How to use the forum

[Kim 7,943]

I'm starting this topic to help members to get the most out of the forum. It will include some useful technical tips. There is a lot of stuff here, and the forum continues to evolve all the time, so this hopefully will help new and old members.

 

Forum organization

The forum hierarchy is:

• Forum
• Topic
• Post

 

You need to follow a forum (by clicking "Follow this forum" button in the right upper corner of the forum page) to get notifications about all new topics in that forum. If you follow the forum, you will receive an email when a new topic is posted. For example, to get the trade notifications, you will need to follow the SteadyOptions Trades Forum:

 

 

Now you will have to follow each topic in order to get notifications about the new posts in that topic.

 

 

The bottom line:

Follow a forum to get notified about new topics posted on that forum. When a new topic is posted, only the first post will be sent. If you are interested to get the rest of the posts, you will need to follow the topic specifically. 

Please note that some forums are followed automatically for all new members, but you still need to follow the individual topics manually.

 

Trade notifications

We will post a topic in the SteadyOptions Trades forum when I enter or exit a trade. If you want to get notifications about the trades, you should follow this forum (by clicking "Follow this forum" button). If you follow this forum, you will receive an email when a new topic (trade) is posted. If you want to follow that trade, you will have to follow that specific topic in order to get notifications about the new posts in that topic. 

All trade notifications come with screenshots of our fills. This way you can see when the trade was filled, the prices of the individual legs etc. Trades are typically posted within few minutes after we are filled.

Other services notifications notifications work the same way.

Forum features

• A member has the ability to follow another member. You can follow few members that you find helpful, and you will get all content posted by those members. For example, following @Kim @Yowster and @krisbee is an alternative way to get the trade notifications for SO service. Follow @cwelsh - and you will get all trade notifications for Anchor service. We recommend following our contributors (who actually post trades) and mentors.
• The New Content area shows an auto-updated stream of all content from across the community, with customizable filters.
• A comprehensive search engine, enabling users to find content from across the community. With a wide range of filters available and the ability to drill down by content type, finding relevant content is simple.
• @mentions: Members can notify other members by typing their name to mention them - the perfect way to ensure a member sees something they might otherwise miss. If you type an @ symbol and then start typing the name of a member, an autocomplete menu shows so you can quickly then click on the user and they'll receive a notification that they've been mentioned.
• Automatic Saving: The editor auto-saves each and every post you write. If you accidentally navigate away from the page, your post content can be recovered, so that if you come back later you can continue right where you left off.
• The are also two Notification settings: instant notifications and HTML5 browser notifications. Members can now get pop-up notifications even when not active in that window at the time.

Useful links and updates

On the top of the forum page, there are some useful links and updates. Those links include:

SO Open Trades (SO members only)
Useful Links

Any important updates will be posted in that box as well.

 

Tagged topics

All trades and discussion topics are tagged with the trade symbol. Below the topic, you can see the last ten topics tagged with the same symbol. This way when we trade for example AAPL, you can go directly to the last five AAPL trades. It is very helpful to see how much we paid in the previous cycles for similar trades.

 

Pinned topics

Each forum will have few "pinned" topics. Those are topics which are intended to be kept on the top of the forum. Active trades will always be pinned in the Trades and the Discussions forums.

 

Please let me know if you have any more technical tips about the forum and I will include them here.

 

Asking questions on the forum

SO is an educational forum, and I encourage members to ask questions. The only thing I'm asking from members is to do your homework as well. All new members, please make sure to read the Read This First forum, including all the links, Welcome to SteadyOptions and Frequently Asked Questions. 

 

We open a discussion on each trade and include a link to the relevant strategy overview topic. Please read the strategy overview before asking a question. 

Please understand that I cannot tell you what is the maximum you should pay for any specific trade. I provide guidelines about price ranges, based on backtesting and prices we paid in the previous trades. The charts in trading candidates topics in Earnings Trades Discussions forum provide prices in the previous cycles. Please make your own decisions how much you are willing to pay, based on those data points. 

 

Personal questions

Please understand that I'm not an investment adviser and cannot answer personal questions. I cannot tell you when to enter or exit a specific trade and at what price. I cannot tell you which strikes to use. All those questions are usually covered in the strategy overview - please read it.

Please post your questions on the forum instead of email/PM, so all members can benefit.

Forum Etiquette

We encourage members to ask questions and participate in forum discussions. At the same time, some forum discussions become overwhelming. Please remember that each time you post, dozens (sometimes hundreds) of members who follow the discussion will get an email. We need to find the right balance.

Here are some tips:

1. Before you post, ask yourself if your post really adds value. For example, if 2-3 members already posted their fills, is it really necessary to add another one, especially if it's similar?
2. If your question is about specific setup, please double check that your setup is correct in terms of strikes/expirations etc.
3. If you share a trade, please make sure to mention what was the setup.
4. You can follow few members who you believe add value, without the need to follow specific topics.
5. When you thank someone, you can use the "Like" button, which includes "Thank you" icon, instead of posting a post.
6. If you find a post helpful, you can upvote or like it (using icons on the right bottom corner of the post).

 

[Othman Taleb 5]

I am new member of SteadyOptions and have to admit that this website is nothing like anything else I have seen in the past. I know that there will be losses from time to time as this is part of any investing process, so I am not concerned about incurring a few losses here and there. I am truly impressed by the content and the pedagogic approach of Kim. Also, it truly feels like a community where everyone interacts with each other. Having the Founder not only joins the discussions but alao change his view based on some analyses provided by members is very unique. Didn’t know where to post this but had to say this.

[sandrajames 0]

I found this forum very useful for options trading. It gives complete knowledge and information regarding it. Didn't find any forum better than this. I will recommend this forum to all my friends. Great work and topics.

[jerrodmason 3]

Suggestions for improving reader friendliness:

(1) Always include the year in the headers to posts.  "Posted September 14" is not clear.

(2) Display the date of the latest post in the Topic header. Who cares when the topic was initiated?

(3) List posts latest first. 

[Kim 7,943]

On 12/18/2018 at 2:35 PM, jerrodmason said:

Suggestions for improving reader friendliness:

(1) Always include the year in the headers to posts.  "Posted September 14" is not clear.

(2) Display the date of the latest post in the Topic header. Who cares when the topic was initiated?

(3) List posts latest first. 

1. All trades and trade discussions include the month and the year of the trade.

2. When you look at list of topics, each topic has both dates (created and last post).

3. This would be very confusing. All forums I know have first post first, not latest. The latest posts are one click away.

[Jon S 0]

Thank you. I am new to SO, and I was wondering how to get the best use out of this membership. I was looking and saw this forum. Very helpful. I am used to just getting alerts from other services. This is different because I was not familiar with the contributors. I was hesitant to take a trade because I was not sure who was trading, but I am starting to get an idea. The other thing that was different is that the latest post is at the bottom. In other services when you go to the updates the latest update is at the top. I placed a trade the other day based on the top (first) post, but I was able to get out of it quickly when I understood better the forum layout. I am thankful for the information about the strategies and looking forward to profiting with you all.

[Kim 7,943]

All forums that I'm familiar with the oldest posts are on the top.

Please make sure to read the Welcome to SteadyOptions post and Frequently Asked Questions. On the right side of the main forum page, you will find a full list of "Must Read Topics". I highly recommend reading them.

 

[bwwill55 0]

On 1/8/2019 at 5:19 PM, Kim said:

1. All trades and trade discussions include the month and the year of the trade.

2. When you look at list of topics, each topic has both dates (created and last post).

3. This would be very confusing. All forums I know have first post first, not latest. The latest posts are one click away.

In my trial period and starting to read the forums.  I have seen some comments where members suggested having latest post at the top.  It can be confusing either way.  I started reading the Broker topic which started n 2012 about Broker's fees that I believe is completely different in today's environment.  Going to the end of a 20 plus page list of topics and trying to work backward is difficult.  Is there a possibility that a member could choose a sort option for the posts in a topic that best suits their needs based on the topic and length of the posts in a topic?  Thanks.

[Kim 7,943]

No this cannot be configurable by members.

[Ringandpinion 1,657]

Follow up, it's about time huh.  I searched for UNG this morning to open the topic and it came back with no results.  Now this is something I know is in the forums.  I didn't use advanced search.  Sometimes when I coax it to give me results in a list, and set sort for date, it won't sort by date.  Whether it is date of the original post or date of the most recent reply.  When I use it again and get the sort problem, I'll send it on too.

Cheers, AB

[Kim 7,943]

This is strange, it's working for me. On which page you are doing the search? Mine was done on the main forum page.

[Ringandpinion 1,657]

That's where I started from.  If it is working for you, then maybe it is Firefox.  What browser do you use?

[krisbee 1,957]

2 minutes ago, Kim said:

This is strange, it's working for me. On which page you are doing the search? Mine was done on the main forum page.

Here are the steps to reproduce

1. Click the Logo (Home page), you'll see the screen like below.

2. Then search with UNG on the search box. You'll get no result.

3. Choose the menu "Forums", and then search for UNG, you'll get the results.

[Ringandpinion 1,657]

Or possibly my cookie settings.  I have max security set on cookies.  I'll create an exemption for SO site and see if behavior persists.

[Kim 7,943]

1 minute ago, krisbee said:

Here are the steps to reproduce

1. Click the Logo (Home page), you'll see the screen like below.

2. Then search with UNG on the search box. You'll get no result.

3. Choose the menu "Forums", and then search for UNG, you'll get the results.

Correct. You need to be on the forums, other pages won't work. Or if you search the articles, you need to be on the blog page.

[Ringandpinion 1,657]

1 minute ago, krisbee said:

Here are the steps to reproduce

1. Click the Logo (Home page), you'll see the screen like below.

2. Then search with UNG on the search box. You'll get no result.

3. Choose the menu "Forums", and then search for UNG, you'll get the results.

Excellent.  I was able to reproduce it too.  I must have been on the website home page.  I'll see where it goes from here.

[Ringandpinion 1,657]

Ok, it's been a long time since I came around to this but I'm going to give firm examples and if the search works for others then it is something on my computer.  The forum and topic search does work for a single word most of the time but does not work for 2 words.  Earlier today I tried to search for "strangle+credit" and it returned zero results.  Just now I did a test.  I searched for "strangle+RV", I did it from the main forum page and the subforum pages, zero results.  In advanced search, even under "search for any of my terms" it would return zero results when I'm using 2 terms even though it had placed the + sign between them.  I'm pretty sure that both strangle credit and strangle RV are in the topics, but it wouldn't even show for either individual term when set to search for any of my terms.  Somewhere in the forums I've read about different methods to compare strangle RV to the straddle RV, but without being able to search for it the amount of ground to cover is pretty difficult.

[michael-co 16]

I am a new member (Simple Spreads).

Is it possible to get the content of new posts in the emails?

I get the content for updates but did not for a new post.

See both screenshots below:

 

New post without the content of the post:

 

Update with the content of the post:

Edited April 6, 2021 by michael-co

[krisbee 1,957]

2 minutes ago, michael-co said:

Is it possible to get the content of new posts in the emails?

I get the content for updates but did not for a new post.

#1. It's intentional the trade details is not in the email. You should look in the forum to know the details of the setup.

#2. To get new posts, follow the user (Kim/Yowster/Mmorris/cwelsh)

[michael-co 16]

41 minutes ago, krisbee said:

#1. It's intentional the trade details is not in the email. You should look in the forum to know the details of the setup.

#2. To get new posts, follow the user (Kim/Yowster/Mmorris/cwelsh)

oh ok interesting. Thanks for replying. What's the reason behind not including the content in the email, though?

[krisbee 1,957]

5 minutes ago, michael-co said:

oh ok interesting. Thanks for replying. What's the reason behind not including the content in the email, though?

https://steadyoptions.com/forums/forum/topic/4735-cutting-content-from-email/?do=findComment&comment=108411

[kaush 0]

How do I reply to a topic? I was looking at the first trade in the SO Trade Forum - Aug  2023 IC and have a question about the trade. But I don't see a way to reply and ask anything on that topic - do I need some privileges on my account to do so?

Edited July 11, 2023 by kaush

[krisbee 1,957]

16 minutes ago, kaush said:

How do I reply to a topic? I was looking at the first trade in the SO Trade Forum - Aug  2023 IC and have a question about the trade. But I don't see a way to reply and ask anything on that topic - do I need some privileges on my account to do so?

For any trade there will be a corresponding "[DISCUSSION]" thread. You can ask your questions there.

In your case you should use this thread for the questions https://steadyoptions.com/forums/forum/topic/9055-discussion-spy-august-2023-iron-condor/

 

[Kim 7,943]

5 minutes ago, kaush said:

How do I reply to a topic? I was looking at the first trade in the SO Trade Forum - Aug  2023 IC and have a question about the trade. But I don't see a way to reply and ask anything on that topic - do I need some privileges on my account to do so?

It would be a good idea to read Welcome to SteadyOptions topic.

 

[and 0]

hello, new here. Is there a way to set up the forum / threads that if I click on one it will get me directly to the first unread post?

When there is a topic / thread I am following and I know there are new comments every time I click on the topic/thread it gets me to the very begging of that thread. Then it is kind of hard / time consuming to look only for new comments within this thread, especially if the topic/ thread has like 10+ pages. And then when I am reading / following more topics I don't remember which was the last comment I have read within that particular topic.

[Kim 7,943]

If you click on "Go to this post" it will take you to the first unread post.

[and 0]

29 minutes ago, Kim said:

If you click on "Go to this post" it will take you to the first unread post.

Thank you Kim for your reply. I am aware of the settings and the mechanism you are pointing me to. I have already read the specific topic on How to use forum. Sure when I open my email and click on the "Go to this post" it will do the thing. I was asking more about when I just log in to the forum and open particular topic / thread without clicking on the message form my inbox. Anyway now I know that I have to first log in to my email and then click  on "Go to this post" within the message I have received. I just asked about the other possibility (if not clicking on email message first) how to get directly to the unread comments because that is my experience with other forums.

[Yowster 9,159]

41 minutes ago, and said:

 I just asked about the other possibility (if not clicking on email message first) how to get directly to the unread comments because that is my experience with other forums.

If you access posts via the "View New Content" button (shown below) you will be taken directly to the most recent post

[and 0]

Thank you @Yowster for your effort to help. I have also found that feature but that "View new Content" but it lists all new content for whole forum not just any particular thread/topic.

Anyway I will find my way around.

[Kim 7,943]

I just checked and all emails are sent properly.

We had this issue in the past when gmail was delaying our emails. Then all of them came at once after few hours. Looks like it's happening again, my last email from SO was at 10:37 and I'm using gmail as well.

So far reports are only from members who use gmail, so it must be the same issue.

Meanwhile, I can recommend checking New content or All activity on the forum. it refreshes automatically. 

[J10 60]

I'm having email issues again today. Started out as 10~20m delays, then they stopped all together. 

 

Anybody else?

[jakasspeech3 0]

On 7/31/2023 at 4:15 AM, and said:

Thank you @Yowster for your effort to help. I have also found that feature but that "View new Content" but it lists all new content for whole forum not just any particular thread/topic.

Anyway I will find my way around.

Thanks