I am a member of two BigTent groups with two different email addresses. How do I consolidate my accounts?

If you're a member of two BigTent groups with two different email addresses, you can consolidate memberships so that you can see both groups on one account. You will then also receive email notifications from both groups to one email address.


To do this, follow these instructions:

* First, determine which email address you want to use to log in and receive email notification. Then note down to which group(s) you belong with the OTHER undesired email address.
* Visit the BigTent Group Directory and find the group(s) that use(s) your undesired email address. Find the group's website and request an invitation be sent to your DESIRED email address. If you cannot find the group's website, please contact the group leader directly to request a new invitation. You can find the group leader's contact info by going to the group's "about" page or by clicking "help."
* Once the desired email address has been invited to the group and you have completed the enrollment process, log in to your account with the OTHER, undesired, email address and go to my bigtent > settings > membership info. Click "leave group."
* Now you should have both groups on your account with the desired email address.



If you need help, contact BigTent Customer Support.

Can I change my screen name?

You can easily change your screen name at any time by following the directions below:


* Sign in to www.bigtent.com with your email address and password.
* Go to my bigtent > settings.
* Type in a new screen name. Only lowercase letters are allowed.
* Make sure to click "Save" at the bottom of the page.


Please note that your screen name is how you're identified to other members when you post to the forums and on the member list. Your screen name links to your profile. You do not, however, use your screen name to sign in to BigTent, so even if you change your screen name, please continue to sign in to BigTent with your email address and a password.

How do I deactivate my BigTent account or remove myself from BigTent?

You can deactivate your BigTent account at any time. This action will remove you from all your BigTent groups and will remove your profile from our system. You will no longer have access to BigTent or any groups' content. If you decide to join or re-join a BigTent group in the future, you will need to create a new account, and may be required to pay for a membership fee if required by the group.

To deactivate your BigTent account, simply follow these steps:

* Sign in to BigTent.
* Go to my bigtent > settings > deactivate account.
* Click "Deactivate Account."
* Once you confirm that you want to deactivate account, you will be removed from BigTent and your memberships in all of your groups will be terminated immediately.

Please note: This action cannot be undone. Please use caution when deactivating your BigTent account, as all of your information will be lost and we will not be able to restore it for you.

How do I leave my group or subgroup?

You can either temporarily or permanently terminate your membership with your group at any time. Once you do this, you will no longer be a part of the group and will no longer receive emails or other communications from your group on BigTent.


To temporarily suspend your membership (e.g., if you're going on vacation for a month and don't want to get group emails while you're gone), simply follow these steps:

* Sign in to BigTent and go to my bigtent > settings > membership info.
* Find the group or subgroup in question and click "suspend membership" under the group or subgroup name.
* To reinstate yourself, simply click "resume membership."



To permanently remove yourself from a group and immediately cancel your membership:

* Go to settings > membership info.
* Click "leave group" under the group or subgroup name.
* Once you confirm that you want to leave the group, you will be removed from it immediately.

Please note: This action cannot be undone. If you leave the group by mistake, you will need to request to join again, and may need to pay an additional membership fee. Contact your group's leaders for further info.

Overview: Settings

To change your settings, including how many emails you receive, your contact information, and your group membership(s), simply go to "my bigtent" and click the "settings" link.

From the Settings page, you can:

* Change your personal information. To learn more about making these changes, see the FAQs in the "Profile" category.
* Edit the information you choose to share with your group. Click "settings," then choose "profile privacy." Use the checkboxes to decide what information group members can see for each of your groups. Learn more here: How can I control who sees my personal information?
* Suspend or resume your group membership. Simply click the "membership info" tab then click "Suspend membership" under the group in question. See this FAQ for step-by-step directions: How do I leave my group or subgroup?
* Change your email preferences. Go to the "email options" tab. Check out this article for instructions on changing your email preferences: Video & Guide: How do I control the emails I receive from my group(s) on BigTent?

Changing your primary email address

Your primary and sign-in email address is the address you use to sign in to your BigTent group as well as the email address at which you receive group announcements and forum messages. Changing your primary email address is a quick, three-step process:


1. Sign in to www.bigtent.com with your old email address.

* Click "settings," then click "change" next to your email address.

* Click "Add another email address" and enter your new email address in the box. Click "Add.


2. We'll send an email to your new address so that you can verify it.

* Please note: The email comes from no_reply@lists.bigtent.com, so please check your spam or junk folder if you have difficulty finding it.

3. Click the link provided in the confirmation email to verify your new address.

* You'll be taken to back to your BigTent "settings" page.
* Click "make primary" next to your new email address. You'll need to enter your password for security reasons.

Once you add a new primary email address, you'll also have the option to remove your old email address. Remember that after you change your primary email address, you'll need to use this address to sign in to BigTent.

How do I upload a new profile picture?

Jumpstart Instructions

To upload a new profile picture:

* Go to my bigtent > settings > personal info and click "change" next to the profile picture.
* Upload your photo and wait until you see a preview of the photo before clicking "OK."

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Visual Aid

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The Nitty Gritty

Upload a new profile picture from your computer

* Click "Change" next to the current profile picture.
* Click "Upload"

* Browse for the file and select it.
* You'll need to wait until you see a preview of your image before you click "Ok."

You can upload an image up to 20MB, but please note that the larger the image, the longer it may take to upload. If you click "Ok" before a preview of your image appears at the left, your upload will fail.

Upload a photo from Flickr:

* Click "Flickr" and enter a search term (e.g., "flower"). Click on your desired image.
* To choose a photo from a website, click "Web," and enter the URL of the photo.
* Click "Get" then click on your desired image.
* Click "OK" to close the pop-up box.
* Click "Save" or "Save and View Profile" for your changes to take effect.


If you're not seeing your new photo:

If you've followed the instructions above and are still not seeing your new profile picture, either on your profile or on the roster, you may need to refresh your browser. To get your new profile picture to appear, simply follow these steps:

* If your new profile picture doesn't appear on the profile page, hold down Ctrl (Command/Apple on a Mac) and click the reload button in your browser. When the BigTent page reloads, you should see your new picture.

* On your group's member list, to bring up the correct picture, hold down Ctrl (Command/Apple on a Mac) and click the reload button in your browser. When the BigTent page reloads, you should see your correct picture in the list.