FAQs ::: Frequently Asked Questions 
Fiends Portal and Dragon Court 2
by Diane M. Jones
Updated: 6/20/2003

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FAQ 5: HOW DO THE FORUMS WORK?


a) How do I post a message?
b) What are posting points?
c) What are 'Settings', what does it do for me?
d) What is the difference between a zone, a forum and a message?
e) How do I create a forum?
f) How do I find something useful?




FAQ 5a: How do I post a message?



  • First, click the "Forums" icon button along the top navigations choices. 

  • On the next page you will be shown several forum "Zones": 
      

    1. Towne Square 

    2. Support & Bugs 

    3. Gossip and Help 

    4. History and War 

    5. Trade Forums

    6. Crafting and Skills

    7. Clan Pages

    8. Out of Context
    

  • Before posting a message, you might want to explore through these Zones 
to see any forum topics that are of interest to you.  

    1. When you enter a Zone you will be shown a number of Forums. 
        

      1. For instance, in the Support and Bugs Zone, I see these Forum 
Topics:
           

        1. Dragon Lice--by Sysop

        2. Game Planning / Ideas--by Maine 
      

    2. Let's go into the Dragon Lice Forum.  This is a forum read by Fiends.com
Staff and is a "Support" forum.

    3. You can post a Topic here if you wish.  It will cost you 15 posting
points to add a Forum Topic of your own. 

    4. Along the top of all the forum topics you will see this information: 
--"Back"--"Next Page"--"Post Topic 15"--"Change Settings"--
        

      1. Click "Post Topic" 15, and you will have a new page show up, with a 
text box for your message, and a couple lines for the Topic heading, and 
a link if you chose.  Click the "post 15" grey button which is beneath 
the text field when you are ready to "POST" your message.

      2. But, maybe you'd rather post to somebody else's Dragon Lice Topic 
instead?  Maybe you have the same question, and want to let the Staff 
know.  
          

        1. Pick the Topic which sounds like your post subject.  

        2. Click-->"read" on the far left column of a TOPIC line.

        3. Within the Topic you will see a list of Replies.  Or you may be the 
first to post a message to somebody else's Topic.  If you're the first to
add to a Forum Topic, you will just see the main Message above, then,
underneeth you will see "Post Reply" 3, "Settings" 
            

          1. If you want to "Post Reply" for 3 posting points, click that link,
and a new page opens.  

          2. Enter your message in the text field.  Click Post.  

          3. A new page will come up after your message Posts.  You have three
navigational link choices:
              

            1. "message" 

            2. "parent" 

            3. "forum"  
            

          4. If you click "message" you will return to the "message", you will 
return to the "message" you just wrote and posted.  

          5. If you return to "Parent" then you will return to the main message 
that you were posting to.    

          6. If you return to "forum" you will be returning to the forum Dragon 
Lice. 

          7. Click the "FORUM" option.
          

        4. Let's pretend you didn't post under the first Topic you read.  Instead
you wanted to read through some other main topics. 
             

          1. To return to the Forum Topics area, use the "BacK" text link, next
to the "Post Reply 3" link.

          2. Note:  the "BACK" button link, along the top row of buttons on the
Portal Pages returns you to the Forums Main Page where you can
see all the Forum Zones.  Thus, that top "BACK" button is a big jump,
the little "Back" text link will lift you up a level at a time.
      

    5. (NOTE: there is no easy way to find out where your forum is located.  
We are working on a feature to make this information available.)
    


    
FAQ 5b: What are posting points?
    


  • Posting Points are a new system for the forums.  

  • Posting Points can help encourage forum activity, but also limit spam
since posting points are precious!  Posting points also encourage
all of us to add to a forum, or topic that is already started, rather
than start another thread. 

  • Posting Points also allow you to rate forums which costs 1 point. 

  • By rating a forum positively, others may also see that
the forum topic was very important and hence, the important
subject will have the attention you and other players feel it 
deserves.  Or vice versa, a forum with a poor rating can be filtered
by players who have their "settings" to not see poorly rated
forums or topics.


    1. You receive 80 posting points every day.  
        

      1. These points should refresh at the rate of 1 point every 
20 minutes.

      2. Over the course of 24 hours ALL your posting points should 
return.  
      

    2. The cheapest way to post a message is to Reply to a Topic.  
Replying to a Topic only costs 3 points. 

    3. Creating a new Topic costs 15 points

    4. You can create your OWN Forum for 60 points

    5. You can only create one Forum at a time; so if you want to 
create another Forum, you will have to erase the old Forum.  
        

      1. Forum owners can post new topics, replies and comments 
within their forum for fewer points than other viewers.
      

    6. You erase your old Forum by moving into that Forum, then 
looking for the 'Moderation' link inside the title bar.  Clicking 
on 'Moderation' will allow you to erase the old Forum.
    

  • (NOTE: future implementations will allow viewers to receive 
more posting points based on participation).


    
FAQ 5c: What are 'Settings', what does it do for me?
    


  • You can change how the message boards are displayed for you with 
the SETTINGS.

  • Look for the link 'Change Settings' in a Forum, or Topic.

  • Clicking the "Change Settings" link takes you to a page which 
allows you to change the settings used to display your message pages.
      

    1. MESSAGES PER PAGE - will let you display more or fewer 
messages in a single page.  When there are more messages that can 
be displayed on a single page, then new links will appear: Next, Last.  
These will take you to further pages with more messages.

    2. MESSAGE RATING THRESHOLD - this will remove low rated messages 
from your display.  The default value of +0% will display unrated messages 
and all positively rated messages, while removing negatively rated messages.

    3. MESSSAGE ORDERING - this will change the order in which messages are 
displayed.  
        

      1. The default 'Order by Creation' shows the most recent messages 
first.  

      2. You can also order by 'Update', 'Rating' and 'Traffic'.  

      3. Update shows the messages that recieved the most recent reply.  

      4. Rating shows the messages with the higheset ratings.  

      5. Traffic show the messages with the most replies.
    


    
FAQ 5d: What is the difference between a zone, a forum and a message?
    


  • The message boards are organized into Zones, Forums, Topics and 
Replies.

  • Zones are collections of forums.  

  • Forums are message boards created by a single person.  

  • Topics are messages that start a topic in a forum.  

  • Replies are replies to messages AND replies to other replies.

  • (NOTE: at the moment forums, zones and messages look kind of 
alike.  This is a problem and we are working on it.)
      

    1. When you enter a Zone you will be shown a number of Forums.  

    2. Pick a Forum to enter.  

    3. Within the Forum you will see a list of Topics.  

    4. Pick a Topic to examine.  

    5. There you will see a Message followed by a list of Replies.

    6. Use the "Back" link below the Message to lift back up one level.

    7. Use the "BACK" link button along the top of the Page to jump to the
Main Forum Zones Page.
    


    
FAQ 5e: How do I create a forum?
    


  • Let's start on the main Forum Zones Page.  

  • Let's go to the "GOSSIP AND HELP" Forums.

  • On the Gossip and Help Forums Page, you'll see a list of Forums.
      

    1. scroll all the way to the bottom of this list of forums.

    2. at the very bottom, you'll see "CREATE FORUM 60" "CHANGE SETTINGS".

    3. click "Create New Forum 60" to create your own forum.
        

      1. Creating your own Forum will take 60 posting points

      2. You are only allowed to have one Forum of your own at a time.
    


    
FAQ 5f: How do I find something useful?
    


  • The Dragon Lice Forum inside the "SUPPORT AND BUGS" Forum Zone is
a Fiends.com Staff Support Forum.  Player's post bugs or problems here.
If you're having a question or problem, try reading through here to see
if there is any help posted.  Players also post questions here and 
everybody can help.  However, you can also see the Gossip and Help Forum 
Zone for specialized Forums for Help also!

  • Tour through the forums.  Currently, there's wonderful and 
useful forums started in all the Zones.

  • While touring the forums, if you see a higher percentage, or a 
negative percentage in the TOPIC line information, then you can tell
either players like the forum topic, or players didn't like the topic.

  • If you like/dislike a message or topic then you can add a message 
rating by clicking "Rate Message 1"  

  • Rating a Message will alter the overall rating of a message.  
By changing the rating, you make a message more/less visible to other 
viewers.

  • The "RATE MESSAGE 1" link is located in the Forums, Topics and
Replies to Topics along the line of links with your "POST REPLY" link

  • Click the "Rate Message 1" link, and give the post an appropiate 
rating!
      

    1. Messages can have ratings from -100% to +100%.  

    2. New messages have a default rating of +0%.   
    

  • You can customize your Forum Settings to show you the forums
with the highest ratings at the top of the order, or set your "rating
threshold' so that you don't see messages that were rated -100%.  
Doing something like this will make sure you don't see forums that
other players didn't like.

  • Or you can have your settings so that you see the forums/topics with 
the most Traffic at the top of the message order.  

  • If you read the forums often, you might have your settings to:
Order by Update and then you will see the Topics/replies that have
been recently updated, at the top of the posts.