It's amazing how the internet has morphed into a giant multimedia storage device.  You can find a video on just about anything these days, and there may be times when it's beneficial to embed one into a post or reply.  You don't need to be a computer guru to do this.  Actually, it's pretty darn easy if you know the basics.  If you spend the next 10 minutes reading this FAQ you'll be embedding videos like a pro in no time.

The first thing we need to do for this demonstration is to find a video that we'd like to embed.  I've gone to YouTube and found a cool video about the 2009 Cayman S/PDK done by Motortrend.  Here's a link to that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGe8YXicbRM, and here's what my screen looks like:

To embed this video into a post, we will need to know its 'Video ID'.  This is the trickiest part of embedding a video, finding the 'Video ID'.  But it's really not that hard.  Let's take a look at the link of this video, we can find this in the 'Address Bar' of our browser.  Here's a close up.

I've circled a specific area inside the URL.  The 'Video ID' always follows 'v='.  So in this case, our video ID is 'iGe8YXicbRM'.  That looks like gibberish to you and me, but to YouTube, that's the name of the video we want.  We can easily use our mouse to select that text and copy it. (Sometimes there is more text following the Video ID.  If this is the case, the extra text will always start with a '?', so you can copy the section between '=' and '?'.)

Now that we've found and copied the Video ID, we can embed the video into a post.  There are a couple of ways to do this.  I'm going to cover the easy way, using the Post Editor.  So let's go create a post.  I think this video is likely to result in some pretty interesting Cayman Discussion, so I've decided to create a new thread in the 'Cayman Discussion' forum.  Here's what that looks like:

As you can see, I've added a little note introducing the video.  Next, I want my video embedded, so I go to YouTube, copy the Video ID, then come back to my post and paste the Video ID into the editor.

Once I've got the Video ID pasted and selected (highlighted), I can click one of the Video buttons to wrap the Video ID in the code that will embed the video (circled in blue below).  As you can see, I have several choices here depending on where the video is hosted:

Here's a list of the video host buttons, and the BB Code that gets inserted when you click one:

	Google Video	[GOOGLE] ... [/GOOGLE]
	YouTube Video	[YT] ... [/YT]
	HD YouTube Video	[HDYT] ... [/HDYT]
	Vimeo	[VIMEO] ... [/VIMEO]

Because this video is very high quality and it looks good in the YouTube HD viewer, I'm going to click 'HD'.  That will wrap my Video ID in the HD YouTube tags.

I've also added a short conclusion paragraph.  Now I can post my thread and as soon as I do, this is what I get:

It's that easy.  Now you're capable of embedding videos and impressing all of your Cayman Register friends.

Here's a short tutorial on how to upload a Photo that you'd like to be considered as a 'Picture of the Month'.

Step 1: From the 'Photos & Files' menu, select 'My Photo Albums'.

Step 2: Click the 'Add Album' link

Step 3: Add a name for your Album (1), a description of your album (2), make your new album 'Public' (3) and click 'Submit' (4). 

Step 4: Once your album is created, you will be taken to that album.  Now click the 'Upload Pictures' link.

Step 5: Using the 'Browse' button, find the photo(s) that you'd like to upload, then click the 'Upload Pictures' button.

Step 6: You will be shown a thumbnail of each photo you've uploaded and you will have an opportunity to add a caption or description of each.  Once you've done so, click 'Save Changes'. 

If your upload fails between steps 5 & 6, then you are trying to upload a picture that is too big for the website.  Please resize your photo(s) and try again, or upload one at a time.

Step 7: You can now see your new photo album.  Click its thumbnail and you will be taken inside.

Step 8:  Find the photo that you'd like to be considered as a 'Picture of the Month' and open it.  Then copy the 'BB Code' link below the picture and paste that link in a Private Message to beez.

That's it.  You're done.  Good luck.  I hope your picture makes it.

The Search routine on this web site is a powerful tool that can help you find instant answers and determine if a discussion on your topic has already been started.  The easiest way to perform a simple search from the front page is to use the 'Search Module' in the upper left column.  Here's a picture that shows me searching for information on 'Helmet'.

This will return every thread that contains the word 'Helmet' anywhere inside it.  Here are the results:

Though the 'Search Module' is easy to find on the front page, if you're not on the front page you won't see it.  In that case, you can find the search toolbar on the horizontal navigation bar.  Here's a picture:

If you're searching for a common word, you may receive too many results.  In this situation you might want to use 'Advanced Search' so you can narrow your search criteria.  You can find that on the horizontal navigation bar search tool as well.

Once you click 'Advanced Search', you'll have a window that allows you to define more search criteria.  Some of my favorite options are the ability to narrow a search by author, the ability to search titles or all posts, and the ability to deliver the results by thread or post.  Here's another picture for you:

In this case, I am searching for the word 'Helmet' in the title of a thread written by Gator Bite and I've asked for the results to be presented in post format.  Here's what I get:

User Groups allow you to tailor the content that you'll see and the appearance of your user name.  Maybe you've see some members who's username appears Bold, or other's that appear in a different color.  This is telling you that they are a member of a user group.  Some User Groups are public, meaning you can join them at any time (example: 'Zone 1 - 13' groups).  Others are private, meaning you can only be placed in that group by a moderator (example: 'Cayman Owners' or 'PCA National Officers').  Here are some of the different styles you may see:

• Bold Red denotes a user is an Administrator

• Red denotes a member is a PCA official of some sort

• Bold Blue denotes a Registered Cayman Owner

• Blue denotes a basic registered member of the Cayman Register

• Bold Maroon denotes a member of a local Zone group

You can only be identified by one group, and by default everyone is identified as a 'Registered Member' of the Cayman Register.  You can change the group by which you are identified by using the User Control Panel.

Once in the User CP, look for the 'Group Memberships' in the left hand navigation window.

If you follow that link, you'll be taken to a page that shows all available and subscribed groups. 

In the section titled 'The following groups are available for you to join', you can join any group that you'd like to have access to.

At the bottom of the list you'll find a section titled 'You may chose to be identified as a member of the following groups:'

In this example, I have chosen to be identified as a 'Cayman Owner'.  (This option is only available if you own a Cayman and provided a VIN number during registration.  If you've added your VIN number after registration, please send a PM to an Administrator asking them to place you in the 'Cayman Owners' group.)

Click the button that says 'Update Display Group' and you're done.  You've just tailored your User Group identifier.

You may have noticed that everyone has a little title under their name.  These titles are a nice way to tell other members a little bit about yourself.  There are several default titles that identify you as a member of a group, like:

• PCA Member

• Registered Cayman Owner

• Member of Zone 1

You have the ability to enter anything you'd like in your title.  You may like to change your title to something like:

• PCA Member Since 1995

• Track Junky Driving in Green Group

• Nationally Certified PCA Instructor

• Track Enthusiast driving in White Group

• Long time Porsche Fan

• Boxster Owner

And so on. 

You can change your title in the User Control Panel.  Once there, look in the left hand navigation window for 'Edit Your Details':

After clicking 'Edit Your Details', scroll down the page and look for the 'Optional Information' section.  In that section, you'll find an input field for your Custom User Title.

Enter a new title, scroll to the bottom of the page and click 'Save Changes'.  That's it.  You've just added a Custom User Title.