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1. •  
     CommentAuthorArrogantAtheist
   • CommentTimeJun 26th 2009 edited

    
   Welcome new members! Thanks for joining the The Arrogant Atheist Forum! Here's a quick rundown of everything you need to know on our forum...
   
   The first tab you should get familiar with is: "Discussions" - it will show all the latest discussions on the board. This is how most people navigate the forum threads.
   
   "My Discussions" is a tab that reveals only those discussions to which you've posted a response. It's nice if you're only interested in discussions you've participated in.
   
   If you'd like to start a new discussion, see the navigation bar to the left and click: "Start a new discussion."
   
   A source of confusion for some new users on the board is quoting. If you'd like to include a quotation of another user's post in your own, first you must select the portion of the user's post you'd like to quote. Then click the "quote" link which appears above their post. After you've done this, please select the radio button underneath your post box that says "HTML" - quotations will only work if you've selected this!
   
   There's also a really underused feature for polling. You can add a poll to any thread you've created. First create your thread, then go back to your thread and select from the Options menu (to the left of your thread) the link that reads, "Add Poll to this Discussion." Follow the prompts and off you go!
   
   About that, actually...Notice on the board, you start out as a Serf. You can freely post and start discussions, but you don't yet have access to special features like polls. To get promoted to Citizen status which does have access to polls, you need to maintain active user status for a while, have amassed a relevant post count (spamming, trolling, off-topic, category: mashing/site suggestions and single line posts will not count!), and then you will be considered for promotion. We RANDOMLY select Serf's who meet this criteria, so no whining if you're not immediately selected :) Just participate and make merry.
   
   On that note, we want to remind you to be friendly. You can strongly oppose another's post but please don't personally attack another member. We're all here for the same purpose: to promote intellectual discussion. No one needs to get hurt feelings for that to occur.
   
   Finally, we caution you against sharing your contact information publicly on the board. Like everywhere on the internet, there are spammers who occasionally target this board with the sole intention of promoting their own website. They're sometimes easy to spot as they will often ask you to e-mail them, contact them through their personal website or youtube/facebook/myspace account, or ask you for your own information outright. They will also often troll, cause problems, complain and start general unrest. Though sometimes they're harder to spot, as they will try to establish themselves as regular users and forge relationships with individuals, they will always in the end ask you for your own information or ask you to contact them or visit their (or someone else's) website.
   
   We do ban spammers but despite the fact that it is against our terms of service (and against the law) to return after having been banned, they may return using an alternate account and a cloaked IP to circumvent their denied service. While we are working with the proper authorities to report spammers and all of those who unlawfully create alternate accounts and visit our website by circumventing their denied service - and are making every other effort possible to keep our website free of spammers - we advise you use the best and fail-safe protection: ignore these types altogether, do not entertain any such requests for information or solicitations of contact, and certainly avoid sharing your personal contact information on the board or in your profile.
   
   
   Now, with our walk-through complete, we'd like to direct you to the categories tab. This is where you can view topics by their content. "Into The Fray" is for debate amongst those of all beliefs and non-belief. "Atheists Only" is aptly titled - only atheists may post in there. "Mashing" is for joking, off-topic and general amusement posts. "Site Improvements" is a place to report any bugs you might find on the site.
   
   Finally, why don't you visit the "Your Grand Entrance" category and introduce yourself :)www.TheArrogantAtheist.com