General FAQ

• Your Forum Profile
  Your forum profile is now connected to your profile page.  If anyone clicks on your name in the forum, they will go to your profile page where they can add you as a connection (friend) or send you a PM or email!
  
• What are connections and how do I use them?
  Using connections on your profile page, you are able to connect with other PilotSpeak members who are your friends or co-workers. Others can see who you are connected with on your profile page. To make a connection, first find the person you are looking for after clicking the Search Users link in the members link list at the top of the page. Now click on that person's name or picture to go to their profile page. Then click on the TOP "connections" tab and then "add connection". A pop up window will come up, hit submit and the other person will be notified that you have added them as a connection.

  Now go to YOUR profile page and click the TOP "connections" tab and then "manage connections". Here you can choose the type of connection he or she is and make any comments about them in the box to the right. Hit update to save it. Now click on the BOTTOM "connections" tab. Here you can easily interact with your connections! Send them a private message (PM), email or go to their profile page. You can delete them from here as well by clicking the red X. You can also see if they're online or not; if the little circle next to their name is red, they are not. If it's green, they are.
  

  I can make as many types of connections as you may want, not just friend family and co-worker. Let admin know if you would like any additions to that and I'll make it happen.

• About Cookies

  If you become a member, you need to have cookies enabled for our site.  It is ONLY to maintain your login and password as you go from one page to the next.  If you don't enable them, you will have to login again every time you switch from one application to the other.  For example, if you go to the calendar and then come back to the main pages, you would have to login again if cookies are not enabled.  It also allows your system to keep your name and password in the sign in boxes so you don't have to retype them every time you come to the site.  You can enable cookies only for sites you choose by going to the settings of your browser and telling it to enable the cookies for specific sites.  Otherwise, you can just enable cookies for everything. 

  You must also have cookies enabled to use the color chooser at the top of the page in order to save the colors you like!

  Rest assured that we will NEVER use cookies for anything else and we will never give away any of your information to anyone.  Only one person has access to all the information and that is Wayne, one of the site owners who is the administrator for the site.

  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• Why do I go to the forum after I login?

  The FIRST time you log in on a computer, you will be automatically taken to the forum.  This is necessary to complete the "bridge" of your user name and password over to the forum, so that you never have to log in to the forum from the main site.  Afterward, it shouldn't do that anymore FROM THAT COMPUTER, as long as you have cookies enabled.  If you log in on another computer however, again, the first time it will send you over to the forum.

   

  NOTE: If you have a program like I do such as System Mechanic that automatically deletes cookies once in a while, or your web browser is set to do that, when you log in after they are deleted, you will again go to the forum but you won't have to re-type your password.  Best just to leave your PilotSpeak cookie alone.

• Registration and Updating Your Profile

  Registering to be a member:

  When you fill out the information to be a member of PilotSpeak, you are also filling out the information that will be on your web page within the site.  The icons next to the fields tell you whether it will be shown, or not.  Obviously, things like your password will not be shown.  IF YOU DO NOT FILL IN A FIELD THAT IS NORMALLY SHOWN, THEN IT WON'T SHOW UP ON YOUR WEB PAGE.  For example, if you don't want your phone number on your page, then just leave it blank.

   

  ---

  Editing or updating your profile:  

  After you have registered, you can update your profile at anytime and upload a photo of yourself as well.  Click on the My Profile link in the member link list, then click on the Edit tab and what you want to edit below it.  Once you are in the edit mode, you have two tabs on top:  Additional Info and Contact Info. Please note that if you upload a picture, it must be 200 kb or less in size and the dimensions can be no more than 200x500.     

• What's an FBO?
  FBO stands for Fixed Base Operator. It's a place where non-commercial airplanes can park, and the pilots can get fuel and other supplies, load and unload passengers and make hotel and rental car reservations. They often have a pilot's lounge and an internet connection. Some of them have maintenance capabilities as well. Like jost businesses, they differ in customer service, pricing and amenities. All non-commercial pilots (corporate, charter, private, etc.) often have a choice of FBOs at one airport and need to choose one. This is why we have a ratings system and database for them as well as the hotels and restaurants, to help pilots in their travel planning.
• Why is my page too small or large?
  Our site is optimized for 1024 x 768 screen resolution by default. Unfortunately, we cannot change this due to the constraints of the management system we are using. What this means is that if you have your screen resolution at 1024 x 768, the page will fill your screen perfectly and be very readable. If your screen resolution is lower, for example 800 x 600, the page will be bigger than the alotted screen space. The font size will be larger and you will have to scroll side to side to see all the content. If your screen resolution is higher, for example 1280 x 1024, the page will be smaller than the alotted screen space and you will have more of the dark surrounding color visible around the pages. The higher you are in screen resolution, the smaller the font will look and thus be more difficult to read.
• Is PilotSpeak for me?
  Although PilotSpeak was designed with the aviation community in mind, anyone who wants to join can certainly do so.  We hope that you are at least an aviation enthusiast or perhaps you will soon become one!
• What can I do in PilotSpeak?
  There's a whole lot you can do in PilotSpeak including:

  • Have your own web page with your picture, information and biography and links to all that you do on the website including your friends.
    
  • Participate in forums on a myriad of topics.
    
  • Plan a trip using the dynamic events web calendar and the FBO, hotel and restaurant reviews pages.
  • Rate hotels, FBO's and restaurants after you use them.  Add and check out events in the events calendar.
    
  • Get your own PilotSpeak email address, online calendar and address book.
  • Upload, download and rate pictures from our aviation picture gallery.
  • Meet new friends.  Use Pilot Hookup_TM in the calendar to meet up with other members where you live or are traveling to.
  • Help promote the aviation community.
  • Read articles on aviation topics in the weblog.  Write your own articles and participate!
  • Buy and sell your airplane or other goods in the classifieds section.
  • Find or list an aviation job opening.  Get job advice from other members in the field you are interested in.
  • Participate in polls and surveys.
• The Weather has errors and is messed up! Why?
  The weather module uses a feed from Weather.com and occassionally there is something wrong either with their servers or the DNS from the feed.  While it's annoying, it will fix itself very soon!
• The Reviews pages have errors and it's messing up the site! Why?
  In order to use the Google Maps feature in the Reviews, we use a feed from Google which occassionally won't work if there is a problem with their servers or the DNS anywhere in between.  While it's annoying, it won't last long and will fix itself very soon!

How to

• How do I upload photos to the photo gallery?

  Click on the "Upload Images" link in the User Menu on the left of the page after you have signed in. Then click on "Upload Photo". Just fill in the information and select a category before you hit upload and that's it!  Your image can come from another website or from your computer.

  NOTE ON SIZE: There is a 200 kb size limit for each photo. Please reduce the size of your photos as much as possible before uploading. A very easy way to do this is to download Image Resizer from Microsoft. Once installed, you simply right click on any photo, or select a batch of them first then right click, and select resize. Quick and easy! You can download the program by clicking here

• How do I get my own PilotSpeak email address?

  If you would like your own web based, PilotSpeak email address including a personal address book and calendar, simply request one via the contact us page or email Wayne directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Include the name you would like to have and a few alternates in case that name is already taken. This does not have to be the same as your PilotSpeak log in as it's a separate program. We will set it up for you and email you back when it is done. If you don't include a password you would like, I will give one to you. Admin is the only one who can change this as well as it must be done directly on the server.  Please give us a few days to do this.

  
  

• How do I use the Events Calendar?

  Click on either the "Calendar" link or the mini-calendar on the right side of the home page to bring up the calendar.  You can select the type of view you want from the top row of icons above the calendar.  To view an event already on the calendar, just click on it.

  To add an event, click the far left "+" icon and fill in the information.  Be sure to select the proper category for your event.  If the event repeats, click the "+" symbol on the right side of the bar near the bottom to fill in the form as to how it repeats.  Click "Add Event" at the bottom of the page and you're done!

• How do I use the Forum?

  The forum is pretty self explanatory.  However, for more information please read the online user manual . 

• How do I use the web based email/calendar/address book?

  Go to the "Email" link given to you by Admin when your account was set up, which will take you to the login screen.
  

  Log in with the username email and password that Admin sent you. (The login name is the full email address This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). You will then be taken to the webmail screen where you have 2 choices of webmail: Horde or SquirrelMail. The main difference between the two is this: Squirrel is a bare-bones, very simple email program only. Horde has many options and includes a calendar, address book, task lists and notes. Pick which one you want. Once you are in the program, you can save it as a bookmark.

  ALTERNATE METHOD: While you can always use the webmail option above, for your home computer or traveling laptop, it's actually better and easier to setup an email client such as Thunderbird to get your email. (Note, Hotmail and Windows Vista's Windows Mail client will not do this. Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Incredimail and many others will) Just set up a new email account in the email client with the following parameters:

  Mail Server User Name: xxxxx+pilotspeak.net
  Incoming Mail Server: mail.pilotspeak.net
  Outgoing Mail Server: mail.pilotspeak.net (server requires authentication)
  Supported Incoming Mail Protocols: POP3, POP3S (SSL/TLS), IMAP, IMAPS (SSL/TLS)
  Supported Outgoing Mail Protocols: SMTP, SMTPS (SSL/TLS)

  If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to fill out the contact us page and ask!

• How do I research the Hotels/Restaurants/FBO's to help plan my trip?

  We will use Hotels for the example, the others work the same.

  1. Sign in. You must be a registered user to use this feature.

  2. Click on Reviews/Hotels.

  3. You can search by any field used for the information, but the easiest is to select the city or nearest 4-letter airport identifier. For example type in Denver and click the search button or hit return. A list of hotels reviewed for Denver will come up. Alternatively, you can browse them (they are in alphabetical order), or if you know the name of one you want to find, click on the letters below the search box.

  4. Click on either the hotel name, "read more" or "read reviews" to read the initial and any subsequent reviews for that hotel. Once you find one you like, all the information you need is right there to contact the hotel for a reservation. You can even click on the "recommend this article" link at the bottom of the page and send it to all your PilotSpeak friends to let them know where you are staying, what restaurant you want to go to etc.

  5. To ADD your own review of the same place, just click on "add new review" and fill in the fields.

   

  GENERAL NOTES ON THE REVIEWS:

   

  1. If the Editor (Me, Admin) has reviewed it, it will be on the top of the page and is separate from the user reviews, which are shown below and averaged together.

  2. You can see each reviewer's picture (if they have uploaded one) and there is a link directly to their Member Page. You can also see a list of all reviews made by that person.

  3. When filling in a review, the address field is the ENTIRE address, separated by commas; Address, City, State, Zip Code.

  4. Any field with a red * is required to be filled in.

  5. If you fill in the website address, it must start with http://www.xxxxxxxxx.xxx

  6. If there is a blue circle with a white letter i inside, hovering the mouse over it will give you tips about that field.

  7. Users are ranked and their rank is shown based on the number of reviews they have submitted.

  8. If a review was helpful, click on the check mark at the bottom of the review and let the user know! If not, click on the red X.

• How do I add a NEW review to the Hotels/Restaurants/FBO's reviews?

  We will use Hotels for the example, the others are the same.

  1. Sign in. You must be a registered user to use this feature.

  2. Click on the Reviews/Hotels link.

  3. FIRST, you must check and see if the hotel you want to review has already been entered or not. If it's in Denver for example, type Denver in the search box and click search to see the list of hotels there that have been reviewed.

  4. If the hotel you want to review is already there:

  - Click on the name of the hotel and then click on "Add new review" and fill in the fields.

  5. If the hotel you want to review is NOT there:

  - Click on "Add New Entry" in the upper right hand corner. You will now have to enter all the hotel details, amenities, etc. as well as the review itself.  

  IMPORTANT: 

  As many places are chains, Holiday Inn or Atlantic Aviation for example, when you put in the Name of the place, add something else to help distinguish it such as the City name or perhaps the nearest airport identifier.  This will help in the future of being able to locate the place you want when searching!

  Please read the below information to help......

   

  GENERAL NOTES ON THE REVIEWS:

   

  1. If the Editor (Me, Admin) has reviewed it, it will be on the top of the page and is separate from the user reviews, which are shown below and averaged together.

  2. You can see each reviewer's picture (if they have uploaded one) and there is a link directly to their Member Page. You can also see a list of all reviews made by that person.

  3. When filling in a review, the address field is the ENTIRE address, separated by commas; Address, City, State, Zip Code.

  4. Any field with a red * is required to be filled in.

  5. If you fill in the website address, it must start with http://www.xxxxxxxxx.xxx

  6. If there is a blue circle with a white letter i inside, hovering the mouse over it will give you tips about that field.

  7. Users are ranked and their rank is shown based on the number of reviews they have submitted.

  8. If a review was helpful, click on the check mark at the bottom of the review and let the user know! If not, click on the red X.

   

• How do I change the default city in the weather side bar?

  1.  From the home page, click on the "Show more details and/or select a different city" link inside the Weather sidebar on the right, which defaults to San Francisco, CA.

  2.  Now you'll see all the nifty weather info for San Francisco.  On the bottom left, click on the "Select your city" link. 

  3.  Select the Region, Country and city you want.  Hit Save.

  4.  From now on, your default city will be the one you just picked.  To check the weather anytime, anywhere, just select the city via the process above....but remember, the last one you save will be the default to your computer. 

Others

• How about privacy?
  PilotSpeakdoes not sell, rent, loan, trade, or lease ANY personal information collected at our site to any other party. This includes but is not limited to any information collected in email lists, or polls. Any and all information stored by PilotSpeak.net is kept only to enhance the experience of our visitors and provide a more personalized experience.