Getting around the site

This guide explains the menus and buttons you see on every page when you use Underground Aquarium on a computer or a wide tablet. If you're on a phone, see Using the site on your phone, which covers the bottom bar and phone menu.

What's in the top menu?

On a computer, the bar across the top of every page has the logo on the left, the main sections in the middle and your own buttons on the right. The main sections are:

• Feed: posts, photos and tank updates from the community
• Forums: questions and discussions, organized by topic
• Classifieds: free local ads for fish, plants, coral, tanks and gear
• Shops Near Me: the fish store directory, sorted by distance from you
• The Society: the Underground Aquarium Society, shown in gold
• More: everything else (see the next section)

The section you're in is lit up with a short bar under its name. For example, listing pages and the Post a free ad page light up Classifieds, and the Society's member area lights up The Society.

What's in the More menu?

Hover over More (or click it) to open a panel with four groups:

• Community: Events, Trophies
• Learn: Fish Species, Courses, Glossary, Breeding Guides
• Tools: Tank Builder, Water Check, All Fish Stores
• Help: Help Center

The panel closes when you move the mouse away or pick a link. The About page is in the footer under Community, and in the phone menu.

What do the buttons on the right of the top bar do?

When you're signed out

• Magnifying glass: opens the search pop-out for the whole site (or press Cmd+K on a Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows).
• Sign In opens the Log in page. After logging in from here you land on the Feed.
• Post Free Ad opens the Post a free ad page. You'll be asked to sign in to finish posting.

When you're signed in

From left to right:

• Magnifying glass: opens the search pop-out for the whole site (or press Cmd+K on a Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows).
• Bell: your notifications. A red number shows how many new notifications arrived since you last opened it (up to "9+").
• Clipboard: a shortcut to My listings.
• Chat bubble: your Messages. A red number shows how many conversations have unread messages (up to "9+").
• Your photo and first name: opens your profile menu (see below).
• Post Free Ad: starts a new classified ad.

What's in my profile menu?

Click or hover over your photo and first name at the top right. The menu has:

• Your photo and name with View your profile, which opens your public profile page (what other people see).
• Dashboard & settings: your Dashboard, with shortcuts to your listings, shops, tanks, trophies and account settings.
• The Feed
• Trophies
• My listings
• Help Center
• Sign out

Society members in good standing have a gold ring around their photo here and in other places on the site.

How do I use the notifications bell on a computer?

Click the bell to open a panel with your 20 most recent notifications, split into New and Earlier. Opening it clears the red number.

• All and Unread tabs filter the list.
• Mark all as read appears when you have unread ones.
• The gear icon opens your notification settings.
• See all notifications opens the full Notifications page.
• Click a notification to go to whatever it's about. Empty lists say "You're all caught up." or "No unread notifications."

Press Escape or click outside the panel to close it. If the site is open when a notification arrives, the list updates by itself and plays a soft "bloop" sound (once you've clicked somewhere on the page). See Notifications.

Where does the logo take me?

The Underground Aquarium logo at the top left goes to the home page when you're signed out, and to the Feed when you're signed in. Signed in, visiting the home page address also sends you to the Feed.

What's on the home page?

Signed out visitors see the home page, which has, in order:

1. Find your local fish store: a search box for "City, state or shop name", a Near me button and quick links to the cities with the most shops.
2. Free local classifieds: shortcuts to Live fish, Shrimp & snails, Plants, Coral, Tanks & gear and Free stuff, plus Sell something and Browse all.
3. Just posted: the newest classified ads.
4. Hot in the forums: busy forum threads.
5. A grid of the site's sections and tools.
6. A banner for The Society.
7. A reminder that posting an ad is free, with Post a free ad and See what's near me.

What's in the footer?

The bottom of every page has three columns of links plus the support email icon.

• Classifieds: Browse by area, Post a free ad, Where to sell fish, My listings, Messages
• Resources: Fish Species, Tank Builder, Glossary, Breeding guides, Water Check, Find a fish store
• Community: Feed, Forums, The Society, Verify a certificate, Events, About Us, Help Center

The envelope icon under the logo opens an email to support@undergroundaquarium.com. The very bottom has Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, the copyright line and a small "build" code that tells us exactly which version of the site you're seeing (handy to include when you report a bug).

Is there a search box for the whole site?

Yes. Tap the magnifying glass at the top of any page (next to the bell on a computer, next to the menu button on a phone). It opens a search pop-out over the page you're on, which looks through help answers, classifieds, fish species, fish stores, forum threads, upcoming events, the glossary and courses all at once. See Searching the whole site.

Each section also has its own search box for narrowing things down inside it:

• Fish stores: "City, state or shop name" on the home page and the store finder, and "Search by shop, city or state…" on the store directory.
• Classifieds: "Search listings…" on the Classifieds page, or "Search (area) listings…" inside an area.
• Forums: "Search the forums…" on the Forums pages.
• Fish Species: "Search by name, scientific name, or code…" (codes are trade codes such as L046).
• Glossary: "Search terms or definitions…"
• Tank Builder: "Search fish, shrimp, snails…" to add animals to your build.
• Messages: "Find a member by name" when starting a new message.
• Help Center: "Search help" on the Help Center. See Using the Help Center.

What's the thin bar at the top when I click a link?

It's a loading indicator. As soon as you click a link, a thin bar runs across the top of the screen until the next page appears, so you know the click worked. On a slow connection it may stay for a few seconds.

What are the bubbles floating in the background?

Just decoration. The rising bubbles behind every page are part of the site's underwater look and don't do anything. They're different from the bubbles you earn for taking part, which are points. See Site terms explained.

Common problems

I can't find the Help Center, Events or Trophies in the top menu. They're inside More. Help Center is also in your profile menu and the footer.

The top menu looks different from what this guide describes. On narrow screens (phones and small tablets) the top menu is replaced by a menu button and a bottom bar. See Using the site on your phone.

I don't see the bell or the messages icon. They only appear when you're signed in. If you are signed in and they're missing, refresh the page.

The red number on the bell went away but I didn't read everything. The number counts notifications that arrived since you last opened the bell. Opening the bell clears it, but unread notifications stay bold in the list and under the Unread tab until you open them.

I clicked Sign In but ended up on the Feed instead of the page I was on. The Sign In link at the top always returns you to the Feed. To come back to a specific page, use the button on that page that asks you to log in, or just navigate back after signing in.

Where are my account settings? Open your profile menu and choose Dashboard & settings, then Account & data. See Your dashboard and settings.