All You Ever Didn’t Want to Know About Meetup, But Were Coerced Into Learning
Part 1: Signing up for the Tidewater Libertarian Party Meetup
For the purposes of this tutorial, I am assuming that you are literate in English and able to get onto the internet. If you aren’t literate in English (how are you reading this tutorial?) or you don’t have internet access, you can’t complete this tutorial. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
To sign up for the TLP Meetup group,you will need two things aside from literacy and an internet connection. First, you will need a valid e-mail address that you don’t mind sharing. You’ll be using this address to receive notifications of meetings (called “Meetups” by those in the know) and messages from the TLP executive committee. The second thing you’ll need is the web address (the URL) for the TLP Meetup. Being the kind, generous tutorial writer that I am, I will provide said address free of charge.
The TLP Meetup web address is:
Do you have your e-mail address ready? Excellent! Navigate to the address above by either typing it into your web browser.
You should see something like this:
If you see this, you’re on the right track. This is the Tidewater Libertarian Party’s meetup group. You can view a number of things from this page, including members, upcoming events, and various bits of information. We’ll get into all of that later… for now, we need to get you signed up.
There should be a series of three text fields; Your Name, Your E-Mail, and Your Password.
I’ll circle them in blue to help you find them:
Fill out these pieces of information (choosing a password that you’ll remember), click on the little box that indicates that you agree to the terms (right under the three boxes, and click that red “sign up” button. When it finishes processing, you should see:
The text reads:
“We just sent an email to (your e-mail address) to verify your email address.
You must click the link in that email to join this Meetup Group.”
If you made a mistake and entered the wrong e-mail address, just go back and try again; no worries.
Now that you’ve done that, check your e-mail. You’re looking for an e-mail titled “Last step: verify your Meetup.com membership” from . If you don’t see it, check your junk mail; it probably got filtered as junk. In the e-mail itself, there will be a link. Either click on that link, or cut & paste the link into your browser. Once loaded, you will see:
Actually, yours should have your name in it instead of “test account”, but you see what I mean. At this point, the signup process is complete. There are other options to configure, but the essential sign-up process is complete. Click the red “Let’s Go button” and go to Part 3 of this tutorial.
Part 2: Logging into Meetup
If you’re immediately continuing the process from part 1, you should not need to log in; skip right to part 3. If some time has passed since you completed part , or you’ve been logged out for some reason, following these simple steps will get you back into the system.
Navigate to again. In the upper right corner, you should see a link that says “sign in”. If you’re having trouble finding it, I’ve circled it:
Click on that link. The link will take you to the following page, on which you will be required to enter the e-mail address you used to sign up, and the password you chose (you remember it, don’t you?)
That’s it! You should be logged in.
Part 3: Setting Up Initial Options
After verifying your e-mail address, you will be asked to set up some basic options. You’ve just clicked “Let’s Go”, right? You should see a screen similar to this one:
The first text box reads “Say hello and share a few things about yourself.” You can type whatever you like into this box (including nothing at all), though you are limited to 250 characters. You can put in how or why you joined the meetup, your official position in the TLP… you choose!
The second box is a photo upload box. Again, you can leave this box blank… but people will take you more seriously if you post a photo. It does not even have to be a photo of you, as long as it is a photo of something!
To post a photo, click on the “browse” button and navigate to the photo’s location on your computer. Once you’ve found the photo, click “Okay.”
The second to last box controls the mailing list messages. If you prefer to see messages as they come in (real-time), select “as they are sent”. If you prefer to get a summary of the messages daily, select “in one daily email.” If you prefer not to receive the messages at all, select “I’d rather not receive e-mail messages.” You will still receive notices of meetings, so don’t worry… this setting only controls non-meeting specific communication.
The last box controls whether or not you receive messageboard message notifications. If you’d to be notified when there are messageboard discussions, check the box “Email me when this group's message board is updated.”
When you’re satisfied with the settings, click the red “Save” button. You’re done with the basic configuration of your Meetup account!
Part 4: Meetup Menu
While browsing the Tidewater Libertarian Party’s meetup group, you may have noticed that there’s a left menu. One that left menu, there are a number of options one can select if one is so inclined. As you may not be familiar with said options, let me cover each one briefly… but first, a screenshot with the traditional blue circle around the menu in question:
Welcome: Welcome is the main page for the TLP Meetup group. On the Welcome page, you will find scheduled meetings, recent meetings, and new events & members. You can also RSVP for events from here… more on that later.
About Us: This is a catchall category from which administrators can add additional information not covered in the other sections of the Meetup site. As of right now (4:24 pm on January 17th2008, for those keeping track) there is no information in this section, though that should change in the near future.
Calendar: The calendar is just what it sounds like… a calendar of events for the TLP Meetup group. You can find all of the scheduled events via the calendar, even if they’re not yet showing up on the Welcome page.
Members:You can browse the through the members of the group in this section. If they’ve included a picture and/or an introduction, it will be viewable here as well.
Photos: In the photos section, you can view photos that have been uploaded. You can also upload your own TLP related pictures via the Add Photos link.
Messages: This section contains the messageboard for the TLP meetup group. You may browse current topics, reply to posts, and even post your own topics here via the “Start a New Discussion” button near the top of the page.
Polls: Here, you can find any polls the TLP has created.
Files: This section is meant for file-sharing of the legal sort. If there are documents that TLP members should have access to, or documents that help the TLP organize effectively, you will find them here. You can also upload files to this section. As of today, there are maps of the three Congressional districts served by the TLP, and a copy of the Bylaws.
Promote!: The promote option is meant to offer you, the TLP Meetup participant, ways to spread the word. You will find HTML code for your blog and Facebook applications here. There is also a link that you can use to invite friends and acquaintances to the TLP Meetup.
Part 5: The End!
That’s it for the basic tutorial! Stay tuned for the “Executive Committee Members’ Guide to Meetup” and possibly an “Intermediate Meetup Guide” to cover integrating Meetup into your other sites, signatures, and spreading the word amongst the masses.
Feel free to e-mail me if you’ve got any questions or comments at
Enjoy!