The new Cigar Envy Discussion Forums are open.

There is a block in the right column menu that will take you there, or you can click on the link above. The Forums are free, and I hope you will enjoy them.

The new Forums will provide a different level of interaction than takes place here at the main CE blogazine or on the Cigar Envy Deals and Discussion email list at yahoogroups.

Talk about starting cigar passes and trades at the yahoo discussion group led me to set up Member Forums here at the main Cigar Envy site to provide a bit more privacy and a quicker response time than the yahoogroup gives. The active Cigar Pass forms at the discussion board are private, by invitation only from the pass moderators, and can only be viewed by members of each pass group. This way, members can share their home addresses, phone numbers and the like while doing passes without spreading confidential information widely on the web.

To gain admittance to a Cigar Pass, post your interest in the Register For Passes Here Forum and a moderator will admit you to a group as soon as possible. Please do not post your home address of other personal information in the open forums.

As long as I was setting up the Pass Forums, I decided to set up a full message board. There are forums for member reviews of cigars, cigar accessories, and retailers. There is also a General Talk category with areas for politics, humor, disaster relief and other charities and other subjects. Livin’ Large is the are for diversions such as wine, beer, and liquor as well as sports talk, travel, entertainment and more. I’ve also set up some areas for pipe smokers. To protect member privacy, most of the forums are not visible until someone has registered.

Areas that are not of interest will fade away. New areas will spring up as suggestions are made or existing areas branch off. Think of this as a start rather than a finished product, since the new Forums will grow and change to meet the needs of Cigar Envy users.

You’ll have to register separately at the Forum since the Blog software won’t “talk” to it without some major work. Sorry for the inconvenience but it can’t be helped at the moment.

Most of the forums are visible and open to registered Forum members only. Some of the forums will appear to members of different membership levels, so you have some surprises coming as you become a seasoned user.

Some of the forums are private and by invitation only — you have to email either me or a moderator to get admitted, or post in a special “Register Me” forum. Once you are registered for a private forum, it will appear to you every time you log in. If you aren’t registered, the private forum simply isn’t there.

And speaking of registration, here’s the link to register for the new discussion forums.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the new forums, or if anything doesn’t work right in your browser or operating system. I’m also open to other discussion areas or sub-forum suggestions. This new Forum was actually put up last week before my accident, with a few finishing touches applied today, so don’t be surprised if you discover a glitch or two.

Also, since we have an international readership on this site, if anyone would like to help out with translations or localizations on the Forum, or as a moderator in a language other than English, I’d be happy to set that up too. Just email me with your interests.

Enjoy, and happy holidays!