First Time Visitors
Please read through these helpful topics. You'll find important information here that will maximize your experience using the site and getting you up to speed quickly. At a minimum, please pay attention to the highlighted wording.
1. PURPOSE OF "OUR" WEBSITE:
This site was created to connect and re-connect with our classmates, hopefully in an environment that most will be find interesting, informative and stimulating as well.
Everything you need to know about how to gain access to the secure side of our website and setting up a profile is on this page. If you have questions, please contact the Site Administrators.
2. PRIVACY NOTICE:
This is a private website, built from the ground up by your fellow classmates. Our website is HTTPS and SSL certified so it is encrypted and ensures a safe browsing experience. Your personal information will never be sold, shared or distributed to others including our Alma Mater.
Your contact information is private. The registration information and data you provide when registering is shielded. YOU determine what information will be displayed on your Profile. This information WILL be viewable by all member classmates. Each classmate has the ability to limit the amount of information they provide on their Profile, which will be viewable only by member classmates.
We have taken the liberty of downloading our entire graduating class photos in the Gallery and placed a copy in your profile. If you do not want your name and picture on this site, it may be removed by contacting the Site Administrators. This will end all communications to you from the Bishop McDevitt High School Class of 1969 and your fellow classmates on this platform.
3. REGISTERING FOR THE SITE:
You arrived here from the HOME page. After reading this section, please RETURN to the HOME page and you will see the Headings along the top of the page with a Log In option at the upper right. There is also an option to Log In at the bottom of the HOME page. It's your preference. Tablets and iPads should have a virtually identical appearance to what is seen on a computer screen. Smart phones have significantly smaller screens and the pages might appear in some instances a little different, possibly even abbreviated, to compensate for that.
A. Click "Log In". Please IGNORE “new to this site? at the top”
B. Type in your email address (we pre-loaded your email address into our contacts folder, as this was necessary for the system to recognize you).
C. SKIP “password” & proceed to “FORGOT password?”
D. Follow the instructions to Reset your password. You will receive an email from WIX.com (our platform) which will allow you to create your own unique password. Passwords do not need to be the high security style required for some sites, although they are certainly recommended. You must use a minimum of six (6) characters. Please read the Password section (below) for more details.
E. Return to the website, Click “Got It” & proceed to Log In entering the required mix of characters. Make note of this password for future Log Ins, especially if your browser or phone does not save or retain passwords.
F. A blank Member Registration Form will now appear. Please complete all blanks & answer the Vetting Question which should not be difficult for a true Crusader, even after all these years. The vetting question answer you submit will require the attention of a Site Administrator to approve. So please be patient while waiting for our response.
G. Click SUBMIT. Once you are approved, re-entry should be automatic, provided your browser (see below in Passwords) has retained your username and password.
Special note for the ladies: You may have been known as Emily Katzenjammer for the past 50 years, but if you graduated as Emily Johnson, that may pose a problem. For many of your classmates, you may only be remembered by the name you used while attending McDevitt. Until you register and make that apparent in your Account Settings and Profile page that might be confusing to many and an issue for names we have pre-loaded in an attempt to expedite the process. We recommend you list your maiden name as a middle name to help everyone understand the difference. Similarly, this is another good reason for everyone to change their profile photo from the graduation image we set up for many to one that is more recent.
The registration information is beneficial to the Site Administrators to confirm or update your home address, and phone numbers. Again, these details will not be visible to or shared with fellow classmates but useful in the event that we need to contact you by snail mail or phone (usually via texting). Cities, states and countries may be used to show where our Crusaders are located throughout the 50 states and beyond. We do not share this information unless directed to do so. However, YOU are free to exchange personal information when you establish a direct connection with our classmates in private chats.
4. PASSWORDS:
Passwords do not need to be the high security style required for some sites, although they are certainly recommended. You must use a minimum of six (6) characters. We recommend your password should be 8 to 12 characters in length and include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers & special characters. The old axiom of "a chain is as strong as the weakest link" is at play here.
Clicking the "Remember Me" prompt or equivalent recall feature on your browser will allow you to bypass entering the password each time you visit. Eventually the "remember me" safeguard might fail. For instance when you obtain a new computer, tablet/iPad or cell phone. So, please make note of your password and keep a copy in a safe place.
If you forget your password, simply click on "Forgot password?" when attempting to Log In and the system will take you through an easy process to establish a new one.
5. SETTING UP YOUR PROFILE:
Please make this a priority! It will help everyone. In order to access the member only pages that are on this site, you need to register. Although you are not required to setup a profile, a major reason we have this website is to learn a little more about each other’s lives.
There are various ways on the website to access your profile. You can figure those out as you become more familiar and comfortable with this new environment. For the sake of brevity we recommend you go to the "Classmate Gallery" page, locate your name and photo and click on it.
Once you have arrived at your profile page, on the far right side at the top are 3 vertical dots which will open up three profile options.
A. Click on EDIT PROFILE and you will arrive at your personal profile page. Add whatever information you wish to share with everyone on this website. Ideally you will want to provide a little about your life since graduation. It doesn't need to be a book, unless you have a lot to say. Family life, jobs, pets, etc. - tell us what's on your mind. We have plenty of bandwidth available to chronicle whatever you wish to share. Anecdotes from our school days are encouraged as well.
B. You can upload a current photo on this page in place of the graduation photo that appears there now. Your current photo will also appear in the Member Registry. Many of us have probably been passing each other for years at stores, restaurants, etc. and never realized it. Another way to get reacquainted.
C. We provided a media style background to the top portion of this page; however, that can be changed as well with another photo you might want to include. Sample ideas: family members, a favorite vacation, dream car, etc. Just know that this image should be at least 300 dpi if not more because of the large area it will encompass.
A few words about your "Display Name." This is what everyone will see on your profile page and elsewhere on the site. To access it, go to your "Account Settings." The link for this is found at your Log In portal.
D. On this page there are three topics at the top. We suggest you ignore the other 2 headings (Settings and My Wallet) until you talk to a Site Administrator. Those are options not in use at the present time.
E. Please change the "Display Name" to your preference. Feel free to use a nickname familiar to other classmates. And ladies: the inclusion of your maiden name as a middle name will prove helpful if needed to locate you in the future. This edit will be public to other members as well.
If you were part of the Bishop McDevitt High School Class of 1969 (if only for one year) we will be happy to have you join us for the camaraderie. Contact us and we will look into getting you included.
6. CRUSADER FORUM:
This is where we can openly discuss subjects pertaining to Bishop McDevitt. Currently there are two sub-groups. Those are the AUDITORIUM for general discussion about classes, clubs & activities and the STADIUM for sports oriented topics. This forum was developed to talk about our days in school and catch up on events up to the present. Again, we prefer to keep these conversations McDevitt-centric. Any post on these boards can be read by everyone registered to the site.
If there is enough interest for particular subjects or specific areas of interest, additional sub-groups can be added. Gather your ideas and suggestions and petition the Site Administrators using the Contact feature. All discussions and sub-groups are open to everyone. At present, we have no plans to make any of them private or exclusionary.
7. SENDING PRIVATE MESSAGES:
Private messages to your fellow classmates can be generated using the "Members Chat" button that appears on some pages. More information on this function appears below. For those of you with spam blocking or email filtering capabilities, please add crusadermcd69@gmail.com to your email account as a safe sender in order to ensure you receive email communications via this portal. Emails generated from this site, especially when responding to Contact messages, will also use that address.
A message you receive that was generated in Members Chat can be responded to from your laptop, iPad, tablet or smart phone. However, the originator may need to return to the website to read your response.
Clicking on the Members Chat button will provide a small page with a listing of recent messages; very much like those that you may have encountered when dealing with a ChatBot on some websites. If your corresponding member is online it will work the same way, except you will be talking to a fellow class member.
When you click on "New Message" a searchable listing of all classmates registered with the site will appear. Here you can send send a private message to one or several people.
Hints: There is no need to "create a group" each time you send messages to more than one person, unless it is desired. Hitting the Return key will automatically send your Members Chat message, often well before you had planned on it.
A workaround for this situation is to hit the "Shift + Enter" keys together in order to provide a page break without sending the message at the same time.
8. "UNACCOUNTED" CLASSMATES:
We have attempted to facilitate membership by pre-entering the names and known email addresses of our classmates. You may have already received an invitational email from this listing. This includes some others who attended with us and have expressed continuing interest in maintaining contact, but might not have received their diploma in the dust of the Farm Show Arena. Please note, UNTIL you register and establish a password, the website is unable to recognize you and classmates cannot contact you.
Also, please help us. We need your assistance to help all of our classmates to realize their opportunity to be a part of this experience. We have made every attempt to include everyone, but there are some out there that have wandered away. There is a page on the website named "Missing or Tardy" which lists everyone we have been unable to contact or receive a response from even if we believe we have found the right person. We have come tantalizingly close to relocating some, but they have eluded us and our attempts to obtain a phone number. Most importantly for this website - an email address. Your assistance in identifying classmates who have passed would also be appreciated greatly so we can keep accurate records
If you have knowledge of someone listed on the "Missing or Tardy" page, please encourage them to get in touch with us or simply Contact the Site Administrators with their contact information and we can take it from there.
9. UPDATES:
If you change your email address, snail mail address, or phone number, please update your Contact Info so we have up to date information. That way you'll always be in the know about what your classmates are doing!
10. SITE PAGES:
You can get to your profile from the Classmate Gallery, Member Registry and via your Log In portal. We have sprinkled some songs or tunes on several pages. Most can be found at the top of the page. Simply click on the audio player to hear it. When faced with long pages, you can often find an elevator control on the right hand side of the page to help in scrolling.
If you're curious about any link on the site, there isn't anything here that will damage your computer. Believe us, we have tried. Relax! Enjoy!
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