The basic rule around these boards is to have fun, and enjoy talking about the YW books with fellow fans.

However: Rule 0): NO POSTING FICTION!!!
We honestly mean this. Not on the board, not in chat, not anywhere. It was in the Terms of Service agreement when you signed on, and remember the Lone One's power comes from the broken word. Posting your fiction can jeopardize the existence of this board. DD CANNOT read any posted fiction on this board [it could put her in a sticky legal situation], and she likes to read this board; she pays for this board; therefore, no fiction on this board. Please keep writing, though. Just don't post it here.

Another alternative is to find another board, such as fanfiction.net, or to put your piece up on a personal website or blog and post a link, labelling it as fanfic so that DD can safely skip over it.

Ok, back to the regular FAQ:

All of the board rules listed below have one main thing in mind: Diane Duane herself pays for the upkeep of this board, so anything you can do to help keep this board fast and content/discussion-rich is appreciated.

The most common space-wasting mistakes are:

1) oversized avatars.

Make sure that before you put a picture up, that you've read the avatar guidelines. Keep the size to 100x100 pixels or smaller. Please pay special attention to copyright issues. We don't want to get DD sued. If you don't have permission from the guys who made the image, don't use the file. If you don't have hosting space for the image you want to use, contact Lee, and she'll resize and host it for you on youngwizards.net.

See the next posting for instructions on how to create an avatar.

2) sigs

Please keep your sigs down to three lines or less (this includes empty lines and separators). Again, keep the bandwidth down by making sigs text-only, please. Remember, even if it's only three lines long, if you post two hundred articles, that's 600 lines of text you've added to the board, probably 597 of which were never read. Also, for legibility, you may want to use the first line of your sig to create a separator between the sig and your post; change the sig's color; or reduce the sig's text size.

See below for instructions on how to create a signature.

3) one-liners, me-toos, etc.

Make sure your posts have substance to them. Posting one-liners to push up your post count is strictly forbidden, and may cause the admins to zero out your count. The basic rule of thumb is that your post should never be shorter than your sig.

Remember a board is a conversation. Contribute. Substance (actual information or opinion), relevance (staying on topic is appreciated), and style are all things that get you noticed and remembered around here. Try to make sure that your posts can be read by anyone interested in YW. If you're going to have personal one-on-one conversations, reserve them for the chat area, private topics, or e-mail.

General netiquette applies: please delete accidental double-posts, refrain from screaming in ALL CAPS, proper grammar and spelling do count, remember you're talking with people not a computer, etc. Ultimately, how everybody will perceive who you are on this board is determined solely by how well you string words together. Try to do a good job.

Also, remember that your parents/friends probably know how to use Google and can find this board. A good rule of thumb is: don't post anything you'd rather your mother didn't read.

Naturally, all the usual board rules apply. No abusive or threatening behavior, stalking, illegal activity, etc.--you know the drill. Don't let us catch you doing this. We know your IP and we're not afraid to ban/report it.

4) not using pre-existing threads

Before you start a new thread topic, check and make sure that it doesn't already exist--duplication is a waste of space and time. Use the Find button in the toolbar to see if what you want to talk about has been discussed. And try to make any new topic broad enough to be an ongoing discussion. Instead of starting a "trees with brown leaves and squirrels running up their North sides" topic, try just starting a "trees" or "plants" thread. Give your fellow board members a little elbow room for discussion.

5) not trimming quotes

Yes, when you quote another post by default the entire post is quoted. But that doesn't mean you have to leave it that way. If you're only responding to one bit from another post, please edit it down to only what's needed. If you want to refer to the whole post, consider linking (the icon links directly to a post). The basic rule is that what you quote should not be more than what you write. Quoting an entire post, just to add a one-line comment at the end is worse than a one-liner post, because you wasted more bandwidth for just as little content.

This also goes for posts and threads that are made entirely of quotes that have nothing to do with YW. This board is here to host YW discussions. If it's not YW-related, it should at least be a discussion. Really, we'd rather read what you have to write. Consider creating a webpage for a larger piece you want to show folks, and then posting a link to the page (e.g., PM's chat transcripts).

6) double-posting

Each post has overhead data associated with it: who posted it, when, which thread it's in, etc. This information takes up additional space. If you create two posts a few minutes apart in the same thread, chances are, you could have simply used the edit button to add to the first post, and saved a little space. (See also karma-pushing.)

Who is this Lee person?
Lee Enfield-Burke is the Board Admin who does the day-to-day overseeing of our craziness. She's also had a character named after her in a DD novel, Stealing the Elf-King's Roses, and another (Lia Burke) in DD's Star Trek novels.

Who are the administrators on this board?
Currently we have four: Diane Duane herself, Lee Enfield-Burke, Kathy Li (kli6), and Garrett Fitzgerald. You can contact any of the admins through private topics if you'd rather not air a grievance in public.

How do I edit or delete a post?
When you're logged into the board, only the messages you've posted will have an additional pencil-eraser-over-a-folder icon: Clicking on this will let you edit or delete the posting.

How do I edit the title of a thread?
You can only do this if you started the thread. Just edit the initial message, and you'll be able to edit the thread title, too.

How do I ______ on this board?
Take a look at the general Eve/UBB.x help for directions on how to navigate, post, type in smileys, add photo albums, etc.

What are all these acronyms?

DD = Diane Duane
YW = Young Wizards
SYWTBAW = So You Want to Be A Wizard
DW = Deep Wizardry
HW = High Wizardry
WA = Wizard Abroad
WD = Wizard's Dilemma
AWA = A Wizard Alone
WH = Wizard's Holiday
WAW, W@W = Wizards at War
WoM = Wizard of Mars
ToGR = Topic of Great Randomness
TBM = The Big Meow
OOA = Out of Ambit, DD's blog.

Also, some folk around here are SMS-fluent, so some of those acronyms appear on the boards and chats.

The Chat Area (aka Chime)
The Chime chat area is available to all board members for casual small-group conversation when an admin has time to open the room and be there to moderate all discussion. There is a censor in place (see below). Please remember basic Internet Safety and that while a large number of our members are minors, a fair number aren't, and that geographically we are spread around the globe and in different time zones. Again, basic courtesy and conversation rules apply--if you only want to talk to one other person, learn how to set up a private chat in another room, or use e-mail or private topics. Please remember that the signal-to-noise rules also apply in Chat! No empty line returns or lack of content. And no fanfic! You may also want to refer to PM's excellent Chat FAQ.

Official Chats
DD herself participates in a (usually) hour-long chat (usually) once a month at 8pm GMT (noon Pacific, 3pm Eastern [daylight savings can shift this]). Her business/writing schedule varies, so watch for Lee's posts on the YW News and Events blog to find out when the next chat with DD will occur.

The Shoutbox (aka Chatbox or Chatterbox)
The shoutbox on the front page is for letting folks know if you're in the chat or not, and quick hellos and comments. It is not for extended conversations. For that, use the chat area, or private topics.

The Topic of Great Randomness
Is an exception area to the rule of "try to stay on topic." In the ToGR, anything goes. But it should NOT be followed as a model for how all thread conversations should run.

Be aware, that the Topic of Great Randomness is the ONLY thread allowed in the TOGR area. All other non-YW topic threads belong in Chatter II. (It's called Chatter II, historically, because Chatter I died and had to be reconstructed.)

But if there's a ToGR, why should we ever stay on topic?
Staying on topic in a thread is basic netiquette. It allows you to find what you want to talk about, and gives newbies a chance to jump in on the action. It's frustrating to go to a thread that's labelled as one thing, only to find out it was hijacked and derailed three days ago so that now everybody's talking about something else instead. If you need to wander, there's the ToGR. But otherwise, try to stay on topic, or guide topics into more appropriate threads. (e.g., "Hey, let's take this over to the ___ thread." is always ok).

Ages and Asterisks (or, why was my post ****ed?)
This is an all-ages board, but you may notice that the average age here is pretty young. This said, an emphasis on internet safety, and no-profanity rules are stronger here than on your average board. Be aware that the language-censor on this board has been tuned to Victorian maiden aunt levels, and may cause unexpected hilarity by asterisking out a completely innocent phrase. If it bothers you, you can always ask an admin to tweak the filter.

Why do so many people have multiple names?
It's the nature of cyberspace and the necessity of net-safety that causes many people to use an alias when registering with the board, and then over time, as board members become more trusting, to use "real" or "closer" nicknames, or names from other boards. Don't worry if you're new and can't remember. It's always safe to refer to someone by their login.

If you hate the name you registered with and don't want to be addressed by it, you can always mail or private message an admin and ask it to be changed. However, this should not be done lightly. Names are powerful things and should not be messed with on a whim. That's also why the sockpuppet policy exists.

Sockpuppet Accounts
Having more than one account/login per person is strictly forbidden. It's also a waste of board resources. Please see Lee's post on the matter.

Generic Internet Safety Lecture
C'mon. You knew it was coming.

Please keep internet safety issues in mind. Anonymity can give you some measure of safety. If you choose to post your e-mail/AIM/real name, etc. on the board or in chat, be aware that the information is out there, and you may be traced through it. If you're not sure it's safe to give information out that someone's asking for, you can always politely decline, and state that you prefer being a figure of mystery. If you think you're being stalked, let the admins know.

Sexually Explicit Material
Is right out. This is a forum for kids' books, fer cryin' out loud. No sexually explicit material or language is to be posted or linked to from this board or in chat. Violators will be banned. It's in the terms of service, folks. If you have to talk dirty, find another board. (see DD's post).

Spoilers
If you're going to post a spoiler (i.e., a plot point that might "ruin" something for someone who hasn't read/seen what you're discussing), please either label the topic as a Spoiler topic, or use the color tag to turn the text white. If the text is white, it has to be selected to be read. [Example: only a test. Not an actual spoiler]

Also, with Wizards at War, Lee created a special Spoiler area, which is separate from the main board. Please be sure to post in the appropriate area, as a great many folks may not be able to get hardcovers immediately after release, but are relying on public libraries or paperbacks. (See also: Spoiler Policy on marking threads for spoilers).

[edited to delete Fanlib Wizards on Call info]
[edited to fix link to avatar guidelines]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q: How do I get an avatar/cool picture by my name?

A. Basically, there are four steps involved in creating your own avatar, if you don't want to use any of the standard one the board supplies. (If you do, just skip down to the "how do I set my avatar?" question below).

• Find an appropriate image you want to use, and make sure that you aren't violating any copyrights by using it.
• Resize the image to meet the Avatar Guidelines.
• Host the image on the web.
• Change your account's avatar settings to use the file's URL.

Q. So what's appropriate and how do I tell if something's copyrighted?

A. Appropriate means something that everybody on the board is comfortable with. Because we've had board members under the age of 10, the most you want to push is PG-13. We have had members banned/reprimanded for using grossout graphics before.

All images are copyrighted by their creators. The trick is knowing if that image is ok for you to use or not: i.e., do you have permission. If a commercial website has set up a "Downloads" area with Livejournal icons and the like, then you've been implicitly given permission to spread them hither and yon. But just because an image is on the web does not mean it's ok for you to use it--a picture from a Google images or Flickr search isn't ok to use, unless you have the image creator's permission. Usually, all you have to do is e-mail someone and ask them if it's ok for you to use it as a board avatar. If they say no, look for another image. Remember, whoever created the picture has the right to say how it's going to be used, and we don't want to get DD sued because her website was using an unauthorized graphic.

Naturally, the easiest way to avoid this is to use a graphic you've drawn, or a photo you've taken yourself.

Q. So, how do I resize a graphic?

A. You can use a graphics editing program, if you have one. Remember that the maximum allowed graphic size is 100x100 pixels. If you don't have a graphics editing program, you can use resize2mail's website. If your graphic is taller than it is wide, set the height to 100, if the graphic is wider than it's tall, set the width to 100.

Q. How do I get my avatar "hosted"?

A. Upload it to a website that you have. If you don't have a website, then you can use a free image hosting service, such as Flickr (which will resize the graphic automatically), ImageShack, Pbase, or Photobucket, etc. etc.

Q. How do I set my avatar?

A: First, if you're on a PC, right-click (on a mac control-click) on your resized graphic in a browser, and copy the graphic's URL to your clipboard.

Then, go to the toolbar at the top of the page and click to:

Go -> My Space -> Profile.

Then click on the View/Edit Complete Profile link.

Scroll down a little until you see Avatar / Picture URL: settings. Click on the Edit link.

A small dialog box will open, which lets you Set Avatar to one of the many available avatar images.

To use your custom avatar, click on Custom Avatar, then paste or type in the URL of your picture, and click the Update Avatar button.

Q. Auuuugh!!! This is all too complicated!!! Is there any other (easier) way?

You can send a request to any of the admins with the graphic file you want to use, and they can resize and set the image for you, but please bear in mind that the admins are all busy folks, and it might be faster to learn to do it for yourself, and probably won't be amenable to doing it multiple times for the same account.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Garrett Fitzgerald,

Q: Can I do a search on posts?

A: You sure can. There's a Find button in the toolbar at the top of the page, which lets you do a simple text search, and also links to the Advanced Search page, which lets you create more specific searches, such as Postings by DD.

Q: Do I have to worry about spelling/grammar/punctuation? Everybody's picking on me!

Good writing style helps you communicate more effectively. It's also often the easiest way to pre-emptively make sure there's no misunderstanding. If you don't write well, it's harder for people to understand what you're saying.

Ultimately, it's your personal choice in how you want to present yourself.

Also, if you're nitpicking someone else's writing, please be aware that there may be something else going on, such as dyslexia, or maybe they're posting from a cell phone. Cut everybody a little slack, especially the newbies that may come from specialized-vocabulary boards. You may want to wait until someone's transitioned from "New Member" to "Member" before lambasting them for "rules-breaking." This FAQ is huge.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q: What's this karma? How do I get more?

Karma points are assigned automatically by the number of posts you write (roughly 1 point per post), but karma points can also be edited by the admins, if they see you do something they like a lot, or something they abhor (like, say, posting a ton of one-liners to boost karma count. That gets your count zeroed, and you have to start over again).

Your Karma count may not match your post count because of admin editing, or because posts may have been deleted in a board purge.

Karma points affect the title under your name. If you select Go -> My Space -> Karma, you'll see the levels at which different titles are assigned.

Q: How do I get to be a "Senior on Duty"?

Short answer: DD decides you get to be one by inviting you to be a moderator. My personal theory is that this happens if 1) you're unfailingly helpful to newbies, and 2) around on this board a lot, and 3) experienced in the ways of internet/messageboard discussions (as in 20 years or so).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q. How do I create a signature? And how do I format it?

A: You can edit your signature by going to the toolbar at the top of the page and clicking

Go -> My Space -> Profile.

Then click on the View/Edit Complete Profile link.

Scroll down until you find the Signature: field, then enter the text for your signature there, and then click the Submit button.

You don't have to format your signature, but it's good style to do so, so that it's easily distinguished from your post. That way, it won't be read as the last line of your posting, and/or can be easily skipped over by others who've seen it before.

It's always a good idea to start a sig with a separator of some kind. Just typing in a few hyphens (-) or underscores (_) for the first line is the easiest way. But if you know HTML, you can also use the "horizontal rule" tag:

<hr color="gray" width="25%" align="left" size=1>

If you know CSS, you can change the color and size of the signature text as well. As an example, here's the code I use to format my sig:

<span style="color:navy;font-size:smaller;">
... sig text ...
</span>

For color, you can pick: any of the color names recognized by CSS (although sticking to one of the standard 16 might be best); and font-size can be set to medium, small, smaller (i.e., relative to the current size), x-small, xx-small, or a percentage (e.g. 50%). You really don't want to make sig text larger than post text.

Please remember, a signature should be short and sweet: no graphics, and no longer than three lines (including blank ones and separators).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q: Why did my post get edited?

A: The mods generally put the reason for editing on the bottom line of a post they've monkeyed with. For the most part, if it isn't because of one of the explicitly stated rules above, it's because it broke the overall rule of wasting bandwidth by being content-free; or containing questionable content. Cut'n'paste repetition of smilies, multiple one-liner posts by the same person in a row, abusive language, etc.

The basic reason we do this isn't to be mean or to single someone out for punishment, but to make the board easier to read for everyone, create a comfortable discussion atmosphere, and to help keep costs down for DD. Also, please realize that everything the mods do when they edit a post is something you can do yourself on your own posts by using the edit button.

Q: Why can't I swear here or in chat, if it gets asterisked?

A: Because you promised not to, and the Lone One's power comes through the broken word.

To quote from the Terms of Agreement when you signed onto this board:

quote:

... As a courtesy to our younger users, language stronger than the "crap" or "dammit" level is not permitted in the forums. The use of inappropriate language in either the forums or the chat area triggers moderation filters which alert the Forum administration staff. Offenders get one warning. After that, they and their computer's network address are permanently banned. ...

Q: The topic I want to reply to has been closed, and there's a little lock on it. Is there a way to open the topic?

A: Assuming it wasn't closed down by a mod or admin due to content, just contact one of the admins (Garrett Fitzgerald, kli6, Lee Enfield-Burke, or Diane Duane) either through private topics, or the "Please unlock a thread" thread, and we can unlock the topic for you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q: How do I send a Private Message (PM), anyway?

A: There are two basic ways you can do this.

Method One:
You can click on the login by a post written by the person you want to contact, and one of the selections will be Invite ____ to a Private Topic. Clicking on that lets you create a PM.

Method Two:
If you want to have more than one person in a private topic, go to your Personal Zone's Buddy list.

1. Go -> Personal Zone-> Buddies

2. Click on Add Users and add the folks you want to invite.

3. Click on Private Messaging in the left hand pane.

4. Click the New Private Message button, and select who you want to invite from your buddy list.

Also, as a courtesy, try not to private message Diane Duane too much. She loves hearing from her fans, but would you rather she spent her writing time replying to a gazillion messages? Or writing the next YW book?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q. What happened to my thread? Why was it moved/deleted?

A: Often, out of habit, everybody starts a new thread in Chatter II. However, Chatter II is only for non-YW related subjects. If the topic of the thread is YW-related, then it probably belongs in one of the other forums, and the mods have moved it to a more appropriate location. Ditto people starting non-YW-related threads in the Miscellaneous forum.

Threads that contain any fiction writing must be deleted off the board so that DD can safely visit here. Fiction writing of any kind, whether it's YW fanfic or not, can place her in a sticky legal situation. To quote from a post on the subject by Lee:

quote:

While she very much appreciates the praise for the forums as a place more strongly oriented toward readers than usual, she's increasingly uneasy about the presence of any fan fiction here at all, whether YW-oriented or not. When such fiction is present on a site that she controls, it opens her up to some unfortunate legal implications.

In particular, if DD should write something in the future that reminds some poster of something they've written, it would be entirely too easy for that person to sue her with the presumptive assumption that she had access to the material simply because it was posted here. I'm not saying that anyone here would do that. But some other time, some other person... it could happen.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q: What's the Spoiler policy on the board?

A. Because of the membership makeup, some folks are hampered by parental restrictions, funds, or geographic location from getting their hands on a new hardcover of a YW book. They may have to wait for the paperback, a public library, a foreign edition, or a gift. So, we tend to stress spoiler-marking as a courtesy to these folks.

Typically, a new book will have its own spoiler forum, completely hidden away, so that if you can't get your hands on the new book, you don't have to see the discussion that's taking place among the lucky few who could.

If you're talking about an older book in one of the older forums, you may still want to mark spoilers, but obviously, the older the book, the more likely it is that everyone's read it, and the less critical it becomes. It's ok to assume that everybody's read the books up to the one you're discussing, if you're in the appropriate forum. But if you feel you have to discuss, say for example, Wizard's Holiday events in the SYWTBAW forum, then just title the discussion thread with (Spoilers), so those who haven't yet gotten to WH can skip it.

Here are the escalating steps for marking spoilers:

• The default state of a thread is that all spoilers should be whited out. If you don't want that then:
  
  
• If you're starting a thread, and you want to allow spoilers in it, then put (Spoilers) in the thread title. No whiteouts then required.
  
  
• If the discussion in a thread which has previously been spoiler-free is trending towards spoilerific goodness, then send a private message to the thread originator to ask them to add (Spoiler) to the title if it isn't there. If they agree, all well and good, no whiteout required from then on.
  
  
• If the thread originator disagrees, then start a spoiler thread (appropriately titled).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kli6,

Q: How do I type the ó in "Dai stihó"?

A: On Windows machines, hold down the Alt key, type 0243 on the numeric keypad, and release the Alt key.

The following are the instructions for doing that on a Mac.

1. Press option + e, then release (will produce ´)
2. Type o (will produce ó)

On all systems, there should be a utility that displays all possible characters. In Windows XP, it's at Start:All Programs:Accessories:System Tools:Character Map.

Thanks to alla for the Mac instructions-gf

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Garrett Fitzgerald,