If you can't find an answer to anything that's bugging you about The Berm here, add a comment at the bottom of this page and we'll get back to you with an answer to your UnFAQ.

• What is The Berm?
• What will I find on The Berm?
• Are there any rules?
• Who is responsible for me if I attend a ride or event?
• What's the etiquette if I post or want to attend a ride?
• How do I post videos on The Berm?
• How do I talk to other members on The Berm?
• What if I think of something that could improve The Berm?
• Can I advertise commercially on The Berm?
• How can I buy and sell stuff on the site?
• How do I delete one of my Classified ads?

What is The Berm exactly?

The Berm is a Mountain Biking community network, set up by a new Canberran bored with his own company and looking for a few riding buddies in the A.C.T. The aim is for like minded riders to hook up for rides, find out about what's going on in the MTB community, chat about cycling related or occasionally other stuff, or just meet up socially, not just in the A.C.T. but in other places Canberrans can easily get to. So if you're riding or organising an event anywhere from the Southern Highlands to the NSW South Coast to South Australia, tell everyone here about it.

If you like the idea and think we're reasonable people, and you can see we're just about having fun and socialising around mountain biking, then sign up, post or join a ride and do what you know makes sense - get out there and churn up some dust.

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What will I find on The Berm?

Glad you asked! Let's take you through the tabs at the top of the page.

First up the Main page is where most stuff you want to know at a glance sits. You can check out what rides or events are going on; check out what people are talking about in the Forum or in their Blogs; see what people have been doing on The Berm; check out cycling news, look at some cool MTB photos; see who the members are, and join any groups that have been created within The Berm.

My Page Here's where you get to do that thing you love - talk about yourself. You can pretty much make this page anything you want it to be – you can move things around, choose what to include or not, and set up this page to receive your bike news via RSS. You can link to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, add cool Application, make friends with other members and easily find any content you’ve added to the site in one spot.

Invite Friends is where, as a member, you get to tell your mates how good The Berm is and invite them to join up too.

Rides / Events Turn from no-mates to loadsa-mates in an instant by letting people know when you're next going for a ride. Alternatively join someone else's ride and let them worry about typing the stuff in. You’ll also find any events Berm members have found and posted. If you find any new events on the web, this is where you’ll post them up for all to see. Also if you run events yourself, feel free to chuck up the details here.

Forum is where you can talk about anything you like that's got the remotest link to mountain biking. Check out the Are there any rules? FAQ for a couple of guidelines on posting etiquette.

Trail Wiki Where you'll (eventually) find all you need to know about the trails we ride in this part of the world. Set up as groups so you can join them and comment on your fave trails, put on a status update or share your pics & vids.

Classifieds Buy, buy, buy! Or sell, sell, sell. Or give away some freebies. Your ability to turn into a mountain bike part selling millionaire machine are endless. See the How can I buy & sell stuff on the site? FAQ below.

Photos Add your own photos to an album, create a new one or just peruse other members' art.

Groups Join or create a public or private Group from this tab. You can start any Group you like as long as it’s bike related. Make it a closed Group if you want to restrict membership and who can view the Group’s content, even the rest of The Berm community. Setting up a group is the only section of the site that the Administrators have to approve.

FAQ’s You’re here! Hover over the FAQ’s tab at the top of the page to reveal the following subtabs:

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Are there any rules?

No. The Berm is a self-moderating site (READ: the administrator, being a hardworking public servant with no access to The Berm at the office, doesn't have time to read every post that's put up on it).

However, The Berm wants to attract reasonably normal people who enjoy riding and talking about mountain biking, so here are a couple of basic guidelines for ensuring healthy debate and a successful site:

• Common sense applies to everything The Berm is about. So when you're posting stuff remember that this is a public forum; Canberra is a small place; and the vast majority of the mountain biking community is law abiding and in general tries to avoid conflict with other trail users and landowners. In other words, please be polite to people whether you're on this site or on the trail.
• We can't stop anyone swearing on a public site but we can tell you that most normal people can get their point across without peppering a sentence with F words. And we can suspend your sorry ass if you're too potty mouthed for our administrator.
• We take a bit more of a dim view of certain antisocial behaviours such as racism, bullying etc or promoting illegal trail activity (riding / building), any of which will result in similar treatment PLUS you'll probably miss out on getting a Christmas card from TAMS.
• If someone is offended by something they should let the person who posted the comment know.  Admins can step in if requested and we will deal with offensive behaviour, but not robust discussion.

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  Who is responsible for me if I attend a ride or event?

  OK this is important. The Berm is basically a social network, not a club, association or society, so think of the Rides/Events page the same as you would a cork board in your kitchen - it's there to tell you what's going on, and you can go and do something, but it isn't responsible for you. You decide whether or not to join a ride and if you do attend one, it's at your own risk - you are responsible for yourself. Before you sign up for a ride, assess your abilities and if in doubt about how hard or easy a ride is, ask.

  On the other hand it's pretty reasonable to expect that: the ride poster can tell you how hard and how long a ride they want to do (so you can decide whether to attend or not); they know where they're going (unless they say otherwise in the ride post); and that the group always looks after each other if things go pear shaped on the trail.

  Events that you pay for are a different matter and you should check with the organisation running the event as to what they are responsible for and what you are insured against.

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  What's the etiquette if I post or want to attend a ride?

  IF YOU POST A RIDE:

  • Give as much detail as possible about the level of rider you want joining you. If you want to do 25km in an hour, call it a 'Training' ride in the Ride/Event type box. If it's a night ride, specify that riders need lights in the Description field.
  • If you call a ride "Social", people will expect it to be at a sloww to medium pace, and/or lots of stopping to wait for slower riders and to have a chat.  If you want to have a blast around the forest at 20km an hour, don't call it a social ride - 'coz that isn't!
  • Make sure you check you've put the time and date in correctly!
  • Make sure people can work out where exactly you're going to meet.  Assume someone has never been there.
  • If people haven't met you before, let them know how to identify you.
  • If things might change, make sure you let people know by sending a message to those that have RSVP'd.
  • If things change and you can't go on your own ride, others might still be able to. Just take yourself off the RSVP list and put a comment on the ride post, or send a message to those that have RSVP'd (the option is under Admin Options on the ride post page). This lets the ride still go ahead if there's enough interest.
  • Be at the meeting place at the time you said you were going to be there - don't turn up late for your own party!

  • IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND A RIDE:

    • Hit the RSVP button on the ride post. If the RP (ride poster) knows you're going, they can contact you if something changes and they know to look out for you if you're running a couple of minutes late.
    • If you change your mind about attending a ride (eg if you go from a Maybe to a Definitely), change your RSVP to match.
    • Check The Berm as close as you can to the event in case anything has changed. If you cant do that, PM the RP early to get their mobile phone number and contact them on the day to see if there are any changes.
    • The start time for the ride is the time the RP expects to head off down the track. Please get to the meeting point in time to make any adjustments to bike, clothing or otherwise prepare before the nominated start time. Turning up at the last minute only to discover you’ve got a flat on the bike you haven’t looked at for a month is a sure fire way to piss people off who’ve prepared themselves for a prompt start.
    • If you think you're going to be late, or have to cancel at the last minute, it’s polite to call or text the RP to let them know. They may or may not wait for you, but at least you’ll know which it will be!
    • Turn up with all the equipment you need. Helmets are compulsory, as is a spare tube - you can probably borrow a pump from someone else in the group, and in all likelihood scav a tube. Unless you’ve got 26” wheels and everyone else is on 29ers. Bring one. If it's going to get dark whilst you're on the ride (or after it if you're riding home), take decent lights.
    • Don't assume someone else is going to have tools!
    • Be honest about your limits and choose a ride or event that is within your ability. Whilst you may be looking to improve your skills and accidents sometimes happen, don't go out with the odds stacked against you, the ride poster and the other riders who want to enjoy the whole day. If in doubt, talk to the ride organiser before you sign up. There will be other rides you can go on and learn stuff on that might be more appropriate, or take a course if you want to learn in a controlled environment.
    • Enjoy yourselves!

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      How do I post videos on The Berm?

      You can’t post videos directly onto The Berm but you can embed an external video (e.g. from YouTube) intoThe Berm. Basically wherever there is an option to post HTML content in a text area, you can paste the embed code from the host site.

      To embed a video:

      1. Copy the embed code from the host site;
      2. In The Berm open up a new forum or blog topic, or a reply or comment.
      3. At the top of the blank text space you'll see a row of buttons including one that says HTML or HTML Editor, normally at the right. Click on this.
      4. Paste the embed code from the video host site into the text area.
      5. Click the Visual Editor or the HTML button again, depending on which option appears, so you can continue to add to our post in normal text (unless of course you want to continue writing your post in HTML).
      6. If you have any problems, see Contact admin. above!

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      How do I talk to other members on The Berm?

      There are a few ways you can talk to other members, either publicly or privately.

      Private Messages (PM) The thing to remember about PM'ing someone is that you have to add the intended recipient as a friend first. 1) Go to the Members section on the Main page, click on View All members and choose your victim from the list by clicking on their name (you might have to search for them using the search function). 2) Invite them to become a friend by clicking on Add as a Friend (it's under their photo). A pop-up will appear where you can send them a message, but you have to wait for them to accept your invitation. 3) Once the person is your friend it's easy to PM them - go to your Inbox (on the right hand side of the screen underneath your name) and send/receive messages from there.

      Chat Pasted to the bottom right of your screen you have 2 sections that read "Main Room" and "Members Online". To chat with everyone who's online, click on the "Main Room" and type something at the bottom, adjacent to the smiley face.  Once you've typed what you want, hit your Enter button to post it up. You can click on the smiley face to select an Emoticon to add to your post.

      To chat with an individual who's online, click on "Members Online" and then click on the individual you want to chat with.  This will open up a separate chat room where you can chat with just that person in private.

      Comment You're pretty much able to leave a Comment on most pages on this site, including other members' Profile pages. Just look out for a Comments box on the page.

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      What if I think of something that could improve The Berm?

      The Berm took about 20 hours of work by a complete IT newby to create, so obviously it ain't going to be perfect. If you have any ideas about what you'd like to see here, post them up in the Site Issues and Wishlist section and we'll see what can be done.

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      Can I advertise commercially on or sponsor The Berm?

      Yes!

      First up, if you’re an event organiser you’ve got a growing audience of members (900 at November 2011) and around 250 hits a day from all visitors. If you have an event to tell us about, simply create a Ride/Event for it to let us all know about it. No charge.

      We have now opened up advertising space on the main page to anyone who is interested in helping support the site (you'll see it if you take a look there). If you’re interested in coming on board, please get in touch with Nathaniel either by sending a PM or contacting nathaniel@pixelharvester.com. Bear in mind though that because we're seeking sponsorship only to help us run the site, we've limited the number of sponsors to a maximum of 4 at any time.

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      How can I buy & sell stuff on the site?

      You go to the Classifieds page. Here you can post an ad by clicking on, strangely enough, the Post An Ad icon on the page. You’ll be asked to complete the form; be sure to select the correct Category and Sub-Category, as well as the currency (rather annoyingly it won’t default to AUD). You can also add photos of your items from your computer.

      Once you hit Submit, you’ll be sent an email which you’ll need to retrieve and follow the (very simple) instruction on, before your advert is posted.

      Your advert will not have an expiry date so please remember to remove it when you’re cashed or kitted up from your trading experience.

      Wishlistis a feature which allows you to let your Friends know what you’d like for Christmas. It is not seen by the rest of The Berm community. (To be honest I haven’t tried this feature yet but it comes with the package so I’ve got to tell you about it).

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      I’ve sold my thingy so how do I delete my ad from Classifieds?

      First click on the Classifieds tab at the top of any screen to get to the Marketplace page. Find your adverts by clicking on “My Ads”, just under where it says Marketplace. This will bring up just your ads and a new Delete button. The next step is probably no surprise – find the ad you want to remove then click on that Delete button. Job done.

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      OK I think that's about it I think. If you have any comments about the FAQ’s please let us know through a PM to Nathaniel or via the Forum.

      See you out on the trails. Peace out!

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