your alert box lets you know when u have mail,some1 rated you,or voted on a pic~!!!the shout box is where you IM chat....just click"send a shout" and type where the empty box is.....what you need to do is vote on ppls profiles and pics to earn points (or if u dont wanna dont)how you vote is using the cherrys to the top right of their page (rate) and the pic voting is to the left of pages....if you want to view some1's pics,click on the numbers below their main photo.....enough for now????if you need help ill help okay~!!!!~~~~micki"blue eyes"