Handbook
Welcome to our trail family member handbook!
THRU-r is a place where new hikers and experienced hikers can connect on different levels by using the THRU-r Map, Forums, Events, Direct Messaging capabilities, Friend Requesting, and more.
Below is our Member Handbook, where you’ll find our most updated community rules and directions on how to use all of our current Trail Family offerings.
community rules
THRU-r is a long-distance hiking community and we believe in treating everyone as we do on trail: With respect and kindness.
We created this community – in part – to have more exclusive, respectful, and factual commentary between long-distance hikers. Is there a place for different opinions and healthy banter? Of course. But if there is commentary that is unhelpful and blatantly rude (or worse) – hikers who exhibit that sort of language will be removed. We all hike differently and celebrate our differences in this community.
We reserve the right to remove anyone from this community if we feel there is hostility or ill intent being exhibited to other members. As a community, we are here to help and support each other – and expect our members to uphold these values. Our community rules are as follows:
1. Be respectful & kind to other members
2. Please do not display ill intent or harm to other members
3. Please keep from giving wholly unhelpful advice. Confusing jokes as an answer to someone’s question is an example of this. If you like that type of interaction, please go to Facebook, Reddit, or other more public social channels 😉
4. No spamming YouTube channels, social media profiles, etc. (that’s what your profile is for)
5. Please respect other hikers’ privacy. We built this community for candid commentary and connection between hikers. What is shared here is between members only
6. Let’s keep this community about long-distance hiking. Are there real and important issues in the world worth championing? YES. But this is not the place to do it unless it pertains directly to long-distance hiking (like setting up a group hike for a certain cause)
7. Exhibiting any behaviors against our community rules could result in removal from the member area
PROFILE
Your profile includes the information in your application to join the community. You may go in and edit anything as you see fit, add a profile picture, a cover photo, change or add to your bio, and more! If you choose to show up on the THRU-r MAP so other hikers can see generally where you are by city, please make sure your address is updated. Pin location is based off of the address you input in your profile. For privacy purposes, pins are programmed to indicate your general location (and not your exact location).
Alternatively, you can update your general location as you hike so Trail Angels and other hikers can see where you are. The map goes mostly by the city and zipcode, so if you know where you’ll be, you can use “1234 Hello Road” as the street name (with the correct city and zip code) and the pin will update. (Note: More information specifically on the THRU-r MAP is further below in this handbook).
If you have read through this handbook and our FAQ page and are still having any issues with your profile, please email us at info@thru-r.com
VIDEO LIBRARY
Check out our Video Library, with new videos added every month! We offer recordings of our events, full podcast interview recordings (not available anywhere else!), and informative videos from our Ambassadors & Contributors of experienced hikers – in organized playlists. Available for Trail Family+ members. A Trail Family rollout is in the works – so stay tuned!
Playlists include:
- Basic Skills
- Finances
- Hygiene
- Trail Culture
- Food
- Gear
- Safety
- Strategy & Success
- Post Trail
- Health
- Technology
- Stewardship
- Trail Specific
HIKER FORUM
A place where hikers can share tips and exchange information based off of organized hiker-specific subject matter. Forum topics match the Video Library playlists. We have been testing this out for about a year, and hope that you take advantage of this resource in between events!
Post a question and use the @ symbol if you’d like to tag someone in your post. Our Ambassadors, Contributors, and/or other hikers will respond to you! You can also ask any questions that pop up from watching videos in the Video Library here in the corresponding forums.
THRU-r MAP
Our Trail Family Map shows where we all are in the world! Here you can see other Trail Family members who are local to you. Connect through direct messaging to (for example) chat, swap tips, arrange a meetup, and more. Pins are based off of the address you input under your profile.
*Privacy Note* – For privacy purposes, pins have been programmed to indicate your approximate location and not your exact location. You can use an exact address (these are generalized so your exact location remains private) or you can use “1234 Hello Road” and input your correct city and zip code for the pin on the map to update.
In addition to the visual map, we also provide a list of every member who opted in to the map feature (see below the map). Here you can scroll through or use the “Search Members” search feature – at the top right corner – to tailor what you see.
