*** Welcome to the Forums! ***

Greetings, everyone! I took most of the body of this message from my previous thread by the same title in the Episode II forum, which can be found here:
http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=1049775&replies=201

However, now that there is an official welcome forum, I'm going to post it here, and tweak it for general use. Enjoy!

Here's a link to the Jedi Council handbook, which has some useful info in it:

http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=401799&replies=113

The Official Welcome Thread
==============================================
Welcome to TheForce.Net?s Star Wars forums!

Here in these forum, you?ll find a wealth of knowledge regarding a whole spectrum of things, including the upcoming prequels, the past Star Wars movies, anything and everything in the Star Wars world, even some things that aren?t, and a host of characters and other members to share your discussions with.

If you?re new here, or to online forums in general, give yourself a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of these forums. I?ve taken some time to paraphrase some of the more useful posts regarding how to find your way around here at first. So give them a glance, and take them to heart and you?ll have nothing to worry about, and you?ll be enjoying the forums like an old pro in no time!

I know it?s long, but it?s worth it, trust me!

========================================

So you wanna be a valued member?

What does it take to become a key player here in the Jedi Council forums? How do you avoid being called a Newbie? How do you get people to listen to your ideas? What do you do if you?ve got questions or problems?

Well, you?re on the right track if you?re reading this thread. It shows that you?ve got the desire to be a good member, and that?s the essential part of being a valuable member of this community we?ve got going here.

I?m going to outline some common questions, and my version of the answers here. For answers to the following questions:

Why am I having problems logging in and staying logged in to the boards?
What features are available only to registered users?
What does each display setting actually do?
What do the star icons next to the user name stand for?
What happens if I "Subscribe" to a topic?
What is a "locked" topic?
How come some user names are highlighted or in different colors? Can I change my colors?
What happens when I select YES for "post notification" when adding a new user to my watched user list?

Check out the FAQ, at http://boards.theforce.net/faq.asp. Those questions are delved into there.

But you?re here for more specific questions, aren?t you? Well, here they are, from the eyes of an admin (and be aware that I?m only *one* of the admins here, so some things vary from admin to admin), and from other contributing members (credits will be listed at the bottom)?.

QUESTION: As a new member, what should I do first?

ANSWER: Excellent question! The first thing you should do is: wait! That?s right, it?s a little anti-climactic, sure, but it?s well-worth it, trust me. I know you?ve got all sorts of great ideas that you want to share with the other members of this forum, but you need to give yourself some time to familiarize yourself with the forums, and how things work. Observe for a day or so, if you can. You?ll avoid a hard time if you do this, as you?ll be less likely to make a ?rookie mistake?. Try responding to other threads before you start one of your own.

QUESTION: I?ve got a great idea for a thread, can I post it?

ANSWER: That?s what this place is for, to be sure, but you?ll want to take a look around the first 5 pages of topics (Make sure you?re set up to see 25 topics per page! See the FAQ!) before you actually slap your thoughts down. You see, if you post a topic that?s already being discussed, or has been discussed recently (last 4-5 pages), that thread is what we call "redundant", and that?s a ?rookie mistake?. Your thread will probably be bombarded with posts declaring its redundancy, and you?re go

 

I have a question........what is this Star Wars thing everyone's talking about?

 

Great reference post Vertical - lets hope that everyone remembers to re-read it once in a while to refresh their memory!

 

Yes, Yes, Welcome!

DarthNut,
the nuttiest guy around.
Go Eagles Go!

 

[Toshi station whine] Can I be an admin? How do I start a thread? How can I be popular? [/Toshi station whine] ;-)

Welcome everyone!

 

Welcome everyone

 

LOL so far the only people that have posted in here have been here for a while.

anyways, that was good to read, i wish it was up when i first started here.

Welcome all newcomers!!!

 

I hope to see a lot of newbies here. Welcome new people!

 

I know what you mean, JediCrazy, so I'm here for the new members

 

um hi?

 

Vertical very impressive my friend very impressive.

 

I'm not new, but I do have a question.

A few week ago, I went back to check one of the first threads I authored, "Why does everyone hate Callista?". I found it locked. I'd like to know why it was locked.

Thank you,
LadyCallie

 

What would you say to a newbie?

 

Watch out for the newbie-eating old members.

 

Where are the newbies at?

 

Methinks this needs a lift.

 

This helps alot since i'm new here, and you're all so friendly, most other boards people hate newbies.

 

Truly a great post - for us newbies to read. Even if long, I suggest every newbie to read it.

I've been using discussion boards ( usually vBulletin ) from October last year, so I'm familiar with the usefulness of it, and I can easily get into discussions, but it takes time to familiarize the meaning of certain forums.

But, to the newbies completely new to the discussion-board ( meaning that they never have been to one ) - this is really fast-paced board, and can be quite 'frightening' - don't be afraid, post and have fun. We've all made and we all will make mistakes

 

1/240th of your posts have been in this thraed cbjedi! !



Thanks Vert, now I know what to do around here...
*Pulls Anne's hair*

 

Yup, I guessed that. What are the odds you'd check in here today!?! DO you have a window open to this thraed, and just keep hitting 'refresh', or are we just lucky

 

Hi, I'm new and a true Luke fan..
Can't wait to read on here..

Thanks..
mei

 

Don't worry, cbjedi, if you're obsessed with this thread I'm obsessed with a lot of other info threads around.

Now for Vert to come along and update this thread!

 

Then let me do it for you.