[size=xx-large]Comprehensive Guide[/size]
[size=x-large]Opening[/size]
Yo, we'd like to thank you for joining the community and as such; we give you our warm welcome. Here at PS, the primary focuses are in Gaming, General, and Programming. In this new Ultimate Guide, I want to cover a lot of ground for the new and/or less active users which may give you a heads up on why you should support us, what benefits we give, and how to be a productive member of the forums.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you don't understand something, be sure to drop a reply or PM myself and/or a member of the PlayerSquared Staff Team.
That wraps up the beginning sector of this guide, now let's delve into more detailed aspects of the forum.
[size=x-large]Rules and Help Documents[/size]
As with every other forum, there are rules to follow when browsing and posting on the forums. These rules aren't too strict, but meant to separate the people who spam the forums, from the members who are contributing and/or being reasonable members.Help Documents branch off into three sectors, as listed below.
[size=medium]Rules, Guidelines and Policies[/size]
[size=medium]User Maintenance[/size]
[size=medium]Posting[/size]
The Help Document page can be found here.
Furthermore, by registering to the forums you agree to follow these rules as stated in the Help Documents. Staff of PlayerSquared have the right to change these documents at any given time.
[size=x-large]High Quality Posting[/size]
Activity is great, and we'd love for everyone to post and share things to the community; but there's a fine line between being active and being a low quality member. Here on PS the posting of short or one-word posts will ultimately result in a suspension or permanent restriction from using the forums. When sharing information, be sure it's accurate before posting a thread; when replying to shared information, giving feedback and productive comments are much better than "nice post".
[size=x-large]Introduction Section[/size]
For starters, we strongly recommend that as a new member to the community; you introduce yourself to us. This gives everyone a chance to see who you are and what you could possibly bring to the forums. The Introductions section can be found here.
Please, do not give out your personal information that you wouldn't want going around the internet. Information such as your name, hobbies, and what you will be bringing to the forums are the best to include in your introduction thread.
We also recommend the current registered members whether you're slightly new or a veteran of the forums to kindly welcome these new members whenever they create a thread.
[size=x-large]Your Account[/size]
This is a matter that should be your first concern on the internet. Make sure you have a strong password that you share with nobody else, this will prevent the breaching of your account in the future. Most times your account is never hacked, it's the lack of you protecting your information. When I say strong password; it doesn't have to be 20 characters long with percentages and different signs. Just something that is not along the lines of 'password123' or your username. In the event that your password is lost and you can't remember it, simply reset it.
Under the circumstance where you can't reset it if you don't have access to your email, contact an administrator of the staff team to see what can be done about the retrieval of your account.
With your account comes a lot of customization. Here is some of what you can have as a standard member on the site, and above shows the quickest method to access your User Control Panel. (Go to the top right of the site > click your username > User CP)
Avatars - In the postbit of each post, you will see a few things, including the avatar. Your avatar is a picture that represents your profile and can be changed at any given time. You can change your avatar here.
Signatures - Signatures show up at the bottom of your posts and can contain whatever you want as long as it's appropriate. The range is endless, from a quote, to a graphic design.You can edit your signature here.
Basic Profile - Your profile is compiled of a lot of features and info, you can edit these at your will in the Edit Profile section of your Control Panel. You can find Edit Profile here.
Everything listed above for customization can be found in your Control Panel along with tons of other features, check out your Control Panel here.
[size=x-large]Upgrades[/size]
Currently there are no paid upgrades. [size=x-large]Staff Ranks[/size]
The Staff Team is the group of people who lay down time in their day to moderate the forums content and make sure that everything is done correctly on the forums. There usually aren't many. If you're interested in contributing on the back end, staff may be something to look at. There is no specific way to become staff, the only general way to become staff is by being constructive in the community, active, and administrators feel that you're fit to help out within the moderation aspects of the team.
Asking for staff will ultimately end with you being denied and it might be taken further.
You can find the staff list here.
Administrators
Administrators are the go to people on the forums for account issues, manual name changes, and everything that the lower branch cannot do. They are also the most busy so bear that in mind when contacting them, keep it detailed so they can help you in the most efficient way possible.
Super Mods
Super Mods are the people that generally moderate the forums. They have the ability to edit, delete, move, and sticky threads/posts. They also have the power to ban/edit users that break site rules.
[size=x-large]Reputation[/size]
Reputation is simply a number that adds up based on how many user rates you receive. Each time someone reps you, it's added to your count. Asking/Selling/Buying/Trading of reputation points are not allowed, doing so will result in consequences.
[size=x-large]Credits[/size]
Credits appear on your profile and on your postbit, and can be used to unlock hidden content, purchase awards when available, play games, and spend at the shop. You earn credits by posting. You cannot purchase credits with actual money so the only way to gain them is by being active on the site. For example, a post gives you 10 credits and a thread gives you 20.
More information on the credits system can be found here.
[size=x-large]Awards[/size]
Awards are icons in your postbit and on your profile that you gain by doing certain actions; not to show who's better than the other, but it's definitely cool to have more awards and sauce up your postbit. The full list of awards and how they can be obtained can be found here.
[size=x-large]Closure[/size]
That pretty much ends this long read, I hope it was of use to you newer members and can serve as a placement holder for the community as a guide on how to begin your PlayerSquared journey. To wrap things up, I want to thank you for taking time out of your day/night in order to read this. I'm looking forward to seeing each and every one of you on the forums, enjoy yourself.
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