News COMING SOON: Profile Posting

Forum Moderator

Bluelight Bot
Staff member
Joined
Jan 20, 1999
Messages
9,080
Welcome to Profile Posting

The following is a short introductory guide and FAQ to help members get to grips with using Profile Posting (PP). All-in-all it's pretty straightforward and intuitive to use and most of you will have no issues. However, it may still be worth browsing this guide, especially the details regarding privacy options near the bottom.


What is Profile Posting?

PP is a facility built into our forum software that allows users to post regular content to a space in their own profiles. A loose analogy would be the ‘wall’ or ‘newsfeed’ users have on Facebook, IG or Twitter.


So PP is just a social media rip-off?

Kinda, but also not really.

PP is incorporated by default into our basic forum software (XenForo), and intended as a standard option for websites to use, though we'd chosen to leave it disabled till now. It was designed from scratch to fully integrate with, yet be subordinate to, the styling and mechanics of a traditional long-form forum.

The general idea behind PP is to give each member of Bluelight ownership of a small part of the site that they can manage, curate and control however they choose. Members thus have free reign to be as creative or imaginative as they like in how they do - or don't - make use of this new option (within reason!).

The hope is that PP may, over time, help spark more cooperation and friendship between members, as well as enhancing the quality and depth of interactions across the site generally, making Bluelight an even more enticing place to hang out.


How does it work?

You can access your profile by clicking on your own username or avatar, either in a post or from the menu bar near the top of any screen:

0ldUtu4.jpg

You can click on another member’s username via one of their posts to access their profile area in the same way.

From your profile, you’re now presented with a box that says "Update your status" right at the top of your new wall:

o6FIYUO.jpg

When you click in there, a normal text editing box will appear like you’d find under any other thread, where you can compose a new profile post:

IUl4efN.png

You can also make profile updates (or comment on another user’s profile post) from any of the dedicated “Latest Profile Post” widgets that you’ll start to notice popping up around the forums and that will look a bit like this:

wl74nBV.jpg

If you click on the three horizontal dots beneath any post you're interested in from those widgets, it will hover the full post in a box above whatever you're currently reading, like this:

Zv7v3h3.jpg

From there, you can begin to engage by making a comment on their post, or reacting, or inserting an image, and so on. And you can engage in exactly the same ways directly from member profiles.

Any content members post to their own profiles, or that other members share on their walls, will display chronologically, in the form of a standard thread. Thus you can also think of PP as a sort of ‘personal forum’ for any Bluelighter who finds reason to use it.


What kinds of things can I post?

For now, we're keen to see whether our members actually make any use of PP and, if so, the ways in which they do. One obvious possibility is for PP to encourage members to share content that's a little more in depth or personal than they would feel comfortable or appropriate sharing in some of the regular forums. In doing so, hopefully it facilitates more meaningful engagements with fellow BLers.

So, for example, maybe you’ve got something you’d like to get off your chest about your job or your recent job interview, or you’d like to share your current thoughts or feelings about certain IRL friends, or some random hobbies you’ve been exploring recently, or perhaps you’re seeking inspiration for some DIY tasks you’ve got planned, or even suggestions for some new recipes?

You can also use PP to share pictures or videos that you’re interested in, or maybe some drawings or bits of new music you've been toying around with, or perhaps to play some online games with other Bluelighters, or even to create a journal or diary if you’re feeling inspired.

Regardless, during this introductory period we're keen to let members take the lead in determining how or if PP evolves and the types of content it's best suited to. Please bear in mind, though, that the BLUA still applies, and that specific types of content are definitely prohibited (see the next section).

Alternatively, PP may actually turn out to have no worthwhile purpose here, or may cause a number of unforeseen or time-consuming issues, and so in those instances we do reserve the right to disable it again, subject to careful consultation with users.


Please note that you should still be cautious about the kinds of information you choose to share publicly in your profile area, and careful to maintain sufficient privacy and anonymity as befits your presence on a drugs forum.


What should I NOT post?

While it might seem great to have a personal space just for yourself, bear in mind that your profile is never going to receive the kind of visibility, traffic or activity a regular subforum would. So please don’t use your profile to post things you’d normally happily share in the public forums. PP is intended to supplement - not atomise or replace - our existing forums ;)

In particular, please do not ask drugs questions, share trip reports, or seek harm reduction advice from your own profile area. The correct place to do this is in the public forums, where experienced members and staff are more likely to see your questions in a timely fashion and can cross-check whether the advice you’re receiving is solid and reliable.


Will there be a specific moderator for profile posting?

No. Any content that violates the BLUA or needs moving to the public forums should be reported to staff as per usual, using the report button on any PP. However, for the most part, users have the power to moderate their own profiles.

This means users can control what gets posted by others in their own profiles. They may delete, at will, any posts or comments from their wall they don’t want, including all content or comments posted there by other users.


How public or private are profile posts?

Users always have full control over the visibility of any content they - or others - post to their profiles. They may adjust privacy and access in any way they wish and as often as they wish.

The controls for this are managed through the ‘privacy’ tab in your account area:

6FglBnu.jpg

Once there, locate the following section, which contains two new selectors that give you full control over the level of engagement others may have with your profile:

1. The first is called Allow users to... View your details on your profile page and there are four settings members can choose from:

1DjpGsY.jpg

  • (a) Nobody - keeps all content private and visible only to yourself;
  • (b) People you follow - this limits access to only those members that you’ve intentionally chosen to ‘follow’ on Bluelight and to nobody else. FYI: profile posting is what the hitherto mysterious 'follow' tool was actually designed for - hopefully its purpose is now much clearer!;
  • (c) Members only - this grants access to view your profile to all Bluelight members who are logged in to the site. Posts are not visible to non-members, ‘ignored’ users, or anyone who’s logged out (ie the general public).
  • (d) All visitors - this opens up access to both members and guests, including people who haven’t joined the forum or logged in.

2. The second is called Allow users to... Post messages on your profile page and presents you with the following three options:

q2GBKiR.jpg

  • (a) Nobody - prevents other members from engaging or commenting on any content within your profile area, even if you've granted them permission to view your profile.
  • (b) People you follow - this option permits only those members you’ve intentionally chosen to ‘follow’ to engage with anything you post.
  • (c) Members only - this permits all members to interact with anything you post.

Bear in mind that if your profile posts are made invisible to certain members via the first (visibility) settings, it follows that they won't be able to interact with them irrespective of settings under the second category.


Privacy setting examples

Option 1(c) + 2(c) - This would permit all members to view and engage with your profile posts and wall.

Option 1(c) + 2(b) - This would permit all members to view your profile posts, but only those you 'follow' to actually comment or post to your wall.

Option 1(d) + 2(c) - This would make your wall fully public, and allow all members (except 'ignored') to interact with you.

Option 1(c) + 2(a) - This would permit all members to view your content, but prevent anyone from posting to your wall or interacting with your posts.

Option 1(a) + 2(a) - This would make your wall completely private, and anything you post would be visible only to yourself.

Option 1(b) + 2(c) - Here, the first setting would override the second, since only members you've chosen to 'follow' would be able to view, and therefore interact with, your content. In practice, privacy settings would thus be: 1(b) + 2(b)​


Hopefully that covers most of the questions most of you are likely to have for now. The best thing to do is just play around with it and the various options until you feel comfortable. But, of course, do feel free to ask any questions you may have or for any further clarification in this thread.
 
Damn, bro. You obviously put a lot of work into this post (unless one employs a battery of writers) and wanna at least thank you for the effort and time. Cannot wait to see some of the stuff that will be posted in this "new" option. 😬
Peace
<3
 
Damn, bro. You obviously put a lot of work into this post (unless one employs a battery of writers) and wanna at least thank you for the effort and time. Cannot wait to see some of the stuff that will be posted in this "new" option. 😬
Peace
<3

Bluelight Bot thanks you for your kind words Dear Sir, and also thanks you for all the effort and time you invest in this site and its lovely Greenlighters and Bluelighters as well! ❤
 
I think BL is a great place to meet friends hopefully none of the nubs get discouraged. Maybe NMI mods can do some fun stuff for the nubs.
 
I look forward to this. I’ll definitely be reducing the amount of selfies and videos I post in the lounge and vlogging in my profile when this comes out. It’s good for my privacy from nonmember prying eyes (guests and the popo and my dad lol) and I can select who can and can’t comment too. Awesome.
 
I still haven't got a fuckin clue what we're talking about here...
Soon I’ll be able to do the droogz in a private blog that only certain people can see or comment on, away from the feds who are obviously here, those assholes gangstalking me, and the bikies too.

Tweakers so scared of everyone but just can’t help but expose ourselves and everything we think and do, this profile posting is for that. I’m gonna do a vlog where I’m basically just as or even more dumb as I am about posting stuff, just off the lounge for once so it’s actually private.

One thing I want to know is what are the rules going to be around certain content. Is it a free for all or would a video of using,

like “how to do the biggest hotrails”, where I crush up a 1/4oz but mysteriously the camera drops as I’m about to do it.. then I pick it up and exhale whatever I actually did (nothing wink wink)

Or an Instructional video on how to tinkle tweak with me drinking my “pee” and going into a psychosis because urine for trouble if you tinkle tweak?

Reflections of meth head “today I woke up 6 days ago and tomorrow I’ll be 32 years old.” I’m 29.

It’ll be harm reduction because I’ll look so stupid no one will want to do it hopefully.

but does it matter what we post? @Forum Moderator

then I’ll make some entries that are normal too. Maybe.

Or other creative projects could be made

Music and art videos

Personal journals

investigative journalism (imagine)

The “news” (imagine)

@Coxenormous will be a great BL vlogger too

I mostly wont be doing all this stuff but I may come up with some ideas. Depends what’s allowed.
 
Soon, BL will get profile posting.

Soon after, Zuckerbergs fortune will rot and he will be banished from Silicone Valley, and highly esteemed junkies and tweakers shall take his spot at the table, and at the NYSE.

It has been foretold.
 
Soon, BL will get profile posting.

Soon after, Zuckerbergs fortune will rot and he will be banished from Silicone Valley, and highly esteemed junkies and tweakers shall take his spot at the table, and at the NYSE.

It has been foretold.
It’s an epidemic these drugs after all, definitely enough of a user base to outcompete facebook, right?! Spread the word.
 
As someone who has never been a social media user, this is a feature I am virtually certain I will never use. ;)
 
Top