https://youtu.be/A9xJe_aabaI?si=8xwpKTki3rAF0MqX

Setting up how you view: Go to "UserCP" and select "Edit Options". There you can either leave all selections to "user default", or change how you want to view threads and posts. As far as the "thread view mode, the default is, "threaded", which means you can scroll though all the posts in that that thread. If you only want to see one post at a time, then select, "Linear", but it's not recommended. You can change this function while viewing a thread by making the change in the upper right corner of the tread or post, but again, it is recommended you maintain the "threaded mode".

Also, be sure that the "Display posts in classic mode." box is checked. if not, the poster's avatar and info will be displayed above the post, not to the left.

Viewing threads and posts: You can select "home" on the upper control bar and that will take you to the main forum page where all available forums are displayed.  Clicking on the header logo will also take you to the home page.

You can view all new  post from the past 24 hours by selecting "View Today's Posts" on the control bar.

Note that any threads that contain posts that you have not read, will show a small green arrow to the left of the thread.

Portal: The portal is set up displaying a random selection of recent posts. We cannot control what it displays, so the best way to view posts, add new posts or starting a new thread is to link to either "Home" or "View Today's Posts".

Private Messaging system: You can send and receive messages from any other member, and you will be notified by email and when you log on here. You can access your messaging system from your "UserCP", or by clicking on, "Private Message" on the header bar.

Message notification: You should receive an email notifying you that someone has sent you a private message. There is also a notification at the top of the page, en envelope icon showing the number of messages you haven't read plus a banner above the "welcome" banner telling you there are messages waiting to be read..

Send/receive messages: Sending and receiving messages is like posting on the forums. To start a new message, go to your UserCP and click on "compose" at the top of the list. You can enter one or more usernames to send your message to. To reply to a received message, simply click on "reply".

Block or Ignore: You can prevent another member from sending you messages. Click on their name or avatar and at the bottom, click on "add to ignore list". This will also prevent you from reading any of their forum posts, so think wisely about using this. You can restore communications with them by clicking on the "remove from ignore list" button in the same place. Note that you cannot ignore a moderator or an admin. If you have an issue with a staff member, please discuss it with another staff member, or send a message to the owner by clicking on "contact us" at the bottom of any page.

Tracking a sent message: Messages are tracked by default and you can check when a message has been read by clicking on, "tracking" on the left sidebar when in the messaging system. By the same token, a person can refuse tracking on a message by clicking on "deny receipt" when selecting a message to read.

For those of you that are use to an extensive profile about you, your likes and dislikes and lots of photos, that's not what we have here. Your profile is mostly about your settings and some info about you (see Bio below). To access your profile, click on  "UserCP" in the upper right of a page, your profile list will appear on the left.

You can change your email address, password, signature and avatar here.

Avatar: you can have a small avatar on your posts, they can be a picture or any .jpg that is around 150 pixels in either direction. Our software will resize anything that is too large. Note that your avatar is not your primary photo and can be most anything, we have a specific forum, "Member's Hello", for adding personal photos that are larger.

Bio: When viewing your profile, click on "edit profile" in the column on the left. You can make several changes there, and this is where you can add your location and a short bio, visible when someone views your profile. Again you can have a thread in the "Member's Hello" forum for extending your bio and adding pictures. You can add to your thread, so we please ask you start only one thread there.

You can add photos to a post. When writing a new post, scroll down to, "click or drop some files here to upload". That will take you to your device where you can select up to five photos to upload, then click on "OK" and they will appear by filename at the bottom of the page as a list. You can then choose where to insert them in you post, of just leave them and they will appear at the end of your post. You also have the option of deleting any or all.

Suggestion: Do a "preview" to view how your post will look with your photos. You may want to rearrange, delete or add different ones.

You can also add links to photos that are elsewhere on the Internet by clicking on the "insert a link" icon above the composition window.

You are restricted to five (5) photos in any one post. The maximum size of a photo that is uploaded is 800 x 600 pixels and 500Kb. It is suggested that they are 640 x 480 and around 250K. They appear just as good and they lead a lot faster when others are viewing that thread. Linked photos can be any size, it will be resized before loading.

Here's and example of a 540 x 480 photo with a pixel size of 280K. A good size.

Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona, Arizona
   

Note that you have one hour after you post to go back and edit it. You can do a "quick edit" (change some text), or a "full edit" (add/delete formatting and photos as well). Also not that you can save a post for further changes and you can preview a post to see how it looks before posting it. That's handy when you have photos in your posts.

We are aware that typos are a way of life, sometimes you post something and regret doing it. We give you 30 minutes after you've posted to edit or delete that post. You cannot however delete a thread since there could be subsequent posts. Please contact a staff member if you think deleting an entire thread that you started is appropriate.

New thread  Simply click on the forum you want to start a thread in and click on "post thread", then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on, "Post Thread"

New post to existing threads  Just as easy, when viewing a thread, just click on "New Reply", then "Post Reply" at the bottom.

Edit/delete posts Simply click on "edit" within 30 minutes to change what's in your post, or click on "delete" to delete the entire post. Choosing "quick edit" allows you to make changes to text only, "full edit" allows you to use all the formatting tools including adding or changing photo attachments.

Quoting a post You can quote one or more posts by clicking on "reply" for one post, or "quote" for more than one.

Saving a draft or reviewing a post: You can save a post as a draft, then go back to your profile to retrieve it. You can also review you post, make changes and review it as many times as you wish before posting it. All these functions are at the bottom of you composition thread.

Threads do not automatically lock due to inactivity. do not just bump a thread, but you can resurrect an old thread with a new post if there is new interest.

OOPS, I forgot to say that there is no limit on the number of posts in a thread, get to 200, no problem, 400, still no problem Some of our train forum threads have over 3500 posts.

For those used to it, we have no “likes” for posts or people, there are no “up/down” votes for posts as well. The tone of the thread is a giveaway as to its popularity.

There are no restrictions on the number of posts you can make or the number of photos you can post, just that we will not tolerate anyone flooding us with either posts or photos. We are on a server that monitors our traffic (not our content) and will throttle us if we use more bandwidth than we’re paying for. That, plus it’s just not good etiquette to do things like that.

You are allowed to edit or delete a post for 30 minutes after you’ve posted it. Beyond that, contact a moderator or admin to have it deleted.

There is an private forum for women only and another one for the men. This is why we ask you your gender when you register. We also ask for your birthdate but do not display it or your age on your posts. They will show when someone views your profile if you enable that function in your profile. Unlike dating sites, we don’t have extensive profiles, this is a friends forum, nothing more. If you want to get to know more about someone then is in their profile or that they’ve posted in the “hello” forum, then contact them personally. If you need to, you can block any other member (other than the staff) from contacting you, but that will also block all their posts from your view.

Note that none of the staff has access to either what’s in your private messages boxes, or to your passwords. If you need help with logging on, contact us (bottom of the page) and we will send you a temporary one.

You can send emails to any other member from their profile without knowing their email address, providing then have that feature enabled.

You do not need to be logged in to send a message to the admin staff through the “contact us” link at the bottom of the page.

There is a "help" button to provide some general instructions, plus there are "how to" threads here for specific feature access.

Welcome to the Catholic Hangout forums, a dedicated space for Catholics worldwide to connect, converse, and cultivate friendships. This platform is designed as a sanctuary to start or end your day, deepen your understanding of the Catholic faith, and build global friendships.

Our community is open to practicing Catholics, those on the journey to join the Church, and those who may have distanced themselves but are contemplating a return. We respect your faith journey and assume that by registering, you identify as a Catholic or aspire to be one.

While we are not a dating site, we do provide a private messaging system for those who wish to engage in one-on-one conversations. We are not here to compete with Catholic or secular dating platforms. Our focus is on fostering a sense of camaraderie, sharing information, making new friends, and facilitating discussions on all topics, barring politics.

Catholic Hangout is a free forum, but maintaining our online presence does incur costs. Our team is volunteer-based, keeping our expenses minimal. From time to time, we may request donations to help us sustain the platform. If you’re able to contribute a token donation of around $20 or $25 upon registration, we’d greatly appreciate it. However, if you’re unable to do so, you’re still wholeheartedly welcome. All members enjoy full access to the site, regardless of their ability to donate. Remember, every little bit helps in keeping the lights on.

We commit to a no-ads policy and promise not to bring in sponsors or sell or share any data provided by our members. Catholic Hangout is a not-for-profit initiative, born out of the belief that Catholics need a space to gather, discuss their faith and lifestyles, and most importantly, to engage in friendly conversations. Welcome aboard!

The Catholic Hangout team.

If you see something that looks like spammers or trolls posting, please contact us by clicking on, “contact us” at the bottom of any page or send a PM to any of the staff. If you are being pestered by another member (non-members cannot post or send messages), or sense that someone is trying to scam you, please, by all means, contact us so we can take appropriate action. Because there is no charge to register and we are not a dating site, we will attract more spammers than scammers but nothing precludes scammers and other annoying people to show up. It’s just the way things are.

Here's our rules, we didn't even bother to number them since there aren't that many. All we ask is that you use common sense when posting, or reporting a post:

We ask that you do not post personal contact information in publicly accessible areas of the site, such as email addresses, social networking information, or specific physical address of yourself and others. There are just too many bad guys looking for this information. Use our private messaging system for that.

Please do not post personal inflammatory comments about other members or non-members or against the Church

Do watch your language, this is a Catholic forum. We do have a banned list of words that just won’t display, and we do have moderators that can and will delete or edit posts with offensive or vile language including words commonly viewed as vulgar, abusive, racist or sexist.

You may post photos, just make sure they are in good taste. Posting nude or distasteful photos can get you banned.

No political posts. There is no good ending to starting a discussion about politics. There are many other social sites that you can go to. Leave your political leanings at home, we want our relationships to remain friendly so posts deemed politically charged will be deleted..

If you like a product, item, a book or whatever, post about it, post a link to it, just don’t post an ad for for it

And be gentle with discussions about the Church and its teachings. We are open to discussions about these things, just don’t trash the Church, our pope or priests or ideology. Keep all discussions healthy.

You can post quotes, but be sure that what you do post is not in violation of any copyright issues, otherwise it’s best to post a link to what you’re talking about.

Please do not start the same thread in different forum categories, duplicates will be deleted by our staff if you do.

And lastly, all posts need to be in English. Our private messaging system is available if you want to talk to someone in another language.