YouOS is ever-changing and expanding, and, as such, it is often a challenge to keep up with all the new developments and changes. Then again, this is what makes it special:  YouOS is only as strong as the community that engages it, and we have a wonderful community of users. In order to get more help with YouOS and also to discuss issues, brainstorm, make suggestions, help others, and glimpse what's on YouOS's horizon in (almost) real-time, check out these helpful resources below:

• Discussion Forums
• Blog
• Feedback Tickets

To actively participate in the forums, you will need to register. Here's how to do so, and how to navigate the forums.

NOTE: This registration is separate from your YouOS user information.

1. Go to YouOS.com and click on "Forum" on the upper right-hand side (or go directly there to http://forum.youos.com/).
2. Once entering the forums, you'll be able to see the discussion topics and browse user posts but will not be able to make posts of your own until you register. To do so, click on Register at the top left.

3. Read the registration agreement and click "I Agree."
4. On the registration page, enter your information and specify your options. If you don't quite know what everything means, keeping the defaults is a safe bet.
5. Once you've completed registration, an email will be sent to you.
6. Open the email and click the link in order to activate your account. You need to do this or your account will remain inactive.
7. That's it! Now here's how to navigate the forums once you're registered:
• Topics are separated into two simple categories: "General" (meant for most users) and "Developments" (meant for advanced users).
• In order to open a discussion thread, click on a forum, then on a topic, and you should see the discussion thread. To reply to a current thread, or create a new one, click on the buttons on the top left.

The blog is a central place where the YouOS team will frequently provide updates on development and progress. You'll also have a chance to make comments in reply though general YouOS feedback is normally given via the Ticket System (see instructions for submitting tickets below).

NOTE: This registration is separate from your YouOS account as well as the web forum.

1. Go to YouOS.com and click on "Blog" on the upper right-hand side (or go directly there to http://blog.youos.com/).
2. Like any blog, entries are ordered chronologically with the most recent at the top. Feel free to scroll down or use the menus on the right-hand side to browse either by category ("Category") or by month ("Archive").

3. In order to be able to post comments of your own, you'll need to register. To do so, look for the menu on the right-hand side of the page called "Meta" and click on the Register bullet.
4. This will take you to WordPress' registration page. Enter your desired username and email address, and click "Register." Your temporary password will be automatically sent to your email address.
5. In order to log in, use the generated password on the login screen and log in.

6. You'll be taken to an account profile page. Fill out as much as you like and then get back to the YouOS blog by clicking the YouOS Blog link at the top. Enjoy!
7. In order to make a comment, you have two options:
• Click on the entry topic and scroll down to find previous comments (if any) and a box in which to write, or
• Click on the comment link to the right of the entry's byline. If a previous comment has already been made, it will say, e.g., "2 comments so far," or, if you're the first one, "add a comment."

YouOS uses a Ticket System in order to capture and track user feedback. This consists of a wiki that operates like a simple database, tracking all posts and replies, and making them public and transparent. As such, in order to protect your privacy, please use your YouOS account name or "anonymous" instead of your email address whenever prompted. Here's how to use it:

1. Go to YouOS.com and click on "Develop" on the upper right-hand side (or go directly there to http://trac.youos.com/).
2. While this front page of the wiki has multiple purposes, the ticket system consists of the horizontal menu at the top: "New Ticket," "View Tickets," and "Timeline." There is no need to register with Trac, the wiki service upon which the ticket system runs.

3. In order to provide feedback on YouOS, submit a ticket by clicking on the New Ticket link and filling out the following attribute fields. As you can see, not all attributes are necessary or applicable so just make sure to fill in enough to explain the issue clearly.
   
   Important:
   • Reporter - The author of the ticket. This is you - enter your YouOS username or "anonymous" if you would like to remain a mystery.
   • Summary - A title for the ticket.
   • Description - The details on your bug or suggestion; the more detail, the merrier. For bugs, we'd love to know which browser you are using.
   Further Details:
   • Type - Select either "bug" or "suggestion". Both kinds of feedback help us out tremendously.
   • Application - if the issue you're logging is for a particular application (Sticky, etc.), please provide its name here.
   • Browser - please select the web browser that you are using; some bugs are specific to a certain browser.
   • Operating System - please select the desktop operating system you are using, if applicable.
   Trivial:
   • Priority - Change this to "minor" if you don't think the bug or suggestion is a big deal.
   • Keywords - LEAVE THIS BLANK
   • Cc - LEAVE THIS BLANK
   • Assigned to/Owner - LEAVE THIS AS "somebody"
NOTE: Once a ticket has been entered, you can change the information by creating an annotation. Changes and comments are logged as part of the ticket itself. When viewing a ticket, the history of changes will appear below the main ticket area.


4. In order to view existing tickets, click on View Tickets. A list of tickets will come up. In order to submit a query and view only those tickets meeting certain parameters, use the "Filters" and "Group" sections at the top of the page to narrow your search and/or change your view options.
   • Filters: Filter tickets by various parameters. To add a filter, click on the dropdown menu where it says "Add a filter" on the right-hand side. To remove a currently selected filter, click the "-" box aligned to the right of the filter you'd like to remove. When ready to submit your query, click "Update."
   • Group: You can group results in various ways and also decide whether they should display in descending order and/or with full descriptions. Click "Update" on the right to view your results.

5. To view a single ticket, click on it from the displayed list. This will show you the original ticket as well as the log of any changes, comments, or replies to the ticket. You'll also be able to make a comment in the text box below the ticket's history.

6. As an alternate way to view YouOS feedback, click on Timeline. This allows you to view and sort tickets by date of changes rather than by a ticket's individual characteristics as with "View Tickets." To do so, specify your date range in the gray box on the right-hand side of the page and click "Update."