BOL User Tips -- BankersOnline 2nd Anniversary

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These helpful hints will make it easier than ever before to use all the treasures available on BankersOnline. For more information, see the BOL Site FAQs.

Print hint. You love the articles, but when you print them, you get all the screen clutter. No problem. For each article on BankersOnline, we've created a special 'print friendly' version that will look great coming off of your printer. There are even links to let you email the article to a colleague, or to go straight to the discussion boards to see what others are saying -- or to post your thoughts.

Advanced print hint. You're trying to use the print-friendly option, but you keep seeing an old article, rather than the one you want to print. You probably need to clear your cache. Never done it before? If you're using Internet Explorer, go to the menu at the top of the browser page. Choose Tools/Internet Options. Then click the button that says "Delete temporary files". Don't worry! They're only talking about temporary Internet files. On Netscape, go to Edit/Preferences. Click on the triangle next to Advanced. Then click on Cache. Click the button for "Clear memory cache". Then click the button that says "Clear disk cache". Depending on how much you surf, you may need to clear your cache frequently.

Finding articles by particular authors. Are you a fan of a particular guru or author? Use the BOL search engine to find all the content they're written. Do a search using the author's full name, as it appears in their byline. Be sure you choose the "exact phrase" option on the search results page for best results.

How to avoid overlooking a great tool. When you're looking for a Banker Tool, don't limit your search to a particular category. Many of the tools could properly have been placed in multiple categories (example: the PLEASE system for customer ID verification could have gone in Operational Accessories, Security Power Tools, or Training Aids), but we chose just one. To avoid missing something that could really help you, check out all the tools!

Finding the message you want. With tens of thousands of messages, how can you find what you're looking for? Use the 'Search' button on Bankers' Threads, enter the keywords that define your interest and let us present you with a customized list. Search by user name or keyword. Designate the period of time you wish your search to cover -- from the beginning of the message board (All) to just one week. Another option is to sort messages by number of views or replies, or alphabetically by subject or initial poster. Simply click on the link at the top of the appropriate column to do so. And one more tip: if you've been out a day or two and want to see the messages posted during that time, scroll down to the bottom of the main Bankers' Threads page and click on the links for "Last 24 hours", "Last 48 hours" or "Past 7 Days".

Customized stock information. You've probably seen the stock information on our home page. But did you know that there's a wealth of information to be found by clicking on the 'BankersOnline Stock Center' link on the front page? Articles, graphs, stats, and you can even customize your portfolio.

Researching the regs. Do you need to find the specific citation from the banking regs to bolster your position? You don't need to travel all over the Web to find it. Simply go to 'Alphabet Soup' and drill down. You can even choose a print friendly version that will format nicely. From the BSA regs to HUD's Reg X, we've got all the most-requested regs.

Finding a regulatory issuance. Looking to untangle FDIC's web site? How about OCC? FRB? Use the Web Site Road Maps to find what you're looking for. We've organized the regulators' Web sites into nice neat categories of links. Of course, for the very latest issuances, the Top Stories page is the place to go, where you can find the issuances in reverse chronological order.

New court decisions. You need to know about legal decisions affecting the banking industry. But where do you go to look? BankersOnline, of course. We've set up a special area for you to review court cases that may directly impact your work. Check out the 'Court Watch' area today.

All the latest regulatory developments. Start each day by going to the 'Top Stories' area and you'll be up-to-speed on current banking topics. And don't forget, you can click on the Archives drop down menu near the top of the page to explore what happened in previous months. Plus, you'll find links to Recently Finalized Rules and Pending Proposals.

Looking smart by staying in-the-know. You need to stay on top of the issues -- but where can you find the time? Don't worry, sign up for one or more of our free Banker Briefings and we'll let you know when things happen. There are three options -- and we recommend subscribing to all of them. On Sunday evenings, the weekly Banker Briefing is sent out, featuring a summary of the week's new content. From time to time, special briefings are sent to the Banker Briefing list with content of interest to persons other than those in compliance. The Compliance Briefing arrives in the email in-box every business day, usually before 7:00 a.m. Eastern. It features short summaries of relevant regulatory issuances and Federal Register publications. Special briefings are sent to the compliance briefing subscribers as circumstances warrant. Subscribers to the Compliance Briefing also receive immediate alerts when changes to the OFAC list occur. The third briefing is the Tech Advisory. It focuses on important news relating to security patches, viruses, worms, trojans, and other IT-related information.

Finding products and services. You're looking for a product or service, or trying to find contact information for a specific vendor, but you don't have time to do all the research. We have a solution. Check out BOL Vendor Connect -- the industry's most complete, organized listing of financial services suppliers, searchable and user-friendly. And don't forget to look for products and services in the Advanced print hint. ">BOL Banker Store -- there are more than a thousand -- and every time you make a purchase there, you're helping to support the site.

Networking and educational opportunities. You'd like to go to a seminar, but you don't know what's being offered. We show a partial list of educational events and conferences on the home page, but if you click on the 'BOL Calendar of Events' you'll be taken to a huge list of upcoming programs.

Where we showcase our special content. Don't want to miss anything, but aren't crazy about the idea of more email? We post all of our special articles (those that are not included in the week's standard content) on our BOL Archives for the particular week in which they were featured.

Check the date. Always scroll down to see the date on an article. BOL has thousands of new articles added each year, but it also features a rich repository of content written over the last decade. Look at the date the article was written to determine whether changes have occurred since that time that may affect its content.