WELCOME

For long time fans of themented.com and the products thereof (specifically AniMentors I would imagine), it may seem like a big jump to go from such a packaged layout to an entirely new interface like Buddypress — but it has been in my mind for the longest time to embrace the community ever since lesson one was released. When we started we were just idiots with a microphone. We still are. The fans are just as important as the content we deliver, and this design is reflective of that desire.

For those that haven’t taken the time to explore it yet, the possibilities of the new features can be vast and almost intimidating in their uses. So, hopefully this guide will help users get started in using themented.com for all its worth: having fun and interacting with others.

BLOGS

Quite possibly the most drastic change from the old website design would be the option for any user to create their own blog(s) and use our hosting for any projects they might want to take.
This stems from my irritation with free services such as freewebs, blogger, blogspot, and podbean or any other “free website” creator. They always had limited uploading space and for someone looking to start a podcast or anything involving media, putting the content on the site was the worst (e.g. http://www.freewebs.com/knoradio). Freewebs requires having the site in place for a week or so and only allows 100 MB for hosting. How lame is that?
If anyone has a desire to start up their own podcast, vidcast, or even just entertaining blog, I would hope themented.com would serve as an outlet for our fans.

FORUMS/GROUPS

The old forums of themented.com have been dead for quite some time, mostly because of the major revisions that were being done to the site. The Buddypress system has a different implementation of a forum than most would be used to. The first difference between Buddypress forum and the generic BBS forum that used to be in place is the Groups feature. Instead of there being set archetypes for the topics in the forum, this system allows you to make your own archetype; which are referred to as Groups. Join the Groups you want, start new threads or post in existing ones, just like a BBS forum.
Note: When you make a new group, try to make sure the topics that are posted in it aren’t going to conflict with an already existing group. Also make sure to tag it well, so members can easily find it when they search.

Go ahead and check out the forums tab, which is the hub where you can search through groups and topics, and see the most active/newest ones.

MEMBERS

I would like to reiterate here that anyone can become a member with full site access, and the ability to create or become an author of a blog. The user profiles in Buddypress are designed to help a user keep track of the groups/blogs they belong to. There is also the “wire,” which functions like a member’s wall on Facebook. A member can also update their status, check up on their friend’s profile/activities, write other members messages, or update their profile.

The Mented Toolbar

The toolbar on the top of the site is designed to link every themented.com subsidiary to the main website, and to each other. From the toolbar you can easily return to the themented’s main site page, access all of the member options or see who the authors are on the particular blog you’re reading. You can also quickly access your blog’s dashboard and check your notifications.

QUESTIONS?

Have any more questions about the site, or our purpose?
Email us at: questions@themented.com
Or send a message to Usagimaru or Moonstone on the site.