Answers to FAQs not in the FAQ., page
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ATS Members have flagged this thread 6 times
Topic started on 19-7-2004 @ 09:13 PM by Gools
The need to update the FAQ is being dicussed in this thread: FAQ and Tutorial Need Updating.

I thought to help out we could gather all of the answers that many of us have received into one place.

To make this work, please read the posts before posting your answers.
Avoid repetition and please, no chatter unless making a verified correction.

I have started this thread to help in the update effort or at the very least to be a thread that new members can use.


Answers I received:

Red Warning Tags:

The little red warning tags on a person?s avatar are penalties for inappropriate posting. If you click on one it will take you to the offending post. A certain number within a specified period of time will get you suspended. Warnings for excessive quoting or one-line responses receive only a U2U from a moderator and a 20 point deduction in points. Warnings for abusive language and hardcore flaming of a member receive a 250 point deduction and the red tag in your profile for 72 hours. Repeated offences will get you banned. The consensus seems to be 5 warnings and you get an automatic 72 hour ban. It seems that most members who are banned have as many as 2 more chances to come back and be good. Courtesy to kinglizard and earthtone.

Time Stamps:

You can get the time to show correctly by remembering this. Every time you go into your profile the time reverts back to default and so the last thing to do before saving your changes is to reset the time. It seems the ?revert? is due to a technical problem. The time at the top right of the screen is always set to GMT.

Best Viewing Settings:

If the page runs off the screen to the right and you have to scroll sideways to read posts, know this: ?As for the page size, is your screen resolution set to 1024x768? That is the resolution that the board is designed for.? Courtesy to William One Sac

Edit spelling


[edit on 7/19/2004 by Gools]

[edit on 9-27-2005 by Springer]


reply posted on 20-7-2004 @ 06:30 PM by Gools
More Answers:

The Bar, Your Point Total, and That Red Word under Your Name

The bar below your point total shows how many posts (not points) you have.
The redder the bar, the more "applauds" a person has received from ATS staff. It is not known at this time how many applauds are needed to make the bar change color.

Orange bars indicate ATS staff members.

If you mouse over the bar, you'll see the total number of posts.

Courtesy to Banshee.


Notes:

Hovering over the bar to see the number of posts you have does not work in all settings, and some settings where they are supposed to work may not.

Other features of the board also work this way. For example, I set my viewing so that images are non-repeating and so the animated gifs will not move (I find movement in my peripheral vision while reading too distracting). This is a local setting not a board setting. Your local settings will affect the way the board is experienced (e.g. See answer re: monitor resolution discussed above).

You can always see the number of posts you have if you go to your Control Panel. You will also find a cursory explanation of what the words in red under your name mean. The terms “Writer”, “Scholar”, “Fighter”, “Researcher” are not explained there. I’m guessing that “Writer” has something to do with people who have blogs; that “Fighter” has something to do with people posting on the debate forum; and that “Researcher” or “Scholar” has something to do with the Research Projects Forum.

In addition to a color change, you also earn points when applause is received. A complete explanation of the point system is found here: ABOUT ATS: The points system. Courtesy to Skeptic Overloard.

Basically, you receive different points for different types of posting. Some threads do not award points, and not all threads award the same number of points.


reply posted on 21-7-2004 @ 11:53 AM by Gools
More Answers:

Thanks to Kano for reminding me of a thread containing many “ABOUT ATS” posts. The name of the thread is “Website and Message Board Updates”.

The title of the forum may be the reason why it can be missed (or initially ignored) by new members. This information should be considered for inclusion into the comprehensive FAQ.

Skeptic Overlord, Zion Mainframe and SimonGray (and others?) have done an excellent job with these. The format is a little unwieldy and it can take some time to read through everything but I recommend everyone visit.

These are some of the questions answered. (Please note that I have not had the time to read through every comment in each of the comment threads. I am assuming a complete answer is given in the original post.)

"Writer-Fighter-Scholar" titles.

Avatar and Signature Guidelines.

Posting Etiquette.

How do Blogs work?

How to use the Search Function. (NOTE: you need at least two words)
More notes on Searching BEFORE making a new post.

How do Favorite Threads and Subscriptions Work?

Quoting Etiquette and Warnings for Excessive Quoting.

ATS Censors.

The Complaint/Suggestion Form. NOTE: this explanation by Skeptic Overlord states that the form is purposely anonymous which makes www.abovetopsecret.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">this a little confusing.

The ATS Webmail System.

Sorting the Thread Listings on a Forum Homepage.

Some Notes on Thread Rankings.

Penalties including Warnings for one-line or short responses and Staff Warnings. (NOTE: no explanation of red flags here)

The Ignore Button. (NOTE: This is a three-line explanation that does not address FAQs like consequences (do we still see threads started by an ignored user, can they still send us u2u etc.) and how to reverse an ignore decision.

That giant “Way Above Top Secret” medal in a member’s mini-profile.

ATS FastChat.

An explanation of ATSNN and TerrorAnalysis News sites.

File Uploads. NOTE: this is a description rather than a “how-to”.

What is the “Really Above Top Secret” (or RATS) forum?

A short note on the Introductions Forum.

An explanation of the “Recent Posts” tab.

Dealing with Repeat Topics and related Etiquette.

A short explanation of BTS and the difference with ATS.

A short explanation of Forum Structure.

A short explanation of the ATS Store.

And finally, Dreamlandmafia has kindly provided some search plugins for 2 widely used browsers, FireFox and Slimbrowser here.


reply posted on 14-9-2004 @ 11:36 AM by Kano
Just click on Control Panel in the top right corner. Then click on Edit Profile.

There should be a field with your email address in it, just change it to your new email address. (Also make sure your time offset is right before going down and click on the 'Edit Profile' button to save changes.
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