# How to Use the Blue Robotics Forums (Please Read)

**URL:** <https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Tags:** guide\
**Created:** [September 2, 2021, 7:33am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521 "2021-09-02T07:33:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EliotBR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discuss.bluerobotics.com/eliotbr/32/6937_2.png) [@EliotBR](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/EliotBR)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 7:34am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/1 "2021-09-02T07:34:00Z")

</div>

Hello, and welcome to our forums! 😃

This is a space for our awesome community to share, discuss, and explore exciting ideas, projects, and products in the marine robotics space. We’re here to support and interact with anyone working with or using our [vehicles](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/blue-robotics-vehicles/78), [software](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/bluerobotics-software/8) and [products](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/blue-robotics-products/6), but also things you [build](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/build/7), or [dives](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/dive-log/10) you go on, along with all those awesome [third party products](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/third-party-products/72), from our distributors and elsewhere, that you can (or want to) use with our equipment. We also encourage [general discussion](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/general-discussion/5) of marine robotics, exploration, science, and furthering our shared understanding of all things underwater.

To use the forum effectively it helps to know what’s possible to do, so here’s an introduction to using the forum, including its layout and features, along with some tips for formatting content in your posts. You may wish to bookmark this post to refer back to later 🙂

# Contents (Skip to Section)

1. [Getting Started](#getting-started-2)
  - [Home-page Overview](#homepage-overview-3)
  - [Interacting with Posts](#interacting-with-posts-4)
  - [Before Posting](#before-posting-9)
    - [Searching the Forum](#searching-the-forum-10)
    - [Searching Resources](#searching-resources-14)

2. [Formatting a Post/Comment](#formatting-a-postcomment-15)
  - [Using Buttons](#using-buttons-16)
  - [In Text (more options)](#in-text-more-options-17)

3. [Tuning Notifications](#tuning-notifications-41)
  - [Notification Types](#notification-types-42)
  - [Tuning Notifications](#tuning-notifications-43)

# Getting Started

## Home-page Overview:

 ![getting-around](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/7/7dc51ee487488da28a2ecbef35c812f6387937a3.png)

[Tags](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/tags) are useful to pull together topics that are related but already fit into existing separate categories. The most relevant ones to know about are:

- #news for product announcements and other updates (by us and others)
- #guide for when a post is a guide for other users
- #vehicle-design for posts discussing best practices and relevant calculations and considerations when designing or modifying vehicles
- #simulate for all things simulation
- #poll for polls/surveys (generally relevant to product developments)
- #arduino for Arduino related posts, and
- #pymavlink for posts using or getting support for the pymavlink Python library.

## Interacting with Posts

> **click for: main options, more options, accessing your bookmarks, quoting a reply**
>
> ### Main options:
> 
> ![interacting-with-posts](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/5/50219353202ffe4cbcf786b39927beeb0b694ce8.png)
> 
> ### `...` (more options):
> 
> ![more-options](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/7/7e77a1af0c90933ee550b17aad1857c40119b867.png)
> 
> ### Accessing your bookmarks:
> 
> Click your profile in the top right corner, then click the bookmarks icon to access your bookmarked comments.
> 
> ![bookmarks](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/1/1a1e34e307bb3ec973386b212e14da5868ea8059.png)
> 
> ### Quoting in a reply
> 
> Select the content you want to respond to, and press the ‘Quote’ button that appears. You can have several quotes in one reply.
> 
> ![quote](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/e/e71baa2cecbca02708a8570717439fcfaf41c59b.png)

## Before Posting

When you’re planning to start a discussion thread or ask a question, it’s always a good idea to search first, to find what’s already been covered.

### Searching the Forum

#### Simple Search

Press the search icon in the top right corner, and type your search term. Press enter to search.

 ![basic-search](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/5/5bce93899f24d8f2c85cfb71b29dbf6409726777.png)

#### Advanced Search

Click ‘options’ in the simple search to access sorting and filtering options.

 ![advanced-search](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/7/7894a2f3c4e5c664fd2952b30242db0effa7a22c.png)

#### ‘Docs’ Search

Somewhere between simple and advanced search, the ‘Docs’ tab tries to present posts as though they’re a form of documentation. It allows filtering by whether posts are solved, and smartly filtering by categories and tags that are relevant to what’s been searched for.

 ![docs-search](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/9/936d1a5e344068aeb9a67df81cfd382356f1da29.png)

### Searching Resources

As well as searching the forum, when you’ve got a question it’s worth looking to see if the information is already available in our documentation, guides, or other resources. These are quite spread out, so it can be difficult to know where to look for what.

This section provides a general overview, but a more thorough guide (and hopefully an advanced searching tool) will be coming in future. For now, each separate resource location has its own built in search functionality, accessed through either the top left or top right of the page.

| Resource | Usage |
| --- | --- |
| [BR Website Product pages](https://bluerobotics.com/store/) | Product descriptions, technical details, CAD models, relevant guides |
| [BR Website Technical Reference](https://bluerobotics.com/learn/technical-reference/) | main product technical details (for comparison), CAD models, product documents, code library links, recommended software versions |
| [BR Website Guides](https://bluerobotics.com/learn/) | Product usage, assembly, and modification guides |
| [BR Website Resources](https://bluerobotics.com/guide-tag/resources/) | Programs, calculators, connector standard, and more |
| [BR Website Distributors](https://bluerobotics.com/distributors/) | Our distributors around the world, who often have their own products too! |
| [BR Website Service Providers](https://bluerobotics.com/service-providers/) | Providers of various ROV and USV services from around the world |
| [ardusub.com](https://ardusub.com) | ( **currently outdated** ) Documentation of the open-source [software](https://www.ardusub.com/introduction/required-software.html) we develop/use (companion/ArduSub/QGroundControl), and developer docs/examples for external integrations (pymavlink, OpenCV, dvl, etc), including the [Full ArduSub Parameter List](https://www.ardusub.com/developers/full-parameter-list.html), as well as [hardware and connection overviews](https://www.ardusub.com/introduction/hardware-options/connection-diagrams.html) |
| [ardupilot.org](https://ardupilot.org/dev/index.html) | Documentation for the general ArduPilot project, and other ArduPilot firmwares, including [Attitude Controller docs](https://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/apmcopter-programming-attitude-control-2.html) |
| blueos.cloud/docs | Documentation for our [BlueOS](https://blueos.cloud) onboard computer software, and [Cockpit](https://blueos.cloud/docs/extensions/cockpit/latest/overview) control station software |
| [docs.bluerobotics.com](http://docs.bluerobotics.com) | [Ping Viewer](https://docs.bluerobotics.com/ping-viewer/) and [Ping Protocol](https://docs.bluerobotics.com/ping-protocol/) documentation, and [ArduSub-4.1](https://docs.bluerobotics.com/ardusub-zola/software/autopilot/ArduSub-4.1/) |
| [BR GitHub](https://github.com/bluerobotics/) | Source code and issues tracking for [BlueOS](https://github.com/bluerobotics/BlueOS) and [Cockpit](https://github.com/bluerobotics/cockpit), our various sensor libraries, [Ping Viewer](https://github.com/bluerobotics/ping-viewer), and our [documentation](https://github.com/bluerobotics/ardusub-zola) |
| [ArduPilot GitHub](https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot) | ArduPilot/ArduSub source code and issues tracking |
| [mavlink GitHub](https://github.com/mavlink) | Source code and issues tracking for the [mavlink protocol](https://github.com/mavlink/mavlink) and [QGroundControl](https://github.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol) |
| [mavlink.io](https://mavlink.io/en/) | Documentation for the mavlink protocol, including the [common](https://mavlink.io/en/messages/common.html) and [ardupilotmega](https://mavlink.io/en/messages/ardupilotmega) message sets used by ArduSub |

# Formatting a Post/Comment

## Using Buttons

 ![formatting-with-buttons](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/2/29a0daa9f248b38365c96dd435d9c34a98e5882f.png)

## In Text (more options)

> **click for: text, headings, lists, hyperlinks, quotes, maths, code, diagrams, tables, spoilers, separator-lines, toggles**
>
> Jump to:
> 
> - [Text](#text-18)
> - [Headings](#headings-19)
> - [Lists](#lists-20)
> - [Hyperlinks](#hyperlinks-24)
> - [Quotes](#quotes-29)
> - [Maths](#maths-32)
> - [Code](#code-35)
> - [Diagrams](#diagrams-36)
> - [Tables](#tables-37)
> - [Spoilers](#spoilers-38)
> - [Separator Lines](#separator-lines-39)
> - [Toggles](#toggles-40)
> 
> ### Text
> 
> ` **Bold** ` → **Bold**  
> `*Italics*` → _Italics_  
> ` ~~strikethrough~~ ` → ~~strikethrough~~
> 
> ### Headings
> 
> Start a line with `#` symbols followed by a space to make headings. One (# ) makes a main heading, two (## ) is a sub-heading, and so forth.
> 
> ### Lists
> 
> #### Bulleted
> 
> ```nohighlight
> - lists
> - sub-lists
> - sub-sub-lists
> 
> ```
> 
> - lists
> - sub-lists
> - sub-sub-lists
> 
> #### Numbered
> 
> ```nohighlight
> 1. numbered lists
> part of the list item
> 1. auto-numbering
> 
> stuff in between
> 
> 5. start from desired number
> 
> ```
> 
> 1. numbered lists  
> part of the list item
> 2. auto-numbering
> 
> stuff in between (separated by new lines)
> 
> 1. start from desired number
> 
> #### Checkboxes
> 
> ```nohighlight
> [] unchecked
> [x] black check on white fill
> [X] white check on black fill
> 
> ```
> 
> unchecked  
> black check on white fill  
> white check on black fill
> 
> ### HyperLinks
> 
> #### to a general webpage
> 
> `[link text](url)` → link text
> 
> #### to a pdf
> 
> PDFs can be linked to like normal webpages, but it’s worth noting that including `#page=number` at the end of the url will link to a specific page, e.g.  
> `[link text](https://www.link/to/file.pdf#page=7)`
> 
> #### to content/a video
> 
> Some content, including YouTube videos and some other video services, can be embedded directly. Instead of creating a named hyperlink to them, just paste the link on a new line - the output preview should give a sense of what the final result will look like.
> 
> #### to a heading in the thread
> 
> Set the link url to `#` followed by the heading id. The id is the heading in lower-case with dashes between words, followed by the number it is (e.g. the second heading in a given post/comment is number 2). You can also find the id by right clicking the heading and selecting “inspect”.  
> `[Heading Name](#heading-name-N)`
> 
> ### Quotes
> 
> #### Block quotes
> 
> ```nohighlight
> > Block
> > quotes
> 
> ```
> 
> > Block  
> > quotes
> 
> #### Quoting with a specified source
> 
> **Note:** To quote part of a post, highlight it and press the “Quote” button that appears (see [Quoting in a reply](#quoting-in-a-reply-N))
> 
> ```nohighlight
> [quote="source (e.g. hyperlink)"]
> quote
> - text
> [/quote]
> 
> ```
> 
> > [@source (e.g. hyperlink)](#):
> >
> > quote
> > 
> > - text
> 
> ### Maths
> 
> We use MathJAX to provide maths support - it uses a similar syntax to LaTeX. You can right click on some formatted maths to show the underlying TeX commands.
> 
> #### Inline
> 
> Render `$inline$` maths → Render inline maths
> 
> #### Block
> 
> ```tex
> $$
> line\ breaks:\\
> \begin{align}
> maths &= x^{2t} + x_0 = 3\\
> &= \frac{1}{2}\cos(\theta)
> \end{align}
> $$
> 
> ```
> 
> line\ breaks:\\ \begin{align} maths &= x^{2t} + x\_0\\ &= \frac{1}{2}\cos(\theta) \end{align}
> 
> ### Code
> 
> ` ```nohighlight/language(e.g. python/c/arduino/...)/blank -> auto-detect language`  
> `code in the middle`  
> `````
> 
> ```nohighlight
> code in the middle
> 
> ```
> 
> ### Diagrams
> 
> We use [Mermaid](http://mermaid.js.org/intro/#diagram-types) to provide diagram support - it’s a text-based syntax that allows describing the diagram to be generated, and automatically creates and positions the specified components.
> 
> ` ```mermaid height=200`
> 
> ```nohighlight
> graph TD;
> A --> B;
> 
> ```
> 
> `````
> 
> ```mermaid
> graph TD;
> A --> B;
> 
> ```
> 
> ### Tables
> 
> ```nohighlight
> | Left | Center | Right |
> |---|:---:|---:|
> | content | can be *formatted* | **like normal** |
> 
> ```
> 
> | Left | Center | Right |
> | --- | --- | --- |
> | content | can be _formatted_ | **like normal** |
> 
> ### Spoilers
> 
> ```nohighlight
> Click to reveal: [spoiler] hidden text [/spoiler]
> 
> ```
> 
> Click to reveal: hidden text
> 
> ### Separator Lines
> 
> ```nohighlight
> above
> 
> ---
> below
> 
> ```
> 
> above
> 
> * * *
> 
> below
> 
> ### Toggles
> 
> ```nohighlight
> [details="name"]
> information you want to fold down
> [/details]
> 
> ```
> 
> > **name**
> >
> > information you want to fold down

# Tuning Notifications

Once you have a feel for how the forum works, you may decide you’d like to be notified when new content is added that you’re particularly interested in. Alternatively, you may wish to disable notifications temporarily at some point, or turn them off permanently.

Discourse (which powers the forum) provides a variety of notification settings, which can allow you to configure how you get notified on posts you’re active in, as well as signing up to notifications for particular categories or tags.

## Notification Types

It’s possible to get (and configure) notifications for specific categories and tags, as well as notifications on particular posts. It’s also possible to set individual users as muted or ignored if you don’t want notifications of their posts, or don’t want to see their posts or comments at all.

> **click for a list of categories and tags that are likely to be of interest to most forum users**
>
> - [Dive Log](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/dive-log/10)
> - [Build](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/build/7) (you may wish to select specific sub-categories)
> - [General Discussion](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/c/general-discussion/5)
> - [news](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/tag/news)
> - [guide](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/tag/guide)
> - [vehicle-design](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/tag/vehicle-design)
> - [poll](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/tag/poll)

## Accessing Notifications

> **click to toggle instructions for main notification settings**
>
> To access the notification settings, go to your preferences via your profile icon in the top right corner:
> 
> ![accessing-settings](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/7/7413d8bb1645b25a8b7f554f61366117e16340b8.png)
> 
> Then go to the Preferences tab, and select one of the relevant sections in the sidebar:
> 
> ![tuning-notifications](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/bluerobotics/original/2X/5/5d66e5997197476338fc85a2cd9da089913b00c7.png)

It’s also possible to access category and tag notification settings from the bell in the top right corner of their individual pages, and notification settings for a particular post are configurable underneath the last comment. To mute or ignore a particular user, go to their profile and change the “Normal” dropdown in the top right corner to “Muted” or “Ignored”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EliotBR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discuss.bluerobotics.com/eliotbr/32/6937_2.png) [@EliotBR](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/EliotBR)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 7:39am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/5 "2021-09-02T07:39:48Z")

</div>



---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EliotBR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discuss.bluerobotics.com/eliotbr/32/6937_2.png) [@EliotBR](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/EliotBR)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 7:41am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/6 "2021-09-02T07:41:53Z")

</div>

Feel free to comment about any missing or incorrect information 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sungjoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sungjoo](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/Sungjoo)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/7 "2024-05-28T23:19:24Z")

</div>

Thank you!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rov36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rov36](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/Rov36)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/8 "2024-06-08T18:11:49Z")

</div>

How do I send a private email to a member?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EliotBR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discuss.bluerobotics.com/eliotbr/32/6937_2.png) [@EliotBR](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/EliotBR)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/9 "2024-06-08T20:57:36Z")

</div>

The forum doesn’t expose user email addresses to each other, but if you go to someone’s profile (or just click on their name, in one of their posts or comments) there should be a blue “Message” button in the top right corner that allows you to start a private message thread with them 🙂

In case it’s relevant, forum moderators don’t have access to private conversations unless they get invited to them by one of the participants, but admins can technically find them if they’re specifically looking for them. If it’s important that the conversation be impossible to access for anyone other than the users involved then I’d recommend starting a conversation with the message system and using that to exchange contact information for an independent channel.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rov36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rov36](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/Rov36)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/10 "2024-06-09T12:39:45Z")

</div>

That’s what I did but it seemed to post public. I will take another look.  
Maybe the private emails still go through the forum but are not seen public?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EliotBR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discuss.bluerobotics.com/eliotbr/32/6937_2.png) [@EliotBR](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/EliotBR)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/how-to-use-the-blue-robotics-forums-please-read/10521/11 "2024-06-10T01:33:37Z")

</div>

> [@Rov36](#):
>
> Maybe the private emails still go through the forum but are not seen public?

Hmm, kind of?

The forum doesn’t provide any mechanisms for users to directly email each other (i.e. your email address should not be exposed to other users unless you put it in a post or your profile description). Private “messages” are basically just normal posts with access restricted to the people who’ve been invited to that discussion, and you can even request that an admin turn a given message thread into a normal (public) post thread.

Any emails that you get from the forum are notifications from the forum itself, and if you send an email response to a thread update notification then the forum will turn that into a comment from your account in the relevant thread. Other people in that thread may get email notifications about your replies, but they can also turn those off if they want to.