Hey everyone,
Having been a newbie in the not-so-distant past, I thought that it would be good to maybe give newbies a basic rundown of how the forum works and how to get around. If this isn't helpful at all, feel free to ignore it, as I only thought it would be helpful for newbies who like me wandered around the forums trying to get simple things done.
How to get to the Control Panel?One of the first things that confused me when I was a new member was how to access my control panel; to change my signature, stuff like that. Well, the button is a little obscure on Holy Worlds. When you're on the index page, go up to the list of links at the top and click on "UCP" (User Control Panel). Then you'll be taken to the control panel where you can change settings about your profile and stuff like that.
How to save my posts?This is another thing that confused me: you may have noticed a 'Save' button next to the 'Submit' button when you go to post a reply or a new topic. But when you press 'Save' how do you find that saved post again? To find it, go to the User Control Panel (UCP), and under the 'Overview' section, click 'Manage Drafts'. There you will find a list of all your saved posts.
How to use BBCode?BBCode is what is used commonly in forums to format the text. It's based off of HTML, so there's a lot of tags and stuff that can make text do what you need it to. There are tons of really good BBCode references online, but
here is a link to one of the best sites that I use. All of the BBCode you can use on the forum is located above the new post box. Mousing over one of the buttons will give you a description of how to use that tag.
What are all these username colors?The username colors are really quite simple. They only stand for different groups on Holy Worlds. Red is administrators (Sir Emeth), green is Global Moderators (that keep the forum free from spam and tidy), Yellow is Marcher Lords (which are basically admins), blue is editors (which check for spelling errors, etc.), and purple is Honor Roll Members (which are users which have showed maturity and been granted some extra privileges).
What Is Private Messaging?Private messaging is a system within the Forums that allows individuals to contact one another privately, almost like email except it stays within Holy Worlds Forums. The private message option can be found at the bottom of a person's individual post among the gray brick-like buttons; it says "PM." All you have to do is click on that button and it will take you to a screen that allows you to type whatever you need to say to them and select a title for that message just like you would a normal post, except only the person you are sending it to actually sees it.
We greatly encourage PMs to be sent between users in order to have personal conversations (if desired), to discuss thoughts on a thread that would be considered off-topic, or to resolve any strife between you and another member. While only Honor Roll Members, Moderators, and Marcher Lords have the privilege of correcting members on the behalf of the Forum, we do continue to encourage individuals to seek humility and apologies if arguments or hurt are caused between you and another.
Why can't I upload my own avatar?The forum team has come to a decision regarding avatars that is slightly different than most forums. If you're interested in getting a custom avatar on this forum, please view
this topic.
How to post stories?You can post bits and pieces of your stories for other Holy Worlders to read in the 'Tower Records' area, in the 'Story Excerpts for Discussion' subforum. There you can post it for critique and comments. Alternately, you could post it in the Holy Worlds Revision Folder, on Google Docs. (See Below)
What is the Holy Worlds Revision Folder (Google Docs)?The Holy Worlds Revision Folder is a Google Docs folder that is shared around Holy Worlds ('The Google Docs Folder' and 'Holy Worlds Revision Folder' are the same thing). It is a place to work on the community story, or just to share longer excerpts of your stories that you want edited, that would not be practical to post on the forum (because of length, etc). To get added to the HWRF, PM eruheran, who is in charge of the Google Docs folder.
What is the Sci-Fi Forum?HolyWorlds Sci-Fi is a sister site of HolyWorlds Fantasy, except that it is geared towards sci-fi genre stories. You can get to the Sci-Fi forum at
this link. Drop on over there and let us know about your sci-fi project!
What is the Community Story?The community story is a story/book that many people on Holy Worlds are collaborating on. There is an entire subforum dedicated to the Community Story in the Tower Records area of the Forum. You can help out there, but a lot of the community story is also developed in the Holy Worlds Revision Folder.
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So maybe you know how to do all this stuff I just described. But still Holy Worlders toss around terms flippantly like essence, cobha, X++ and more. What are all these words, and who do you have to blame for creating them?
What is Essence?Essence is probably the hardest thing to wrap your head around. Basically it's an outline of metaphors to help other authors know what you're thinking, what runs through your head when you think of a specific thing. Sir Emeth Mimetes has written an entire post about it on his blog
here and that's very good. There's also an entire sub-forum in the Scholar's Hall called essence. There you can find all sorts of tutorials about learning how to write essence maps.
What is Cobha?It took me a long time to figure cobha (cove-ah) out, but it's really quite simple. Cobha is something that is impossible in our world but is normal or commonplace in your fantasy world. Also known as 'magic' in our world.
Here is a great thread explaining cobha.
What is fractalling (and Character Fractalling)?Fractalling is a system of using many questions to develop a specific thing. The Lausers (Sir Emeth and siblings) developed this concept and the verb. They have an exceptionally good system of Character Fractalling, and other fractalling systems as well.
Here is a good article by Sir Emeth explaining fractalling, and
here is the forum post about character fractalling.
