Rookies guide to Digital Forums?

[Spike2k1]

I had an idea that when u sign up to DF you should be redirected to a page thats like a tutorial for ettiquette on the forum.

Stuff like:
post in the introduce your self forum first,
search forums for info your after before starting a thread for it,
if your not sure where to post then PM a mod first,
how to change your avatar,
change you sig ,
add karma,
to read all stickies in each forum you wish to take part in so your aware of the rules the forums have.
Not to post rubbish to boost credability
Not to post afilliate links / silvers sites / illegal sites etc.
read a few posts in certain sections to make sure your posting in the right section, if not pm a mod / pm a member who's viewing that forum at that time.
etc

Then once they've read all that they can proceed onto the forums.

Also possibly having the 'guide' available in the User Control Panel if they want to go back later on?

Just an idea after the stuff thats been happening in the radio codes section so maybe a guide could help avoid it again? Or atleast give rookies the guidance they're scared of asking for and posting in the wrong section etc

[jimbob2002]

I think its a good idea mate, because not only do we get people who are new to DF, but they may also be new to any of the Forums on the net, or even new to computers full stop, therefore will not really know what kind of rules exist and whats acceptable behavoir etc.

Karma added.

[4me2]

We used have something like this but people just ignored it unfortunately.

[Spike2k1]

We used have something like this but people just ignored it unfortunately.

if u made it the first they see and make it like a compulsary thing they should stick hopefully. its basic things end of day but some people are used to chat rooms and saying anythhing anywhere without the realisation of it actually meaning to have a place. If they do keep posting outta place, 'breaking' the guide then they can be pm'd with a reminder to stick to the rules?

[maverick_15]

i think its a good idea, is it just me or has there been more and more rookies posting shite recently, ignoring the introduce yourself forum etc etc?

[4me2]

intros are voluntary.

[TwoPlAnKs]

alot of folk are asking for help in the first post - they should hop a long to a forum they know loads about and answer some questions to get their post counts up to about 20 or something before asking for help with stuff

(note that i actually have a lot more posts than my post count says, admins attacked me when i posted shite)

i think its a good idea - nice photoshop job on the book cover aswell

[flumperino]

I think the idea of a guide is certainly a good one: having all of the info available in one place could be really useful - especially for people who are completely new to df and forums in general

For me personally this would have been handy - as spike2k1 suggested, I didn't really want to ask supposedly obvious stuff for fear of the hos! (it took me 40 posts to work out what the hos actually was!! :nono)

Anywayz - if a guide isn't feasible, then something just explaining the basics would probably suffice: like to intro yerself, change your avatar etc??

Chow

flumps

[TwoPlAnKs]

i would have to say that setting sigs and avatars should be discouraged until a certain amount of posts is reached - new people that get themselves all kitted out with a huge sig and avatar slow down the board and annoy me - plus the first posts people make are always a little bit shitty no matter how good that person may be with forum etiquite so it is hard to tell if they are worthy of sigs etc. until they have made a good few posts.

The guide is a good idea despite that - good to see you still think of the rookies depsite not being one anymore

[Spike2k1]

The guide is a good idea despite that - good to see you still think of the rookies depsite not being one anymore

gotta think of everyone man!

i know im not leet but im not beginner so i can relate to most things. whatever the level. i hope!

[TwoPlAnKs]

know im not leet but im not beginner

3319 posts? definitly not a beginner m8

(this might be a good time to remind everyone that i really have more than 500, admins abused me )

still think good idea but as 4me2 it didnt seem to work last time - mabye if it was really well written with jokes and stuff and was made super compulsary people would read it more

[4me2]

lets see what you brains can come up with then.

start writing it.

[TwoPlAnKs]

well i only have half a brain, since you said brains that is two and thus half is a quarter of that so i'll write a quarter of it and then we'll see who's laughing

Welcome to digital-forums. This guide is here to help you use the forum, and to help you get the most out of it.

<h3>Getting Started</h3>
Let us begin. On the forum homepage, www.digital-forums.com, you will see a big list of forums. You should start by looking at each one and seeing what they do. Do not post at random in random threads. (if you don't know what that means read the next section)
<h3>If you have never used a forum before</h3>
If you are new to forums or the internet in general please read this section.

<h4>Here are useful words:-</h4>

Forum - The forum is the general name given to this entire website, and all other forums on the internet. It means you can discuss things with other users.

Section - The forum is split into sections, each with a different purpose. Some are for discussing things in general, such as Cars or Computers, others are for asking for help such as the "PC Problems" section on this board and others are for completly random discussion about anything - the news, the weather, gold fish, houseplants - you name it you can discuss it.

Thread - If you want to start a discussion in a section you need to make a new thread. A thread is a main post, one that is listed in a section that other members can then reply to.

Post - I already used this word about twenty times. Sorry. It means anything you put on the board, a thread, a reply, anything.

Reply - guess i used this one already too. The noun, a reply, is a post made in response to a thread that another member has started, or in reply to another reply. The verb form, to reply, means exactly as it does in normal conversation - except on the forum you post a reply rather than saying it.

Stating the obvious - See definition of reply (ok so puting jokes into a guide is harder than I thought )

Flamed - when you post something really stupid <a href="http://www.digital-forums.com/search.php?do=finduser&userid=157612">(like all these posts)</a> other members will "flame" you, by posting messages slagging you off and offending your mother.

Hall of shame - If a mod finds a really stupid post they will move it to the section known as the hall of shame - this is specifc to Digital Forums and other boards will use a differnent name. Hall of shame is often shorted to HOS, as in "i am hosing this post becuase your mother was good in bed last night" etc.

Mod - Mods and admins will be described in the mods and admin section.

DF - short for digital-forums. Please remember this - any posts saying "what does df stand for" will result in severe flaming.

<h3>Making your first post</h3>
It is recomended that your first post is made in the Introductions Section. There are two reasons for this.
<ul>
<li>If you make a stupid mistake nobody will mind.
<li>It lets people know what you know and what you are like
<li>If you do something really stupid then you won't get flamed
</ul>
Right so you go to the homepage (www.digital-forums.com) it should tell you what your name is at the top. If it says that you are not logged in please do so with the login box at the top right. Type the username and password that you used when you signed up.

When you are logged in, click on the Introductions section. This is the fourth section down from the top. When you are there, read some posts so that you get a feel for them.

After that, return to the Introductions section and click "New Thread" This will take you to the editing screen. Ignore the fancy features for now, simply type a relevant subject "Hello my name is mynick" and a message body. Here is an example

Hello. I am a potato who lives in the kitchen.

I enjoy fixing my car, but I am not very good at that yet!

I work as a computer progammer when I am not being eaten, and I used to be a sysadmin so I know how to fix most computer problems! Hopefully I can help members with that as well as you helping me with my car

I am looking forward to my time here, and hopefully I can give and receive lots of help and entertainment.

That post makes the person in question sound like a complete poof but you get the idea. When you have made the post you will be taken to it, when you can look at it. You have five minutes in which to press the edit button and make any changes, but if you are careful this won't be needed.

You will probably recive a reply from Freaky. He is a moderator in that section, with brings me onto

<h3>Mods and admins</h3>
Moderators are people who can check posts, and have limited control over deleteing and moving them around. If they find something bad or spammy they can remove it. Their names are usually Green and you can recognise them because it will say "Moderator" under their name.

Administrators are people who have full control of the board. Their names are usually blue, and have Adminisitror written in greend underneath. They can ban you, change your post count, move any post around, change the writing under your name so it slags you off and do all sorts of other mean things. They keep the board in order. The most obvious administrators are ABCMan and 4me2, who keep the baord in order, but Jacko does work behind the scenes from a webdesign point of view and Raptor owns the forum, and needs to work to get moeny to pay for it

There are other variations, Super Moderators etc. It is usually possble to work out what they do from the words under their name, such as Super Moderators are moderators that wear pants outside their trousers and can fly.

<h3>VIP Members</h3>
If you visit the <a href="http://www.digital-forums.com/subscriptions.php">subscritpions page</a> you can donate money and become a VIP member, gaining access to the VIP Section.

<h3>Ettiquite</h3>
By far the most important thing about the forum.

When making a new post
<ol>
<li>Find the correct section
<li>Make sure it hasnt been posted before, by looking and by pressing the search button.
<li>Make the post with a reasonable level of grammar and with the majority of vowels intact (nne of teh shit lke this wer u mis letters 4 fun)
<li>Wait for replies.
<li>Never agree with TwoSheds ever, or nobody will like you.
</ol>

Thats all I can be assed with since I have a music exam on tuesday (stupid febuary stole two days from me )

Hope you enjoy it (i just read it and its a load of shite- oh well at least it's a start)

[flumperino]

Never agree with TwoSheds ever, or nobody will like you.

Phhtt! all that what you wrote be stupid twosheds

nah seriously, i dunno about a quarter of it, but something like that, at about that length might just get people interested in readin it. If it were to be a great deal longer, people would scroll down the page, see how much of it there is, and then not bother.

I think that what 2sheds has proposed could be a nice little intro for a rookie, and any other less basic things, they can work out as they post....or ask if they dare!

flumps

[TwoPlAnKs]

i didnt propose it - Spike2k1 proposed it.

I'd agree it should be shorter - mabye take out the really bovious bits, add more ettiquite stuff and leave it at that.

if anyone has any ideas of jokes or pictures or anything that could be added to it then post it here and if we can make one super dooper amazing one that is the best thing ever written ever then it might be worthy of being added (obviously a admin would have to agree )

still need to give Spike2k1 all the credit for the idea :d rememeber

TwoSheds

[Termy]

How about this,,, once they have registered they get re-diredted to the "Introduce Yourself" section. There could be a thread on some basic "do's and don't's"

This may not be possible to implement but it's an Idea.

[Porthos]

It needs to be really short I think. Should probs just start off with we know you might not be arsed to read this but it will take you two minutes and save abuse and potentially getting banned. Then just list a few things dead simply, like an abridged version of twosheds, eg mods and admin description shud just be that they keep order and may close threads delete posts edit polls etc. Next point...

[TwoPlAnKs]

you could just take them to one of my posts and just tell them to do the exact oppsoite - one of the twosheds classic bullshit ones

shortness is probably key here - what i wrote was about 3 or 4 times as long as it needs to be.