A collab between Larkien and Orcastration, edited by Limor
(This is Orca. ><>)
(This is Lark. Yeet.)
Hey, its Lark here (yes, Im writing the first paragraph for once \o/). If youre reading this, congratulations, you already have experience with this months topic - the forums! The Sylestia forums are, of course, a major feature of the site. Theyre pretty self-explanatory, but we thought wed do a short article covering some tips, tricks, and clarification on stuff.
And hello there, Im Orca. And yes, I let Lark do the intro.well actually I think this is the first time Ive been the one prodded to write.
*ahem* Anyways, the Forums. Even if Ive got this whole guide on it (lets be honest, how likely is it youll even know how to get to it)? So yeah. Thats why this is here.
Anyways, to start off, the Forums are where everything that doesnt happen in the exploration area happens. Announcements, fest overviews, forum games, clubs, groups, roleplaying, you name it, its probably in there somewhere. Theres also a place to introduce yourself and ask questions, and once you learn your way around, you may find yourself spending a lot of time in this part of the Site.
Orca is totally not referencing us. Yup, the forums are very, very addictive. Even if you dont spend most of your time in the forums, youre likely going to have to check back from time to time, whether its a site-wide ping from an admin announcing festival stuff (more on that later), or just if you have a question you need answered. Then theres all that extracurricular stuff like RPing and forum games. But thats just some of the stuff you can do. Its like a whole other world, honestly. That Orca and I spend too much time in.
A whole new world- Ok Ill stop singing now lol XD
Anyways Im getting off topic. Theres a lot that happens in the forums. Which Ill just list out because its going to be much easier
Site-wide admin pings. Do with theres as you wish, just whatever you do, do not click the red cross thingy next to the username of Faiona or Krinadon, whoevers pinging. Thats how you miss important updates, announcements, and event stuff. I advise simply clicking on the blue links to the thread and seeing whats happening, especially if its a Krinadon ping. Youll also get pinged for the Sylestia Times thread, which if you came here because of that.well, Im not sure why Im telling you this all over again.
User pings. These are done by other users to let you know theyre replying to you on a thread. Or they might be interest pings, which youll get many of if you roleplay in the forums. So dont be alarmed if people start pinging you randomly. The more time you spend in the forums, the more interest pings youll probably get. Also, dont forget to ping back when you reply, its really easy to miss a reply if you dont ping and other more forum-active users are doing a lot of stuff! (Especially important if its a question you ask_
Questions and Player intros Feel free to ask a question in the Q&A forum or introduce yourself (whether a new or old player) in the Player Intro forum! Be warned newbies, we old players like to bury your lot under massive piles of pets and items and give you books of text on advice for the game to read. Though were not scaring you off, we promise!
Games and Contests. Fun little forum games like Look to you Left, Count to ____, giveaways, design comps, etc. Join at your leisure and have some fun!
Clubs and Groups. Fanclubs for certain species/fandoms, genetic testing services,, pet designing, avi obsessing, and a lot more. Definitely check these out if you want to find people with similar interests or goals!
Roleplaying(and roleplaygaming). Which Lark and I do way too much of. Or we used to. I mean we still do. Stuff tends to die on here but we try :) And a few roleplays have made it pretty far...Its really quite fun and roleplayers are usually also the ones with massive amounts of forum post counts. Let us know through a PM or something if you ever want to join and dont know where to start-were happy to lend a fin (hand in Larks case).
Site (and non-site) discussion. Something that you might want to participate in sometime. Should be pretty obvious, as long as it doesnt get...dirty. Weve had issues on that in the past. Try to keep from bashing each other, mkay?
Player-made Guides. Because the Sylestia Wiki is very outdated, very much in need of help, and not the best guide out there, we have this. Weve got guides on avi making, roleplaying, designing, game walkthroughs, you name it we probably have it.
And so much more! Check out my little guide thingy linked above for more info, or browse around.
The buttons and stuff on the forums are pretty self-explanatory, but Ill go over them anyways.
Making a new post in a thread is simple, just click the New Post button at the bottom of a thread. Above the text box is a row of buttons - those are the formatting buttons, maybe well go over what they individually do another time: they let you add links, format your text, add images, etc. Just play around with those and you should get a pretty good idea of how they work. Above that is the ping box.
Pinging someone on a post will give them a notification that youve posted, and is crucial to getting someones attention on a forum thread (theres no guarantee someone will see a post otherwise). The ping system is kind of different from most sites (at least, those Ive seen). Typing someones name in the ping box will ping them when you post. You can type multiple peoples usernames in the box, separated with commas (ex. Orcastration, Larkien, Krinadon). If you just want to ping one person, theres a faster way. See the blue @ sign in the bottom right of anyone elses post? Clicking that will make a new post with that persons name automatically in the ping box.
Note: If you ping someone through the @ button, and then remove their name from the ping box, they will still be pinged automatically (I think its a bug). You can, however, switch their username out for another username, which will ping that person instead, of course. Its just useful to remember so you dont accidentally ping someone if you meant not to.
If you get a ping, going to the forum home page will display it at the top. Click on the link to take you there. Click on the X to the right to delete it, but dont click the red button to the left unless you want to block the person pinging you.
The report button is in the other bottom corner of a persons post, hopefully you dont have to use that too much, but dont be afraid to report someone if it comes to that.
Next to each forum thread or topic is an icon that looks like a chat bubble. Click on a forum thread, and the icon will turn white. If someone has posted on that thread or topic since you last clicked on it, it will become yellow. If the icon is a lock instead of a chat bubble, that means the thread/topic is locked - you cant make a new thread if its a topic, and you cant edit/make new posts if its a thread.
Theres a pretty easy way to tell if a thread is yours just by glancing at the list of threads in a topic - itll have a tiny avatar at the top right of the icon.
Oh, and you can collapse each forum section by clicking the gray minus (-) sign at the top right. I didnt realize that until well, way too late.
Aaaaand that was really long. Oh well, hope it helps :)
Well, anyways, as Ive said before, if you want more detailed stuff Ive linked a handy How to Use the Forums guide above and as always youre welcome to PM us with any questions you have! Sea-yall next time and if theres a specific topic you want covered, let us know-ideas and suggestions are more than welcome! |
