Don;
Tunings are a physical thing, they are nothing more than the 'open' notes of the strings. The different tunings are used to facilitate physical access to various ranges/arrangements of notes. Most all the rest is music theory, which you can find on the net, in libraries or via classes and will pickup over time.
Don, I have the sense that you don't want to delve too far into music theory (i don't blame you!)- that you really only want to know enough to not be confused when playing simple tunes at home. Because you have instruments with shorter-than-usual lengths of scale, you can't get around the fact that your tunings will need to be higher than the usual D-based dulcimer tunings...in this case you go up the alphabet from D tuning to a higher G tuning. But because you play alone, you can use your G tunings that are almost just like the usual D tunings and you'll be able to 'pretend' you are in D and use the tabs written for the D tuning equivilent of your G tuning. (i hope you're not lost here)
There is no definition page here on FOTMD, but there are plenty of those on other sites if you google. I have written a guide to the four most common dulcimer modes and tunings -written for beginners and in plain language with videos, charts, and simple explanations. My posts on modes/tunings are intended for people who just want a simple basic understanding so they can play and tune more easily. Most of what I've written on my Noter Blog is geared towards the key of D tunings, but you can just 'translate' that for your G tunings by substituting G for D (use GDd when you see DAA). Or in the case of your new dulcimer, GDGg ...which you should know is also similar to an ionian DAA.
I understand you don't want to get far into theory, but since you ask for definitions, I'm going to give you a link to my blog post that tries to explain modes and tunings to beginners who only want to get a quick and practical understanding :
https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/09/few-of-my-posts-about-modes.html
Anytime someone asks for a 'definition' of modes and tunings, they should understand that reading one or two sentences in a 'definition' is never going to give instant understanding. But if you go through and explore the post I've linked to above, it might take an hour or two but you will then have a basic grasp that will get you feeling a little less frustrated than you are now. That feeling will be very reassuring as you go forward in your home enjoyment playing. 
Lois -- remember that the vast majority of those Mixolydian tune book songs are not Mixolydian modal songs. They are Ionian Mode songs being played in Mixolydian DAd using the 6+ fret.
I was going to say that!
Ken's right Don- Just think of your GDDd tuning as a higher version of DAA. It needs to be higher because of the short scale/length of your Wren dulcimer. BUT you can follow all TAB written for DAA on your GDDd dulcimer. (you will be playing in the key of G)
As to your coming GDGg dulcimer- when it comes you can either retune it to GDDd and see if it feels right, OR you can stay in GDGd and think of it as similar to DAdd (DAd) tuning... and then if you are playing noter style you can follow all TABS written for DAd. (again, you will be playing in the key of G)
If strings feel too 'heavy' or tight when playing, you can buy strings one number smaller and often it will feel better for your fingers. However, keep in mind that the shorter the instrument (and the Wren is quite short) the stiffer the strings will feel by default. My epinettes tend to be stiffer feeling than my (longer) dulcimers.
Don't worry too much- you can find your fave one or two tunings and stick with them if you like! Some folks like to experiment, others not so much. 
Lois -- remember that the vast majority of those Mixolydian tune book songs are not Mixolydian modal songs. They are Ionian Mode songs being played in Mixolydian DAd using the 6+ fret.
Don -- Play what works for you, GDD, GDg, QRS, TUV, WXYZ.... Nothing wrong with the key of G, especially on those smaller instruments. Just remember that your GDD dulcimer can play DAA tabulature, and your GDg dulcimer can play DAd tabulature, as written. No need to change to the key of D.
Marg, that little dulcimer was made by FOTMD member Peter W . You might contact him if you have any questions. Notice that in addition to the swivel possum board, he has a small box situated directly under the fretboard. The purposes of a box are to 1) amplify the sound, and 2) improve the tone. To achieve the second, cardboard won't do, which is why I suggested cedar cigar boxes.
I have a really nice patio out back overlooking a small lake but sometimes it is very sunny in the afternoons so I put in a small paved sitting area at my entrance up front for a shady afternoon. Now I can play outside anytime, just sometimes in the back & sometimes in the front.
What a great eclipse site-loved the animations, thx.
Thx, we love our deck! Jan, come on down!! Some of us here in Morehead just spent an intense, but very fun 3 days with Sarah Morgan & Stephen Seifert at Ky Center for Trad Music w/jamming on Bill & Patty Mains' porch 1 nite & jamming at Sarah's camp the next-the final nite concert included Raymond McLain on fiddle-it was awesome!
Don: Tune your dulcimer to DAd. Use music that's tabbed out for DAd tuning. Find other people who enjoy playing with this tuning. Enjoy!
I believe this answers your original question.
Lovely deck--thanks for the photo! Let me know if you need jamming company someday!
Type your zip code into the box here and it will give you lots of info on what the eclipse will look like from your location. This is a really cool site. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16019892/solar-eclipse-2017-interactive-map
DulcimerJones, that's a beautiful place to sit!
Thanks, Ken! That's so quick! I am on my tablet now, but am eager to print it out when back on my desktop. Similarly I have found YouTube recommendations about strumming I am looking forward to trying. It's good to be back here.
Lois, here is a link to chord chart in DAA from EverythingDulcimer.com: http://everythingdulcimer.com/files/tab/chord_chart_daa_major.pdf
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Lots of different cigar box dulcimers, 2 & 3 boxes - great.
This one was interesting also, no box just the possum board that also acts as a cover.
CGG seems to fit my voice better, although I am definitely not wedded to it. I have found so many books in Mixolydian that I have found myself playing it more and more. I would really like to find chords in Ionian.
Care to share, Jim? I am not worried about transposing. As long as I allow for the 6 1/2 fret that is not a problem.
I will try to do this also. We just built deck vol.2 this year & its a pleasure to sit looking out over paradise in E. Ky. Too bad this does not coincide w/the eclipse-that would be cool! Attaching pic, hope this works!
The solar eclipse starts at 11:54 a.m. CDT and totality begins at 1:22 p.m. CDT, lasting for a little over two minutes.
Sean, Wow, that song is dredging up memories from the long, long ago of my aging brain. Was this recorded by the Andrews Sisters or Shirley Temple? The lyrics are so familiar, but I'm having trouble placing the tune, even w/youtube...
Yes, you want at least one sound hole. Since your fretboard is already made and the dulcimer fretboard sits on top of the box (instead of recessed into it like a guitar), your project is much easier than most.
Check out FOTMD Randy Adams playing a fretless cigar box dulcimer . You can see how he set up the soundholes and how he arranged the two boxes underneath his fretboard. Randy used two cigar boxes, but check out this Tiny Guitars version with three (and frets, too, along with a pickup).
(Any cigar boxes will do, but those made of cedar will sound much better.)
dusty,
do I need to put some type of sound hole in the box?
Leo, the issue you are dealing with now is simply a question of where to post a comment or question on a given topic. I wish more people here would think about that instead of just posting in whatever forum or group they find first.
Each of the last few years someone sent out email notifications about the Kindred Gathering, and I think there were announcements here and at ED. For some reason none of that communication happened this year.
If you want to post somewhere that you are going and wondering who else may attend, I would suggest either the General Mountain Music Forum or the Group pages for the California Group and the Northwest Players Group. However, I will warn you that the Groups have been a little inactive over the last few months. Maybe everyone's off at festivals.
Leo, you're very welcome. 
I agree it's best to let organizers post about their own event. They may not have remembered it- in past years they have posted it here in Events. Maybe they assume everyone is on FacePlant. lol
BUT, you could create a General Forum thread mentioning that you are going...no harm in that I'd say. Just click on the top of page LINK to Forums, and post a new thread in the General Mountain Dulcimer Or Music Discussions category.
I type pretty fast. 
------------
Lois, you posted your Single Instructor Event just fine. If you stop trying to post in activity feeds you won't see that error message.
Thanks to all who have answered. I appreciate the information and encouragement. As to the info, I have to digest it all! Gosh, Strumelia, I hope all that was boiler plate from somewhere you cut and pasted OR that you're a very fast typist!
But without having read the responses in detail, what I had been looking to do was along the lines of, say, when I first got on the site and some people posted a hello. A general place or message board to say, 'gee I see the Kindred Gathering isn't listed here, but I was going to be there next week and thought some FOTMD members in Nor-Cal and Oregon may be interested...' And a link. Or not, if it's problematic.
See, though I want to mention the KG and that I'm going, it's not my place to post a festival listing as others organize it and I don't know why they choose to not use FOTMD OR ED! So posting that gathering IS something I'm "not authorized" to do - by them! I will ask them about it when there. Maybe on that basis, I should not post anything about it (??? This seems counter-intuitive to me!), but in any case it has raised the general issue of messaging to people and the group.
I'll read and plod.
Thanks again and ciao for now, Leo
From your page, select Events/Single Instructor Events. Up comes a new page with the banner
Discussions » Single-Instructor Workshops, Band & House Concerts, Club Activities, Monthly Jams
and at the right side of the banner, click the + When you do a new page appears titled
|
||
with a text edit box below it where you type your information
O.k. I missed a step initially just posting something on my page. Have just tried the Events, Single Instructor page with the plus sign. Sorry for the multiple attempts, but at least none of them generated the dreaded "You do not have the proper privileges to perform that action!"
This is an easy one for me. Mine arrived just last evening. Walnut and Spruce McSpadden dulcimer. I've played Irish music before this, mostly on Flute and Whistle. I play a little Mandolin and Irish Bouzouki. In the past year, I found myself playing more and more old-time and I've always been interested in the MD.
Looking forward to a long journey with it.
Leo, just to follow up on Strumelia's explanation, the Activity Feed is not a space unto itself. It it just a list with hyperlinks to what's been going on anywhere on the site (not just Groups, but the Forum, Events, Videos, etc.) so that people can join hot conversations here or there. When I stop by FOTMD, the first thing I do is check the Activity Feed on the main page (not the one on my home page which only lists MY activity) so that I can see what's new. As your last comment did, when you post somewhere it will show up on the Activity Feed.
If you want to create a listing for a new dulcimer festival such as the Harvest Festival of Dulcimers or the Kindred Gathering, start on your own page, click "Events," choose "Festivals" and then click "+" to add a new festival. When you do that, the activity feed will show that "Leo Kretzner has created a new event" and other people can click on that to see what you've been up to. Once you have a festival listed once, it might be easier the next year to edit it by putting in the new dates, new guest artists, etc., rather than starting a whole new listing. When you do that the Activity Feed will say "Leo Kretzner has updated an Event."
If any of this seems confusing, keep in mind that you asked your question in the right place, so you must know what you're doing, right?
P.S. My apologies to Ken Backer, whose thread here doesn't really have much to do with the activity feed subject.
p.p.s. Leo- I see that you did figure out how to post an Event several months ago, and have now also posted a couple of videos ...also that you found your way to this Site Questions forum. Good on ya! 
Leo and Ken, Thank you for posting this. I can't begin to say how much this has confused me and kept me away. Why do we get the "You do not have the proper privileges to perform that action" message. There must be a purpose, but I, too, am definitely missing it.
Way back when I mentioned it to Strumelia, I was supposed to send in all kinds of documentation. Just didn't have the time back then & just skipped FOTMD instead. If this message hadn't shown up in my Inbox, I'd still be away.
Hi Lois,
I'm hoping my above post to Leo helps clarify a bit on how FOTMD functions and why. Please read it and let me know if there's something you don't understand still.
When you've written me in the past about your site navigation problems, I needed to have clearer descriptions of what you were doing when you got errors. Otherwise I would have been just groping blindly in the dark if I tried to help. Leo's description helped me to figure out what he was doing that resulted in the 'permissions' error, so I was then able to guess what was going on. I hope you'll stick around a while!
If I go to my own page and click on 'latest activity' a text box, just like this one, opens up. So I write my comment - in this case including info about the Kindred Gathering coming up - but when I go to post it, or update I think it says, I get: "FOTMD says: You do not have the proper privileges to perform that action!"
What does this mean? It's extra confusing as it comes after just posting some videos and comments with those.
Do all general posted comments have to be in the context of a group? Or what? Or is it because I included a web address in the comment?
Hi Leo,
Not all social network sites behave the same way, and yes I understand that it can be confusing.
But let me see if I'm correctly understanding your question:
One doesn't 'post a general comment' in order for it to show on the site's Main Page activity feed. Instead, the Main page activity feed simply reflects what's been going on...things that members have posted or commented on elsewhere, all over the site.
I have the site set up so that Admins and Moderators ARE able to post right in their profile page activity feed (and by default that post will appear also in the Main Page activity feed). That is so we can post site notices if needed.
However, I have the set set so that regular members are NOT able post updates into their activity feed (hence your error message when you try). Why do I have it set this way?- because some folks would then start ONLY the feed to add all their content to the site and to have their thoughts appear on the Main page...they would try to hold discussions there in the activity feeds, expecting comments, etc. This 'lite' participation method would not be a good thing. The Feed is not set up to do justice to any meaningful discussion, and also the content would sink down out of sight in the Feed and disappear before you could blink an eye. Todays' posted content would be forgotten tomorrow, and it'd be purged after a few months as all main page Activity Feed entries are. This site is not FB, where all the activity rapidly scrolls by in one place- the feed. Instead, I try to present a place where people can interact in depth, and where members' content can remain in view in an organized way so as to benefit folks joining and looking for help for years to come. FOTMD is already eight years old now, and has a huge amount of richly rewarding and helpful content.
FOTMD is not just an activity feed... it's like a social club where you can explore different areas of interest, and get to know others who share those interests.
To post a video, you click the + button in your Video section on your profile page (and it appears in the main page activity feed). To post an audio clip, you do so from your profile page's Audio section. Post a festival Event by clicking to your Events area. Post a photo by going to your profile page's Photos area. For discussions: To post in the Discussion Forums, you click to the forum area from the Forums link along top of every page. Click to the Groups link to browse or join a specific interest Group and post in that Group.
Every time you participate -by posting a video, a photo, an event, an audio clip, posting in or creating a group or forum discussion, or a comment on someone else's items... your action will appear in the Main Page Activity Feed. But activity feed entries in themselves don't function as participation or action. Try to think about what it is you want to post or add or say- then add it in the site area it should logically go... do you want to add a video? Or an Event, or a photo? Or start a forum discussion? Did you see a video in the activity feed that you'd like to comment on or 'Like'?...then click on it and you'll be taken to the video itself where you can Like it or leave your comment.
Leo, I hope perhaps this helps to clarify a few things for you about how this site works. Let me know if I have not explained it well enough or if you have more questions. I'm glad to help if I can!
I had gone to a dulcimer gathering, but not to play dulcimer. I wanted to play along on my acoustic bass guitar. It was good practice and I also got to hear again a local group I enjoy, Picks 'n' Sticks. The day started with an offer to let people borrow a dulcimer, probably the cardboard body ones, for a year. I said to myself, since I already have way to many instruments, no way.
Never say never. Later that year I was out with my daughter visiting flea markets and antique shops in her area and found what I call "the Orphan." A smallish locally made dulcimer abandoned in a flea market. Decided to try it and, yes, just as I feared earlier, became hooked!
Leo and Ken, Thank you for posting this. I can't begin to say how much this has confused me and kept me away. Why do we get the "You do not have the proper privileges to perform that action" message. There must be a purpose, but I, too, am definitely missing it.
Way back when I mentioned it to Strumelia, I was supposed to send in all kinds of documentation. Just didn't have the time back then & just skipped FOTMD instead. If this message hadn't shown up in my Inbox, I'd still be away.
Leo -- "Latest Activity" is the latest things that you have written, not the latest activity on the site as a whole. From my page I click on Forum, then choose which Discussion I want to add something to There I click the + to start a new thread
Hi Folks,
What do I need to do to post a general comment? (that would come up on 'latest activity')
If I go to my own page and click on 'latest activity' a text box, just like this one, opens up. So I write my comment - in this case including info about the Kindred Gathering coming up - but when I go to post it, or update I think it says, I get: "FOTMD says: You do not have the proper privileges to perform that action!"
What does this mean? It's extra confusing as it comes after just posting some videos and comments with those.
Do all general posted comments have to be in the context of a group? Or what?
Or is it because I included a web address in the comment?
Thanks for the info!
Leo Kretzner
(fretboard is long holds the bridge and the nut,)
The fretboard is all together, head, bridge, nut & end strings pins. Lots of ideas, exciting possibilities. Can't wait to try something. Thanks so much everyone.
john-gribble,
(You may end up building instruments before too long!)
I don't think so but that would be great if it was something I could do. I am always amazed of the beauty of hand made dulcimers
