Frequently Asked Questions

One important thing to know is that there are three different password systems on our website.

Website discussions: The first is the username/password that you might create if you want topost comments on our “Home” page, or “Forums” and “Engage”pages. You know you’re in this part of the website when “coffeepartyusa.com” is in the website address of a page.

Coffee Party events, donations, and civility pledge: The second is the password that you create for the Coffee Party event system using a system called “Salsa.” We also use Salsa for the donate page, the civility pledge, and the email list signup page. You know you’re in the Salsa system when “democracyinaction.org”is in the website address of a page. 

The Coffee Sphere: There is yet a third username/password that you might create if you take the amazing Coffee Sphere. You know you’re in The Coffee Sphere when “spherecharts.com” is in the website address of a page.

These three systems are essentially separate and independent of one another. In other words, logging into the main homepage of CoffeePartyUSA.com is NOT the same as logging into the Salsa event management system, and that’s not the same thing as logging into the Coffee Sphere.

Note: the video above is slightly outdated.

Once you request a new password, you will receive an email that has your username and a link to a one-time logon.  Once you click on the link, you will be logged in. Then, click on the Profile tab in the main row of red tabs at the top of the web page.

Then, you will see a second row of tab links directly below your username.

Click on the Edit tab, scroll down and put in your new password.  When you change your password on coffeepartyusa.com, the software checks your password for strength and makes suggestions on how to make it stronger. These are only suggestions, not requirements. You should choose how to trade off strength with ease of use.  Of course, we do not recommend using weak passwords.  Although this is not a financial site like a bank, there is a lot of politically oriented speech here, and you don't want someone guessing your password and misrepresenting your views or behavior.

If you use spam-blocking software that requires a response from someone who sends you an email, you should be sure to put Admin@coffeepartyusa.com into the authorized list (often called a Whitelist); otherwise there will be a delay until support responds to your blocking software.

When you change your password our website, the software checks your password for strength and makes suggestions on how to make it stronger. These are only suggestions, not requirements. You should choose how to trade off strength with ease of use.  Of course, we do not recommend using weak passwords.  Although this is not a financial site like a bank, there is a lot of politically oriented speech here, and you don't want someone guessing your password and misrepresenting your views or behavior.

Log into the March 13 event system / Create an account in Salsa

1. From the CoffeePartyUSA.com home page, click on the map image at the top of the page (“March 13 is National Coffee Party Day!”). This will take you to the Coffee Party Event Finder page

2. In the upper right corner, click the “Event system manager” link. (this link is available on every page in the Salsa system)

3. You will see that you can login, create a new account, or reset your password.

If you’re not logged in when you create an event, then Salsa will ask you to create a password the first time you try to edit the event.

There is no way for you to delete an event, but you can change the status of the event to “Inactive,” which removes it from the public listing and the map search.  

1. Go to the “Edit Your Event” page, as described in this FAQ.

2. At the bottom of the page, just above the “Update Event” button you will see a drop-down menu where you can change the status of the event from “Public” to “Inactive.” (Changing the status of “Private” will also remove the event from the public listing and map search.)

3. Click the “Update Event” button.

There are two ways to navigate to the page where you can make edits to your event: 

Go to your event’s public web page, and click on the “Edit this event” link at the top ofthe page. (If you are not logged in, then you will instead see a link called “Is this your event? Login to edit it!”). Scroll down tothe “Edit Your Event” portion of the page. Make any changes you like, and click the “Update Event” button.

  OR 

Click on the “Event system manager” link the upper right. Log in if you need to. Then you willsee a listing of the event(s) you are hosting. Click on an event to edit its details. Scroll down to the “Edit Your Event” portion of the page. Make any changes you like, and click the “Update Event” button.

You can email the people who have signed up for your event. You do not have access to any other contact information for the attendees.

1. Go to the “Edit Your Event” page.

2. You will see a list email addresses under the heading “Attending.”

3. Copy and paste the list of email addresses into your email program (whatever email program you use, such as Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, etc.).

There are three things for you to read, as a starting place to understand what we are about:

1) The website mission statement on the home page.
2) The Civility pledge, also linked from the right hand side of the front page (or click here)
3) Download and read the Coffee Party Basics PDF, which has a lot good information. 

Also, regarding some of the rumors and misinformation being spread about us, take a look at this blog post. 

We have grown fast and we have a lot of people with a very wide range of opinions; the way we define ourselves is still changing and evolving. Become a part of the discussion! Register on our main site and then join the forums for good discussion of issues.  The content doesn't represent any official position but we try to get informed relevant political discourse.
 

Find a Coffee Party in your local area and sign up to attend. Click on the graphic on the home page that says “Find or create a Coffee Party in your area”, and then on the resulting page, enter your zip code to find Coffee Party events near you!

If you want to search for events that have already passed, you can search all events, past and future (note: you may see duplicate events).

Contact the Host of a Coffee Party: After you find a Coffee Party event, the web page showing the details for that meeting also provides a link for you to email the host of that event.

Create and host your own Coffee Party. If you don't find a Coffee Party gathering near you, you can set up a meeting of your own and get things going. From the zip-code-search page, you will see the link to create your own event.  Once you set up an event, you can download lot of useful information from the Organizers Toolkit, linked to from the top right of the home page http://coffeepartyusa.com/.
 

There are several ways to get involved.

Register on our home page and participate in our forums. Click on the red tab at the top that says Forum (or click here).

Join our email list so you can get updates. Click on the “Get Updates” box in the right-hand column of the home page (or click here).

Take the Coffee Party Civility Pledge to add your name to the list of thousands who have taken this pledge (also in the right-hand column of the home page, or click here)

Take the Coffee Sphere questionnaire by clicking on the Coffee Sphere graphic on left side of the home page (or click here). Create a new Sphere ID and take the survey, then see how your answers correspond with the thousands of people who have taken it at www.spherechart.com/coffee.html

Find and sign up to attend a Coffee Party in your local area! See the question “How to Find or Start a Coffee Party Meeting In Your Area” above.

Create and host your own Coffee Party! See the question “How to Find or Start a Coffee Party Meeting In Your Area” above.
 

We know, this is a little complicated, and we’re sorry. We are working as fast as we can on making our website easier to use. Please bear with us.  Coffee Party USA is an all-volunteer effort, and we are doing our best with limited resources. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding!

Coffee Party USA General Posting Guidelines

Welcome to the Coffee Party USA website!  By posting in our Blogs or Forum areas, you agree to the rules presented here.  You are encouraged but not required to take the Civility Pledge before registering for the Forums.  Please see the Account Rules below.  We reserve the right to moderate this website according to our values, which include respecting and embracing diverse opinions and diverse backgrounds. To encourage and facilitate civil, meaningful discussions about the state of American politics and the issues we face together as a nation, our top priority is to create and maintain an environment in which all feel safe and welcome. Such an environment would be a place where anyone, regardless of their viewpoints, might be willing to let down their guard and patiently explain their position and why they feel that way. Toward fostering an environment in which civility reigns, here are some suggestions to bear in mind while we conduct our conversations:

Be Polite.  Having your views challenged is not unfriendly or uncivil.  An unwillingness to have our own assumptions or arguments questioned might be the first and best clue that we might be wrong.  Treat the person to whom you’re talking as an individual – not a part of your general perception of the group you may be consciously or unconsciously lumping them in with.  Likewise, avoid divisive language, emotionalism, innuendo, and other thinly veiled insults.  Show respect for your fellow members by carefully considering the tenor of your language, formatting, and punctuation before posting.  Angry, hyper-emotive, and otherwise provocative displays make people uneasy and unwilling to interact with those around them, eventually driving them and other members away.

Lighten Up, Francis.  Refrain from lecturing.  Declaiming and holding forth as though others are just not as educated, informed, or thoughtful as you are is profoundly alienating.  Also, don’t over-react to perceived slights – you could be wrong.  Give the benefit of the doubt and remember that subtle emotions and meanings do not come across easily in writing.  Satire, sarcasm, and humor are particularly hard to transmit, often coming across as rude and contemptuous.  Even if you’re certain of another member’s intent, try not to take the bait.  Someone has to be the bigger person and it might as well be you. The best response to disrespectful and disruptive posters is none at all. 

Invest Some Time.  Do the research rather than demanding that others do it for you and verify your facts.  Consistently relying on suspect information undermines credibility, causing people not to take you very seriously.  Take the extra time required to make large, sprawling posts smaller and more concise.  You might be surprised how many more responses you’ll get!  The use of white space enhances readability and descriptive subject lines encourage people to read your posts and comments.  Used sparingly, quoting the relevant portions can help clear up ambiguity.  When quoting, clearly indicate where information has been cut and try to avoid misrepresenting their original intended meaning.

Give a Hoot – Don’t Pollute.  Straying off-topic and engaging in banter is natural, but try to gauge whether or not it is distracting from the original topic for those members who are interested in discussing it.  Publicly disclosing information about another member without their permission is rude at best and could potentially do damage to that member.  Intentionally disrupting discussions, swamping the site with a large volume of new Topic Posts or comments is discourteous.  While seemingly innocent, posting the same material in multiple locations at once or creating an inconsequential comment (e.g. “Bump!”) within a post solely for the purpose of elevating that Topic Post’s rank position subvert the natural function of the site.  If a thread is languishing, let it die to make room for active threads.

Gain Agreement.  Many discussions fail because one or both sides fail to appreciate or acknowledge errors in their logic, are blinded by preconceived notions, or are using different definitions for terms common to the discussion.  Remember a thing can be true, even if the reasoning that leads to it is bad – vice versa if the premises are false.  Avoid "loaded" words or phrases with baggage, and generalizing.  When in doubt, try to summarize the other argument in your own words to determine whether you’ve understood what they’re trying to say.  If they disagree with your summary, ask for clarification.

Critical Thinking is Critical.  First, attack the argument, not the arguer.  Next, brush up on common logical errors.  Entering a political discussion without a grasp of basic reasoning skills is like entering the proverbial gunfight with the proverbial knife.  Try to understand your own bias and how it affects your interpretation and selection tendencies.  Rather than referencing another sources as evidence, explain it in your own words.  If you can’t do that, you might not be as right as you think you are.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due.  Acknowledge when another member makes a good point or successfully demonstrates a weakness in your own points.  Remember that the praise we get for presenting good arguments can be undone by refusing to allow that we might have put up a bad one.  The surest way to gain respect in a debate is by publicly admitting mistakes.  If you feel like the people you’re discussing issues with have been especially patient with you, thank them and be sure to return the favor.

Keep it Legal!  Illegal activity, which might include but is not limited to direct or implied threats against other people, encouraging suicide, advising a dangerous courses of action, or inciting illegal behavior, cannot be tolerated. Likewise, violations of US copyright law, fraud, or posting illegal material such as child pornography are forbidden.  Please see our Content & Language Standards below.  If the situation warrants it, we may involve the authorities.

Account Profile Rules

Only one account per member is allowed.  Account names must adhere to Language Standards or be changed to an acceptable name.  If you need to change your account for any reason, please contact us.

Content & Language Standards

Text, links, and images posted to the Coffee Party USA Forums are expected to relate directly to the conversations.  They must not being insulting, contain viruses, graphic nudity or violence, and must not be illegal.  Links that are unrelated to the discussion including commercial products and advertisements are strongly discouraged and may be removed by the Moderators at any time. When posting information that does not originate from you, please adhere to the US Copyright Office’s Fair Use Standards.  In general, the guideline is that if you’re not the owner of the work being produced (such as an article from a news site such CNN or Fox News), then a few lines or paragraphs here and then are acceptable so long as credit is given and, preferably, a link. In keeping with civil discussions, try to keep swearing to a minimum. 

Flagging Topic Posts & Comments

If you see a comment or Topic Post on the website that you’d like to bring to the Moderator’s attention, click on the button that reads “Flag as Offensive.”  Please refrain from publicly stating that you have reported a post because it will only result in further disruption.  Do not report posts indiscriminately or maliciously.  Each reported Topic Post or comment will be carefully reviewed and reporting patterns will be evaluated as well.

Enforcement

Censorship, while sometimes necessary to fulfill responsibility to the whole, cannot be justified on the basis of authority alone.  Our rationale and responsibility is to ensure that the Coffee Party USA website remains a safe, welcoming, inclusive environment in which all viewpoints can be heard.  When necessary, we will quietly remove Topic Posts or comments; our goal is to be as unobtrusive as possible so that the necessary function of moderation does not itself become a distraction from good conversation.

If a Topic Post or comment must be removed but it otherwise had potential, a copy of it will be sent to the member who created it through the email address specified under that member’s Profile affording the possibility to revise and re-post.  If your post was removed but you haven’t received a copy, please check to verify that the address listed is correct.  If it is, chances are we viewed the Topic Post or comment as having no merit.  Members who consistently fail to respect others and who do not respond to reason may find their Profile accounts suspended.

That’s it!  Thanks for reading this.

Please Note: The preceding rules and suggestions should not be seen as all-inclusive and may not address every situation.  Additionally, specific areas of the Forums may have supplemental or relaxations to the rules posted here.  More information will be posted within those areas, if applicable.  All of these rules are subject to change.[v.1]