Heres To Us...

The Red Ripper Alumni Association

Frequently Asked Questions

This page contains several frequently asked questions. Before contacting us to ask a question please check to see if it has already been answered here. If it is not included here do not hesitate to contact the site administrator.

About "Here's To Us..."

• What is "Here's To Us..."?
• What is the purpose of "Here's To Us..."?
• Can I get involved?
• Who owns "Here's To Us..."?
• Can I give "Here's To Us..." developers suggestions?
• What can I do if I wish to see a new feature added?
• How much does "Here's To Us..." cost?

Accounts

• Who can get a "Here's To Us..." account?
• How do I create a new account?
• Are there different types of account?
• How do I delete my account?

Communitites

• What is a community?
• How do I link to other communities?

Friends

• How do I link to my friends?

Customize

• Can I customize my "Here's To Us..." personal pages?
• What level of control do I have over layout and design?
• How can I create my own templates?

Digital Repository

• Why is the system not letting me upload a file?
• How do I delete an item in my repository?
• What is metadata?
• Can I link to and or search through some else's repository?

Access privileges

• What are my access privileges?
• How do I change access privileges on an element in my profile?

Security

• How secure is the site?

About "Here's To Us..."

• What is "Here's To Us..."?

  "Here's To Us..." is a site for current and former members of the Red Rippers, the US Navy's oldest continuously active fighter squadron.

• What is the purpose of "Here's To Us..."?

  "Here's To Us..." was created to provide a meeting point for Rippers of all generations to meet, keep in touch, trade stories, and preserve the history that has made the World Famous Red Rippers unique.

• Can I get involved?

  Certainly! The best way to start is by filling out your profile as thoroughly as you can. Find your friends on the site and make connections with them. Write about your experiences (old and new) in your blog. Most importantly, find as many Rippers that haven't joined the site and send them an invitation. The more users we get, the better the site will become.

• Who owns "Here's To Us..."?

  This site was built by LCDR Erik "Burns" Hess in early April 2008 to support the 80th Anniversary Reunion. He pays for the hosting and serves as the site administrator, believing that it's important this site stay focused on serving the Red Ripper Alumni community.

• Can I give "Here's To Us..." developers suggestions?

  Absolutely. Just send an e-mail to the administrator. If we can include your suggestion, we will. Please keep in mind that this site is run by an active-duty Naval Officer in his spare time, so we might not be able to implement every request.

• What can I do if I wish to see a new feature added?

  Just send an e-mail to the administrator. If we can include your suggestion, we will. Please keep in mind that this site is run by an active-duty Naval Officer in his spare time, so we might not be able to implement every request.

• How much does "Here's To Us..." cost?

  For users the site is free. It costs a small amount each month to pay for domain names, site hosting and bandwidth, which comes out of the administrator's pocket. For legal and ethical reasons we cannot accept donations at this time.

Accounts

• Who can get a "Here's To Us..." account?

  Membership is limited to current and former Red Ripper officers and enlisted personnel and their immediate family. If you have a question about whether you can sign up for the site, please contact the administrator.

• How do I create a new account?

  You can register online anytime via our simple registration form.

• Are there different types of account?

  Not at this time or in the forseeable future. Users who sign up get full access to site resources.

• How do I delete my account?

  Send an e-mail to the administrator. You'll receive an e-mail when your account has been removed.

Communitites

• What is a community?

  A community is just a group of users. It provides an easy way for Alumni with similar interests to get in touch with and keep track of each other.

• How do I link to other communities?

  You can find a list of all site communities under the Communities tab on the blue toolbar. By clicking on the name of the community you're taken to the individual community's profile page. On the right sidebar there is a link that says "Click here to join this community." Just click, follow the instructions and you should be all set.

Friends

• How do I link to my friends?

  You can find a list of all site users under the Users tab on the blue toolbar. By clicking on the name of the user you're taken to the individual's profile page. You can add the user to your friends list by clicking on the link located on the right sidebar.

Customize

• Can I customize my "Here's To Us..." personal pages?

  Aside from adding your own site picture and profile picture, not much at this point. You may be able to customize your profile more later.

• What level of control do I have over layout and design?

  Not much at this point. That would have taken me a lot longer to code.

• How can I create my own templates?

  Unfortunately you can't right now. If this changes I'll let you know.

Digital Repository

• Why is the system not letting me upload a file?

  It's probably too big. Try to keep uploads smaller than about 30MB if possible. If you're trying to upload a movie, contact the administrator. We can put it in the right format and upload it for you.

• How do I delete an item in my repository?

  [Coming Soon]

• What is metadata?

  Metadata is (briefly) data about data. I'll try to explain this in terms someone other than Fetus can understand. This site uses "keywords" to link you, your traits, your blog, your pictures, your anything to other things that are like it. By filling out the "keywords" section after each post, anyone can search for items matching that keyword and find everything on the site relating to it.

• Can I link to and or search through some else's repository?

  It all depends on the privileges they've assigned the files.

Access privileges

• What are my access privileges?

  The most common access restriction you'll use (and the default for most of the site) is "logged on". Basically this limits access to your information, posts or files to people who have an account and are logged on to the site. You can also make files private, so only you can see them.

• How do I change access privileges on an element in my profile?

  There should be a drop down box by each element that lets you restrict privileges to a certain group. "Private" means just you. "Public" means everybody in the whole world. "Logged In Users" limits access to only those who have accounts and have logged on the site. You can also limit access to members of a certain community. By creating your own community and retaining control over who is allowed into that community, you can limit access to anything you'd like to whatever subset of individuals you'd like.

Security

• How secure is the site?

  Pretty secure. That means you probably won't have any of the information you list as private compromised. If that's not too reassuring and you feel uneasy about it, then good. Hackers are smart, capable folks who CAN get your information if they want it. A good rule to follow on the internet in general is this: Never post anything you couldn't stand seeing on the front page of the New York Times.