The quickest way to start would be to search with one of the links at the top left. They will show you all of the shows, bands, venues, or people that are in the database. From there you can trim it down to what you're looking for using the search options. Then click around. Click a band name, see their profile and the shows they have coming up. Click a venue to get its info and shows. Click a user to see their profile and which entries they've posted.
You can also use the by state view (also a link on the top left) to see how many shows, bands, venues, or users are registered here from each state. The numbers are links to list them.
You may have noticed that the links are color-coded...
When you're browsing the list of shows, you'll see that some of the bands and venues are links and some are not. This is because not every band or venue has a profile here (yet), so only the ones that do will be active links.
To attempt a pre-emptive strike on people who would try to post false shows, I've added a system where a bands and venues can either confirm or deny that they are actually on a particular posted show. Bands and venues that have not confirmed the show will have question marks (?) by their names in the show list view. Also, bands and venues can remove themselves from shows that they are not part of.
When browsing the shows, keep an eye on the confirmation status of the bands and venues. An unconfirmed status here and there shouldn't be too much to worry about, since it might just be that the band is lazy or forgot to go and confirm it, but if none of the bands are confirmed, you might want to try to find another source to tell you whether the show is on before you go out of your way to go.
Also keep in mind that bands and venues that don't have profiles here can't confirm or deny their part in any of the shows listed. So bands and venues that aren't highlighted also don't display any confirmation info. You should think of them all as "unconfirmed".
As much of a pain in the ass as it is to remember yet another password, only people who have registered on the site can post listings. This way the listings you post belong to you and only you can edit them. That's really the point of the whole site. It's kept up to date by the community just updating the things they posted, instead of one caretaker editing html to the advice of hundreds of emails. Use the links at the top right to either log in or sign up.
Once you're signed up and logged-in it's all about the add / update listings link.
Adding a band or venue profile is pretty straight-forward: fill out the form and click create. Once you have a profile, people setting up shows can link to your profile, and people browsing the shows will be able to click your name to see the profile and all the shows you have coming up.
When you're browsing shows, shows that link to bands and venues that you have added will have links next to the names that say "confirm" or "remove". Use those links to confirm or deny that you are playing the show. When you click remove you will be unlinked from the show: you will no longer be listed on it and it will not come up in searches for your band or venue.
For a quick list of all the shows with your bands and venues on them that could need confirming, use the confirm shows link.
Unfortunately, adding shows is more complicated because of the linking required to enable the cross-referencing that this site is all about.
The first step is to create the record for the show. Fill out the form with the date and all the extra info you know, and click create. Remember: BANDS AND VENUES COME LATER. A lot of people seem to want to use the comment field or the TBA bands field to specify the bands or venue, but doing that means it won't get indexed right and won't be found in searches. The comment field is for extra info, like "so and so's record release", and putting a number in the TBA bands field just creates a line at the bottom of the band list that says "... and X more TBA".
Once you click create, the record is created and the full set of show options appears, including the venue options. The venue is originally set to "Venue TBA". Click the "change venue" link to change it.
On the next page there will be a search box. If you know the name of the venue, type it in and hit search. If an exact match is found in the database, it will link right to it and all the info in its profile. If this is the case, then you're done, the venue info was already entered by the person who created the profile. Use the link to take you back to the show editor.
If there are multiple matches, or no exact matches, you will get list of potential venues to choose from. If one of those is it, choose it and it will be linked.
You'll notice that, after you search, another form opens up at the bottom of the page. If your show's venue isn't in the database, enter all the info that you know about it in this form and a mini-record will be created and linked to your show. This way the venue is in the database in a way it can understand, even if it's not a full profile. I should re-iterate that: THE FORM ON THE CHANGE VENUE PAGE DOES NOT CREATE A VENUE PROFILE. The info you enter there is only associated with the show you posted, and does not get cross-referenced.
If the venue isn't pinned down yet, there is another form on the change venue page that lets you enter a city and state so that your show will still show up in searches for shows in that state, even if the venue is listed as TBA.
Once you have the venue set up, use the link to go back to the show editor.
Adding bands is a lot like changing the venue, except the initial search box is right there on the show editor page. Type the name of the band, and if it's found it will be linked automatically, and if not you can choose from the near matches or enter the info yourself. Remember: Just like with the venues, entering info here doesn't link it to anything, it's just a way to let the show listing have bands that don't have profiles.
The bands you've already added to the show are listed above the search box, and you can remove bands if you need to with the remove link next to their name. As you add more bands, you can use the pull-down list next to the search box to specify where they are in the order, headlining bands at the top, opening bands at the bottom.
Unlike the venue, when once you enter a non-linked band's info, you can't go back and edit it. You'll have to remove the band from the show and add it again.