Post by Zelman Clock on Apr 30, 2011 22:05:48 GMT -6
Okay, I know there are people here who are new to the whole "forum" based role play. So here's a sort of overview to how the formatting works. Your profile is about your character. You can modify your profile by going to the top of the home page, or any other page for that matter, and locating the "profile" button. Click it. Once the page loads, you can hit "modify profile" to change your profile information, add an avatar or signature, etc. Check it out, look around. There are some items that only admins can do, which you won't see, like give custom titles, which appear above your "displayed" name. Your "display" name is something you can change yourself though.
Across the top of the board is a menu bar. The options are Home: New Topics: Help: Search: Members: Calendar: Profile: Login/out (pending on if you are logged in or not), and Chat. They're pretty self explanatory. Chat, if you want to do that, is a live feature and is best done with a new browser tab open because it takes you "away" from the boards.
There are several sections to the board itself: Information: OOC: Getting to Know you and Related: Student Life (which is visible after you've "passed" your admission requirement of 25 posts in the other areas): Housing: Off Campus: and Archives.
The Information section is for information about the boards, plots, for suggestions and questions, etc.
The OOC area is for out of character chatting and anything related to that.
The Getting to Know you section is for posting information about your character, bio sheets, relationship databases, etc.
The Role Playing Blitz section is for what it says, more lightning round type role playing that does not effect the rest of the board. It follows its own rules and each thread is it's own story.
Student life is the actual school part of the board, with classes, student association and activities and other related areas like the food court and medical areas.
Housing is as it says. There's a guy's dorm, girl's dorm, and married couples' dorm.
Off campus is just that, anything in character that is off campus.
archives are to store threads that are over with.
The only real etiquette for jumping into a thread is that it's best to read a page or two of the most recent posts before jumping in so that you know what's going on. And, unless it's specified as certain people only, or is an "invite only" area, like Wonderland, feel free to jump in at any time.
Make yourself a dorm room/housing in whichever area. There's also a "'staff" dorm area for those who are professors and such so if you are a student, don't post your dorm/housing there. But feel free to interact with the various professors and staff in their abodes. The same goes for the staff offices. They're a place for students to easily find the professors, should they be needed.
Classes: you are highly encouraged to attend them. We know there are time constraints, but you never know when a class might be involved with a major plot.
There are two kinds of plots: main and minor. Minor plots are those that don't necessarily involve the whole board, but can be incorporated into the main plot, though they don't have to be. They are generally student created, or professor created, but can be created by anyone, to be truthful. Main plots on the other hand, involve the whole board and are created and started by the "powers that be". All such plots are to be posted in the Plot section of the Information category. Minor things that are very short term, such as destroying the kitchen, or things that just spiral out of nowhere don't necessarily need to be put down as a minor plot, but if they are going to last more than a few days, they should be put down. It's also a good idea to put down who is involved and what's going on so that people are aware. We will try to keep up with the same on the main plots.
Creating a thread is pretty easy. Just go to any sub board or area and look up to the right for the "create new thread" option and then give it a subject and the main body of the thread, giving some description or whatever's needed. If you're not sure if say... a sweet shop exists, check for it first. And if there isn't one, feel free to make a thread for one. Yes, you are allowed to create places in the various areas, so long as they don't interfere with other things. An Admin will let you know if things need to be changed, etc.
Across the top of the board is a menu bar. The options are Home: New Topics: Help: Search: Members: Calendar: Profile: Login/out (pending on if you are logged in or not), and Chat. They're pretty self explanatory. Chat, if you want to do that, is a live feature and is best done with a new browser tab open because it takes you "away" from the boards.
There are several sections to the board itself: Information: OOC: Getting to Know you and Related: Student Life (which is visible after you've "passed" your admission requirement of 25 posts in the other areas): Housing: Off Campus: and Archives.
The Information section is for information about the boards, plots, for suggestions and questions, etc.
The OOC area is for out of character chatting and anything related to that.
The Getting to Know you section is for posting information about your character, bio sheets, relationship databases, etc.
The Role Playing Blitz section is for what it says, more lightning round type role playing that does not effect the rest of the board. It follows its own rules and each thread is it's own story.
Student life is the actual school part of the board, with classes, student association and activities and other related areas like the food court and medical areas.
Housing is as it says. There's a guy's dorm, girl's dorm, and married couples' dorm.
Off campus is just that, anything in character that is off campus.
archives are to store threads that are over with.
The only real etiquette for jumping into a thread is that it's best to read a page or two of the most recent posts before jumping in so that you know what's going on. And, unless it's specified as certain people only, or is an "invite only" area, like Wonderland, feel free to jump in at any time.
Make yourself a dorm room/housing in whichever area. There's also a "'staff" dorm area for those who are professors and such so if you are a student, don't post your dorm/housing there. But feel free to interact with the various professors and staff in their abodes. The same goes for the staff offices. They're a place for students to easily find the professors, should they be needed.
Classes: you are highly encouraged to attend them. We know there are time constraints, but you never know when a class might be involved with a major plot.
There are two kinds of plots: main and minor. Minor plots are those that don't necessarily involve the whole board, but can be incorporated into the main plot, though they don't have to be. They are generally student created, or professor created, but can be created by anyone, to be truthful. Main plots on the other hand, involve the whole board and are created and started by the "powers that be". All such plots are to be posted in the Plot section of the Information category. Minor things that are very short term, such as destroying the kitchen, or things that just spiral out of nowhere don't necessarily need to be put down as a minor plot, but if they are going to last more than a few days, they should be put down. It's also a good idea to put down who is involved and what's going on so that people are aware. We will try to keep up with the same on the main plots.
Creating a thread is pretty easy. Just go to any sub board or area and look up to the right for the "create new thread" option and then give it a subject and the main body of the thread, giving some description or whatever's needed. If you're not sure if say... a sweet shop exists, check for it first. And if there isn't one, feel free to make a thread for one. Yes, you are allowed to create places in the various areas, so long as they don't interfere with other things. An Admin will let you know if things need to be changed, etc.
