See below for a primer on how to use the blog.

First and foremost, register. It's fast, it's free, and it gives you access to everything available on the site and listed below. Once you have registered and signed in, got to "My Profile" in your User Menu. This is command central, where you can opt in or out of various site features and view your personals site statistics. At the top you have three tabs: the "Edit Tab" allows you to "Update Your Profile" information and "Update Your Image", so you can upload a picture of yourself or an avatar for those who are shy. The connections tab allows you to Manage Your Connections to others in this blog's community. Connections are digital relationships that you have made with others. They are designed to facilitate social interaction among the blog's constituency. More on this a little later. You will also find in this window your statistics, such as how many "hits" your profile has received, online status, profile rating by others, etc.

You have the option of sending email through the BoomBustBlog.com email system which keeps email addresses private for the recipient, and/or using the internal private messaging system , which users can tell to email them if they are not online (optional).
Towards the bottom of the window, there are tabs for Article that you have written. Yes, you can create your own blog here by clicking the "Submit Content" in the user menu,but to have it appear on the greater site, you will have to have it screened by me and approved - Warning, while I really love to have guest bloggers on the site, I am quite picky.

The next tab calls for a list of your connections, as mentioned above. These are the established relationships that you have in the community. It allows for one click email and messaging, and alerts when your connections are online with you.

My Invites 

 My invites is a cornerstone in community building in the Boom Bust Blog. It facilitates community member's invitation to others to view and join this financial community. By clicking the My Invites  tab on the bottom of your profile, then clicking the Invite Tool, you will get a dialog that resembles the one to the left. It allows for the easy importation email addresses by clck the blue "Add from my address book " button. Now you have the option of importation from popular web-based emails or desktop based email apps (be sure to click the actual hyperlink to import, and not the pictures). Don't worry, the blog does not keep nor store your data (see the Privacy Statement). It just makes it easy for you to email several people quickly. It very quick, and quite slick -  but then again I am a nerd.

The more people you invite to the Boom Bust Blog, the more dynamic and vibrant it will become. In addition, the more people you invite, the more flexibility it gives me to publish my high end research without charge. The analytical staff that I employ is expensive...
 

This is the contacts import dialog. 

Once you have invited your invitees, they will be tracked into the site and you will be notified if and when they join as well as any outstanding invites. You have the option to have them automatically connected to you upon invitation (so, don't invite anyone you don't like:-)

The system also keeps a running log of your accepted invites independent of your connections throughout the blog.

 Now, back to the other tabs in your profile page...

 \The newsletter tab alerts you to the status of the newsletter delivery that you chose when you registered. I will be sending out newsletters on opinion and analysis roughly once a week starting in January 2008.

The profile book show the status of your profile and the options you chose during registration. They can be changed by editing your profile.
 
My blog give you the statistics on your personal blogging activity on this site.
 
 Now, back the Main Menu, there is a site map that outlines the entire site, so you know what is available and where and a "all articles" command that displays all articles in chronological order.

This tutorial is a work in progress. I will be adding on to it over time. Feel free to ask any questions via the comments dialog below.