Getting Started on tabifolk

When you log into tabifolk, you will be taken to the main activity feed. You can return to this page by clicking on the Home button in the top menu.

It is a great way to see what is happening and learn about accessibility from around the world. Once you have scrolled to the bottom you can always load more and keep scrolling!

The activity feed shows Activity Posts from groups — these can include questions, travel tips, shared links, pictures, or short comments from community members.

For Posts you can add a comment directly from the feed or react to it.

You can filter the feed to show All Updates, only updates from My Tabi Contacts, or only updates from My Groups to see information useful to you.

On the right, you can jump to your groups and see recent activity.

On mobile, you can find a link to your groups at the bottom of the screen.

Your profile page is all about you.

It displays your name, picture, when you joined, social media links, etc and lets other users get an idea of who you are.

Hint: Clicking your background image or profile picture allows you to change them. You can also drag your background image to fit better with the icon on the left that appears when you put your mouse on the image.

Under the basic information is a menu to other pages in your profile.

Profile

This is the default tab and shows the information you entered including your username, website, and places you are knowledgeable about. There is a link to edit your profile in the top-right corner of this panel.

Groups

Groups shows a list of the groups you are currently a member of as well as groups you have been invited to join. You can accept or decline the invitations here.

Tabi Contacts

A list of your Tabi Contacts on the website with quick links to send them messages. (Hint: A green dot by their profile picture indicates they are currently online.) You can also see your contact requests and accept or decline new contacts.

When you register with tabifolk, your profile only has your user name. Let’s spice it up a bit!

To edit your profile, you can click on your name in the top menu and chose Edit from the Profile menu. Alternatively, when viewing your profile, there is an Edit Profile button on the Profile tab.

There are three main parts to the Edit page.

Edit

You can edit your basic information on this page. It has three main sections.

Under Identity, you can change your username. This is the name other users will see when you post something. It is always public.

You can let people know where else they can get in touch with you on the Website and SNS tab. Your website will show up on your main profile page on the Profile tab, and SNS links will appear as icons by your profile picture. You can chose if these pieces of information are public, only viewable to your Tabi Contacts, or only to you.

tabifolk is here to help people connect. One way to do this is to let people know about the places you have been. You can add your current location (you are the local expert!) and places you have been to before. You can chose if these pieces of information are public, only viewable to your Tabi Contacts, or only to you.

Profile Photo

A profile photo helps you be more than a generic silhouette, it helps others know who you are!

You can upload a picture from your computer or phone, or take a photo from your phone or webcam if you don’t have an image at hand.

After the picture is uploaded, you can crop it to make it look even better. Clicking Crop Photo will save your image.

You can also delete your image whenever you want.

Hint: If you have a registered Gravatar image, it will automatically be used. You can always change it afterwards.

Cover Photo

The cover photo allows you to add some flavor to your profile page. You can upload a file from your computer or phone (for best results, upload an image that is 1950px by 450px or larger).

After the file is uploaded, it will appear on your profile page. On the profile page you can drag the cover photo to ensure the best parts are showing.

You can also delete your current cover photo from this page.

Where was that again…?

Getting used to a new platform can be a bit confusing. We totally understand. Here are some basics for getting around tabifolk and finding what you need.

Desktop

When viewing tabifolk on a computer or tablet, the main menu is at the top of the screen.

The top bar of the website has links to the main website sections (Find Groups, Groups by Destination, Groups by Topic, tabifolk blog etc) as well as a home button which takes you back to the main activity feed (you can also click on our logo to go back to the main activity feed as well). Hovering over the menu will show links to the related groups. (On smaller screens, these menu items may be cut off with a “…”. Clicking the “…” will show the hidden menu items.)

To the right of the top menu, your profile image is displayed next to buttons for Search (click to bring up a search box), your mailbox, and notifications. If you have new messages or notifications, a badge will appear next to the icon. Clicking on your mailbox or notifications will show unread messages/notifications as well as a link to see more.

Clicking on your user name will show options for viewing or editing your profile, changing various account settings, and logging out of tabifolk.

Mobile

To fit smaller screens, the menus are rearranged a bit on mobile devices.

Top Menu

The top menu on mobile shows the tabifolk logo, a search icon (click to open a search box), and notifications icon (click to show unread notifications, or see all notifications).

Hint! Tapping on the tabifolk logo will bring you back to the main activity feed.

If you click the three bars on the left of the top menu, you can access many of the main areas of the site and your profile.

Bottom Menu

On the bottom of your screen in mobile you will find quick access links to Home and your groups.

Instead of poking around looking at this or that, sometimes you want to get right to the point! The best way to do that is to search.

At the top right of the website there is a Search tabifolk button with a magnifying glass icon for searching the site (it is only a magnifying glass when viewing on mobile). When you click the icon, the entire top menu turns into a search bar.

As you start to type something in the search box, the site will suggest items that match your criteria. If you find something that looks like what you want, you can click on the suggested result to go right to the result.

If you want more control of the results you can hit the enter key to go to the search results page. From there you can filter what type of results you want to be shown on the left – all results, blog posts, members, or activity posts. On the right the results are shown with an excerpt of the result. Clicking the search result title or icon will take you to that page.

Account settings is boring to talk about, but has some pretty important stuff.

It can be accessed from your profile menu on the top right of your screen (desktop), or the bottom of the mobile menu. The account settings page is divided into several sections.

Login Information

You can change your registered emails or change your password here. If you logged in with a social network, you can set your password.

Notification Settings

To help you stay in touch with the tabifolk community, we will send you emails or notifications. You can change which notifications you will receive (or choose not to receive) from this page. Subscriptions to groups can be modified on the Subscriptions section of Notification Settings.

Privacy

Select who can see what parts of your profile. While usernames are public, other data can be set so only contacts can see it, or completely private.

Blocked Members

If you have blocked any users in the past, you can see them here and unblock them if you wish.

Group Invites

By default every member of the community can invite you to join their groups. Optionally, you may restrict group invites to your connections only.

Export Data

You may download a copy of all data you have created on this platform. Click the Request Data Export button to start a new request. An email will be sent to you to verify the request. Then the site admin will review your request and if approved, a zip file will be generated and emailed to you.

Delete Account

If you wish to delete your account and remove your data from tabifolk, you can do so from the Delete Account tab. Be warned: Deleting your account will delete all of the content you have created. It will be completely irrecoverable. If you still want to go ahead with the account deletion, check the box next to “I understand the consequences.” and click the Delete Account button. You will be logged out and all of your data will be removed.

Groups are the backbone of society, and on tabifolk. They are where users come together to share information about specific topics.

A link to the Groups page can be found on the top menu (or mobile menu). There are groups covering a variety of topics from podcasts to virtual travel to funny pictures of accessibility fails.

You can narrow down the groups by using the search box in the upper right corner.

The order of groups can also be changed by activity, number of members, alphabetically, group type etc.

If you click on a group, you will go to its page where you can read about the group and see the latest updates. If you are interested click Join Group to participate.

Alternatively, you can join a group directly from the group list by clicking Join group to participate.

If the group is public, you will join immediately. If it is a private group you will need to be accepted by the organizers before joining.

The group activity feed is the heart of each group. It shows all the posts and conversations happening within the community.

If you are a member of the group, you can share updates by clicking the Post button. Each activity post has three parts:

Title

Give your post a clear, descriptive title that helps others understand what it’s about at a glance. Good titles make it easier for other members to find your post and decide if they want to read more.

Content

This is the main body of your post. Share your question, travel tip, experience, link, or whatever you’d like to discuss. You can change text formatting (bold, italic, etc), add images, documents, GIFs, or emoticons.

Topic

Select a topic for your post to help categorize it. Topics make it easier for members to filter the activity feed and find posts about specific subjects they’re interested in.

When you are done, click Post and your update will appear in the feed. Other members of the group will be notified and can interact with your post by reacting to it or commenting on it.

Sorting the Feed

You can sort the activity feed in two ways:

Latest – Shows posts in order of when they were created, with the newest posts at the top.

Recent Activity – Shows posts based on recent engagement, so posts with new comments will appear higher in the feed.

You can also filter by topic to see only posts about subjects you’re interested in.

While you can learn a lot from reading posts on tabifolk, you can get even more from the site by asking questions and sharing information.

To create a new post, join the group that fits your topic, then click the Post button at the top of the activity feed.

A form will appear where you can enter your post details:

First, enter a Title – being descriptive will help others find your post and understand what it’s about.

Next, write your Content – share your question, experience, or information. The icons under the text area give you options to format the text (bold, italics, lists, links), add images, attach documents, or insert emoticons.

Finally, select a Topic to categorize your post. This helps others find it when filtering the feed.

When you’re ready, click Post to share with the community! If you decide not to post, you can click Cancel.

You can edit your post later by clicking the button with three dots and choosing Edit.

To answer a question or join a conversation, you can comment on any post.

Simply click on the post to open it, then type your comment in the comment box at the bottom. You can format your text, add emojis, and attach images.

Click Post to add your comment to the conversation. The post author and other commenters will be notified of your reply.

You can also react to posts and comments using the reaction buttons – it’s a quick way to show appreciation or agreement without writing a full comment.

The Members tab shows who is in the group and what role they play.

Organizers and moderators are responsible for the group settings and rules. Organizers can change group settings and Concierges can help make sure everyone follows the rules. Most users are Members. Members can post updates to the group.

Looking at the Members tab is a great way to find new friends on tabifolk as members of groups generally have similar interests.

You can click on members to see their profile, or click to add them as Tabi Contacts directly.

Enjoying a group? Why not bring others into it! Once you are a member of a group, you can invite other members of tabifolk to join.

On the Send Invites tab, you can click the plus symbol next to a user’s name to add them to your invite list. You can filter the list to show only your contacts and you can search for specific members.

Before sending your invite, you have the opportunity to customize the default invitation email wording. Once you have decided on who you want to invite and are happy with it, you can click the Send button to invite the users to the group.

They will receive a notification and can choose to join the group if they are interested.

After being sent, invited users will show up in the Pending Invites section until they accept or reject the invitation. If you are the member who invited the user, you can withdraw the invitation.

If you have been promoted to group organizer in a group you joined, or if you created your own group, you will have access to the Manage tab in the group.

This will give you access to changing the group Details (group name and description), Settings (privacy and user abilities), group Photo and Cover Photo. These settings are the same as when creating a group.

In the Members section, you will be able to promote/demote members of the group as well as remove them from the group or ban them completely.

The final option in the Manage tab is the option of deleting the group entirely. Deleting a group will completely remove ALL content associated with it. There is no way back. Please be careful with this option.

When a member joins a group, they are assigned the Member role by default. Members are able to contribute to the group’s activity feed and view other group members.

When a group member is promoted to be a Concierge of the group, the member gains the ability to delete any activity feed items that may violate group rules, excluding those posted by organizers.

Organizers have total control over the contents and settings of a group. That includes all the abilities of Concierges, as well as change group status from public to private, change the group photo, manage group members, and delete the group.

As a group organizer, you may want to message your group members from time to time as the group (not individually). This can be done with the tabifolk messaging system. To send a message to your group members, go to the Send Messages tab in the group.

Enter the content you would like to send, just like any other message.

To send a message to one member, or a sub-group of members, select Send Private Message and choose the members you would like to message.

By default, the message will be a group thread. Group threads allow members to reply to everyone in the group when replying to the message. If you want the message to just be between the group organizer and each member one by one, select Send Individually before sending your message.

When you are ready, click Send Message and your message will be delivered to the selected members’ mailboxes.

Tabi Contacts are tabifolk’s equivalent of friends and requires the consent of both users since it adds the ability to directly message the other user.

Requesting to be a Tabi Contact

If you find a user you would like to add as a Tabi Contact, visit their profile page and click the Add as Tabi Contact button.

Additionally, if you are looking at the members of a group, a Connect icon can be found under each user for a quick way to request becoming a contact.

After you make the request, the user will be notified that you would like to connect. If they accept your request, you will become contacts and have the ability to message each other directly as well as see information they marked as being for contacts only.

Accepting Contact Requests

When a user requests to become contacts, you will be notified and have the opportunity to accept the request or pass on it. You can click on the link in the notification, or go to your contacts via the My Tabi Contacts link in the left side menu (or mobile menu) and selecting the Requests tab. A list of pending requests will be shown with buttons to accept or reject the request.

If you choose to accept the request, you will complete the process and the other user will be notified that you have accepted their request. You will then have the ability to message each other directly as well as see information they marked as being for contacts only.

Removing Tabi Contacts

While we hope it will never be necessary, you can remove Tabi Contacts at any time. Go to the user’s profile, and click My Tabi Contact. The button will change to say Remove Tabi Contact, click the button again to finalize the removal.

At this point, you will no longer be able to message each other. You can always request to be contacts again in the future.

tabifolk has a built-in messaging system that lets users send private messages without exchanging email addresses and therefore maintaining privacy. To prevent unwanted messaging, users must become Tabi Contacts before messaging is available.

To access messages, go to the Messages icon in the top right of the screen (or My Inbox in the mobile menu).

The Messages icon will show your latest messages so you can jump right back into the conversation, or you can click View Inbox to see all of your messages.

Desktop

On desktop, your inbox has a list of conversations on the left, and shows the content of the selected conversation on the right. You can search messages by user name or content from the search box on the left panel.

To start a new conversation, click the Compose icon at the top of the left panel. A new message will be created and you can add one or more members of your Tabi Contacts to the conversation by typing their user name. (Note: You can automatically start a conversation with a Tabi Contact from their profile page by clicking Message.) Once a conversation has started, you cannot add new members.

You can only add users you are connected with and when in a group conversation (more than one user), all users must be connected to each other.

Type your message into the message box at the bottom of the right panel and click Send Reply when you have finished. You can format your text, as well as add images, documents or GIFs and emoticons with the icons under your message.

The menu (three dots) at the top right of the right panel offers some options for deleting the message thread, marking it unread etc.

Mobile

On mobile, your inbox has a list of conversations. You can search messages by user name or content from the search box. Tapping on the conversation will bring up the conversation on a new page. You can return to the message list by clicking the back arrow at the top of the conversation.

To start a new conversation, click the Compose icon at the top of the left panel. A new message will be created and you can add one or more members of your Tabi Contacts to the conversation by typing their user name. (Note: You can automatically start a conversation with a Tabi Contact from their profile page by clicking Message.) Once a conversation has started, you cannot add new members.

Type your message into the message box at the bottom of the right panel and tap Send when you have finished. You can format your text, as well as add images, documents or GIFs and emoticons with the icons under your message.

The menu (three dots) at the top right of the right panel offers some options for deleting the message thread, marking it unread etc.