Profile Overview

RootsChat allows you to fill out a profile which tells other RootsChatters about you.  You can have your name, surnames you are researching, your website if you have one, family crest, and more!

To change your profile, click the "Profile" option in the forum menu.

Profile Options

- Password
Passwords have no restrictions, but it is recommended that you type at least 6 characters, using a combination of characters and numbers. Both password fields must be the same, simply as a check that you typed it correctly.
Example: 26murrayfield
- Name
This is your real or displayed name. This is what will be shown throughout the forum, in place of your username.
Example: John Jones
- Email Address
This must be valid as things may be sent to this email address by RootsChat, such as notifications of replies to your messaged. It is also needed if you ever wish to retreive a forgotten password.
Example: jjones@mfl.org
- Gender
You get two choices, naturally (Male or Female). This is an optional field to provide other users with your gender.
- Birthdate
Your date of birth is entirely optional, but is often of interest to others. At the end of the day none of us are getting any younger! Who knows, but RootsChat might even display special items on your birthday.
Example: 17 10 1939
- Location
Here you will see your location, and a small flag of your country. To edit the location that you first gave when you registered, Go to the "Members" menu item, click on your username then click on "Edit Member Map"
- Surnames you are Researching
Enter the surnames that you are researching dividing each name with a comma or a space.
Example: Bates, Bell, Robinson, Roberts, Goodwin, Davies, Jones, Williams, Wagstaffe
- Your Family Crest
Select your family crest from the drop-down list (if yours is there). Hint: To save time in the list, press the first letter of your surname. Surnames that have a prefix (eg Mac,Mc,O') are listed by the second name (eg. O'Brien is found as 'Brien'). These images ©Eddie Geoghegan. Also can specify a web path (eg: http://www.mypage.com/crest.gif) to your own crest off the internet. Your family crest will be displayed next to your messages on RootsChat.
- Instant Message Preferences
Ignorelist - you may be getting bombarded by instant messages from an individual, in which case you can add their name to the ignorelist.
Notify by email - select whether or not you want to learn of new messages by email. (It may be a good idea if you plan to not visit RootsChat for a while)
Enable Instant Message Popup - this option is to allow a small notification to appear let you know that you have new messages, so it is useful to have it ticked.
- Time Offset
This is a + or - number to add or subtract to the current time showing on RootsChat. The clock at RootsChat is set to the current time in the United Kingdom
Example: RootsChat time shows 13:28, but your time is 14:28 (for example if you live on the continent). The Time Offset would be +1
- Signature
Signatures are shown at the bottom of each of your messages. It is useful to include the surnames you are researching here so that people can see them at a glance, and perhaps what family history society you are a member of.
Example: John Jones, MLFHS (my site) Researching: Bates, Bell, Robinson, Roberts, Goodwin, Davies, Jones, Williams, Wagstaffe