Help us Write Guides for Gaia's Upcoming Help Portal

[I Cappie I]

I have another sample yet to unfold. In the meanwhile, I've been helping out in the Hack & Impersonation thread since last summer. IT helps direct users report scripting activity, and things that should not be going on, on the site, and addressed immediately, in posts, screenies, links to screen shots. I volunteered in this thread for quite a bit, because I was a regular in towns. I find that this is a very useful source, to use for the guide as well.

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I took a lot of my time to help in Gaia Towns in the Towns Hack - Impersonation . This wonderful thread was created by Simone herself, but I've taken a lot of my effort to help, and post as much as possible. It has a lot of useful information in it, pertaining to variety of different things.

[X Cassiopeian ELF]

ok! =]

[shockerling]

give more gold

[link freak131]

Since I'm on vacation right now, I can probably help out for about 4 hours a day, during week days. =)

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How to dress-Up your Avatar/Equip Items on your Avatar:
There are many different items on Gaia that can be used to personalize your avatar the way you want it to look. The quickest way to access the page where you can dress up your avatar, is by hovering over the "Shortcuts" tab by the upper right hand side of your screen. Directly underneath are the words "MY Avatar"; click it to go to the Customize Avatar page.

Once you have been taken to the page, it will start you off on the "Tops" tab of your inventory. All of the items you own, that can be equipped onto your avatar, have been divided into separate tabs for organization purposes. Simply clicking on a different tab will take you to the items you own that fit under that category. For examples, if you own a pair of glasses, and want to put it on your avatar, it will, most likely, be under the "Accessories" tab.

If you have clicked on an item to equip onto your avatar, but then decide that you do not wish to have it on, you can either click on the same item in your tab that you would like taken off, to unequip it, or you can press the "Cancel" button (It is located above your preview avatar), which will unequip the last item you put on your avatar.

Once you are satisfied with the way your avatar looks, simply click the "Save" button, which is located right next to the "Cancel" buttion.

[I Cappie I]

Please, don't quote the author's first post please. ^_^

[Yuji Ikaido]

I'd like to help out if I can. ^_^ I can spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours a week depending on my work schedule.

One of the more common questions I'm faced with in the Q&A would be on how to change your signature, or more specifically how to add pictures and align them.

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To change your signature go to:

My Gaia -> Account Settings -> Signature

There you will be able to make your own signature with up to 255 characters of text and 255 characters for URLs. BBC is enabled, so you are free to change text size, color and alignment as you please.

To add a picture to your signature use this code:

[IMG]IMAGE URL HERE[/IMG]

To align the picture to the left or right of whatever else may be in your signature use these codes (depending on how you want to align it):

To align an image along the left:

[IMGLEFT]IMAGE URL HERE[/IMGLEFT]

To align an image along the right:

[IMGRIGHT]IMAGE URL HERE[/IMGRIGHT]

Signature images cannot be larger than 500x500 pixels or 100,000 bytes in file size or your signature may be disabled by a moderator. Signature images also add up, so if you have multiple images that add up to more than the size limit your signature may be disabled my a moderator.

I was just a tad more detailed than I usually am. XD I am also well versed in the ways of BBC and CSS so if anyone needs help with anything from making nifty threads with lists, fancy text and different colored underlines to making profiles, I'm the man. ninja

[Lady Pyre]

I think I could dedicate a couple of hours a day to help with writing or editing. Maybe 6-12 hours a week? I've been on Gaia since 2003 and dabbled a little in everything, so I know the ins-and-outs. I do have one warning on my account, though. I hope it isn't a problem for this, as I'm pretty sure it is why I wasn't accepted into SCAS. It was ages ago, and I'm much better at keeping my temper in check, now. sweatdrop

Writing Sample

Word Bump is Gaia's premier word game. The object of the game is to "bump" the golden word to the top by getting rid of the tiles above it. In order to remove tiles from the board, you must use them in a word. But think fast! Over time, new tiles drop onto the playing field and push the golden tiles toward the bottom. If a golden tile falls off the board, it's game over!

How do I make a word?
To select a lettered tile, simply click on it. You can only use each tile once. Select the tiles in the order they appear in the word you wish to make, then click the "submit word" button. If you made a word the dictionary recognizes, the tiles you used will be removed from play. New tiles will load from the bottom to replace them.

I clicked the wrong tile. What do I do?
Clicking the "clear word" button will negate any tiles you have previously selected, allowing you to begin a new word from scratch.

Are there any keyboard shortcuts?
Yes. Instead of clicking the "submit word" button with your mouse, you can simply hit the enter button on your keyboard.

Why are the tiles different colors?
There are three distinct power-ups in Word Bump. Each color coincides with one of these power-ups. Using colored tiles in a word will fill up the corresponding power-up's meter. When the meter is full, you may use the power-up.

What do power-ups do?
Power-ups affect either the golden tile of your choosing or the tiles surrounding it. The three power-ups in Word Bump are Sticky, Bump, and Split. Red tiles fill the Sticky meter. Sticky prevents a selected golden tile from being pushed downward for a short period of time. Yellow tiles fill the Bump meter. Bump removes the tiles to either side of a selected golden tile from the board. Blue tiles fill the Split meter. Split removes tiles occurring on a diagonal from a selected golden tile. If more than one meter is full at a time, power-ups combine. An orange power-up will employ both Sticky and Bump. A green power-up will use both Bump and Split. A purple power-up will trigger both Sticky and Split. If all meters are full, a rainbow power-up is produced. A rainbow power-up shoots a selected golden tile all the way to the top of the board!

How do I use a Power-Up?
The power-up appears as a ball below the columns of tiles. Move the ball below the other columns by hovering under them. When you have moved the ball to the column you wish to use it on, simply click it.

What are bonus rounds?
Bonus rounds are levels that grant you school credits or items for your home or avatar. There are three different bonus rounds - Bump, Spam, and ________(I forget what it's called. I'll fill it in later). A Bump or Spam bonus round will appear every five levels. A _____ bonus round appears every thirty levels.

How do I play the Bump Bonus Round?
The bump bonus round works just like any other level except that the only word you can use is "bump."

How do I play the Spam Bonus Round?
In the spam bonus round, you do not need to make sensible words for them to count as such. However, all of the tiles you use in your "word" must be of the same color.

How do I play the ______ Bonus Round?
There is only one golden tile in this level, and it contains an item rather than a letter. Bump the golden tile to the top before time runs out to receive the item in it.

What are school credits?
School credits can be redeemed at H & R Wesley for graduation-themed items for your avatar.

Yadda yadda.

[Bunai]

When it comes to the
What are the options that appear around my avatar?
Page... ^_^;; I know it seems picky to ask, but could that Moving Gif be done smoother than that? And perhaps having on Starter clothing will make it a bit more suiting. The idea is cute though.

I love "sherardia's" post about Translations, that would boost up this new Gaia feature by a lot.
There are many people in the Gaia International forum that I bet would be willing to translate and make guides for other languages.

_____________________

Sorry for deleting my previous two post sweatdrop I had mistakes.

• How many hours per week you might be able to volunteer (any level of help would be appreciated).

Well, I don't have much to do in RL. So I can be around a lot.
I can't give exact hours, since I am online for such long periods. If I could guess, I can do 6-12 hours.

^_^ I would like to help if I can. Mostly with simple things. And if my sample needs work, please say so.

• Please post a sample of your writing below by either describing how something works on our site OR linking to a thread that you created, esp guides/how-to/help.

1) Bunai Example

Why are "Announcement:" and "Sticky:" posted at the top of the Forum?

These two Threads are at the top of the Forum because they hold important information. And it's recommended that they are read before creating a topic within the current forum you are browsing.

Within the forums of Gaiaonline, there will be a topic titled "Announcements: Rules & Guidelines". This topic thread holds the current Rules & Guidelines of a specific forum, and each forum has their own set of R&G's.

Regardless that each forum has a different set of R&G's, the TOS and Rules from the Gaia Info page, still holds.

=== ===

A "Sticky" is a topic that will always appear below the "Announcements:" topic, yet above normal User created topics. They hold information that (at times) do not directly link to what is posted in the "Announcements:"; they give information that is 'Good to Know'.

Sometimes Stickies are temporary, or they could remain at the top of the forum for months/years. At times they are updated more frequently than "Announcements:". Some may even be open for posting, depending on the topics subject.

2) Bunai Example

How do I search the forums?

To expand on searching Gaia forums. You can go deeper by using the "Site:" method.
This will narrow your search by the current site URL. Since Google is widely used, it will be the example. Google can also be used if you do not want to use the "Search Gaia" page.

Eg:

[*] site:gaiaonline.com

[*] "Example" site:gaiaonline.com

In terms: By typing the keyword(s) you want to search for before "site:"; that word will become the main result, it will also be highlighted by a bold font.

This method is good when you want to search for and through Topics and Threads, but by searching a certain forum; this is done to eliminate the results of other Forums.

Eg:

[*] Take this URL for example:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/welcome-to-gaia/f.57/

[*] Remove the number at the end of the URL, like so:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/welcome-to-gaia/

[*] Place what you want to search for - Quotes are not needed:
"Example" site:http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/welcome-to-gaia/

The result:
The Search Engine will use the keyword(s) you typed and the URL you placed, and narrow down your result by focusing on certain words.

3) Bunai Example

Why is it, that when I type more than one word in the "Search by Tag"; I get no results or I am not getting what I want to look for?

The "Tag Search" works best when you place "commas" after each word you type.

• By typing in the bar like this: cat dog bird.
  The Search Engine has nothing or little to go on.
  
  
• By typing in the bar like this: cat, dog, bird.
  The Search Engine can now take the keywords provided - as seperate words. Thus displaying a number of results while the "All" option is used.

This method can also be used greatly in the "Arena" section of the site.