Your public profile

Every member has a public profile at /u/their-username. It's the page people land on when they tap your name on a post, a tank, a listing or a forum reply. Anyone can view it, signed in or not.

Where is my public profile?

Your public profile lives at /u/your-username. To open it:

1. Go to Your profile.
2. Click View public profile (on phones the button just says Public), or tap the Public profile tile under Your stuff.

If you haven't picked a username yet, the public profile link doesn't appear. Your profile address always follows your current username, so if you change your username the address changes too. See Editing your profile.

What does my public profile show?

From top to bottom, a public profile shows:

• A cover banner. Blue for most members, gold for members of The Society.
• Your photo, or your initials if you haven't added one. Society members get a gold ring around their photo.
• Your display name (your Full name, or your username if you left the name blank) and @username under it.
• A gold Society strip if you're a Society member, showing "Underground Aquarium Society", your member number (like UAS-0042), your title, your points and the year you joined. Clicking it opens The Society's page.
• Your bio, with your line breaks kept.
• Your bubbles badge: your bubble count, your tier name and your level.
• Your location, website and Joined month and year, if you filled them in.
• Counts: followers, following and trophies. Each one is a link.
• Tabs: Feed, Tanks, Listings and Trophies.
• Report and (for signed-in visitors other than you) Block links at the very bottom.

Your email address is never shown on your public profile.

What's on the Feed tab?

The Feed tab is the default view. It shows everything you've posted to the feed, newest first.

• On your own profile you see a box to post a new update. If you haven't posted yet it says "Post your first update."
• On someone else's profile you see their posts. If they haven't posted, it says "[Name] hasn't posted anything yet."

On a computer, a sidebar sits next to the feed. It shows up to 6 of the member's shared tanks with a See all link (or "No tanks shared yet."), and for Society members a Society card with their title, Member No., BAP points, Member since year, their certified breeder species and a Trophy case → link.

On a phone there's no sidebar, so up to 8 shared tanks appear as a swipeable strip above the feed, with a See all link.

What's on the Tanks tab?

The Tanks tab shows the tanks a member has chosen to share publicly, newest first, up to 60. The number next to the tab name is how many public tanks they have. Tap a tank to open its page.

Private tanks never appear here. On Your profile your own tanks are marked Posted (public) or Private so you can tell which is which. To share or hide a tank, see Saving and sharing tanks.

If there are none, the tab says "[Name] hasn't shared any tanks yet."

What's on the Listings tab?

The Listings tab shows the member's classified ads that are live right now, up to 48, with the most recently bumped first. Each card shows the photo, title, the price (or Free or Wanted) and the category. The number next to the tab name is how many live ads they have.

Expired, sold and deleted ads don't show here. If there are none, it says "[Name] has nothing listed right now."

To manage your own ads, use My listings. See My listings.

What's on the Trophies tab?

The Trophies tab is the member's trophy case. It shows:

• Certified breeder species from The Society's Breeder Award Program. Verified ones have a small shield and link to their public verification page.
• Trophies they've earned (only earned ones, never the locked ones).
• Course certificates, each with the badge title, course name and the date earned.

If they haven't earned anything, it says "[Name] hasn't earned anything yet."

When you view your own Trophies tab, a note reads "This is how others see your trophies," with a link to Open your full cabinet at Trophies, where you can see everything you can earn. See Trophies.

How do I follow someone?

1. Open their public profile.
2. Click Follow next to their name.

The button changes to Following. Click it again to unfollow. If you're signed out, clicking Follow shows "Sign in to follow" with a link to log in.

Following someone adds their posts to your feed. They see their follower count go up, and you appear on their followers list. See Following people and shops.

You can't follow someone who has blocked you, or someone you've blocked.

How do I see someone's followers or who they follow?

Click the followers or following count on their profile. Each list shows people newest first, with their photo (gold ring for Society members), name and username, and a Follow / Following button next to everyone except you.

Empty lists say "[Name] has no followers yet." or "[Name] isn't following anyone yet." Click Back to [Name] to return to the profile.

These lists are public. Anyone can see who follows you and who you follow.

How do I message someone from their profile?

Click Message next to their name. It opens a new message addressed to them. You need to be signed in; if you aren't, you'll be asked to log in first and then brought back.

You can't message someone who has blocked you or whom you've blocked. See Starting a conversation.

Why do I see "Edit profile" instead of Follow and Message?

You're looking at your own profile. Instead of Follow and Message, your own page shows Edit profile, which takes you to Your profile. You also won't see a Block link on your own page.

How do I report or block someone from their profile?

Scroll to the very bottom of their profile.

• Report opens a short form. Pick a reason, add details if you like, and click Send report. See Reporting content.
• Block [first name] asks you to confirm, then blocks them. The link changes to Unblock [first name]. See Blocking people.

Block only appears when you're signed in. Report appears for everyone, but you have to sign in to send one.

What does the gold ring and gold banner mean?

A gold ring around someone's photo means they're a member of The Society in good standing. Their profile also gets a gold cover, a small Society seal next to their name, and the gold Society strip with their member number. The ring shows everywhere their photo appears, including follower lists. See The Society.

Can people find my profile on Google?

Sometimes. A profile only becomes eligible to appear in search engines when it has something worth finding: a bio of about 40 characters or more, a shared tank, a live classified ad, or a forum thread. Mostly empty profiles are kept out of search results. Follower and following lists are always kept out.

When a profile is shown in search results or shared as a link, the title is your display name and @username, the description is the start of your bio, and your profile photo may be used as the preview image. See Privacy and your data.

Common problems

The page says it can't be found. The username may have changed, the account may have been deleted, or the account may be suspended. Profiles of deleted or suspended accounts aren't shown. If you followed an old link, try searching for the person another way, like tapping their name on one of their posts.

My old profile link stopped working. Your profile address is based on your username. If you changed your username, the old /u/ address no longer works. Share the new one from Your profile.

A tank I shared doesn't show on my profile. Only tanks marked Posted (public) appear. Check the label on the tank on Your profile. If you deleted and then reactivated your account, all your tanks were made private and need to be shared again.

My ad doesn't show on the Listings tab. Only live ads appear. Ads that have expired, been marked sold or been deleted drop off. Check My listings and see Editing, renewing and expiry.

The Follow button doesn't stick. If the button flips back, the follow didn't save. Check that you're signed in, and note that you can't follow someone if either of you has blocked the other.

I don't see a Block button. Block only shows when you're signed in and viewing someone else's profile.

My Society strip isn't showing. The strip, gold ring and gold cover only appear while your Society membership is in good standing. If your dues lapsed, renewing brings them back. See Society dues and renewal.