FAQ: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Before we dive into the detailed breakdown of all the new features of TRACKING BOARD 2.0, we want to address some of the most common questions asked by our members.
Q1) I’VE SIGNED UP, BUT CAN NOT ACCESS THE SITE.
A1) Signing up to join The Tracking Board is a very quick process, however there are steps to validate each member individually. Let us break down the process as best we can below.
Step 1: Signing up. Each member signs up with us via a Paypal link.
Step 2: If your email address is NOT a Gmail address it is your responsibility to email us with your Gmail address. Be sure to include the email address you signed up with, as well as the Gmail address, so we can link the two on your account.
Step 3: Most members will receive their introduction package (invitation to the bulletin and monthly password newsletter) instantly, however expect it to arrive within 24 hours. Please be very aware that weekends and holidays may impact the arrival, so be prepared for that when signing up.
Step 4: Signing up for the forums. When registering for the forums you MUST use your TB verified email address (Gmail, or other address a TB manager has approved in a verification email) and you must wait for account validation. Forum validation can take up to 24 hours, so please DO NOT EMAIL ABOUT HAVING TROUBLE ACCESSING THE FORUMS. If you are receiving “Error #1000″ or “Error #1001″ it is because the account has not yet been validated. Please do not email us for this, as it only slows the response to fix your account.
STEP 5: Once you have received your monthly password newsletter, the invitation to join the TB bulletin, and have joined the forum, you are now using all areas of the TB network.
Q2) WHERE AND WHEN DO I GET MY PASSWORD?
A2) Passwords are usually sent instantly, however may take up to 24 hours to arrive. The passwords will come in a Monthly Password Newsletter, which will arrive for each month a few days before the new month begins.
Q3) I HAVE SIGNED UP TO THE FORUMS BUT KEEP GETTING ERROR #1000, OR ERROR #1001
A3) This is strictly a validation process. Forum validation can take up to 24 hours, so please DO NOT EMAIL ABOUT THESE ERRORS. If you are receiving “Error #1000″ or “Error #1001″ it is because the validation process has not yet been complete. Emailing us regarding this matter will only delay the process.
With those few things out of the way, please find the details guide to using the site below:
WELCOME TO THE TRACKING BOARD 2.0
As many of you were already aware, for the past few months we have been busy behind the scenes creating not just a new look; but also a complete redesign of the functionality, integration, and info structure of the main site. And, along the way we also finalized the finishing touches on a brand new, community-based, social networking forum, that will single-handedly revolutionize the networking possibilities and potentials of our industry, and will provide instant access to one another to build your network, share your work, discuss the industry, or simply enjoy a conversation. But before we dive right into these details, let us take a step back to discuss and explain some of the new site features…
THE (NEW) MAIN SITE
THE SEARCH
The chief factor that we took in when we began discussing the ideas for a site redesign was simple – ACCESS! We wanted to make it even easier to find that one specific topic, spec, sale, or update you were looking for. We wanted to make every single piece of information on our site accessible in under one minute… with the need for only one topic, and with using just one click. The first stop… reconfiguring everything our search features have ever done in the past. With the creation of the new search bar, every single one of your searches will now dig deeper into the database reading not just the topical text and details of each page, but also specific targeted tags we’ve linked to certain topics and categories. But, the best part… Your entire search now happens INSTANTLY – right below the search window. You can now cycle your search query through our entire database, and never once even have to leave the front page.
But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Lets discuss the new look of the site.
THE LOOK
A quick glance will show you that we’ve made a few modifications. And by a few… what I really mean is, we’ve sort of changed everything… yet nothing at the exact same time. Yes, the initial look and feel offers a more classic, and what we hope, cleaner style to the site, but looking closer, you’ll find, it not only offers everything the old site had to share, but we’ve even added a few things along the way. We’ve done away with the horrible looking “category” finders, and instead we’ve created new drop down tabs along the bottom of our new header. In doing so, we’ve also done a better job of branching out topics to their correct parents. For example…
Want to know which Specs recently sold? Go to the “Spec Market” and choose accordingly. Click “Spec Market” and you’ll get an overall summary of all spec sales. Click “Specs” and you’ll get the info on just the specs that have gone out, “Pitches” and just the pitches, etc. Or perhaps, you want to see which specs have sold recently… why don’t you click “Spec and Pitch Sales” and have an instant list of what is selling on the spec market RIGHT NOW!
The same goes for each and every category, and topic. We’ve fine-tuned the database to be more easily browsed then ever before. From big film attachments (Sales Market > Attachments) to new pilot casting (Television News > Casting), to which comic books were recently picked up to be adapted (Sales Market > Based On > Comics). Even a quick browse of all things Film “Film News” or all things TV “Television News” will streamline the news like never before. Take a few minutes to scroll around the site and you’ll discover all of these things above, and so much more.
For example… know the info you want is currently on page 10, but don’t want to click through 9 other pages to get there? Check out the new Page scroll at the bottom of the page. Just another small, yet infinitely timesaving feature the new site uses to streamline your instant access experience.
But, what if you know exactly what you want, and just want that info, right now… but on another platform? Well then, lets talk about the feeds…
THE FEEDS
All of us here at TB spend our days bouncing between the site, meetings, phone calls, and the wonderful Los Angeles traffic. So, for us not only was creating an amazing mobile platform (which we rolled out in beta last month – and release in 1.0 with the new platform) a necessity, but we also needed a way to streamline unique, pin-point details and information to those on the go. And with that, came the creation of our new FEEDS SYSTEM.
The new feed options not only allow you to subscribe to an RSS feed of the entire site, just like before, but we now offer the ability to break up the site, and subscribe to specific and individual features and categories. We’ve created the ability to make every single member’s site experience, unique to your specific selected needs. For example, want to set up a feed just for the SALES MARKET? Go ahead. Want to set up a feed for just the SPEC MARKET, also go ahead. Want to subscribe to both… feel free. Every single parent category can now be broken up, and selected individually to fit your specific needs. So, when your boss asks which specs hit the market this morning, simply check your Spec feed, and have an answer for them in less time then it took to ask the question.
But, lets continue down our page a bit. Most of the topics and categories explain themselves, and some of them are still yet to be filled, but will begin to blossom quickly this month. So, lets take a look at these new boxes on the right side of our page.
THE RIGHT SIDEBAR
The obvious features still remain the same, except now reflecting the new additions, and the new names of a few sections. The original forums (Google Group) have now become the BULLETIN, and our new Forum has taken over the title FORUMS. But, more on both of those later. Once we finish through the Nav bar, we quickly find ourselves at the BREAKING NEWS. This section is, and will be, where the HOTTEST NEWS & DEALS are highlighted, and updated daily! Who’s going to direct the next Superman movie? Who just landed the new starring role in the HUNGER GAMES? Who just landed a new 2-yr/7-figure? All of these will land on the front page of the site, and also be highlighted in Breaking News.
But, what about the specs? Well, that’s where the HEAT METER and NEW SPECS OUT come into play. While New Specs Out will cover each and every spec as it makes its way on to the market, the Heat Meter will be where the hottest ones find their glory! The Heat Meter will highlight all of the updates as they come in, covering everything from new attachments, territories, feedback and offers coming in! And where do those hot specs that sell eventually make it?
The LATEST SALES. This new section will highlight the most recent sales listings as they hit the market, are announced, or make it in to our database for the first time. And this brings us to the next new feature of the site.
UPDATES
Gone are the days of continually repeating the complete sales listings over and over with new dates, and details highlighted as they come in. Now, each and every sale will have it’s own home page that will be updated with a steady stream of attachments, news, etc. For example, if Sam Worthington signs on to star in The Moth Diaries, that news will be detailed in the Film News, or specifically in the (Sales Market > Attachments) section, with a direct link to the sales page. The news will then simultaneously be updated on the Sales Listing homepage, with the update details listed below in the Related Posts.
And now, we’re beginning to get into what is easily one of the biggest additions to the new site…
THE CLICK
EVERY PROJECT, PERSON, COMPANY, NETWORK, and even GENRE is now fully clickable and searchable. But what does that mean? Want to see who’s working on the new film “Mommy & Me”… start with a search of “Mommy & ME” (either choose it right from the instant drop down, or go the old fashioned way, and take a sneak peek at our new highlight features (highlight your search words to add more value, or decrease the value) of the posts you’re looking for based on your search options. So, one way or another, you’ve now made it to the Sales listing for “Mommy & Me”. Notice all of those names that are now red? Yep, that’s new. So, let’s say you’re a Stanley Tucci fan, and you want to see what else he’s done, or is planning to do coming up. Go ahead… click on him…. and every other person of interest in each page, while you’re at it. This new feature, while still in it’s infancy, will grow quickly, and as it does, will start to cover years of specs, sales, and all kinds of projects not detailed on any other site in existence.
The Main Site will continue to grow, and change over the next month, as we watch how it is used, and continue to add new content and features to our new, ever-evolving site.
Now, lets talk about these FORUMS!
THE (NEW) TRACKING BOARD FORUMS
So, alongside launching the new redesign of THE TRACKING BOARD 2.0 we’re also launching what has fast become one of our most exciting new sites to date. The brand new TRACKING BOARD FORUMS. We’ve taken the best features of social networking sites like Twitter & Facebook, and immersed them with the best chat options & design on the web, and while we were at it, we went ahead and added in blogging options for good measure. But all of that… those are just the perks. We took all of those features and we wrapped them up inside of what we think will be the forum that revolutionizes the way those in the know will interact.
So, first and foremost, at the bottom right of this monthly newsletter is the SIGN UP TAB. Now, before you go and click on that, here are a few things you NEED TO KNOW
#1 – When signing up, YOU MUST USE YOUR TB ACCOUNT EMAIL ADDRESS. This is non-negotiable, and will not be repeated. For the privacy and safety of our members we need to ensure everyone inside is a member, and is supposed to be there.
#2 – Be ready to have some fun!
Once inside, you will find a world of new features to play with (All of which are briefly detailed in THE TB FORUM DETAILS you will find once you get inside). But even beyond the world of the forums, you will find the new, 10x as large FILE EXCHANGE, the brand new ISO-specific forum, and many, many more places to see what’s hot, talk about writers, ask a few questions, or just talk.
A quick scroll across the top navigation bar of the forums not only gives you one click navigation back to the main sites, but also offers you instant clicking options to dive into the CHATROOM, and once in there, the option to even open up PRIVATE CHATS with one-person, or multiple people at once. And right beside that, you even have the BLOG feature, where you can jump right in, and create your own online blog, and, not only that, but you can even track, and follow other users blogs just like a personal RSS feed.
But, now lets take a look at the “PERSONAL PAGES”. Every forum has the standard “About Me” page, usually lazily tossed together last minute in a forum design. But for us, that was always something we hated. We’re all online, and in this day and age, let’s be honest – who isn’t? But the problem is, with most forums in the world today, there is nothing beyond a username, and content. And, in a technology fueled world like the one we live in, that 20+ year old technology simply didn’t cut it. So, we’re very happy to introduce the new TRACKING BOARD PROFILES. Every member on the forum can now set up their own page – upload photos – type up a quick status update, or hey, while you’re at it why not ADD A FRIEND, or follow a friend’s posts, or blogs, or even updates! Or skip all of those things, and simply send private messages to one another. Yes, all of those are features!
But, say all of that seems like a lot to follow… then you can simply follow all the updates in a Twitter like layout, with your “Notifications button” at the top right of the screen (with the number of new notifications changing as they come in).
And, if you just want the basics… by all means, take the basics… it’s a fully adjustable experience that you can choose, and maneuver at your own leisure.
Oh, and did we mention, it’s also fully accessible on all mobile devices!
THE MOBILE NETWORK
Every section of The Tracking Board is now available on your mobile phone, or tablet. The main site and ALL of it’s new features. The Forums, and all of it’s new features, are now fully readable without the need to download anything to your phone! That’s right, every thing that once tied you to your computer to access, can now all be done from your phone, almost anywhere in the world. Even better… it’s all set up to be fully searchable. But, do you know what’s even cooler then that?
We’ve broken down the mobile application of our site into sub-sections. Now, you have the option to read the regular site, as it happens live, simply by going to our url. However, we’ve tallied the most read segments of our site, and by clicking the “Menu” option, you can now browse more targeted details for “Film News,” “Sales,” and “Specs.” Want to see more? Click the options inside the menu, to preview each an every sub-category, and browse as you’d like.
Want even more? Well, we’ve now enabled the same RSS feed design we built into the site, to now work directly on your phone. Now you can subscribe to the individual categories directly from your phone!
So, Got some time to kill between those meetings, and want to see what that new spec looks like that just went out this morning?
About to meet with someone and want to take a quick glance at what they’ve written, produced, or directed?
Or, did someone just ask you if you read that hot new project, to which you told them of course, and now need to scan it to pretend you had in the first place?
Well guess what…. now you can do all of those things… and you can do them RIGHT NOW on your phone!
SO, WHAT ABOUT THE OLD FORUMS? (Google Groups)
Well, since we’re moving the basic elements of the FILE EXCHANGE, and the ISOs to the new forum, the Old Forums will become more of a Bulletin Board for more urgent, or mass news.
So, while there are so many other new features, rather then pin-pointing each, we want you to have the experience of exploring them, using them, and hopefully utilizing them organically in your day to day browsing.
Hollywood is no longer closed off in a distant far away land. With The Tracking Board 2.0, we’re hoping to bring you all of the insider news, stories, and excitement of what makes our industry such an exclusive one, and what makes our site such a fulfilling one to deliver to you!
Very Best,
THE TRACKING BOARD STAFF
