Hey new members!! Come here if you need advice

Originally posted by yigsstarhouse
lol ok I figured that much, but how does one go about giving one a star? The point thing has me curious as well. I received a pm about someone giving me so many points, but I didn't understand how it happened or what it meant, or what it is used for or towards. Boy will I feel dumb when Im finished being a newbie!!!
Thanks for the fast reply as well btw

Any post on ATS can be starred (with the exception of posts in the "Board Business and Issues" forum).

You star by clicking the wee little star at the top of the post:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9391c1700207.png[/atsimg]

Just click on the empty star shape, and you will give the poster a star.

The FLAG system is similar, if you really agree with, enjoy or appreciate the thread, or want others to see it, or think the author has done a great job, or it's the revelation of the decade, you can FLAG it.

Just click on the FLAG THREAD, much like the star.

You can only STAR and FLAG (S+F) once, nor can your S+F your own post/thread!

I hope that helps mate!





[edit on 2-6-2010 by kiwifoot]

I have been on here for a while now and love the site but have many questions.


1. never mind the first one here....[s]Flagging and Starring. I know how to flag. How do you star?[/s] That's what I get for not reading past the first page and being greedy. >_> I apologize. If the following questions are also asked before, I'll happily ask forgiveness and treat this as a lesson well learned. But in case they are not asked, I'll keep the following up.

2. How do I raise the amount of color on my 'flag contribution' thing? I have flagged a few but see no difference. What IS that anyway?

3. The first posters 'help book' does not exist sadly.

4. I was going to ask why my avatar didn't show up on here and how to make them pretty but I have another window open on that very topic so we'll see if I can get through it.

5. How long does it take for newbs to 'get' where everything is and what each area means in the forums? There is a LOT of topic area's and is kind of an awesome overwhelming feeling when one is trecking around these parts.

[edit on 2-6-2010 by sarra1833]

[edit on 2-6-2010 by sarra1833]

I need help with my profile....I cant upload an avatar...I dont know how to make signature.....and I need help with some of the acronyms....tonite I found out BOB means Bug Out Bag, but are there some basic acronyms I shoud be familiar with? Your so nice to make this thread!

Originally posted by sarra1833
1. Flagging and Starring. I know how to flag. How do you star? That's what I get for not reading past the first page and being greedy. >_> I apologize. If the following questions are also asked before, I'll happily ask forgiveness and treat this as a lesson well learned. But in case they are not asked, I'll keep the following up.

If you look UP a couple of posts, you'll see I explained starring

2. How do I raise the amount of color on my 'flag contribution' thing? I have flagged a few but see no difference. What IS that anyway?

Your "flag contribution" will go blue, the more flags you get, NOT GIVE. SO when someone flags a thread of yours, you get a little fraction more. It's just a way of telling how long a member has been here, or how busy (making threads) they've been, or how much people appreciate their threads. If you click on a poster's PROFILE down the bottom, it will lead you to their Mini Profile where you can see how many THREADS/FLAGS/STARS they've made/received.

4. I was going to ask why my avatar didn't show up on here and how to make them pretty but I have another window open on that very topic so we'll see if I can get through it.

There are two steps, you need an AVATAR Image, and a BACKGROUND image.

Follow these steps for your AVATAR:
1) Find/Create the image you want, save it to your comp.

2) Edit it, etc, then resize it so that it's NO MORE than 160 pixels wide, 320 pixels long, save it to your comp.

3) Press MEMBER TOOLS->MY PICTURES->UPLOAD IMAGE->BROWSE IMAGES (on you hard drive)->OPEN (the image)->ADD PHOTO

4) OK, now your avatar is on ATS in your photo album. Click on the image, then copy the text in the Use as ATS AVATAR box

5) GO to MEMBER TOOLS->ACCOUNT SETTINGS, paste the text in the AVATAR URL box and apply.

VERY IMPORTANT
NOW you need a background image, usually just a coloured panel, but sometimes (like mine) it can be an animated gif.

1) To begin with, just chose a plain coloured panel, download one from google images (or make one) to your comp, resizing it again (I don't beleive resizing your background is essential but it's good practice I guess!!).

2) Then save this to your ATS PICTURE ALBUM (step 3 above), then click on the background in your album , like before, this time copy the text under "Use as your mini-profile background on ATS"

3) Click MEMBER TOOLS->ATS STORE->Custom mini-profile background image, PASTE THE TEXT IN THE BOX, and press ENTER.

-Now you have a background image, and an avatar, if you only have the avatar and no background,when you do a long post, it repeats (like passport photos from a photo booth!). Be aware that your background image will affect the appearance of the text in it (member, date registered etc), if you need to change the COLOUR of the background text got to MEMBER TOOLS->ATS STORE->Custom mini-profile text color->PICK A COLOUR (using the help link). For example a white background may make the white text invisible, so you'd have to chose a darker text!!

I hope that helps!! There's probably a far easier way to do it!! It wasn't that long ago that I was new!!

5. How long does it take for newbs to 'get' where everything is and what each area means in the forums? There is a LOT of topic area's and is kind of an awesome overwhelming feeling when one is trecking around these parts.

I wouldn't bother!! ATS is about to roll out some major site changes, we'll all be newbs in a few weeks!!!

All the best, Kiwifoot

[edit on 3-6-2010 by kiwifoot]

Why doesn't my avatar appear after posting? I watched the video and did what it instructed but it did not work. Any suggestions?

reply to post by Doc Holliday1873


Copy/paste the following into the Avatar URL field in Account Settings:

http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c47df043854f.gif

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


I tried this several times clicking on your account settings and the members tools + ats acount settings and it returns to the index page
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I have java enabled along with cookies and scripts allowed.

Thanks I find this post very informative.
I learned alot, but I do hope my memory is good enough to remember the tips.
Anyways keep up the good work guys!

thanks for the info.

Is it considered rude or frowned upon to make trivial, non-discussion (1-liner) based posts in an effort to get to the 20 post milestone?

Oops! Internet Explorer could not find handbook.abovetopsecret.com
Suggestions:
Go to abovetopsecret.­com
Search on Google:

That came up for me

[edit on 19-6-2010 by thirdeyeh] Posted this in the wrong place.

[edit on 19-6-2010 by thirdeyeh]

Originally posted by thoughtform

Is it considered rude or frowned upon to make trivial, non-discussion (1-liner) based posts in an effort to get to the 20 post milestone?

Any off topic post is not acceptable, and a one-liner is even worse.

BTS has a lot more leniency, but still, I'm sure you can come up with some comment that adds information or a salient point to the discussion that won't have a Mod tag you.

Give us a thought, give us some information, or post a link that verifies something another member has posted after you quote them.

20 posts is so easy that I'm surprised people even ask about it.
I'm sure you could do that in an hour if you set your mind to the topics that interest you and composed a few posts with what you think on those subjects.

Welcome to the ATS universe..........



EDIT: I took a peek, and you only have ten posts to go.
Reply to me, look for a few threads that interest you to post to, and you're in....

[edit on 20/6/2010 by anxietydisorder]

reply to post by anxietydisorder


Thanks for the welcome and advice, the 20 posts is going quicker than I expected.

I didn't want to come across as a whiner, or trying to shortcut the system, I was just anxious to start a couple thread topics, and wanted to expedite the process, but I see the value in the requirement.

I took advice of someone else, glad I did, to start working on a thread start offline first, that is working well and helping to organize my point.

It is a fun new dimension to actually participate in a discussion, rather than just watch it, hoping someone will make your point to the thread.

look forward to being more involved with the ATS experience.

Why the hell does it take so long to get to 20 posts lol

im a new member and this is my 2nd attempt at posting on this site. I could really use help with how to get an avatar, and how to set my signature. thanks in advance to anyone willing to help a far-from-tech-saavy noob!

Welcome to my nightmare.........

Start off with an introduction thread.

Read some of this first:
Welcome to ATS, it’s time to introduce yourself

Then go here:
Introductions Forum
There's a button on the upper right for 'NEW THREAD", click it.
Every new member can make an "Introduction Thread", and it gets you started as your first thread.

Someone will be along shortly to provide links to upload space, putting in an avatar, and probably a link to rules than you can't remember. But take a look at the top of any page for the bar that starts with "home" - "HOT" - "TOP"-etc...

Look for the tab that says "member tools", and click it....
I have trouble in there, but it's the gateway to your whole account.

Hope that helps a little.........




EDIT: Added information, but I always edit.

[edit on 23/6/2010 by anxietydisorder]

I have asked several users to "adopt" me... no luck. And I am lost.

For several days I have played with placing an avatar and a background. Both the avatar picture and the background are loaded into my photo album.

The next step I seem to run into trouble with. In the ATS Store when I hit "add mini background" I get a response after entering the photo url for background that says that I have spent zero points and that if I want another background that I would have to purchase one.

Doesn't quite make sense and I cannot seem to locate where I am going wrong. Any suggestions would be well received!

Thanks

Edit to add: Wow, there it is without the avatar...maybe I am making headway! LOL

[edit on 6/30/2010 by Greensage]

Say, my mum uses this site a lot herself, I've decided to join up too
By the sounds of it, there are a LOT of people on here that I can highly relate to, which brings me to my question... Are there any acronyms, phrases or saying or just simple things I should know about ATS? See I just came here from 4chan (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to even say that ) but I don't want to seem too newbie Also 4chan doesn't have enough competent minded people on there that actually understand some of things or theories I come up with

Im new and after reading through many intresting threads, I feel scared to make a reply. Everyone here seems so clever and intelligent (Well about 80%). I dont want to sound insane with some of the contributions I might make.