MOD Questions about the new boards? Read this thread!

Welcome to the new home of Fanfiction at the Jedi Council Forums! Whether you are an oldbie having been around the JC for years and years or a noobie that just joined, this is a new place for us all and it can be a little confusing. Though we've been on the temporary boards for some time, there are things that are different here so if you get lost, check here first in this guide to some of the new and shiny things we have around, here for fanfic and the boards in general.​

If you have any questions, please let us know. We'll do our best to answer your question as soon as possible, but remember this is new to us as well so we may have to find out for you.​

Welcome again, and please wipe your feet before you come in. We want to keep things shiny and new for as long as possible! ​

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Your fanfic mods,​

DWH, mav and Luna.​

New Forum FAQ:

Hey, my posts are cut short. What gives?​

First of all: don't worry, your posts still exist in the exported database in full. Xenforo, by default, cuts off posts at 10,000 characters. Which, as you can all see, really isn't very much. We've turned this off, but unfortunately the initial import decided to truncate any posts that went over the character limit. ​

This is a known issue, and can be fixed.​

As you may know, from our lengthy stay on the temp boards, we're dependent on one guy, the hardworking Mike from IGN, to help us out with the move. He's had a lot on his plate, and hasn't been able to fix this issue yet. ​

Just remember:​

• Your fanfic has not been lost or deleted; it is absolutely still stored in the original database that was exported and converted over to Xenforo format.
• This will be fixed as soon as it can be. We're all anxious to have our posts back.
• We decided to open in spite of this issue, because we know how crowded it was getting on these temp boards. We think the positives at this point outweigh that negative, so please bear with us as we clear out all the construction dust.
• The search function currently does not work. You will not be able to find your fics or threads by searching, but they are here. Right now you just have to look for them the old fashioned way.

Organization​

If you've seen the old forums you'll know that things now look a little different. Since coming to Xenoforums we now have the ability to tag posts which is very exciting to us all. With this ability fanfic has decided to attempt combining all the era's back together -separated by tags, also called a prefix- in hopes that people will branch out and read and write things they may never have before.​

If you ever have trouble deciding what to tag your post with, feel free to contact one of your fanfic mods and ask. If we see something that we think may be miss-tagged, we'll retag it for you. If your thread has been tagged by a mod incorrectly, feel free to let us know via PM (Conversation).​

There are a few tags here in fanfic you should be aware of:​

Story Tags: To be used in the story forum. Use these tags to mark the era in which your story takes place. If your story falls into more than one era, tag it with the one where the majority of the story takes place.​

Before - Any story that takes place before The Phantom Menace​

Saga - Any story that takes place within the movie timeline, from The Phantom Menace through Return of the Jedi.​

Beyond - Any story that takes place after Return of the Jedi.​

Resource Tags: These are to be used only in Fanfic Resource unless given approval by a mod. If your resource thread falls under more than one category choose the one that fits the best.​

Challenge - This tag should be used as an indication that this is a fanfic challenge. (Remember, a challenge needs to be approved by a mod before posting)​

Characters - Although not as popular as they once were, this is for character and/or 'ship discussion threads. If a thread is a discussion on a character or 'ship and also an index for that character or 'ship, choose "Characters" as the tag.​

Discussion - This tag is to be used when there is a discussion that pertains to writing or fanfiction. This tag should not be used for discussions on your individual fanfic, but fan fiction in general (ex: articles pertaining to fan fiction). See fan fic FAQ for rules pertaining to discussion threads.​

Index - This tag should be used for story indices of any kind (ex. characters, 'ships, type of fic etc.)​

Resource - This tag should be used for threads that can be a resource to everyone. (Ex. Beta list, Star Wars words, writing workshops)​

Other Tags: These tags are to be used by the mods only but you should still be aware of what they mean.​

Mod - This tag means there is something the mods need for everyone to know. It would be wise to read anything that comes up under this tag. It's the color red for a reason!​

ModChallenge - This is an official challenge issued by the mods which means there are probably prizes involved in participating.​

Filtering Tags​

We hope that everyone uses this opportunity with all the stories being together to explore new things, but we do know sometimes you are looking for something specific. In order to see stories or resource threads with only one kind of tag (prefix) you can filter to only see that tag. To do that you can filter tags several ways:​

1. Click on the specific tag you want to see at the top of the form.​
2. Click on the tag anywhere you see it​
3. At the bottom of the screen in the forum boards you will see something that says "Thread Display Options". Click on it and there you can sort the threads by prefix (tag), message time, title, number of replies etc.​

To unfilter and see everything again, simply click on the "x" at the top of the screen where the tag you currently are filtered to is showing. Or go to the bottom like described in #3 above and click on all tags.​

Posting/Editing​

Posting and Editing buttons are in new and different places. Here is how to find/use them.​

Posting​

The top, right hand corner under your username/Inbox/Alerts/Log Out is a button that says "Post New Thread"​

When you click it you will then see a title bar with a drop down menu that currently says "No Prefix". Click on the drop down and then choose the appropriate tag, then post as normal.​

Editing ​

At this point in time, you only have 30 minutes to edit threads or titles. We're working on getting unlimited edit time for fanfic back, but it may take a while. Sorry!​

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UPDATE 9/7: Editing is back! And there was much rejoicing.​

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A general edit of your post is in the lower left hand corner, right under your signature. Click edit and a box with your post will appear. Edit and then hit save changes.​

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You can change your title from here- after clicking Edit, click "More Options." That will take you to a screen where you can edit the title.​

Quoting a Post​

You can quote someone by clicking "Reply" at the bottom right hand corner of their post.​

Likes​

You can now like a post, à la Facebook. Feel free to use this as often as you would like but please don't let it stop you from reviewing stories. Authors love it when you "like" their stories but they live for reviews!​

Conversations​

Instead of PM's we now have conversations which is an awesome thing, especially for fanfic. You can send a conversation up to 5 people at one time which will make Fic updates messages so much easier.​

To send a convo, click on a person's screen name and then click "Start a Conversation". To add people to the conversation, simply type in their screen name, or click on it when it auto fills their name.​

If you are sending story updates, we recommend you click "Lock Conversation" before hitting "Start a Conversation" because anything anyone says is then viewable by all the people in that conversation.​

Alerts​

Getting alerts when something is posted new to a thread is now easier than ever, but to some people it's very annoying. To change your alerts, hover over your username in the right hand corner and then click "Alert Preferences" then uncheck any alerts you don't want to receive.​

Tagging a User​

AKA the Batcall. You can tag a user in a thread my typing the at symbol followed by their username. Example: mavjade will tag mavjade and send her an alert to let her know someone has tagged her. We recommend not disabling this alert, it comes in very handy!​

Banner Announcements​

Occasionally you will see announcements scroll across the top of the screen, usually when we have something important to tell you. Once you've read it, you can dismiss the announcement my clicking the "x" in the right hand corner in the announcement.​

Mobile JC-ing​

Browsing the forums is now easier than ever using an app called "Tapatalk". You can use it on iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Chrome. It currently cost around $2.99 but is worth it if you like to use your phone for getting on the boards. Just FYI, the current version doesn't allow for prefixes to be seen, but we hear the next version will allow it.​

tl;dr:​

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Truncated Posts: Don't panic, your posts still exist and will be fixed.​

Tags: Before, Saga, Beyond, Challenge, Discussion, Index, Characters, Resource, Mod, ModChallenge. Use the best tag for the situation or contact a mod to ask. See a "Mod" tag, you should read it!​

Filtering Tags: Click on the tag you only want to see. To unfilter, click on the "x" at the top near the tag you are currently seeing.​

Posting: Top right corner -> Post New Thread -> hover over "no prefix" and add most appropriate.​

Edit: Lower left hand corner​

Quote: "Reply" on bottom right corner on post you want to quote.​

Likes: Likes don't replace reviews.​

PM's now Conversations: Click a user name -> Start a Conversation. You can have a conversation with up to 5 users at a time, they can all see every post in the conversation.​

Alerts: Change your alerts -> User name -> Alert Preferences​

Tagging a User: Aka the Batcall. "@username" sends alert to that person they were tagged in a post.​

Banner Announcements: They scroll across the top, pay attention to them. Dismiss: "x" in right corner.​

Mobile JC-ing: Tapatalk app is awesome! Use it on your phone to browse the boards.​

 

I was wondering what happened to the "A/ P databank", "Anakin/ Obi-wan archive" & all the other threads from the old board? And what happened to all the fics from the old board? There are a bunch I can't seem to find. Please help. Thanks.

 

Can we still edit old posts? I'm not seeing that as an option.

 

cje24576 - The search function isn't fully operational yet, they are here, I promise, you just have to look for them the old fashioned way at the moment. Sorry!

YodaKenobi - That may be a feature that hasn't been turned on yet. Somethings were turned off while we were doing all kinds of work to keep from slowing things down. We'll look into getting that changed.

 

Every in-post link I've checked goes to boards.theforce.net/%s. Did someone forget to sprintf?

EDIT: testing . . .

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/questions-about-the-new-boards-read-this-thread.50000423/
here
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/questions-about-the-new-boards-read-this-thread.50000423/]also[/url] here

Got it, the LINK tags are broken.

 

Am I missing something? I only see "Watch Thread". Can we edit the thread title yet?

 

Would a mod, any mod, please change the LINK tags in the sticky threads to URL tags? Otherwise we'll all be stuck in boards.theforce.net/%s.

 

The Temp boards had a time limit in which you could edit. We were told that there was a non-limited edit function which hadn't been turned on, though .

 

When will we be able to unlock our old posts? I haven't been on in so long that my fics have been locked

 

jacen200015 -- Hey! Haven't seen you around in awhile! Users didn't have the ability to unlock threads themselves on the old boards, and as far as I know that hasn't changed. Just give me the heads up in a PM/conversation which threads you would like unlocked and I'll take care of that for you.

lazykbys_left: I'll add it to our to-do list.

Jedi_Lover: Are you trying to edit a thread title that has been open for longer than 30 minutes? Right now the edit function for users only works for 30 minutes after the thread has been posted. Editing after that needs to be done by a mod. Just shoot me a PM/conversation about what you want edited--fixing it has become part of my mod job description. We're still working on getting the edit function for users to be like it was on the old boards, but it hasn't happened yet for us. Until then, it'll keep mods busy.

 

Hi Luna, yeah i haven't been here in forever. I remember in the old boards that if it was a thread you started and if the thread was not locked by a mod but was locked after a period of time that the person who created the thread could go to edit in their first post and their would be an option to unlock the thread.

It's going to take some time to find my stories since i haven't been on in so long but i'll let you know when i find them so you can unlock them for me.

 

I was basically talking about updating the title so people would know a fanfic has been updated. But I would also like to see unlimited editing capabilities for fanfic threads like we used to have. I often find typos or realized I spelled Daala as Dalla in an earlier chapter and then I can't fix it.

 

Jedi_Lover: I hear you. That's something we've asked for, but I don't have an time frame for it. It was one of the things we eventually decided we could deal with in order to be back "home."

 

To edit a thread title, go to the very top of a thread (you don't have to be on the first page) On the right side of the screen above the first post is a drop down that says "Thread Tools". Click it, then click edit thread. Here you can change the title.

I'm sorry, I don't see this - this is an old thread carried over, does that make a difference?

 

good to be back and it would be nice to see the editing feature back. I know you can dig up your old threads by searching for them, but on the diary challenge thread. That's going to take a lot of work. I have a question up and I need everyone involved to give me what they're thinking.

I think we need to discuss a few things

 

Sure, get an posting error, then see it twice!

 

For now, group pm or tag everyone you want involved in (a) thread: @ you, @ me, etc. so they'll come into the thread is the best I can come up with.

 

*sigh* i see fics i want to read but the posts are chopped so i have to wait to read them. Owell. I'll just go search for my fics instead.

 

I do hope the links in the posts from the old boards will be fixed soon. As lazy says, http://boards.theforce.net/%s doesn't really take you anywhere. And without the edit function, the Qui-Gon Index cannot be maintained. Jinn_Is_Mine will be most upset.

 

Is there anyway to search out a specific story? I'm trying to locate my SiriWan that was in Saga. (A Truth Stronger then the Code)

I'm not having any luck.

 

just wondering I just logged onto my FF undeniably evil and the code is a bit haywire everytime there is suppose to be a ' as in it's it becomes it?s.
Is this unique or does many people have this problem

 

You should be able to do a search on google. That might be the quickest way, right now. The search here hasn't been bringing up information for me.

 

Right now, you only have 30 minutes to edit a thread title or thread. We know everyone wants unlimited edit time, but unfortunately it's not as easy as just switching something on. The admins are working hard at getting everything fixed that still needs it and as much as we would all like fanfic to have unlimited edit time, it's pretty far down on a priority list.
(This was bolded to make it eaiser to see, not in a yelling sense. )

The google search also does not work at this time so you have to find fics the old fashioned way... by looking for them. Or if you know enough info, you could go to google and search for it.

I see it several places, I'll make sure it's known to the techie people, though I'm sure it is.

 

Mods - we have a Character tag (and Discussion as well) here in Resource - the Obi-Wan discussion thread is trying to find its perm home and wondering if it belongs in Resource, tagged Character (or Discussion) or over in Movies - Community.

Are such "Fan clubs" that are also devoted to actual discussion of the character supposed to be in one or other of the forums, or just whereever it ends up?

 

@Valairy_Scot- That's a case where the thread could live in either forum, but a thread in Resource should pertain to the writing of Obi-Wan, which is something that a Community thread wouldn't necessarily do. Fanfic is more, "how would he hypothetically respond based on previous actions," and Community is just, "How has he responded in the canon we have?" It mainly boils down to the purpose you and the other folks want the thread to have. I also see no reason threads couldn't exist in both communities if that's what people ending up wanting.