To change/update your personal information it is necessary to go to your profile page by clicking on your name in the site-wide nav - the button to the left of Search.

When you are on your Profile page, click on the button with the gear icon in it - circled in the image below.

You will be taken to the Admin tab for your Profile.

The most important sections to update are the Profile Image (300x300 pixel square format recommended), your Profile Biography, and (scrolling down) the two-letter Country code. Unless you have a very good reason to change the profile URL, please don't, as any direct links to your profile will be broken.

It is also very important to select a member group (in Jamroom-speak, a profile quota) to belong to. Some quotas have more permissions than others. If you are in the Unassigned or Unsubscribed quotas, you can't add any new content to TheChocolateLife, for example. Click on the Profile Quota popup to select the member group that best describes your interest(s) in chocolate. NOT ALL OF THE MEMBER GROUPS SHOWN BELOW WILL BE VISIBLE TO YOU.

When you are done making changes to your Profile, scroll down and click on the Save Changes button.

You will be returned to your Profile. Click on the Gear icon again, and select the Account Tab.

Only change your User Name if there is a compelling reason. (Length would be one - having one that is more than 12 characters, for example.) Be default, the User Name on your account and your Profile name are the same.

If you change your email address double check it and make sure it is correct. If you enter the wrong email address you may not be able to log in or recover your password if you forget it. (In which case send an email to tcl_info@ to let me know and I can reset it for you.)

Change your password if you want to. It's a good idea to change the password on a fairly regular basis and to use strong passwords. If you have not changed your password in over a year, doing so now is highly recommended. A strong password has the following aspects:

Please also update your "Dark, Milk, White," "Most Memorable Chocolate Experience," "Favorite Chocolate," and other information in your Account profile. The more you share, the easier it will be for other members who share your interests to connect with you.

Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. You will be returned to your Profile page.

Forums are a community-wide resource, and to post in a Forum, it is first necessary to navigate to the Forum you want to post in. Read this FAQ for instructions on posting into Forums. ALL OTHER POSTS, excepts GROUPS, are made from your member profile page.

To get to your member profile page, you must be a member and logged in. When you are logged in your member name will appear in the button to the left of the Search button in the main nav. Click on your name to get to your member profile page.

To make things interesting, the software used for TheChocolateLife maintains a separate user account and member profile(s) for each member, making it possible for members to have more than one profile. I have my own account and profile (Clay) and a tester account (Chester Q Tester) and I can switch between them easily. 

This is the profile page I maintain for testing purposes. As you can see, there is the main navigation across the top and navigation for your profile. The navigation for your profile will be different from this testing profile. Your profile navigation (below the black bar with your profile name in it) represents the features and functions of TheChocolateLife that you have access to. 

Across the top, or site-wide, navigation when you click on a button you are taken to the area of the site to read or view everything that has been posted that has been made public. You cannot add new content from these areas, however you can rate, like, and/or comment on most items. 

If you want to add new content (other than in Forums or Groups), you must do it from your profile page.

Chester Q Tester can add new items to his Timeline, add new Blog posts, add new Events to the calendar, add new Image Galleries, add new Pages, and add new videos from Vimeo and YouTube. Chester has also been given permission to connect to Flickr to import image galleries as well as create a profile Forum separate from the main forums. (Clicking on the Followers button shows you who is following you.)

To add a new Blog post, click on Blog from your profile page. On your Blog page (it will list all of the blogs you've posted), click on the button with the + (plus) icon to start a new blog post.

Clicking on the next button with the arrows in it will change the sort order of the blog posts from last-to-first to first-to-last, and vice versa.

Clicking on the next button will show you the RSS feed for this page. This is useful if you want to embed your blogs via RSS in another site.

Most of the posts you make on TheChocolateLife are made from your profile page. The exceptions to this are posts in the Forums.

When you want to post to a FORUM.

Hover over the Forums button in the main nav. A drop-down menu will appear with shortcuts to a list of the Newest Posts and the Classifieds forum. Select either of these shortcuts to go directly to those Forum areas.

If you click on the Forums button itself (and not on one of the selections in the drop-down menu) you will go to the main Forums page, as shown below.

Click on the name of the Forum you want to post into.

When you are in the Forum you want to post into, click on the + (plus) button (circled above) to add a new post.

Clicking on the icon on the left that looks a little bit like a sight means that you want to follow all activity in this forum, even on posts that you have not contributed to.

Click on the magnifying glass icon to search just the posts within this Forum.

Click on the checkmark icon to mark all of the posts in the Forum as read.

To make things more interesting, the software used for TheChocolateLife maintains a separate user account and member profile(s) for each member, making it possible for members to have more than one profile. I have my own account and profile (Clay) and a tester account (Chester Q Tester) and I can switch between them easily. 

The Science of Chocolate 2nd Edition

Review

"The easy reading style of the book makes it valuable not only to school and university students, but also to those who are new to working with chocolate or those needing a good summary of chocolate science."

Book Description

The second edition of this international best seller has been fully revised and updated describing the complete chocolate making process, from the growing of the beans to the sale in the shops. The reader will discover how confectionery is made and how basic science plays a vital role. There is discussion of the monitoring and controlling of products, and the importance of the packaging. A series of experiments, which can be easily adapted to suit students, are included to demonstrate the physical, chemical or mathematical principles involved. This book is ideal for those studying food sciences working in the confectionery industry or just with a general interest in chocolate!

Discover Chocolate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting, and Enjoying Fine Chocolate

“Clay Gordon’s Discover Chocolate is clearly a labor of love. A thorough and informed guide, it offers valuable insight for those with a passion and desire to learn about the world of chocolate.”

—Jim Goldman, (ex-)President, Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. 

“In tasting chocolate with the same passion and precision as wine critics do wine, Clay Gordon has elevated the whole idea of appreciating chocolate to new heights.”

—W.R. Tish, former editor of Wine Enthusiast magazine

“Any fan of Clay Gordon’s website chocophile.com will find all its enjoyable qualities combined in this book: a first-time explorer’s spontaneous enthusiasm, an insider’s perspective, and a refreshingly personal conversational style. I am impressed especially by Clay’s nuanced but substantive approach to the art of tasting chocolate. Discover Chocolate will be an original, insightful, and informative addition to any chocolate-lover’s library.”

—Maricel Presilla, culinary historian and author of The New Taste of Chocolate 

“Clay’s thorough and meticulous investigation on chocolate is the foundation for this comprehensive book that leaves very little undiscovered in the marvelous world of enjoying chocolate today."

—Michael Antonorsi, Owner, Chuao Chocolatier 

“Discover Chocolate is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the complex world of chocolate today. Highly informative and easy to use, Clay Gordon’s new book is the ultimate guide to chocolate, just as the subtitle promises.”

—Alexandra Leaf, chocolate educator, cookbook author, and culinary historian

About the Author

Clay Gordon is the creator and moderator of TheChocolateLife.com. A leading independent authority on chocolate, he conducts chocolate tastings and classes across the country. His insights about chocolate are frequently published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Business Week, among other publications.

Here is the calendar, according to ICCO - the International Cocoa Organization.

USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory

ReciPal