The Official Welcome Thread

Originally posted by Vertical

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The Official Welcome Thread
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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!

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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 going to have a hard time getting discussion going. Not to mention, whoever started the other thread on the subject won?t appreciate the fact that you didn?t take the time to check out their thread.

QUESTION: I?ve checked the last 5 pages or so, and I don?t see my topic. Can I post it?

ANSWER: Absolutely! We?re dying to hear your new thoughts! If it?s not