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Main
| Memberlist
| Active users
| Online users Ranks | FAQ | Calendar | Color Chart |
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- General disclaimer The site does not own and cannot be held responsible for statements made by members on the forum. This site is offered as-is to the user. Any statements made on the board may be altered or removed at the discretion of the staff. Furthermore all users are expected to have read, understood, and agreed to this FAQ before posting. We do not sell or distribute member information to any third party. If you have questions about any information contained in this FAQ, please send a private message with your question to a moderator or admin before posting. Questions on things not covered in this FAQ should be asked in the Support Forum. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Why should I register an account on the board? By registering an user account, you will be able to post on the board as well as use several features only accessable through registering, such as the ability to mark forums as read and private messaging. Unregistered users have guest access to the board, meaning they can view threads but cannot reply to them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- What are the first things I should think about before starting to post? First, for those who aren't very experienced with messageboards and newsgroups, we recommend reading this short internet writing guide. It only takes ten minutes, and it could save you a lot of trouble. Some of the moderators get very cranky with users who don't express themselves clearly and maturely, but if you try to follow that guide you'll be fine. Take care to check and see if there are any special rules for a forum before you post in it (if there are, they'll be in a sticky thread at the top of the forum). Follow whatever rules the mods have laid down, and be sure to listen to them when they give you advice or warnings about your posting behaviour. They get really peeved when you don't pay attention to them, but if you do then they'll love you forever. No, really! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- What should a I remember to avoid doing? If you want to be banned instantly, there are a number of ways you can go about it, including the following:
Any of the above will probably get you banned forever on the spot without warning. There are other acts which are frowned upon here and may also get you banned if you do them frequently, such as:
When you're discussing something like a game, book or film that involves potential plot spoilers, always make sure to hide the spoilers inside spoiler tags, [spoiler]like this[/spoiler]. This makes it so that someone has to highlight your post in order to read the hidden text. Failure to do this will probably earn you the everlasting hatred of people you ruin the surprise for, and woe be unto you if one of them is a mod. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- What happens if I break one of these rules? When you break one of the less serious rules (i.e. the ones that won't get you banned forever) for the first time, usually you'll just get a warning from a moderator. If you do it again, you'll probably be temporarily banned for two weeks as a small punishment. If you do it a third time, however, all bets are off and you will probably be banned permanently if the administrators think it's appropriate. If this happens, no amount of argument will get us to change our minds. Sorry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Can I be punished for anything else except breaking the rules mentioned here? Of course—this FAQ is not all-inclusive. Don't forget the most important rule of all: use common sense when you post. Since it would take forever for us to list off every single possible no-no in these guidelines, we depend on you to use that big, expensive glucose sink sitting in that thickly armored hemisphere between your ears. Yeah, that means your brain. The forum administrators reserve the right to chastise or ban any user who fails to do this at their discretion. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Help! I've been banned! What do I do now? First off, DO NOT create a new account to complain about your ban, as that will just result in a permanent ban from the board. If you feel that the ban was unfair or if you wish to know exactly why you were banned, PM an admin and calmly ask about it. Aside from that, the only thing you can do is wait for the ban to expire and make sure you know why it happened. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- How can I become a moderator or an administrator? Asking us whether you can be a moderator or administrator is a pretty good way to make sure that you never become one. Don't call us, we'll call you. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Are cookies used for this board? Yes, it uses cookies to store your login information. You can still use this board with cookies disabled, but you'll have to enter your username and password every time it's asked, and some features may not be available. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Can HTML be used? Yes, it can be used in posts, private messages, nearly everywhere except in things such as thread titles, usernames, etc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Is there some sort of replacement code for HTML? Yes, but it's a bit limited. Here's what can be used: (most are case sensitive) [b]Bold text[/b] [i]Italic text[/i] [u]Underlined text[/u] [s] [img]URL of image to display[/img] [url]URL of site or page to link to[/url] And several color codes such as [ (put [/color] to revert to normal color) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- How can I get a post layout, and how do I make one? If you've been hanging around this board for a while, you've probably noticed that some people have fancy layouts in their posts. You too can have a snazzy layout of your own, but first we have to explain a few things. Hosting a messageboard costs money, and money doesn't grow on trees. We figure that the easiest way to pay for the hosting expenses of this board is to charge a small service fee for special privileges like layouts. You can already post with a signature (footer) for free, but if you have a PayPal account, for $6 (U.S.) per year, we'll allow you to use headers in your post which enable you to create a full HTML layout of your own. We'll also throw in a personalized title of your choice which will appear below your username as an added bonus. When you pay up, you can edit and preview your layout using the Edit Layout feature. With every right comes responsibility, and once you've paid your $6 and gained your right to a layout for a year, there are a few additional responsibilities you have to keep in mind while using it: 1. First and most importantly, make sure you know what you're doing. If you don't know HTML from a hole in the ground, then a layout might not be right for you. If you think you'd like to learn how to use HTML, there are several good tutorials on the net such as this one. 2. If you're pretty comfortable with HTML, remember that even experienced coders still screw up sometimes. There's a "layout preview" option for just this purpose, so don't go posting anywhere until you've made sure that your layout doesn't contain any errors. If your layout messes up the board layout, you'll have angry mods deleting your posts and screaming for your blood. We don't want that, do we? 3. The most important visual factor in a layout is that it should be easy to read. If it isn't, people are more likely to not bother reading your posts. Really tiny text like this is not a good idea, and neither is huge text like this. Pick a happy medium for your font, and colours that are easy on the eyes. (This page has some examples of good and bad font colour and background choices.) 4. One of the best things about layouts is that they allow people to incorporate images into their posts. One of the worst things about layouts is that they allow people to incorporate images into their posts. Using images is fine, but choose your images carefully; not just for content (remember the "no sexual imagery" rule), but also for size. If someone is on a 56K dial-up modem, they don't want to have to wait forever for your images to load. Keep the total byte size of your layout under 50 KB. 5. It's fine to use someone else's layout code as a starting point for your own and then modify it, but keep in mind that the point of a layout is to add distinctive personality to your posts. Stealing someone else's code and using it without modification completely defeats the purpose, so don't do it. 6. If you have a technical question pertaining to layouts or any other feature of the board, go ahead and ask it in the Support Forum. Many brains are better than one, so maybe someone else has the answer to a problem you just can't figure out. But don't pester admins to make your layout for you. 7. If you're found to be repeatedly in violation of any of the above guidelines, the admins reserve the right to yank your layout privileges at any time. We will refund your money if this happens. That's it. If you think a layout and personal title are things you'd like to have, then chip your $6 into our PayPal account and send one of the admins a Private Message. They'll set you up as soon as they get the chance. We appreciate your financial help! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- What is Level and EXP, and how do I get more EXP? EXP is calculated from your amount of posts and how long it's been since you registered. Level is calculated from EXP. You gain increasing amounts of EXP by posting, and by being registered longer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- How do I add my stats to my posts? In a way similar to HTML and the markup replacements (described above), just put those where you want the numbers to be:
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- What are the user rankings? It's all listed on the Ranks page, which also lists all moderators and administrators on this board. Ranks nobody is on and which you didn't reach aren't listed (to keep some suspense), unless you're a full moderator (moderating all the forums) or administrator on this board. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- How can I get a custom rank/personal title? You can get one under one of these conditions: - Be a moderator or administrator - Be a donator to the board, i.e. a layout owner. (See here.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- What are announcements? Announcements are general messages posted by administrators only. Everybody can view them, but not reply to them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- How can I change my username? You can't change it yourself, only administrators can, but you can ask one of them for a name change. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- What do the username colors mean? They vary depending on the gender and power level:
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- What are all the smilies? Here's the smilies that can be used, and what you must type to use them:  -- :) -- ;) -- :D -- :LOL: -- 8-) -- :( -- >: -- >_< -- :P -- :S -- O_O -- o_O -- ^_^ -- ^^;;; -- ~:o -- x_x -- ¬_¬ -- :[ -- o_o -- ;_; -- @_@ -- -_- -- >_> -- <_< -- :evil: -- :O -- <3
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- Credits Special thanks to Matt for contributing to this FAQ, and extra special thanks to Reno for coding the board to Citadel Messageboard standards! |
