Welcome to PoStIng & j00!!!

An informative, self-help guide to posting at the CxA Forums (for all ages). 8D

VERSION 1.0.2 as of April 25th, 2008.

Update List
+ 9/28/06: Added new section under "Name" about changing your name.
+ 4/25/08: General editing, plus a few new sections! Man, I had poor spelling!

Now, we here at the CxA Forums love new members. However, in recent years, there has been a terrible new species of "newbie," A mutation if you liked to call it that, known as the "n00b". Now the "n00b" is not necessarily a mean person. See this lovely chart by Clerith-Son [please don't kill me for using it. D:]

Now do you want to be a n00b? No? Good. [And if you said yes, GET OUT OF THESE FORUMS IMMEDIATELY.] Uh, moving on~

Section 1: Preliminary Precautions

---> Name: Your username holds a lot of first impressions, believe it or not. For example, if your name is "AerithFan," than it'll be assumed that you're a fan of Aerith! Now that's not to say that your name is going to haunt you for the rest of your life, but a few good things to remember when you're creating your username [or changing to something new]:

• Try to think of something original. I'm sure everyone loves Aerith/Cloud/Cleris here, but maybe something not related to them? Or even something not related to videogames/FF at all~! There's tons of words out there. Random can be good, but if you're going for random....
  
  
  
• Make it easy to type or abbreviate. A two line set of numbers and letters will make no one happy. "Scott" is easy to type, being five letters and a common word. And while my username, "Materia Thief" may be a bit hard to type for some, it's easily shortened to "MT".
  
  
  
• Follow basic rules of English. Capitalize the first letter of your first word, preferably the second as well, if you have one, but not the rest of the letters. Spaces always work better than underscores, if you must distinguish between words (See: SweetJanie. Two different words, but easily discernible with neither space nor underscore!).
  
  

Now, if you didn't quite have an opportunity to think about your name or feel like your current username doesn't quite fit you, just PM one of our admins and they'll change it for you, as long as it isn't already taken. :]

---> Introductory Post: Beyond your name, your introductory post is part of the first impression we have of you. We want to get to know you, so try to post a few things beyond, "Hi there. I'm new.". You don't have to tell us your life story, but maybe a few hobbies you have or things you like. And please don't just post in The Church Forum and disappear. It makes us sad when you do that. :'[

Also, please, please, please post with proper grammar and spelling. We totally understand if English isn't your native language (we have people of many nationalities here), but try your best!

It obviously can be much more casual than what I wrote, since I write very formally, but that example was just to show two important things:
* Something beyond "Hi there."
* Readability.

* This is a very casual introduction, going off the assumption that you already know people here/there.
* It's still readable, although there is slang used. However, it's in a self-referential way, a.k.a. humor by poking fun at oneself. :3

Please, no. Just don't. It's hardly readable and tells us barely anything. Also it breaks about 4 or 5 of what I'd like to call the "Cardinal Rules of Posting".

Now what are those you may ask? Well, wonder no more as I proudly present:

Section 2: The Cardinal Rules of Posting -- according to MT.

1. Thou shalt be understandable and readable, lest the great sarcasm-sayers descend upon thee and smite thee with their right hand with many words of great sarcasm. (Parodying is totally fine though. ;])

And when I say "understandable and readable," I mean for everyone. I'm still trying to figure out what "KAWAII!!!" really means. Please stop using so much random Japanese slang, I'm not fluent in it. Of course it's fine to use it, I'm not saying not to, just in limited quantities.

Addendum #1: Even with correct spelling, alternating caps is not easy to read. Also, why would you do such a thing. It's not attractive, it's time-consuming. Why?

Addendum #2: Caps lock is not your friend/lover/big brother/cousin twice removed. Keep away from it as much as humanly possible, thank you very much. :]

2. Thou shalt spell correctly with articles such as "the" or "a" or even "an". You will not use slang such as "lil/witto/liddo" or "u" except in limited quantities. If you're over the age of seven, spell like you are over the age of seven. We are all [for the most part] perfectly capable of reading normal words such as "little". And really, it isn't that hard.

3. Thou shalt not spam the lives out of the poor little emoticons. Now, I'm sure we all admire the hard work that Kaldea put into the Cloud x Aeris emoticon, which is exactly why we shouldn't spam the heck out of them. As you'll see me type a lot, moderation is good for everything. Show people you love them with the hugging smile or show that you're upset with one of the angry smilies, but I'm sure we get the picture with only one per emotion you feel. :]

4. Thou shalt have purpose to thy posts. Before you post, think about if you're contributing to the thread or whether you're just posting for the sake of it. Your opinions are more then welcome, but think before you post. Are you off-topic? Can this be discussed through PMs? Posts such as "I totally agree with you!" aren't contributing to a discussion. However, posts such as, "I totally agree with you, because..." or "I don't quite agree with your points as--" are contributing quite nicely to a thread. I cannot stress this enough, but SPAM BELONGS IN THE SPAM FORUM. Examples of spam include:

Or

Or even

(Unless it's in "The Church" in a welcome back thread--that's perfectly fine.)

5. See above, except apply to threads. Try not to make irrelevant threads about things that have no real discussion points, such as "OMG I SAW THIS AND IT MADE ME SQUEE". You can talk about your favorite "Cloud x Aeris moments" perhaps or "Cutest CxA moments," and say that however. Try to make a thread apply to as many people as possible rather than just one video that you really liked.

6.Thou shalt not necro thy threads needlessly nor post thy threads wantonly [a.k.a. don't resurrect old threads that don't need to be resurrected, but don't make new threads if there's already an old one for it].

I'm sure, when we first came to this forum, most to all of us have posted an introduction thread and have been welcomed by older members. It's a nice feeling to feel welcomed and I'm sure that you want to welcome as many people as possible. However, if you've welcomed the people with already active threads, do you really need to post in a thread with numerous replies that hasn't been posted in for a week to welcome someone?

However, if there's a discussion thread you've been reading and it's been dead for a few weeks, but you still want to insert your opinions, by all means, go ahead! We don't need ten threads on "Cloud & Aerith's Wedding Arrangements" when we already have one. I assure you. Ten weddings would be too expensive for Cloud to afford anyway. D:

7. Thou shalt post thy threads in their proper place. "WHO'S YOUR BISHIE?!" or "WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOr!!" are not serious discussion and never will be. Don't post them there. "Mai FAmILy!!!" where you talk to your friends about randomness or whatnot, is a spam thread and not a general chat thread. Don't place it in general chat just to artificially inflate your post count. It won't do you any good, believe me.

8. Thou shalt not quote an entire windows worth of posts-- (Thank you Taco for reminding me!)

ESPECIALLY IF ALL YOU WANT TO SAY IS "I AGREE WITH YOU I LOVE YOU I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN~~~".

Quote what you want to refer back to, but don't if it's irrelevant or if you don't need it. Also, when quoting, if there's previous posts that you don't need to refer to, take them out of the queue! It's not hard, just highlight and erase what's unneeded. It saves a lot of scrolling time and makes your posts much easier to read.

Section 3: Other Things of Importance

1. Sig Size. Believe it or not there are actual rules on this here at CxA, although they're a bit hard to find. So for easy reference, look here!

However, in general, try to use common sense. Is it stretching the page? Is it going to blind someone? Is it going to kill someone's loading time? (Especially poor dial-up users).

If you need a sig, go and ask in one of the many Graphic's Shops at the Graphics Forum. Although a lot of us will ask you to post to a certain amount before taking your request, I assure you that we are all friendly folk and don't bite as long as you follow our rules. :]

For instructions on how to insert sigs and avatars, see here.

2. Cetra: You may see some people around here [such as myself] with a member group known as "Cetra". It's basically a special distinction to show ourselves as contributing members to this forum. The majority of Cetra are older members who have proven themselves to be good members of this forum. To join, just follow the rules, discuss in threads, try to be active. If you're a good member, the Cetra, mods and admins will a notice. ;] (Ditto if you're a bad member too, so uh, don't be that. XD)

Remember! Quality > Quantity.

3. Invasions: Sometimes we get people here that have a tendency to spam with inappropriate material or off-topic-ness. Unfortunately, it's just a natural part of the CxA forums and you'll have to get used to it. However, if there's anything these trolls feed off of, it's attention, so try not to post responding to them, it'll only make them hungrier for more. The trolls eat n00bs for breakfast, don't y'know? O:

As well, please don't try to incite rebellions against Cloud x Tifa supporters. It's not cool and it just shows a lack of maturity. Like religion, let people have their own opinions and respect their opinions. After all, just because this is the "interwebz" doesn't mean you're not dealing with real people. Going off of that--

4. Other Ships: Now, of course, this is a Cloud x Aerith forum. Assumedly, all of the members here would be in some way interested in Cloud x Aerith (in a positive light). And as the rules clearly state bashing of them is clearly prohibited. However, posting threads to point out the fanwork of another person dealing with another couple is neither productive nor very nice. For example:

Let them enjoy their ship just as much as you enjoy your own, yes?

Of course, discussions are encouraged, so bringing up a point that was made in a LTD somewhere out in the vast wide sea of the interwebz is fine. Sarcasm is fine. But if someone drew/wrote/made something with good intentions and doesn't happen to bash Cloud/Aerith or grossly distort canon? Then try not to create whole threads about it.

5. Spoilers: See those nice little forums labeled "*Name of Game* Spoiler Forum"? Those are for spoilers. Use them. If there's a discussion in a normal or club forum and you require spoilers to prove a point, try using the information provided here.

6. Character Bashing (Thank you Real_Emotion for reminding me of this!): This is what I'd like to call the "TIFA IS NOT A HOBAG UNLESS YOU CAN PROOFS IT" rule. Personally, I love Tifa. I think she's a great character and very deep. Maybe you don't like her, for whatever reason. However, that doesn't give you free license to post everywhere with enlightened words such as the following:

Give reasons why you dislike a character, and plausible ones at that. By the way, clothing is not a plausible reason. That's like saying because I wear a dress, I'm feminine, when really, I'm not. HOWEVER--if you are posting this in the "Character Bashing" forum, then well, you're fine.

Addendum #1 - In contrast, defending a character in the Character Bashing forum? Not allowed. Don't do it, you look stupid and incapable of reading forum titles.



Section 4: Closing Remarks -- a.k.a. MT likes talking. So listen or else. :[

I hope you've enjoyed this little guide on posting and are on your way to Cetra-dom instead of n00b-dom. So have fun, post lots and don't tick off the admins/mods. They eat people. o:

MT, this is the best guide ever. It should be required reading for all members. Bravo! *claps and gives cookies*

Wow, what a read! That's a great newbie handbook you put together. :lol: I especially agree with Rule #7 in the Cardinal Rules of Posting. I hate it when someone quotes a gigantic post, and then only adds two sentences. Is it really that difficult to press the quote button, and delete all unnecessary paragraphs of the HUGE post you're responding too instead of making everyone scroll until their right hand joints are stiff? This should also apply to the Member's Picture thread. Sometimes, a person (Member 1) will post five or six pictures of themself (nothing wrong with that). Then, Member 2 wants to compliment Member 1's pictures. Instead of just saying:

Member 1: You're gorgeous/beautiful/ugly/disgusting/etc.

Many people will often "quote" all of Member 1's six pictures. Again, this creates unnecessary scrolling (and pisses off people like myself who are easily angered).

Anyway, this is great MT! I wish more people followed your advice.

This is applied for the whole forum, therefore "Member's Picture thread" is included.

I seriously encourage members to read and follow the instructions given in this guide, made by Materia Thief to help everyone.

*Cheers for Materia Thief*
*Cheers to anyone that read Materia Thief's guide, and follows it*
*Scourge for those who don't*

This is very interesting ^_^ I'm happy I read it, cause now I know why I'm not a Cetra :whistle: I'm gonna see, if I can fit this into my signature :gift:

That's very nice of you, BC! Yep, we should try to spread MT's Word all across this forum, so that all will be enlightened on the Way of the Post.

It's also important to practice what's being suggested in this tutorial (which is supported very strongly by the staff, I might add :whistle: ) to set an example to all the newbies who join the Pink.

And gawd, don't I sound like some kindergarten teacher? XD

MT, you are teh PWN. *has secret e-babies with joo* But on a serious note, I do hope everyone takes notice of this, it took MT time to make, and we all appreciate it and agree with it. We all can try harder to live up to MT's impossibly high standards for us, and if not, well then MT will throw rocks at us. Dare to reply with I AGREE!!!!!!11!!! :cleris: and see what happens. :hide:

Awww, thank you guys! All of the encouragement is really appreciated. :huggle:

I've been practicing my throwing arm actually! XD

And uh, Version 1.0.1! ^_^

Just made a minor update on how to change your username if you want to. I do wish there was a way I could index this though in a sort of--table of contents manner, so you can look it up as an easy reference. Any ideas? :unsure:

The part that said: "Revere Clerith-son as a God" is missing!!!
Oh the chaos!

HERESY! You're not a staff member!

But I should really stop spamming my own topic that instructs people on not spamming. XD

Any suggestions? Comments~?

You could try the method done by a lot of FAQs: associate each section with a unique code, so that people can immediately jump to that section by using CTRL+F. We can't make tables here, but you could just list them down:

• [01PREP] Section 1: Preliminary Precautions
• [02CARD] Section 2: Cardinal Rules of Posting

...etc.

If you're free, you could also highlight sections using different colours.

I totally forgot about that system! Thank you for the idea! :3

I'll do that when I get some free time and I'm not ninja-editing this. xD

*uses evil spammy bumpage, ohnoez!

I was going to suggest the same thing as Lynn actually, although I also think that it's not really that long, at least to me, some people might not agree with someone whose main hobby is reading! :lol: But it'd be good for people to be able to immediately find a certain part too. Whatever you have time for!

*bumps up for all the new members because my ego needs stroking, thank you very much*

I'll probably be editing this as it goes along, such as adding parts about new sections of the forum, etc. However, as always, I wanted to send out the message that if anyone has any concerns/suggestions for this guide, please tell me. : D

I don't know if this is really necessary, but adding to the section about threads, you could also note that when you make a thread, you should think it through first. I see a lot of threads about something small and unimportant. You can't really discuss anything about it.

Threads should be made on topics that are worth holding discussions about, hearing other member's input, and preferrably on a topic that people will have something to say about. In other words, don't make a thread called "Aerith has pretty hair." It's just such a waste, and it feels like an attempt to boost your post count. This goes for useless clubs that no one will join too.

[Sadhana is just angry at how many useless threads have been popping up lately]

Oh goodness. I've edited a few sections in (it's like a giant game of "WHERE'S WALDO?" except with a BLOCK OF TEXT), so have fun reading! Also fixed my spelling, by gawd it was terrible. I'm thinking of possibly adding a link section too, so I'm not sure. Like--links to topics that tend to get created a lot (i.e. what are you listening to? or photo album). Thoughts? : D

Bumped also for new members to read how stupid I was back then. 8D