Paste your link down then hit the Enter/Return key on your smartphone or keyboard and it will automatically embed it. If it does not seem to work as expected, make sure you don't have any accidental spaces, periods or other characters in front or behind your video link.
You can use the same trick for images, or for links to Wikipedia, Amazon, and many other sites that support the "open graph" protocol. For sites that don't support this feature, simply add a regular link as normal.
Image Embedding
You can add images by simply dragging and dropping the image file straight into the editor window, or by copy/pasting.
Screenshots
Sometimes the best way to capture and share something that you are experiencing like a text message or email from a client, a post in another forum or website or when you are having difficulty navigating this site etc. is to take a screenshot of what appears directly on your computing device.
iPhone and iPad Screen Capture:
Press and hold the "Sleep/Wake" button on the top or side of your iPhone or iPad, then immediately press and release the "Home" button. The screenshot will then be found in your Photos app.
Android Screen Capture
Press the "Power" button and "Volume Down" key at the same time. Remember to hold them until you hear a click or a screenshot sound. To view your screenshot, go to the "Gallery" app, then look for the “Screenshot” album.
Samsung Galaxy Screen Capture
Press the Power and Home buttons at the same time. Hold for a second, until a shutter sound is heard or you see a visual indicating a picture was taken. This can be a little awkward to get right, so be sure to hold the Power button slightly before pressing the Home button, then hold them both down. To view your screenshot, go to the "Gallery" app, then look for the “Screenshot” album.
If you have a newer Galaxy you can try doing it the fancy way:
Using Emoji (Emoticons)
You can use emoji to express yourself - just type a space followed by the colon character, and a popup will appear to help you add symbols like these:
:smile: :smiley: :sunny: :necktie: :new: :icecream: :octopus:
Which will produce the following emoji's:
For a full reference, check out the Emoji Cheat Sheet - you can just click on the one you like and the code will be copied to your virtual, invisible clipboard then simply paste it down in your post.
Help Improve the Community (Even Without Replying)
Ok, so you're shy or feel you have nothing to contribute...You don't always have to reply or create new topics to help improve this community - you can simply use the "Like" button (The grey heart con at the bottom of every post 
) to let people know when they wrote a good post, and you can also "Not Like" a post (if you find it offensive or spammy) by "Flagging" it.
Of course, we are very interested in what you have to say (it is a community after all, and your part of it), so don't stop yourself from joining the discussion.
Get Paid For Your Content
It is our hope for this forum that as Honest Carpet Cleaners like you continue to sign up for this site, we will garnish the attention of advertisers in the carpet cleaning industry. As those advertisers pay for their ads we will give the money back to you (the true content providers of this site) as you help others learn and grow in their knowledge and skill sets.
Inviting Others to the Honest Cleaner Community
Do you want others to join us? Awesome. Just provide them the following link: http://honestcleaner.com/signup but you may want to have them look around first by sending them to the home page: http://honestcleaner.com
Hey, What's Up With Those Grey Icons Beneath a Post?
Have a look at the animation below. You can: like, link, flag, edit, bookmark, delete and manage. If you hover over them you should receive "Tool Tips" telling you what they allow you to do.
