Computer-illiterates, eedjts and freshmen, please take note.

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

I'm getting rather sick of seeing so many questions asking how to do web- and forums-based things. This is meant to be a guide covering the most frequently asked questions.
This was originally going to just be a guide to using the forum software, but I ended up repeating a lot of the points raised in Tom's old topic 'The Oddworld Forums FAQ'.

It'd be groovy if you could post all forum technical questions in this topic as well, so it becomes a useful reference guide.

Posting etiquette:

a) Please, in the name of all that is groovy, read the smegging rules! It takes 30 seconds or less and you will find it far easier to endear yourself to existing members once equipped with its information.

b) Don't stick popcorn up your nostrils.

c) Don't type all in capitals. SEE HOW ANNOYING IT IS?

d) If you get into a food fight, make sure you have the custard.

e) Don't put in lots of unneccesary emoticons. See how annoying it is?

f) Lemon curd and mayonnaise do not a nice sandwich make.

g) Make sure you spell and punctuate properly. see ho annyoing it s wehn yu dont?
If you don't spell correctly, people will think you are lazy, innattentive to detail or incompetent. 'I'm only 10' etc is not an excuse. I will only forgive you for sloppy spelling if you have dyslexia, or if English is not your first language. The rest of you have no excuse.

h) If you wouldn't say it to your granny, don't foist it on us.

i) No bally text message lingo, aw' roi'? In chat programs, speed is of the essence, but you have eternity on a bulletin board. I don't want to see 'to' as '2', 'you' as 'u', 'for' as '4' or 'your' as 'yr'. And don't get me started on '3l33t'.

j) Spam is just the most annoying thing you can find on a board (maybe not quite as annoying as finding a link to a Westlife site, but almost). Please, for the love of celery xylem and pantyhose, don't do it. Spam is defined as posts that are pointless, multiple in number or do not contribute anything useful, or are just in any shape or form annoying or stupid.

k) Edit your post if you make a mistake; don't post a whole new reply just to say 'oops! I meant Wednesday!'. The edit button looks like this: and can also be used to delete your post.

l) Put posts in the correct forum. If it contains in-games details of Munch's Oddysee, it goes in the Spoiler Forum. Oddworld-related fan-poetry, -prose, and visual -art go in Fan Corner. Non Oddworld art goes in Member Art & Literature. Everything else Oddworld goes in General Oddworld Discussion, and everything else goes in Off-Topic Discussion.

How to do Stuff:

a) Posting images:
If the image is stored on the web, use the following code:
<img src="image url here, no spaces" width="enter number in pixels if different from original dimension" height="enter number in pixels if different from original dimension">
You cannot post an image in this way if it is stored on your computer. If you do not intend to change the image's height and width, leave out the 'width="x"' and 'height="x"' parts. You can use VBulletin code but it often screws up. HTML is fail-safe if you input it correctly.

If the image is on your hard drive and is fairly small in size, you can post it as an attachment. Click 'add reply' whilst in a topic, and look underneath the message input box and the option checkboxes. There is a small input box next to a button labelled 'browse'. Click 'browse' and find where the image is located on your PC, then press OK. You can attach zip files and text files as well as image files in this way.

If the image is on your hard drive and you want it permanently on the web, you need some webspace. Get an MSN Groups account. It may be a one-trick pony (it's no good for building a website), but it is good for hosting images that you wish to post on boards; many other webspace providers block images that you try to post outside the webshell. You need an MSN Passport to use MSN Groups, but if you use MSN Messenger or Hotmail, then you already have one.

b) Posting links:
Use the following code in a post:
<a href="url here, no spaces">Name of link here&lt/a&gt

c) Getting a custom avatar:
1) Go to User CP.
2) Click 'Edit Options'.
3) Click 'Change Avatar'.
4) Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
5) Click the radio button marked 'yes'.
6) If the image you want as your avatar is stored on the web, type or paste the url in the box with 'http://www.' written in it.
6a) If the image is located on your hard drive, click 'browse', find where it is on your computer, and click 'OK'.
7) If you did step 6a, reclick the 'yes' radio button.
8) Click 'Submit Modifications'.
9) Take a shower, I can smell you from here.

d) Posting a poll:
When starting a new topic, look under the 'attach file' cell and there is a checkbox labelled 'yes! post a poll'. Click it. Don't worry about the number in the box, you can always change it when you get to the poll options screen. If the poll you intend to post will have fewer than 4 (the default number) options, then set the number as less than 4; don't fill up the surplus options with garbage.

Other stuff

a) There really is nothing interesting in the Employee Lounge. I have access to it and I know. It is unbelievably dull.

b) The number of stars you have and the creature species/job description below your name change depending on how many posts you have. There is no way to change them other than by upping your post count. This is not an excuse to spam.

c) You pariahs get bronze stars. Moderators (points to self) and special guests get the highly-coveted silver stars. Administrators get sooper-dooper funky-dope gold stars.

d) Yes, there will be an Oddworld film.

e) Yes, the next four games are XBox exclusive. The GBA spin-offs are not being made by Oddworld Inhabitants.

f) If you want to send a message to just one person, don't start a new topic directed at him or her. Send him or her a Private Message. Go to that person's profile, and click on 'click here to send so-and-so a private message', or find a post made by that person and click on . If you intend to send that person PMs on a regular basis, or if you want to see when they are online, click on (in a post) or 'click here to add so-and-so to your buddy list' (in his or her profile). You can then send him or her PMs and see when he or she is online by clicking on 'User CP'.

g) you can post a maximum of 8 images per post.

In general... be groovy; don't be a smeghead.

[dark_xinos]

Ah, insurting jokes to ceep the intrest of the readers, you are?

Two things. First I thought you said Frenchmen and not Freshmen! he he.
Second, you should have maid this topic a "sticky" one.

BTW. I wandet to ask this earlier. But how did you become a Moderator?

DX

[PinkHaired Mudokon CWR]

Lemon Curd and Mayo? What Yuckness!

[Gluk Schmuck]

Originally posted by dark_xinos
BTW. I wandet to ask this earlier. But how did you become a Moderator?

Don't ask.

[Alcar]

I was going to post a topic like this in a while, as the general disussion is filling up with loads of useless posts and topics.

Good job One, Two, Middlesboogie you have mostly everything in there that a new member needs to know!

Alcar...

[Majic]

*claps* Very well put, a sticky would probably be a good idea for this. Maybe (more complex) to put one in each forum, with the individual rules for the specific area? In General Discussion I'm also seeing old topics and spam from new members who haven't read the rules (or just haven't looked past the first page, thats why a sticky for each might be helpful). Nice food tips to

[ODDBODD]

i disagree with your statement about the Lemon curd and mayonnaise. But other than that i guess your on the right track

[Alcar]

Why not just place an announcement in all the forums, with the flick of a button you can have one in every forum, for everyone to see.

Therefore no wasting time on sticking a topic in every forum seperately.

Alcar...

[Majic]

Ah Alcar, you lil smartie. Its a shame I didn't know that... Still, no matter how it was done, its still a very useful idea... Moronic newbs, ha.

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

Originally posted by dark_xinos
Second, you should have maid this topic a "sticky" one.

I can't; not only am I a Moderator, not an Admin, but my powers do not extend as far as this forum.

(EDIT) Ah, apparently Mods can do sticky topics. However, my powers still don't work here. (/EDIT)

I should've also mentioned that you cannot request to be a Moderator or an Admin. There will never be another administrator (and if by a squillion-to-one chance there is, it will without a doubt be Pilot), and the people who ask to be Mods generally don't have what it takes.

[Alcar]

Originally posted by Majic_Abe
Ah Alcar, you lil smartie. Its a shame I didn't know that... Still, no matter how it was done, its still a very useful idea... Moronic newbs, ha.

Heh! Im no smartie, I just have studied vBulletin software and can do anything I wish with it, why I could even manipulate the whole style of the forums in any way I want!

Yes, I don't get out much. Mostly because it's the school holidays at the moment.

Alcar...

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

I'm adding a few more, due to recent posts I've seen on the board.

How to get an image off the net:
Right-click on it, then choose Save As. Choose where you want to put it on your PC.

How to take screenshots:
The act of taking a screenshot captures an image of what is on the screen at that moment. It is good if you want to get an image off the net, but can't because the site is Flash- or Shockwave-based, for example (which would prevent you from obtaining the image using the mthod above). It is also good for showing people what your desktop looks like.

1) Once what you want is on the screen, press 'Print Scrn | SysRq'. It's a button on your keyboard, and it should be located above your 'Insert' , 'Home, 'Delete' and 'End' buttons, and between F12 and Scroll Lock.

2) Open Paint, and go to Edit, then Paste. If it asks you if you want to enlarge the bitmap to accomodate the image, choose 'Yes'.

3) If you don't want an image of the entire screen, you can then chop off the bits you don't need.

Now here's a cool one...
How to cheat the system!

The rules currently state that:
Concerning text:
- With an image, you cannot exceed 4 lines of TEXT (Not SPACE)
- Without an image, you cannot exceed 6 lines (Including SPACE)

So, if you want a signature like this (I'm just using that pic because I've got the url handy right now, it's not relevant to what I'm saying):


Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5

Then you'd be asked to change it. But you don't want to have to get rid of one of those 5 cool quotes you've got, do you?

Nobody can complain if you've got this, though:

Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 Line 4 Line 5 Line 6 Line 7

That sig has seven lines of text, without taking up any more vertical space than 125 pixels (the board maximum for signature images)!

The secret to this is tables. HTML tables are used to add structure to pages. They're good for displaying tables of information, obviously, but I (among squillions of others) use them in my webpages just to organise stuff.

The 'cheating' sig above uses a table. Individual table boxes are called cells. The image is in one cell, and the text is in another, immediately to its right.

Here's the code used:

<table border="0"> Normally, <table> is used to start table code. But you need to include the 0 pixels border dimension in order to keep the sig clean, otherwise it'll show a dirty great outline round each cell, which is ugly. Note that that code won't work in webpages which use Javascript in their head tags in order to have the borders a specific colour as opposed to the browser's default. However, this board doesn't do such a thing, so that code will work fine here. If you want a border, replace the "0" with a number, which will define the number of pixels wide the border is.

<tr> This tag (tags are the name for little bits of code which tell a computer what to do with the HTML inside them) starts a table row. We only need the one row for this table.

<td> This opens a table cell. Now anything you put down will appear on the screen as being inside this cell.

<img src="image url here, no spaces" align="center"> You should recognise this if you've been reading the topic from the start. This is the code to display an image.

</td> This closes the cell so you can start a new one.

<td> Starts a new cell. This is the cell we'll be putting the text in.

<font size="2"> That tag is self explanatory. You should put it in because otherwise it'll display the text in the browser's default size, which in a lot of browsers is size 3, and that'll look ugly.

Line 1 Your stupendous text. You can use whatever effect tags you like on it, including font size (which we've just done), colour, marquee, linking, etc. Don't go overboard!
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7

</font> Closes the font effect tags.

</td> Closes the cell.

</tr> Closes the row, so you can add another. But we won't

</table> Ends the table code.

I spaced it out so you could see it easily. However, since the board treats all line breaks as <br> tags (stand-alone tags on a webpage which start a new line), if you just put that code in your sig it could look messed up. You should 'squash' the code so it looks like this:

<table border="0"><tr><td>
<img src="image url here, no spaces" align="center"></td><td><font size="2">Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7</font>
</td></tr></table>

And be careful! If you even mess up one of those tags, the whole thing will look f*cked up. Also, I used an image in my examples that was rather small, width-wise. This 'cheat' sig could look ugly with a big 400-pixel-wide banner.
The best course of action is not to put the code in your sig right away, but to go to a Reply screen, pop the code in there, and click 'Preview Reply' (not Submit Reply). This will show you what it looks like, without actually making a post and thus spamming the board.

[Cloverfield]

Great idea for a topic Middlesboogie! One that I always find annoying that I think you missed is the signature size limits. Every so often someone goes and sneaks in an oversized image/text or adds more than one image to their signature... of which we usually just edit them.

Concerning images:
You may only post 1 image per signature.
The dimensions must not exceed
- width 400 pixels
- height 125 pixels
The image size must not exceed 35kb or 35000 bytes
Concerning text:
- With an image, you cannot exceed 4 lines of TEXT (Not SPACE)
- Without an image, you cannot exceed 6 lines (Including SPACE)

Also you don't need to test your banner or avatar... just change it... and then refresh one of your previous posts to see the change.

And adaptation of your post as announcement would work well... although I'm not sure about all forums. Definately in this forum... however best to wait until after our Odd Tour is over, as 2 Sticky Threads and one Announcement could get a bit congested up there. However with announcements, you cannot reply... the message can only be edited/changed by an admin.

Abe Babe...

[Al the Vykker]

What many have said is spam can get out of hand. I think we need an actual crack down on it. Many people on this forum despite having knowledge of the rules, and agreed to them when they registered, continually spam throughout the forums to up their post counts. It really gets to me especially when somone new here will continually spam, and raise their status, unlike some of the members who actually say more then just "cool" or "sweet". What we need is some sort of really big warning, or a moderator for just spam, i know that would be really hard to just look for spam and not be able to pay attention to the topics being discussed. But what would make it easier if their was some sort of alert someone could set off if their was spam like a member alert. The only problem is that could turn into a situation, like the boy who cried wolf.

Well I guess that with every good forum their are going to be people who spam. The only way to truly stop it is that we all need to really understand the rules around here, and understand that when you register at Oddworld Forums you actually agree to following all the rules here, and that if you break those rules you should be punished.

thats my two cents.

[Alcar]

If you look at the bottom-right of any post above the edit image there is something that says "Report this post to a moderator". Thats how you can warn mods.

Alcar...

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

Originally posted by Abe Babe
Also you don't need to test your banner or avatar... just change it... and then refresh one of your previous posts to see the change.(1)

And adaptation of your post as announcement would work well... although I'm not sure about all forums. Definately in this forum... however best to wait until after our Odd Tour is over, as 2 Sticky Threads and one Announcement could get a bit congested up there. However with announcements, you cannot reply... the message can only be edited/changed by an admin.(2)

1) I knew that; I thought it would be a good idea if people tested html sigs to make sure they're got the code right, before actually going to their profile and inputting it there.

2) I'd prefer that this was a topic, not an announcement, because I want to be able to add to it (unless you want to make me an admin ), and hopefully see it become an interactive thing, so that anyone with forum-related questions can come here and get it answered (by me or whoever beats me to it).

Now that the Odd Tour has actually started, isn't the non-Gallery thread redundant? This topic could replace that one as a sticky.

Alternatively, you could put a link to this topic in the rules, and/or on the main forum page, perhaps below the banner, that says something like 'First Time Here?' or 'The Forum Clinic'.

[Gluk Schmuck]

I've got a good one: People sometimes make jokes.

Please take note of this, Pinky and paramiteabe.

[Alcar]

Originally posted by One, Two, Middlesboogie
Alternatively, you could put a link to this topic in the rules, and/or on the main forum page, perhaps below the banner, that says something like 'First Time Here?' or 'The Forum Clinic'.

Or you could do as me and Middlesboggie have done and place a link in your signature to this topic! *points down*

Alcar...

[ZombieX]

There are also various ways of manipulating VB to bugger up the pages, use usernames already registered etc. How nice. I could post them for some moron to try out.

I wonder if they're fixed in this latest version of VB.

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

I hereby name this place The Forum Clinic.

Here's another cool one; how to get rid of the underlines on links

Full credit goes to Tom (Gluk Schmuck) for showing me how to do this!

Here's the code. The bits in silver you can alter; everything else should stay the same.

<a href="url here, no spaces" target="_blank" style="color: #ffffff;text-decoration: none">name of link here</a>

The target="_blank" bit makes the link open in a new window. That way, people can get back to the forums without having to press the back button.

The ffffff in the 'font color' tags will mean the link will be white. You can replace it with any other hexadecimal code. Go here to find the hexadecimal code of whatever colour you like.

And thank you, Alcar, for putting a link to this topic in your sig.

[salty pretzils]

Some newbies are rather nervous about whether they fit in if they are rather young or just shy. I have notised some people are rather hard on newbies when it comes to spamming and all the rest of it. Believe me, its not the most encoraging thing in the world to have people screaming at you because you've done something wrong when you're new. So please, keep this in mind.
Thankyou for reading this (rather dull) post.

DISCLAMER
I am not intending to offend anyone. This is just my view and you don't have to follow it. Sorry to anyone I offended. Thank you.

Byeeeeeee!

[Gluk Schmuck]

Before telling people off for violating rule 1, why not learn rule 8.

Concerning text:
- With an image, you cannot exceed 4 lines of TEXT (Not SPACE)
- Without an image, you cannot exceed 6 lines (Including SPACE)

[abe22]

Originally posted by One, Two, Middlesboogie
<table border="0"><tr><td>
<img src="image url here, no spaces" align="center"></td><td><font size="2">Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7</font>
</td></tr></table>

Okay, I think I kinda got that. But if you don't have an image and don't want to put one in do you only put this:

align="center"></td><td><font size="2">Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7</font>
</td></tr></table>

? See, what I am saying? No? Well, what I am saying is that I want to make my text size smaller. So, you just showed us how to make font smaller with an image but all I want to do is make me text smaller. Can you or anyone help?

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

If all you want to do is make text smaller, then you on't need a table at all. Just this:

<font size="1">your text here</font>

which will look like this: your text here


If you want to, you can put colour code in the same tags, so you could have:

<font size="1" color="#aaaaaa">your text here</font>

which will look like this: your text here


You can input any number from 1 to 6 in the font size tags.

This is font size 1
This is font size 2
This is font size 3

As I said, it does go up to 6, but I wouldn't recommend anything bigger than 3 on this board.

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

The Forum Clinic now has a permanent home on the web here. I've organised the information so it's easier to find what you want, and I can add more to it if any more good tips crop up.

[Alcar]

Thats a very good idea, very helpful to the newer members you are. That's what moderators are for

Actually I had an idea recently reguarding new members, it seems that the Off Topic discussion is now becoming full with topics such as ones that introduce themselves to the forums, maybe a seperate forum for newer members where they can introduce themselves would be good. Like a sub-forum in the Off-topic forum.

I dont know if you'd need a moderator, because it's really only a smallish (sub)forum. That way its just plain easier.

But they are just only my thoughts...*has more thoughts*

Alcar...

[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

Alcar, are you psychic?! Only a couple of hours befre reading that post, I suggested exactly that in the Employee Lounge! Great minds think alike...

[Alcar]

Originally posted by One, Two, Middlesboogie
Alcar, are you psychic?! Only a couple of hours befre reading that post, I suggested exactly that in the Employee Lounge! Great minds think alike...

Wow, I don't think thats ever happened to me before...

Hey, you just leaked out information from the Employee Lounge! Yay!!!! Employee Lounge information is leaked!!! Hehe! *dances and jumps* *calms down*

Alcar...

[Majic]

Actualy I think that all the intro topics are now starting in General Disscussion. New members might not see the subforum for intros, most seemingly go straight to GD...

[Gluk Schmuck]

This is what I want to see:

• On Topic
  
  
  
  • General Oddworld Discussion
    
  • Spoiler Forum
    
  • Fan Corner
    
  • Oddworld Help
    
  • Oddworld RPG
    
  
  
• Off Topic
  
  
  
  • Off Topic Discussion
    
  • Member Art & Literature
    
  • Introductions
    
  • Off Topic RPG