How to use the Forums and IRC

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Minus

get a dog little longy, get a dog
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I was thinking about this a while ago, and I thought it would be a good for new users to understand basic Smogon venues. Tagging skylight since this is pertinent to Mentorship somewhat. Also Vacate since I'm borrowing some material from his Forum 101 idea from some months ago.

Forums
Signing up on the Forums

  • Explaining the importance of picking a good name (people won't take you seriously if your name is a joke, inappropriate, etc)
  • Name change thread and its rules
  • Putting in a real email so you can activate your account
  • Verification question to stop spam bots
Rules
  • Link to the rules and explain why they're important.
  • Don't be an idiot
Layout
  • Link to the Smogon Primer to explain the general categories
  • Main forums are in a big font, subforums are in a smaller font underneath.
  • Explain the relationship between main forums + subforums
  • Private forums (IS, Article Workshop, The Kiln, etc.)
  • Forums like this one where you can only see your own thread
Posting
  • How to format
  • Adding images and URLs
  • Saving and deleting drafts
  • Run down of BB Code
  • Tagging
PM/VM
  • Explain what they are and what they're used for
Threads
  • Editing your post in a thread
  • Deleting your post
  • Editing the title of your thread
  • Deleting a thread
  • Watching a thread (and by extension, watching a forum)
  • Liking a post
Alerts
  • How you get them
  • Changing alert preferences
Following/Follower System
  • Can see when someone is online
  • News Feed
Profile
  • Changing your avatar
  • Adding personal information (Where you live, gender, age, etc)
  • Signature
  • Recent activity
Infractions
  • How you can get them
  • What are infraction points
  • "I COULD BE BANNED!!!"
Badges + Benefits
  • Badges are visible under your name when you post
  • Awarded for contributions (link to Badge FAQ)
  • Bigger Avatar file sizes
  • Custom Title
  • Doesn't mean you don't have to follow the rules
Help
  • Shameless advertising for Mentorship Program
IRC
What is IRC?

  • Explain what it is basically
  • It has its own set of rules
How to use IRC
  • Link to IRC Guide
  • Explain how to download an IRC client
  • Mibbit and other online clients
  • Getting to SynIRC
Basic Commands
  • Self-explanatory
Semi-Official Smogon Chans
  • Link to hollywood's IRC directory
  • Explain ranks
#pokemon
  • Official Smogon chan
  • What goes on here
Help?
  • Contact these Mentors: [IRC Mentors]

If there's anything else I'm missing, I'll be glad to include it. I also think this is getting a tad bit too long and they are different enough to be two separate articles, but it's you call. Thanks for reading!
 
As a gut feeling, I'm not sure if this is quite right for The Smog. It might be better off as a stickied guide in SSH? It's leaning towards a no from me at this point.
 

Minus

get a dog little longy, get a dog
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
This article was going to be aimed more towards people that have never used/visited the forums/IRC before, but have read the Smog. People that visit SSH usually post in the intro thread and we can take care of them then, but users that haven't might have trouble understanding Smogon's different venues (I'm sure there are a lot of people that only read The Smog but don't use the forums). If you think that this population is too small to warrant this, then that's fine, but I think it would be a useful resource, not to mention that there are tons of stickies in SSH already and it would be nice to have a link onsite about this. It's up to you, but from my standpoint, I think it'll work.

Sorry if I don't make sense; I'm really tired.
 

Oglemi

Borf
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this would be fine, we've had IRC guides in the past (by myself for 1 and fatecrashers the other)

But, i would try to move away from making it strictly a how-to guide and more of why you should be a part of the community and things that go on, inside jokes, some of the users, etc.

You can just link to the IRC guides on how to actually set up, and everyone knows how to use a forum
 

Toast++

Nexus is literally the worst.
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Looks like it's been a while since there's been a comment here..

Minus if you're still interested in this, I'll approve it if you stick more towards what Oglemi has described. Let me know.
 

Minus

get a dog little longy, get a dog
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Whoops, I completely forgot about this, and I can totally do what Oglemi said.

Thanks!
 
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