Do I Register or post Anonymously?
Whether you register, or post anonymously to my forum is completely up to you, however, I do require that you register to post to certain forums so that you take credit or criticism for what you post. This is mainly for the forums that you would post criticism in.
It helps no one if some Anonymous person walks in and starts ranting and raving about how everything sucks and then posts it. We need people to think about what they say and say what they mean, this way we can respond back and maybe answer their question(s) or complaint(s).
When you register you can be given access to private forums if you apply, and you can join user groups. User groups are nice because they can be given special access to multiple private forums by joining that one user group. You can also receive a mass e-mail with anything pertaining to the user group that the group moderator thinks you all should know. For example, an Oasis forum moderator might send out tour dates, or upcoming events happening with Oasis. They can easily send out one letter instead of having to find each member.
To sum it all up, if you want full accessibility to the board you need to register a name and always log in with that name and password when you post.
Ok, I've registered...now what?
Now that you've registered in my forum, you have 2 options.
- You can login and select the Auto-login feature so that each time you visit my site you will automatically be logged in. This is great if you have your own personal computer and no one else uses it. If you do have multiple people accessing your computer, I would recommend that you choose option 2 because if you have the auto-login feature enabled and someone else visits my forum, they can post under your name.
- Each time you visit my forum, before you start to browse and post you need to login. Once you've logged in you'll gain your user group accesses and you'll gain your personal access to private forums in which you belong. You can browse the message board anonymously but you will not see the private forums and as many have found out, it's easy to get confused and aggravated once you've started to post a post and it asks for your user-name.
It is possible to have multiple usernames but I would recommend that you choose a name and keep with it. When you create more then one name you clutter up the database with names and more data that's just going to sit there. Secondly you will lose your post count and I will not transfer them between accounts. It's much easier for me and everyone else on the board to stick with one and only one.</strike>
So, what if I don't like my name and I want to change it?
If you have come to a point in your life where you no longer wish to use the name that you had chosen in the beginning you may private message or e-mail an Admin of the site with what name you would now like to use and why you wish to change. Once updated your name will be changed on all of your previous posts. I WANT ONLY ONE USERNAME PER PERSON!
What do I do, I've already started to post my post but I forgot to log in!
OR
I'm trying to post with my username but it says that it's invalid or taken by someone else!
If you started to post and forgot to log in, no worries, simply select all the text that you have typed copy it, login, either go to where you were posting if replying or create a new topic if that's what you were doing.
If you try to enter your username in the space that says Username, you'll get a nice response saying that that username is taken, and it is correct because YOU have taken that username. Whenever you see the username option in your posts you are trying to post anonymously and the program will not allow you to post as a registered user. This avoids foul play of someone trying to manipulate being someone else.
I'm logged in, I'm ready to post...now what do I do?
From here things get fun. Now with you registered and logged in, you can edit your personal profile, browse the forums, post, join open user groups, and have a post count!
How do I edit my personal profile?
At the top of the screen there is a list of options, Profile is one of them. All you do is click on that link, and everything else is self explanatory. The only thing that I recommend is that once you have filled everything out and come down to the Avatar selection, SAVE your profile by submitting it FIRST, then go back and select your Avatar. If you don't submit it first you'll lose all the information that you entered. An alternate way of doing your profile is to scroll to the bottom FIRST select your Avatar and then go back and fill out your information.
How do I post to your forum?
While you're browsing the forum you have 2 options, new topic, post reply.
- New Topic: This button will be found in every forum and in every post. If you select this it will create a new topic and place it in the forum itself, not the post you were reading, if you were even in a post. This is in both places because sometimes when someone is reading a post they remember something that warrants its own topic and not a reply in that post. It's placed in the posts themselves for convince, but can also be a problem as well.
- Post Reply: This can only be found inside of active topics. You will use this button to reply back your views, opinions, or response to the topic that you are reading. This is what makes the forum lively because it gives feedback to the poster letting him or her know your views, opinions, feelings, or side that you are on. This is the driving force for all message boards, this is what they were designed for!
In the upper section where you found the profile link, you will find a user groups link. When you click on it, it will take you to the user group section, from here you can view almost every group that this forum has.
There are three types of user groups: open groups, closed groups, and hidden groups.
- Open Groups: These groups anyone and everyone may join. These types of groups are ones that gear toward a specific topic. Some examples might be an Anime club. There would be an Anime user group and once joined you would gain access to another forum that is dedicated to Anime. The group moderator would also be able to send out mail to all the members for any important events.
- Closed Groups: These groups are restricted groups, to become a member you must contact the group moderator and request to be added. Sometimes these groups can be used for moderating purposes such as with my "Super Moderator" user group. I can easily add people that I trust to this group and give them instant access to moderate several forums instead of editing each of their files and manually entering each forum.
- Hidden Groups: These are the groups that no one knows about. Hidden groups are used if the group moderator does not want to let anyone know that they exist. An example of this would be used for a game where you are playing detective and you don't want to give your list of villains away. It can also be used if the group moderator is paranoid and doesn't feel comfortable allowing people to see who is in their user group. Because of the shadiness of this option it is not used much. Besides...what's the point of having a user group if it's HIDDEN!
If you are one of my close friends and would like access to my members only area please send me a private message by clicking on the PM button by my signature. Be sure to let me know who you are with your full name and where we first met or something so that I can identify who you are.
What is this post count I keep hearing about?
User post count is simply a count of how many posts that you have posted to the forum. It's simply a way to determine who is active in topic discussion, and who is either starting off (newbie) or if someone is inactive. The ranks that I have associated with the number of posts are below:
Rank Name: -=Minimum Posts=-
Newbie -=0=-
Squire -=10=-
Knight -=25=-
Noble -=50=-
Watcher -=100=-
Slayer -=200=-
Dragon Slayer -=400=-
Archangel -=800=-
Deity -=1500=-
Arch-Deity -=3000=-
NOTE: Anything after 3000 posts and you can choose your own custom site title!
So, can I post a bunch of gibberish to raise my post count?
No, if I or any of my moderators see this type of behavior we will delete your posts. Posts don't have to be pages long, they just have to be relevant. As long as you are posting more then 3 words of value, you should be fine. An example of gibberish is:
Buzzman25: Hey everyone how do you like my forums?
MaudDib125: Hey Buzz, it's cool!
GiBbErIsH mAn: Yay!
TahoeJazzLover: Hey Buzz, this should be fun!
GiBbErIsH mAn: I agree!
MaudDib125: Yeah totally JazzLover! This is going to be fun to get in touch with everyone.
GiBbErIsH mAn: Totally!
TitanticMustSink: Hey Buzz, really cool, I'll check back here often!
GiBbErIsH mAn: Me too!
TahoeJazzLover: Hey, do you think you could add a poetry forum for us artistic people?
GiBbErIsH mAn: More FORUMS!
Buzzman25: Sure TahoeJazzLover, do you want to be the moderator for it?
GiBbErIsH mAn: Heh heh heh, he said moderator!
TahoeJazzLover: Sure, that's no problem.
GiBbErIsH mAn: I'll do it.
dancindanny: 14YearOldBoyz RULES! Cool forum.
GiBbErIsH mAn: Yay!
Buzzman25: Ok, done, the new forums all set, enjoy!
GiBbErIsH mAn: Yay!
MaudDib125: Who is this GiBbErIsH mAn?
GiBbErIsH mAn: I'm me.
Buzzman25: I don't know, but I have a delete key and a finger itching to press it.
I hope you found these instructions informative and entertaining, if you have any other questions or feel I missed out on something, please send me a PM (Private Message).
GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN POSTING!!!