[MODPOST] General

Navigation

Chances are if you got this far, you already figured out how to browse through the forums. In case you didn't, here's how.

This is what the forums look like*:



There are Categories (such as RPolitics game) followed by sub-forums (such as the META sub-forum), which can also be followed by more sub forums. Each section can have its own additional rules. For example, the "About" sub-forum follows the site rules, but also has additional rules to restrict comments/posts to only be about helping members with their questions.

If I were to click on the "RPolitics Game" link, I would be brought to this page:



Only the sub-forums which fall under the "RPolitics Game" category are now included on the page. This essentially acts as a way to filter out everything else. From here, I can navigate through the listed forums as normal.

Then I will be brought directly to that sub-forum, where I can browse, reply to, and create posts. Here's an example of a sub-forum:

Tags

RPolitics uses a tag system very similar to Twitter's tagging.

You can link to a person's profile by putting an @ and then their username. For example, @tester5000 links to the test dummy account for the website. However, the member is not notified that they have been tagged if you tag in this way.

If you want someone to be notified, use a hashtag (#). Users are required to follow a # of their username. For example, Admin follows #Admin . If a user includes #Admin in their post, Admin will get a notification.

But this can be for a lot more than just pinging a player. Say you wanted to follow all things United Nations related - you would follow #UN and get a notification every time someone uses #UN.

Don't want to be out of loop on a conflict? Follow the tag for the conflict and get a notification every time it's mentioned!

It's common courtesy to include tags, and to mention these tags to the relevant players. Notify the appropriate players of the tag (ex: if you start a war, notify everyone involved in the war what # you're going to use, via PM or tagging their username). The original poster of a chain of events (for example, a war) gets to decide that tag used. If someone were to start a war, they would decide what the tag would be for that war. Try to make it original, as we don't want confusion from mixed-up tags. That means don't name your wars something like WWII or UN or Admin.

To follow a tag, click Profile on the navigation bar at the top of the page. Click on "Tags" in the new page that appears. Enter the tag you wish to follow and click "Follow tag".

You can unfollow a tag by marking it in the checkbox under the "X" column, then pressing "Delete".

BBCode

bbCodes help you to format the written text in posts in an easy way, without having to bother with confusing HTML codes. You can center your text, make it appear in bold or in color, embed video clips etc... Most of the codes are available directly on the interface when you post or reply a message. Just click the appropriate buttons above your text-editor box. Don't worry, they're all labeled

BBCode can be disabled by default in your profile by visiting the Preferences-tab there (Always allow BBCode).

NOTE: If you don't see the bbCode buttons (for example: bold,  or font colour), then check your browser settings if you have javascript enabled.

Polls

Opinion polls are surveys of opinion using sampling. They are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by asking a small number of people a series of questions and then extrapolating the answers to the larger group.

So, a poll is used to know the different points of view of each people. The members who voted stay anonymously.



Creating a Poll

RPolitics has a neat integrated, anonymous polling system that has anti-vote manipulation. No more going to strawpoll or google polls or whatever you used before. Now you can have users vote without even leaving the site! Wow!







1. In this field, put the title for the topic (The topic title is no necessarily the poll question. Example: Your favourite fruits).

2. In this block, you must put a message which explains or introduce the poll (Example : There are dozens of different fruits in the world. Some of them are surely better than others according to your personal tastes... Which are your favourite friuts?)

3. Put a title to your poll. This must be short. The members refer often to the question to vote. (Example: Which are your favourite fruits?)

4. Place here your different options for your poll. They must be separated by a line break. The max number of choices is configurated to 10. This number can be increased in the future if the community demands it.




Here is how to separate the poll options:





5. Indicate the number of days while your members can vote. If you want this value to be unlimited (the poll goes forever until you close it manually), write "0" or simply leave this field blank.

6. Tick one of these two checkboxes, according to the type of poll you want: Multiple-choice poll or Non-multiple-choice poll. Multiple choice allows you to choose more than one poll option per vote.



In the top right corner of the poll, you'll find an icon with a cross. Click it to close the poll for all members - nobody can cast a vote anymore.


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Stickies and Announcements

Sticky: A sticky is a topic of greater importance. It stays on the top of the other topics at all times. It usually contains rules or other important information that your members can easily find.

Announcement: Technically the same as a sticky, but they will be on the top of other topics and stickies regardless of their date of creation or amount of replies. Announcements, as the name implies already, are usually used to announce updates or other news.


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Private Messaging System

Inbox: This is where you find the messages the members sent you. When the maximum storage is reached, the oldest one will be dropped automatically. You have the option to either save a message or to delete it.

Sentbox: This contains the messages that you sent to another member and that the recipient has read already.

Outbox: This contains all PMs that you have sent already, but that have not been read yet. A message in the Outbox is already sent, it just waits to be read by the recipient. Once read, the message goes to the Sentbox. So you can exactly say, which messages have been noted already and which haven't.

Savebox: The box where important messages can be saved. For that, select a message in any other box by ticking the checkbox and click on "Save Selected". Those PMs will be moved here if you have space left.



Each box has a storage space of around 50 messages. Do not perform spam in private messaging. Think carefully whether or not your message really needs to be private, or if you can contact the other member somewhere else on the forums.

Tip: do not be a message hoarder. Keep only important messages, or ones you think you might need in the future.