Welcome to Gaia! ::

Helpful information for your Gaian life!

Hello there, and welcome to A Newbie's Guide to GAIA! I recently redid the entire guide to make it easier to navigate, and to make a few things more in-depth than I thought they were. I kept a lot of things from the 1st "version" of the guide, including images and a few other things that really didn't require a change. I also kept the guide in the same order, so that the users who use this guide every now and then are still used to where to find everything. smile Thank you for taking the time out to read this guide, new users. It includes a lot of very important information that can be used to help you as you begin your stay here at GAIA Online.

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The guide is maintained and updated by Spencer Kun. If there is something that you believe needs to be added to the guide, feel free to PM him. He will be more than happy to consider your addition/change. smile

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On the Table of Contents below, you can click any of the pages listed to take you straight to that page. Then, press Control+F on your keyboard if you wish to search directly for a specific topic. 3nodding

• Table of Contents
  
  • Page One - The Basics
    
    • Post 1 - Welcome, Table of Contents, and Navigation. ------ <------- YOU ARE HERE.
      
    • Post 2 - Updates and Thank Yous.
      
    • Post 3 - How to Earn Gold/Gift Credits.
      
    • Post 4 - Private Messages (PM).
      
    • Post 5 - Clothes and shops, Donation Letters.
      
    • Post 6 - Signature Images.
      
    • Post 7 - Extended Profiles.
      
    • Post 8 - Gaia Housing.
      
    • Post 9 - Friendslist 411/Journals.
      
    • Post 10 - Trading/Vending Passes & Word Filter.
      
    • Post 11 - Gaian Dictionary.
      
    • Post 12 - Link List.
      
    • Post 13 - Reserved.
      
    • Post 14 - Reserved.
      
    • Post 15 - Reserved.
  
  
  • Page Two - Forum Guide and Events
    
    • Post 1 - Table of Contents and Navigation.
      
    • Post 2 - Forum Etiquette.
      
    • Post 3 - Gaia Online.
      
    • Post 4 - Gaia Community.
      
    • Post 5 - Gaia Gaming.
      
    • Post 6 - Entertainment.
      
    • Post 7 - Artist's Corner.
      
    • Post 8 - Miscellaneous.
      
    • Post 9 - Post Options.
      
    • Post 10 - Forum Symbols and Buttons.
      
    • Post 11 - Admins, Moderators, and Helpers
      
    • Post 12 - Rare Events.
      
    • Post 13 - Reserved.
      
    • Post 14 - Reserved.
      
    • Post 15 - Reserved.

• Page 3 - Map Guide and Mini-Games.

• Post 1 - Table of Contents and Navigation.
  
• Post 2 - Map Navigation.
  
• Post 3 - Barton Town.
  
• Post 4 - Isle de Gambino.
  
• Post 5 - Durem.
  
• Post 6 - Aekea.
  
• Post 7 - GAIA Fishing Guide.
  
• Post 8 - GAIA Casino Guide.
  
• Post 9 - GAIA Towns Games
  
• Post 10 - Reserved.
  
• Post 11 - Reserved.
  
• Post 12 - Reserved.
  
• Post 13 - Reserved.
  
• Post 14 - Reserved.
  
• Post 15 - Reserved.

.Contents.


• Gift Credits
  
  • What They Are.
    
  • How They Work.
    
  • FAQ - As quoted by Rina.
    
  • Where To Get Them.

• How To Get Gold
  
  • Newbie's Guide to Gold.
    
  • Exchanging and How It Works.
    
  • Vending and How It Works.
    
  • Guides on Gold.
    
  • Fishing for Gold.
    
  • Gambling for Gold.

Gift Credits are easy to use and a good way to make gold, and get items. The following is quoted from [NPC] Rina.

How to Get Gold

Starting out as a newbie isn't easy. It takes a lot of work, stamina, courage, self-confidence, and patience. The biggest worry a newbie has is what people will think of them, making friends, and most importantly, making Gold.

So this is why we've made this guide for you. To help you make gold quickly, easily, and effortlessly. (Okay, well, maybe not effortlessly. Gaia takes a lot of effort.)

The easiest, and probably quickest way to make Gold is to become an Exchanger, or a Vender. Its very hard to start out with for newbies, because you still have to have a little gold saved up to start doing both. So for now, we'll start out with the easier things.

A few ways you can learn how to make Gold, is by checking out this helpful guide for Newbies.

How to get Gold!

After you have read this, it may help you with a little more understanding about how the whole Gold system on Gaia works.

Probably the best way for a newbie to make gold is the following:


• Fishing.
  
• Going to the Casino.
  
• Posting.
  
• Joining lotteries.


After you've made about 5k, you can check out this guide.

How To Be An Exchanger.

When fishing, there are very easy ways to make Gold.

If you enjoy fishing, and you're looking for a nice small profit, all you have to do is catch the fish! After you do this, go to The Ole Fishing Hole and sell your fish to Old Man Logan. For every fish you sell, you get gold. So if you catch a lot of fish, and sell them, you'll get a lot of Gold!

The fish come in all sizes. The bigger the fish, the more gold you get. The rarer the fish, a lot more gold you get. Its that simple!

Now, if fishing isn't your thing, but playing slots is, then Gambling is most likely for you.

There are two ways of gambling on Gaia.

GAIA Slot Machines/Black Jack.

If you're into Slot Machines, then here's the deal.

Every token you buy is 1g. If you buy 100 tokens, you'll be paying 100g.

If you take it to the slots, the maximum amount of tickets you can get for 1 token is 100,000g.

If you sell 100,000 tickets for 1.7g a piece, thats 170,000g.

From just ONE token! Now, that's a LOT of Gold.

• Guide to Blackjack. by Dilettante.
  
• Gambler's Guide to Gold Mountain. by Aya_Brea
  
• P.o.c.k.y Price Guide by Me.
  
• How To Make A Quest by Rebbekha.

• Shops
  
  • All The Shops.
    
  • NPCs
    
  • How to buy
    
  • Giftwrapping
    
  • Previewing Options.
  
  
  
• Donation Items
  
  • What They Are
    
  • How They Work
    
  • Inflation?
    
  • Donating To Gaia
    
  • The benefits?
    
  • Handhelds?
    
  • How many are there?
    
  • When do they come out?

Shops:

• Clothing Stores:
  
  • Barton Town
    
    
    
    
    
  • Isle De Gambino
    
    
    
    
    
  • Durem
    
    
    
  
  
• Salon:
  
  
  
  
• Casino Prizes:
  
  
  
  
• Housing Items:
  
  
  
  
• Game Items Shops:
  
  • Fishing
  
  
  
  
  • Towns - Flowers
    

You can also buy items from the Gaian Marketplace or the GAIA Exchange forum.

The main front of the shops are all pretty similiar. However, every one has a different NPC, and different items. Here is what Barton Boutique looks like, located in Barton Town.



Everything is pretty illustrated and easy to use. The tabs on the side mean different things. Click on each of them to get to specific items. (I.e.: Bottoms, tops, hats, etc.)

When selecting an item you wish to buy or preview, simply find the item; click on it, and get the item information. A small pop-up will come on the screen that looks like this:



If you want to buy it, click on the "buy" button. It will ask you if you're sure you want to buy it. If you say yes, it will be added to your inventory and the gold will be deducted from your account. You MUST have enough, or more gold to buy the item. You cannot buy it without the right amount of gold.

If you'd like to preview the item, click on the preview button. It will bring you to another pop-up that shows the item on your actual avatar, to show if you'd really like to buy that item.



And this is pretty much all there is to the shops! Every shop is the same, it just has different items, and a different NPC. 3nodding

Donation items are very easy to learn, but if you learn on your own it could take a lot of time, frustration, and confusion. Which is why I'm going to help you learn everything there is to know about donation items.

First, lets start off with what they are, and most importantly, what they do.

Donation items can be purchased by donating to Gaia. If you donate $2.50 American Dollars (it differs for other countries based on currency.) you can get 1 Sealed Envelope.

A sealed envelope is a small envelope that looks like this:



Every month on the 15th, the sealed envelopes will open. They will have two donation items to choose from.

Example of a donation item from last month:


Angelbow and Chain of Command

Every donation item comes with a different pose, shape, and form. They are all items that you can wear.

To get a complete list of the donation items, check the Gaia Items List

These donation items do something that can be good, or bad. Its called inflation and it happens with EVERY item.

The few minutes after the unveiling of the donation item, the inflation will skyrocket. This is just because everyone who doesn't have a donation item, will want one. And the ones who do have a donation item, will want to make a profit off of selling their donation items. A profit means more than what they bought the item for.

You can only get one item from one sealed letter. If you buy more than one, you can get each item, or you can get one of every item. Its your choice.

The only way to sell these items are in the Marketplace.

But beware; there are only a limited amount of donation items in circulation. The more members that join, the more the item will go up. Which means, if you keep the item for a long time, the price will go up, and you'll make more gold off of that item than you would if you sold it only a few days after it came out.

Once again, however, its your choice what to do with it.

If you have any questions, there will be time to ask them avaliable for the FAQ page. 3nodding

Extended Profiles Mini-Guide

This mini-guide should provide you with the basics of the new version of your GAIA Profile.



This guide will go in order, based on the list on the image above. The image above is of your Edit Profile home page.

Note: To go to the page where you can edit your profile, mouse over ?My Gaia? and then click on ?My Page?

Account

By clicking on the "Account" link, you are taken to a page where you can change your account's details, such as password and E-mail address. Note that if you wish to change your E-mail address, you have to type your password into the "Current Password" box.

You also have the choice to do the following:

• Show/Hide Online Status
  
• Lock/Unlock your GAIA Home
  
• Filter out profanity

For the three listed, you are not required to give your password.

In order to change your birthdate, gender and username, there is a link in Rina's directions. The world "available" should be said link. Click that and you should be able to make those changes.

Mail

Under the "Mail" link, you can choose between receiving PMs or not. You can also set it so that you can only receive PMs from those listed on your friendslist.

You can also choose whether or not you want to receive and E-mail whenever you receive a PM.

About

Upon clicking on "About" on the list of links, you will be taken to a page with a textbox. In the textbox, you can type up a little bit about yourself. The length of your description doesn't matter.

NOTE: Whatever you submit will be viewable to the public. Make sure not to include personal information like your address or telephone number.

Details

Under "Details", you will find information that was asked for on the previous version of the profiles. The newest addition to the Details section is the Quote box. Whatever you type in there will show up next to your avatar in a quote bubble, as shown below.



Friends

Here in the "Friends" option, you can change the settings of your friendslist. You can choose whether to block friend requests or not and whether or not you want your friendslist to be viewable to the public.

Comments

Not much goes on under the "Comments" section. Here, you can choose who to receive comments from, whether it be from the whole public, just friends, or no one at all.

Multimedia

If you have a Flash animation you want to share with Gaia, you can do so here. All you need to know is the location of your Flash file and simply paste the link into the textbox given.

Signature

Here, under the "Signature" section, you can put whatever you want to show up in your signature.

For information on how to add images to your signature, click here.

Theme

Here, in the "Theme" section, you can change the look and design of your profile. You can use the pre-made themes provided to you by Gaia or you can customize your own.

For custom themes you can use, click here

Wishlist

Under the "Wishlist" section, you can manage all the items listed in your wishlist. In order to add an item to your wishlist, find a user that is wearing the item you want. Click on the item and click "Add to Wishlist".

Once you've collected the items in your wishlist, return to the Wishlist section. You'll notice two drop-down menus next to each item - one for Status and the other for "Show Publicly". You will also see a checkbox - an option if you wish to remove the item from your wishlist.

The Show Publicly drop-menu is provided so you can make the choice on whether you wish for that item to be viewed by the public or not. A simple Yes or No question.

The Status drop-menu gives you the following choices:

• Wanted: Select this option if this item is one you really want.
  
• Questing: Select this option if this is an item you are currently questing for.
  
• Bought: Select this option if you have already purchased this item.
  
• Donated: Select this option if someone has donated this item to you.
  

The image above is how your wishlist is viewed by the public. You'll notice that some items have emoticons behind them. Here is a key to those emoticons.

scream = Questing
3nodding = Bought
heart = Donated
No Emoticon = Wanted

In the Extended Profiles, there's an option that lets you have your very own theme for your profile. A theme is like a layout. You can either make your own, or get one from here:

Gaia CSS Profile Themes (themes.tektek.org)

If you wish to make your own, here are some helpful guides to help make it.

CSS Profile Guides

Now that you have your theme picked out, let's work on how to get it into your profile, kay?

First go to your profile.

Main Profile Link

Second, go to the Edit Profile - Theme page.



After you're done, your profile will turn from this:



Into This:



Enjoy your theme!

.Contents.

• Friends List
  
  • Friendslists Requests.
    
  • How To Add A Friend.
    
  • Using Your Friends List.
    
  • Maximum Friends.
    
  • Ignore List.
    
  • Removing A Friend.
    
  • Finding Your Friend.
    
  • Friends@Gaia Feature.
  
  
  
• Journals
  
  • Creating Your Journal.
    
  • Posting In Your Journal.
    
  • Commenting In Others' Journal.
    
  • Finding Your Friends Journals.
    
  • Seeing Your Entries.

When you're first learning how everything works on the Friends List , the whole process can be confusing and very overwhelming. However, its all very simple if you take it step by step.

The first step is to go to the Profile of the person you want to add to your Friends List. There, you will see their avatar, and a bar above it. The first icon you see will look like this:



Click on it, and wait for the next page to load. When you get to the next page, it will look like this:



If you're positive that you want to add this person as a friend, click on "Yes, I'm sure." This will add them directly to your friends list, and it will send the user a confirmation icon to show that you have added them, and ask if they would like to add you back.

And voila! You have added someone to your friends list!

Note: Adding a person to your friends list will change their name to a blue color. If they PM you, or if you see them around, don't be alarmed. This just shows you that they are on your friends list, and you're on theirs. 3nodding

If you get a friends request, it means someone wants to add you to their Friends List. When this happens, a bubble will pop up next to your avatar indicating that someone has just put you on their friends list. Its very similiar to the trading bubble, but it looks like this:





To see who added you to their friends list, click on the bubble next to your avatar, or the text below your gold count. When you get there, it will have a screen that says "Pending Approvals." This will show you who just added you to their friends.

Is someone bothering you? Have you asked them to stop talking to you, but they won't? Well, there's a simple solution to stopping the problem instead of yelling. Its called your Ignored List.

To add a person to your ignored list, go to your Friends List first. There will be a tab that says "Ignored" at the top of the page. Click on that tab, and it will take you to another page.

To add a person to your ignore list, put in their username in the small text bar in the upper right hand corner. Remember to put their username in correctly, and spelled right. Otherwise, you might put another person on there that you didn't mean to.



After clicking "Add To Ignored", you have added this person to your ignore list!

Putting a person on your ignore list will result in the following:


• They cannot PM you.
  
• They cannot see your replies to a topic.
  
  Now you have that person on your ignored list. Enjoy not being bugged anymore!

So, you've decided that the person has been on your ignored list for too long, eh?

Well, that's alright. If you'd like to remove a person from your ignored list, there's a way to do it -- so don't panic, saying they're stuck on there forever. Because they're not!

To remove a user from your ignored list, go to your "Ignored" tab once more. Once there, it's similar to adding a person. However, find the person you want to remove from your list. To the far right, there will be a little box. Click on it, and a check mark will appear. After doing so, go down to the bottom and click "Remove from Ignored."



And now, you have mastered the art of the ignore list!

When getting a journal, the first step is to create one.

To first create a journal, go to the top header. Click "My Gaia," and then click "Journal." That will take you to a screen that says: "Error: You have not yet created a journal. Create now?"

Click on the link that says "Create Now." And it will take you to this screen.



Follow the step-by-step instructions I have provided for you.


• Title: The title can be anything you want it to be. The title will show up in your profile, and as the basic title for everything in your journal.
  
• Journal Description: What will you be using your journal for? To post your thoughts, ideas, opinions? Your everyday happenings? Or maybe something else. You tell us.
  
• Journal Header: The header of your journal can be a quote, or anything you want.
  
  The next step is to make a decision: Make your journal public, or make it private?
  
  
  
  When you make your journal publicially viewable, anyone can see it. If there's a random person in a forum that stumbles upon your journal, they can see it and comment in it with no problem. However, if you make it friends only, the only people who can see it are people who are on your friends list. This way its more private.
  
  If you want to use it only for yourself to view, cilck on "No." This will make it so absolutely NOBODY but yourself can view your journal.
  
  After you're done with your preferences, click the Submit button.
  
  It will take you to a screen that says: "SUCCESS! Your journal has been created. Create your first journal entry now?"
  
  If you'd like to make your first journal entry, click on "Create your first journal entry now?" And it will take you to a screen much like if you were posting a new topic on the forums. After you've put in your first journal entry, it will come out like this:
  
  
  
  If you're not satisfied with the way your journal entry turned out, you can either edit it, or delete it. If you delete it, that journal entry will be gone forever. It is not reversable.
  
  To view other users journals, your other entries, or to change your preferences, there are buttons for each of these actions in the upper right hand corner of the page. It looks like this:
  
  
  
  Congratulations on making your journal, and mastering your friends list!

Contents:

• User Terms
  • Moderators and Administrators
    
  • Other common names for users
  
  
• Miscellaneous Terms
  
• Common Abbreviations
  
  • Common Forum Abbreviations
    
  • Common Item Abbreviations
    
  • Other Miscellaneous Abbreviations

User terms:
The following terms are often used to describe different types of users.

Moderators and Administrators:

• Administrator (admin)- Creators of Gaia Online, responsible for sitewide development.
  
• Omnimoderator- Responsible for resolving account issues, hacking cases, and scamming cases.
  
• Global GAIA Moderator- Handle abuse and harassment cases, as well as help oversee ToS issues across the entire site.
  
• Dedicated GAIA Moderator- Work in a specific part of the site, handling ToS violations and thread move requests.
  
• GAIA Helper- Assist Dedicated GAIA Moderators with thread move requests.

Other Common Names for users:

• Newbie/newbie-A user that is new to GAIA Online.
  
• Noob/n00b-A user who ignores rules, and often breaks them just to annoy others.
  
• Troll-A user that intentially posts rude and unnecessary statements or images to get responses.
  
• Regular- A word often used to describe somebody who frequents a certain forum regularly.

Miscellaneous Terms:
Other various terms that are commonly used around the site:

• Flame: A flame is a rude post that is aimed at getting responses or upsetting somebody. Flaming may result in a warning or ban.
  
• Bump: Stands for "Bring Up My Post." Bumping is used to move a thread to the top of a forum, or as a short spam message.
  
• Rare Event: When a Pink/Brown/Bue Magical Giftbox, Enchanted Trunk, Golden Enchanted Trunk, or Pink Link appears on your screen.
  
  • Pink Link: A rare event that, when clicked, gives you 1,000 gold.
    
  • Pink Magical Giftbox
    
  • Blue Magical Giftbox
    
  • Brown Magical Giftbox
    
  • Enchanted Wooden Trunk
    
  • Enchanted Golden Trunk.
  
  
• Private Message: Mail sent from one user to another.
  
• Spam: A post that is not allowed according to a forum's guidelines. Prohibited in most forums.
  
• Warning: An official warning from a moderator as a result of a particular action. Many warnings may lead to a ban.
  
• Ban: Being blocked from the site for 3 days, 14 days, or permanently.
  
• Questing: Working towards gaining a certain item. Basically just saving up gold.
  
• Gift Credit: Gaia Gift Credits are a form of Gaia currency that you can purchase with actual cash in the Gaia Merchandise Store either for yourself or as a gift to another user.
  
• Gold: Form of money used on GAIA Online.
  
• Marketplace: Part of the site where users sell or buy items.
  
• Exchange: A forum on GAIA that is used by users that are selling items to make deals with users that are buying items.
  
• Sticky: A type of thread located at the top of any forum that is used to help users within that forum. They usually contain rules about a forum, but are sometimes used to share other information.
  
• Avatar: Your "person" on GAIA. You can dress up your avatar by buying items for it and equipping them on your avatar.
  
• Trading Pass: A pass required for starting or receiving trades with other users.
  
• Vending Pass: A pass required for setting up a store in the Marketplace.
  
  

Abbreviations:
The following terms are abbreviations that are commonly used to describe items,
todescribe forums, or to shorten frequently used phrases.

Common forum abbreviations:

• CB: Chatterbox
  
• GD: General Discussion
  
• GCD: Gaia Community Discussion
  
• Q&A: Questions and Assitance
  
• SF: Site Feedback
  
• AT: Avatar Talk
  
• WTG: Welcome to Gaia
  
• FF: Final Fantasy

Common item abbreviations:

• NM: "Nitemare."
  
• TY: "Thank You," as in Thank You Letter.
  
• TYL: "Thank You Letter."
  
• DI: "Donation Items."
  
• 03/04/05/06: "2003," "2004," "2005," or "2006."
  
• JU: "Jacked Up."
  
• RJU: "Really Jacked Up."
  
• CN: "Chyaku Norisu," as in Chyaku Norisu Scarf.
  
• HB: "Headband."
  
• DT: "Devil Tail."

Other Miscellaneous abbreviations:

• OMG: "Oh My God."
  
• WTF: "What the F**k?"
  
• FTW: "For The Win."
  
• LOL: "Laughing Out Loud."
  
• ROFL: "Rolling On Floor Laughing."
  
• LMAO: "Laughing MY a** Off."
  
• ASAP: "As Soon As Possible."
  
• AKA: "Also Known As."
  
• FAQ: "Frequently Asked Questions."
  
• ToS: "Terms of Service."
  
• IMHO: "In My Honest/Humble Opinion."
  
• IDK: "I Don't Know."
  
• TTFN: "Ta-Ta For Now."
  
• TY: "Thank You."
  
• PM: "Private Message."
  
• K: "Thousand." Often used to describe an amount of gold. I.e: 56k = 56,000 gold.

rofl Reserved rofl