Getting Started in the Community

The Community is a private, members-only network of verified dividend investors built directly into the Terminal: Discord-style topic channels and private messages, all tied to your Dividend Data account.

The Community is a Pro tool. Free accounts see a preview landing that explains it; the live community unlocks with Pro.

Getting Around

The conversation lives in the channels, so on a computer the Community opens on #general. The sidebar beside it lists Catch Up and Messages first, then the channels, then Bookmarks and the Leaderboard. On a phone, that same list is the first screen of the Community tab. Tap anything to open it (it slides in from the right), and ‹ Back at the top left returns you to where you were.

Catch Up

Catch Up shows everything new since you last checked. What was meant for you comes first: mentions, replies, quotes and thread replies you haven't opened, then new reactions, grouped by message. Unread direct messages follow, then every channel with new messages: how many landed since your last visit, the newest few to read right there, Jump to First Unread to open the channel at the oldest one, and Mark as Read. Mark all as Read clears the channels and your notifications in one go (direct messages stay unread until you open them).

Catch Up is also where your notifications live. Below everything new, Earlier keeps the ones you've already seen, so a reply or mention is still there after you've read it. The number on Catch Up in the sidebar counts the mentions, replies and quotes waiting for you.

When you open a channel with new messages, a New line marks where you left off, and a banner at the top counts what landed since then with a Jump to First Unread button.

Inside a channel or a conversation on a phone, tap its name at the top for its info: the members, search and the pinned messages. A reply thread opens as a screen of its own, and ‹ Back returns you to the channel.

On a phone, menus and the emoji picker rise from the bottom of the screen (swipe one down to close it), and Share on a post opens your phone's share sheet.

In a channel or a conversation on a phone, swipe a message to the right to reply to it, or double-tap it to add the reaction you use most (👍 to start). Hold a message for every other action.

Your Community Profile

Your first visit asks you to create a community profile: a display name, a unique handle, and an avatar color (you can upload an avatar image later). Your profile is separate from your account details. Other members see your display name and handle, never your email. You can edit everything, add a bio, or set your profile to private from your profile page.

A member's profile opens on their Activity: everything they've posted in the channels (and the former Main Feed), replies and shared buys, sells, dividends and portfolios included, newest first, each marked with where it was posted. Pick Buys & Sells or Dividends to narrow it, and click a message's channel line to open it there. Media collects their photos, GIFs and videos, and Overview holds their level, statistics and badges. Direct messages never appear on a profile.

Bookmarks

Choose Bookmark in a message's ⋯ menu to save it (on a phone, press and hold the message). Bookmarks in the sidebar lists everything you've saved, newest first, each marked with the channel or conversation it came from; click that line to open the message where it was posted.

The Main Feed of member posts was retired in October 2026, since the conversation moved to the channels. Links to its posts still open them.

Topic Channels

The Channels section in the community sidebar holds dedicated channels for the conversations that repeat: sharing your buys, your sells, your portfolio, your dividends, and breaking news. Channels update live as members post, complete with typing indicators and who's online. The four share channels use reply threads: replies to a post open in a side thread, and the channel shows a one-line activity nudge when a thread gets a new reply. General and News discussion keep inline replies.

The search box in a channel's header searches the whole channel, not just what's on screen, including replies inside threads; pick a result to jump straight to it. Hover a reaction to see who reacted, or choose View reactions from a message's menu (long-press a reaction on a phone) for the full list.

Writing Messages

The message box in channels, reply threads and direct messages grows with what you write, and Enter sends (Shift+Enter starts a new line; in a list or a code block, Enter adds a line). A list, quote or code block takes only the line you're on or the lines you select: write your intro, press Shift+Enter, then choose a numbered or bulleted list. Press Enter on an empty list item to end the list. Drafts are kept: switch to another channel and what you were writing is still there when you come back. With an empty box, press ↑ to edit your last message.

• Formatting: the Aa button shows the formatting bar (bold, italic, strikethrough, link, numbered and bulleted lists, quote, code and code block), or type it as you go: **bold**, _italic_, ~~strike~~, ` code , three backticks for a code block, > for a quote, - or 1.` for a list.
• Links: a pasted or typed address that starts with https:// or www. becomes a link. To put a link behind words, select them and paste the address, press Ctrl+K (⌘K on a Mac), or type [words](https://address). Hovering any link shows where it goes.
• Attachments: attach up to 10 images, videos and files to one message with the paperclip, by pasting, or by dropping them on the message box. Files can be PDFs, Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, CSV and text files up to 25 MB. Several images show as a grid you can page through, and a file opens in a new tab (PDFs read right in the browser).

Mentions That Do Something

• Type @ while writing to mention a member. They get a notification.
• Type / to mention a ticker. It renders as a chip like $MSFT that links straight to that stock's research page, and hovering it shows live price, change, market cap, and yield.

Share Straight from Your Portfolio

The Portfolio can post to the share channels for you: a Share button posts your portfolio as percentage weights (dollar values are never included), any buy, sell, or dividend row in Activity or the Income Log can be shared with one click, and linked brokerages can auto-share new activity as it syncs (one combined post per update, only for the event types you turn on). The Share button opens a post already written for you, and you can edit any of it before posting, just like a community post. The menus above it pick which accounts it covers, how many holdings to list (or untick single ones), extra details like sector, dividend yield, or Safety Grade, summary lines like portfolio yield and sector mix, and a list, numbered, compact, or weight-bar layout. Save as Default keeps those choices for next time. A one-time setup chooses exactly what shared posts include, separately for trades (tickers only, shares and price, or full amounts) and for dividends (tickers only, money bags with one 💰 per digit of the payment laid out like the real figure, or full amounts). Buys made by reinvesting a dividend are flagged (DRIP) at every level, and everything, with an example of each post type, is editable under Portfolio Settings → Community Sharing, also reachable from the Share button's Sharing Settings. Nothing is ever shared without that setup.

XP, Levels, and the Leaderboard

Posting, sharing trades, and receiving reactions earn XP toward your level and the community badges shown on your profile. Your level appears as a small chip next to your name in the channels, and it never resets.

The Leaderboard in the community sidebar ranks members by points, rewarding what helps other members more than how much you post: 3 points for each member who reacts to your message, 1 point per message (up to 20 a day), and 5 points for each buy, sell, or dividend you post yourself (up to 3 a day). Posts your Portfolio shares automatically don't earn points, though reactions to them do. This Month starts over on the 1st and All Time keeps every point; your own rank and the points you need to pass the next member always show at the bottom. Staff and private profiles aren't ranked, and the board refreshes every 15 minutes.