Post by FREEBISCUITS on Apr 17, 2008 19:55:18 GMT -5
This topic was started to make things easier for you. If you're a new member here, hopefully you won't be confused any more with what is where, how you do this, etc. Many, many thanks to Luckehorseshoe for this suggestion!!!
First off, you need to know some vocabulary about some things around here. No, this is not school, but it will make reading this a whole lot easier.
---Communication---
Posts - How you communicate with others globally on the forum. If you post, they can reply to what you say.
Threads - Also called "topics", these are made up of tons and tons of posts. You can only post in threads. Threads can be found in Boards.
Boards - The categories on the home page. If you click on one, it will take you to another page filled with threads. Each board has its own name, and by its own name, its own content. The name of the board describes what's inside.
Sub-Boards - You'll find these inside boards. They're pretty self-explanatory: boards inside another board.
Personal Messages - Mostly known as "PMs", these are your own system of communicating to other members. If you send someone a PM, the only person that can reply to that is the one whom you sent it to.
---Your Profile---
Avatar - A picture by which everyone can recognize you.
Signature - Lines of words that show up automatically at the end of every one of your posts. You can change your signature whenever you want by modifying your profile.
Loyalty - This really isn't all that important. If you like a member, bless them! Maybe they said they don't like chocolate...demote them. This really does nothing. But hey, we could still do this, right?
Display Name - Who you are shown by a name. It doesn't have to be your own personal name. You can change this whenever you want by modifying your profile. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS YOUR USERNAME.
Username - The name you use to log in. When people send you a PM, they type in your username, not your Display Name. Please note that you cannot change this. Not unless you delete your account and register all over again.
Okay, now with that all out of the way, take a deep breath, stretch, and crack your fingers. This will be a lot of work to read. You will be inhaling this information. There will be so much, it won't even be funny. All right. Ready?
How to see other users online:
Sometimes you want to talk to people at the same time while they're logged in. To see if anyone is on...
1. Go to the Home Page
2. Scroll to the very bottom of the page
3. There is a little section titled "Info Center". In the Users Online[/u] portion, people's names will show up in this box. This will also tell you how many people are on.
Viewing inside the boards:
A lot of threads have multiple pages. To read the most recent post in the thread, you need to go to the last page. But how do I do that without clicking through page by page?
- Click the number of the page beneath the thread name.
This will jump you immediately to the last page of the thread. Here, you can post.
How to post:
1. Click on a thread that you like
2. Click the reply button at the top or bottom of the page (
)
3. Type the text in the box on the reply page
4. Click "Post Message"
OPTIONAL: Before you post, you can also click "Preview" to see how things turn out. This will show your post exactly how it will look once you post. You can edit it however you please.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO ALL THAT:
There is an expanding/collapsing Quick Reply at the bottom of the page while you're viewing a thread.
1. Click the words "Quick Reply (Show/Hide)"
2. Type in the message box
3. Click "Post Message"
---And your post should appear! (You can also preview the message before you post it.)
How to vote in a poll:
When someone creates a poll, you want to vote, right? How in the world do I do that?
1. Click on the thread that has the poll symbol beside it. (
New President? - See the image above for what that looks like. )
2. Once in the thread, there will be a poll question and some choices. Select the dot beside the choice you want. Please note that you can only vote once in any poll.
3. Click "Submit Vote".
---Your results should show up immediately
How to create threads:
A lot of times there's not a topic about something you like. So why not start one of your own? Here's how...
1. Click on the board that you want the thread in (Sometimes, to break the category down further, it should be in a sub-board)
2. On the board page, click the "New Thread" Button
3. After clicking this button, you will be taken to a "Post Message" screen. Do the same as you would like posting. Just be sure to add a subject. The subject will be the name of your new thread.
4. Click "Post Message". And there you have your new thread!
How to create a new poll:
This process is similar to creating a thread. Except now you have to make choices that people can vote for.
1. Click the New Poll" button on the Board Page
2. Fill in the subject line. This will be the name of your poll.
3. There is an extra line beneath the subject line that says "Poll Question:" . Write the question of your poll in there.
4. Beneath the Poll Question Line are answer fields. Type the choices in there, one by one.
5. After that, you can type in the message box whatever you want to say about the poll you set up.
6. Click "Post Message"
---Your poll will set itself up automatically! You can vote in your own poll.
CHECKING YOUR PMS:
This is probably one of the most important parts of the forum know-how. We all use it for everythinig. So let me explain to you how to get to your inbox...
1. At the top of every page, there is a Menu Bar. Beneath that Menu is a little gray bar. Click the bar.
2. If you click the bar, it slides out, showing an entire list of things you can do. This is basically your "Control Panel". Click the link that says "INBOX"
3. Once you click "Inbox", you will, in fact, be taken to your Inbox! (No...really?)
---This is where it may get confusing. It's entirely new ground from here. I will explain it all to you next.
---YOUR PM SYSTEM---
- Unread PM
- Opened (but unreplied) PM
- Replied PM
Reading a PM:
To read an unread message you've received, follow these instructions...
1. Go to your Inbox
2. There should be some messages in your Inbox. They have the appearance like threads in a board. Click on the title of an Unread PM.
3. You will be taken to another page to view your new PM. It will look like any ordinary post.
4. Read the PM. (That's what you clicked on it for, right?)
5. On the left-hand side of the message will say who sent the PM - just like reading a post.
---There you go! Now, you probably want to say something back to that person...
Replying to a PM:
1. While you're viewing a PM, click on the "Reply" button at the top-right corner of the message.
2. You will be taken to a "Send Personal Message" page. This format is sort of like an e-mail. You are replying to the subject, and the username of the original sender should be in the "To:" line beneath the subject.
3. Type whatever you want in the message box. PLEASE IGNORE THE You can type above or below them.
4. Once finished, click "Send Personal Message".
TIP: You really don't need to know this, but I use this a lot. It saves me tons of time in answering PMs. Instead of scrolling down to the bottom of the page to click "Send Personal Message", try pressing ALT-S (or, if on a Mac, CTRL-S). It's a shortcut to send the PM.
Sending a New PM:
1. Go to your Inbox
2. Above all of your PMs are some buttons. Click the "New Message" button. (
)
3. This, like replying to a PM, will also take you to a "Send Personal Message" page. Type your subject in the Subject Line.
4. Now this part is kinda hard to understand. In the "To:" line, type the USERNAME of the person you are trying to send the PM to. Their username is NOT their display name.
- For example: My display name is [Insert Name Here]. However, my USERname is "admin". So if you are trying to send a PM to me, type "admin" in the "TO:" line.
5. Type the message.
6. Click "Send Personal Message" (or ALT-S)
Sending a PRE-ADRESSED PM (the easier version):
Unlike the instructions above, you can ignore typing out the recipient's username. This is less confusing, and is more compatible with newer members.
1. At the top of ANY page, there is a Menu Bar. Click the "Members" button.
2. Scroll through the member list to find the person who you want to send the PM to. They may be a couple pages over. Once you see their display name, click on it.
3. You will be taken to that person's profile. Above a bunch of their info will be some words that say, "Member's Bio - Send Personal Message". Click the "Send PM" link.
4. Immediately, you will be at the "Send PM" page. Notice that the person's username is already in the "TO:" line.
5. Filling out the Subject Line is optional. The only reason I do it is so that it won't be confusing for me and the other person. Because we get too many (No Subject) PMs.
6. Type in the box, unless you want them to get a blank message.
7. Send it.
PM Preferences
A lot of times, these functions come in handy. Instead of constantly going to your inbox, you can set up notifications that alert you when you receive a new PM. Here's how...
1. Go to your Inbox
2. At the PM Menu (above all your messages) are a bunch of buttons. Click on the "PM Preferences" button at the far right. (
)
3. At this page, you can block users (from constant spam, heh heh) and set up E-mail or Alert Notifications of new incoming PMs.
BLOCK USERS: There are instructions on that page as to how to block people. But just type the members' USERNAMES in the box. If you have mulitiple usernames, put them on seperate lines. (Only one Username on a line.) To block everyone, put a * in the box.
E-MAIL NOTIFICATION: If you would like an email sent to you every time you get a PM, change the first box to "Yes".
ALERT NOTIFICATION: If you would like an alert to show up whenever you get a new PM, set the second box to "Yes".
4. Click "Save Preferences".
5. You should return to your Inbox. A response will show up saying, "Your preferences have been saved."
How to View Your Profile:
1. On the Menu Bar there is a "Profile" button. Click on it.
2. You will see a new page with all your information you provided when you registered, such as your Display Name, Gender, Post Count, etc.
---If something is not right, or you would like to change some info, you obviously need to MODIFY YOUR PROFILE.
HOW TO MODIFY YOUR PROFILE:
1. Go to your profile.
2. Near the top of your profile are the words "Member's Bio - Modify Profile - Bookmarks"
3. Click "Modify Profile".
4. This, like PMing, is one of the most important functions of the forum. You can edit whatever you want on this page.
CHANGING DISPLAY NAME: At the Modify Profile page, under the "Account Preferences" category, is a "Display Name" field. You can edit this if you want.
---Personal Information---
Gender: Does this really have to be explained? Unless you don't want people to know, select "Prefer not to Disclose" from the drop-down menu.
Location: This just lets everyone know where you are located. It doesn't have to be serious, but you can be serious if you want. If you don't want this to show up on your mini-profile (the box to the left beside your posts and PMs), leave it blank.
Website Name: If you have a website, type the name in the blank. Pretty self-explanatory.
Website URL: Type the address to your website in the blank, and a link to it will show up on your profile when people view it.
CHANGING AVATAR: The most commonly used (and confusing) setting in your profile. There are some choices from a menu where you can pick for your avatar. Or if you have your own avatar, it must be on the web and typed in the URL box below this one.
- Avatar URL: If the picture you want for your avatar is on the web, copy and paste the link into this field. You can adjust the size of the image a few boxes below.
Avatar Height and Width: You can change the size of your avatar in these fields. However, the size limit may not 100 Height and 100 Width. (This way, the pages won't take forever to load just for the avatars.)
Personal Text: This is like a "quote" beneath your avatar. Whatever you type in here will show up beneath your avvy. Or you could leave this blank, too.
MODIFYING SIGNATURE: One of the other common things changed. Whatever you type here will show up beneath every one of your posts. You can type whatever you want in here, as long as it doesn't go over 400 characters. (I'm working on a code that will make your signatures longer, but for now, it's 400.) In order to keep things running faster, I would prefer if you not have pictures in your signaure. Basically, your signature is what defines you.
....
What to do in a Chat Thread:
...
1. Refresh the page
Bookmarking Threads:
What to do in a Crisis:
1. DON'T PANIC!
2. Talk to or PM one of the Staff to see what's going on. If it weren't for them, this place would be in the dumps.
3. PM the Admin. HE DOESN'T BITE!!! He normally knows what's happening, since he has security logs, backup functions, rescues for passwords, etc.
- Every post that is posted is logged in the Security Log. So if there's something wrong, he'll most likely know where to find the problem.
- Most people here might think that the Admin is some "scary person" just waiting to ban. Nope. Think again. Has he EVER banned anyone? He is more than willing to help anyone who asks him. In fact, he basically just sits around, taps his foot, and waits for people to ask him for help....
First off, you need to know some vocabulary about some things around here. No, this is not school, but it will make reading this a whole lot easier.
---Communication---
Posts - How you communicate with others globally on the forum. If you post, they can reply to what you say.
Threads - Also called "topics", these are made up of tons and tons of posts. You can only post in threads. Threads can be found in Boards.
Boards - The categories on the home page. If you click on one, it will take you to another page filled with threads. Each board has its own name, and by its own name, its own content. The name of the board describes what's inside.
Sub-Boards - You'll find these inside boards. They're pretty self-explanatory: boards inside another board.
Personal Messages - Mostly known as "PMs", these are your own system of communicating to other members. If you send someone a PM, the only person that can reply to that is the one whom you sent it to.
---Your Profile---
Avatar - A picture by which everyone can recognize you.
Signature - Lines of words that show up automatically at the end of every one of your posts. You can change your signature whenever you want by modifying your profile.
Loyalty - This really isn't all that important. If you like a member, bless them! Maybe they said they don't like chocolate...demote them. This really does nothing. But hey, we could still do this, right?
Display Name - Who you are shown by a name. It doesn't have to be your own personal name. You can change this whenever you want by modifying your profile. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS YOUR USERNAME.
Username - The name you use to log in. When people send you a PM, they type in your username, not your Display Name. Please note that you cannot change this. Not unless you delete your account and register all over again.
Okay, now with that all out of the way, take a deep breath, stretch, and crack your fingers. This will be a lot of work to read. You will be inhaling this information. There will be so much, it won't even be funny. All right. Ready?
How to see other users online:
Sometimes you want to talk to people at the same time while they're logged in. To see if anyone is on...
1. Go to the Home Page
2. Scroll to the very bottom of the page
3. There is a little section titled "Info Center". In the Users Online[/u] portion, people's names will show up in this box. This will also tell you how many people are on.
Viewing inside the boards:
A lot of threads have multiple pages. To read the most recent post in the thread, you need to go to the last page. But how do I do that without clicking through page by page?
- Click the number of the page beneath the thread name.
This will jump you immediately to the last page of the thread. Here, you can post.
How to post:
1. Click on a thread that you like
2. Click the reply button at the top or bottom of the page (
)3. Type the text in the box on the reply page
4. Click "Post Message"
OPTIONAL: Before you post, you can also click "Preview" to see how things turn out. This will show your post exactly how it will look once you post. You can edit it however you please.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO ALL THAT:
There is an expanding/collapsing Quick Reply at the bottom of the page while you're viewing a thread.
1. Click the words "Quick Reply (Show/Hide)"
2. Type in the message box
3. Click "Post Message"
---And your post should appear! (You can also preview the message before you post it.)
How to vote in a poll:
When someone creates a poll, you want to vote, right? How in the world do I do that?
1. Click on the thread that has the poll symbol beside it. (
New President? - See the image above for what that looks like. )2. Once in the thread, there will be a poll question and some choices. Select the dot beside the choice you want. Please note that you can only vote once in any poll.
3. Click "Submit Vote".
---Your results should show up immediately
How to create threads:
A lot of times there's not a topic about something you like. So why not start one of your own? Here's how...
1. Click on the board that you want the thread in (Sometimes, to break the category down further, it should be in a sub-board)
2. On the board page, click the "New Thread" Button
3. After clicking this button, you will be taken to a "Post Message" screen. Do the same as you would like posting. Just be sure to add a subject. The subject will be the name of your new thread.
4. Click "Post Message". And there you have your new thread!
How to create a new poll:
This process is similar to creating a thread. Except now you have to make choices that people can vote for.
1. Click the New Poll" button on the Board Page
2. Fill in the subject line. This will be the name of your poll.
3. There is an extra line beneath the subject line that says "Poll Question:" . Write the question of your poll in there.
4. Beneath the Poll Question Line are answer fields. Type the choices in there, one by one.
5. After that, you can type in the message box whatever you want to say about the poll you set up.
6. Click "Post Message"
---Your poll will set itself up automatically! You can vote in your own poll.
CHECKING YOUR PMS:
This is probably one of the most important parts of the forum know-how. We all use it for everythinig. So let me explain to you how to get to your inbox...
1. At the top of every page, there is a Menu Bar. Beneath that Menu is a little gray bar. Click the bar.
2. If you click the bar, it slides out, showing an entire list of things you can do. This is basically your "Control Panel". Click the link that says "INBOX"
3. Once you click "Inbox", you will, in fact, be taken to your Inbox! (No...really?)
---This is where it may get confusing. It's entirely new ground from here. I will explain it all to you next.
---YOUR PM SYSTEM---
- Unread PM - Opened (but unreplied) PM - Replied PMReading a PM:
To read an unread message you've received, follow these instructions...
1. Go to your Inbox
2. There should be some messages in your Inbox. They have the appearance like threads in a board. Click on the title of an Unread PM.
3. You will be taken to another page to view your new PM. It will look like any ordinary post.
4. Read the PM. (That's what you clicked on it for, right?)
5. On the left-hand side of the message will say who sent the PM - just like reading a post.
---There you go! Now, you probably want to say something back to that person...
Replying to a PM:
1. While you're viewing a PM, click on the "Reply" button at the top-right corner of the message.
2. You will be taken to a "Send Personal Message" page. This format is sort of like an e-mail. You are replying to the subject, and the username of the original sender should be in the "To:" line beneath the subject.
3. Type whatever you want in the message box. PLEASE IGNORE THE
TAGS.
4. Once finished, click "Send Personal Message".
TIP: You really don't need to know this, but I use this a lot. It saves me tons of time in answering PMs. Instead of scrolling down to the bottom of the page to click "Send Personal Message", try pressing ALT-S (or, if on a Mac, CTRL-S). It's a shortcut to send the PM.
Sending a New PM:
1. Go to your Inbox
2. Above all of your PMs are some buttons. Click the "New Message" button. (
)3. This, like replying to a PM, will also take you to a "Send Personal Message" page. Type your subject in the Subject Line.
4. Now this part is kinda hard to understand. In the "To:" line, type the USERNAME of the person you are trying to send the PM to. Their username is NOT their display name.
- For example: My display name is [Insert Name Here]. However, my USERname is "admin". So if you are trying to send a PM to me, type "admin" in the "TO:" line.
5. Type the message.
6. Click "Send Personal Message" (or ALT-S)
Sending a PRE-ADRESSED PM (the easier version):
Unlike the instructions above, you can ignore typing out the recipient's username. This is less confusing, and is more compatible with newer members.
1. At the top of ANY page, there is a Menu Bar. Click the "Members" button.
2. Scroll through the member list to find the person who you want to send the PM to. They may be a couple pages over. Once you see their display name, click on it.
3. You will be taken to that person's profile. Above a bunch of their info will be some words that say, "Member's Bio - Send Personal Message". Click the "Send PM" link.
4. Immediately, you will be at the "Send PM" page. Notice that the person's username is already in the "TO:" line.
5. Filling out the Subject Line is optional. The only reason I do it is so that it won't be confusing for me and the other person. Because we get too many (No Subject) PMs.
6. Type in the box, unless you want them to get a blank message.
7. Send it.
PM Preferences
A lot of times, these functions come in handy. Instead of constantly going to your inbox, you can set up notifications that alert you when you receive a new PM. Here's how...
1. Go to your Inbox
2. At the PM Menu (above all your messages) are a bunch of buttons. Click on the "PM Preferences" button at the far right. (
)3. At this page, you can block users (from constant spam, heh heh) and set up E-mail or Alert Notifications of new incoming PMs.
BLOCK USERS: There are instructions on that page as to how to block people. But just type the members' USERNAMES in the box. If you have mulitiple usernames, put them on seperate lines. (Only one Username on a line.) To block everyone, put a * in the box.
E-MAIL NOTIFICATION: If you would like an email sent to you every time you get a PM, change the first box to "Yes".
ALERT NOTIFICATION: If you would like an alert to show up whenever you get a new PM, set the second box to "Yes".
4. Click "Save Preferences".
5. You should return to your Inbox. A response will show up saying, "Your preferences have been saved."
How to View Your Profile:
1. On the Menu Bar there is a "Profile" button. Click on it.
2. You will see a new page with all your information you provided when you registered, such as your Display Name, Gender, Post Count, etc.
---If something is not right, or you would like to change some info, you obviously need to MODIFY YOUR PROFILE.
HOW TO MODIFY YOUR PROFILE:
1. Go to your profile.
2. Near the top of your profile are the words "Member's Bio - Modify Profile - Bookmarks"
3. Click "Modify Profile".
4. This, like PMing, is one of the most important functions of the forum. You can edit whatever you want on this page.
CHANGING DISPLAY NAME: At the Modify Profile page, under the "Account Preferences" category, is a "Display Name" field. You can edit this if you want.
---Personal Information---
Gender: Does this really have to be explained? Unless you don't want people to know, select "Prefer not to Disclose" from the drop-down menu.
Location: This just lets everyone know where you are located. It doesn't have to be serious, but you can be serious if you want. If you don't want this to show up on your mini-profile (the box to the left beside your posts and PMs), leave it blank.
Website Name: If you have a website, type the name in the blank. Pretty self-explanatory.
Website URL: Type the address to your website in the blank, and a link to it will show up on your profile when people view it.
CHANGING AVATAR: The most commonly used (and confusing) setting in your profile. There are some choices from a menu where you can pick for your avatar. Or if you have your own avatar, it must be on the web and typed in the URL box below this one.
- Avatar URL: If the picture you want for your avatar is on the web, copy and paste the link into this field. You can adjust the size of the image a few boxes below.
Avatar Height and Width: You can change the size of your avatar in these fields. However, the size limit may not 100 Height and 100 Width. (This way, the pages won't take forever to load just for the avatars.)
Personal Text: This is like a "quote" beneath your avatar. Whatever you type in here will show up beneath your avvy. Or you could leave this blank, too.
MODIFYING SIGNATURE: One of the other common things changed. Whatever you type here will show up beneath every one of your posts. You can type whatever you want in here, as long as it doesn't go over 400 characters. (I'm working on a code that will make your signatures longer, but for now, it's 400.) In order to keep things running faster, I would prefer if you not have pictures in your signaure. Basically, your signature is what defines you.
....
What to do in a Chat Thread:
...
1. Refresh the page
Bookmarking Threads:
What to do in a Crisis:
1. DON'T PANIC!
2. Talk to or PM one of the Staff to see what's going on. If it weren't for them, this place would be in the dumps.
3. PM the Admin. HE DOESN'T BITE!!! He normally knows what's happening, since he has security logs, backup functions, rescues for passwords, etc.
- Every post that is posted is logged in the Security Log. So if there's something wrong, he'll most likely know where to find the problem.
- Most people here might think that the Admin is some "scary person" just waiting to ban. Nope. Think again. Has he EVER banned anyone? He is more than willing to help anyone who asks him. In fact, he basically just sits around, taps his foot, and waits for people to ask him for help....