therother
03-25-2005, 13:40
The Org FAQ
This is a collection of useful information that answers many commonly asked questions, as well as gives a few hints and tips on how to get the most out of the Org Forums. It is a Work in Progress, so please feel free to put forward suggestions for inclusion.
Sections
Forum Rules
Membership Information
Staff Organisation
User Control Panel
Forum Browsing (not yet written)
Private Messages (PM)
Searching the Forums
vB Code: Message Formatting
Forum Rules
This is The Org, a fan site for Creative Assembly's (http://www.creative-assembly.co.uk/) Total War series of games.
Considering the real-time nature of this forum, it is impossible for us to review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the contents of posted messages and are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of The Org or any entity associated with The Org. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact the Moderator(s) of the pertinent forum by using the Report Bad Post facility (there is a link in the bottom left hand corner of each post).
The Staff have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is warranted. This is a manual process, however, so please realise that we may not be able to remove messages immediately. The Staff also have the ability to edit messages by users. When this is deemed necessary, the Staff will make every effort to highlight any edit, as this avoids misunderstandings as to the author of any given text. However, if the content of a post or topic is determined to be predominantly objectionable, it will be deleted instead.
Examples of objectionable messages include (but are not limited to):
Posts containing addresses of warez sites or anything piracy-related: note that this includes "hacks" designed to enable Total War games to run without a CD. The administration is aware of the fact that some use a "no-CD hack" for the purpose of enhancing their system performance, but we feel that the possible illegal benefits from these hacks outweigh all other considerations. Such hacks also require reverse engineering of the game, and this is in violation of the End User Licence Agreement. Anything pertaining to software piracy in general is highly discouraged.
Posts containing information on and/or requests for the CD key codes: if you have lost your CD key, you should contact Electronic Arts, Activision or Sega Customer Support depending on the game in question. Anyone asking for a CD key here will be assumed to be trying to deny the developers rightful compensation for their work.
Posts concerning, or asking about, technical specifications for multiplayer cheating. Cheating in the single-player game is a private matter for each user, but cheating in the multiplayer game detracts from everyone's enjoyment, and from the gaming community as a whole.
Posts containing names of people suspected of cheating in the multiplayer game. This clause has been much debated; its purpose is to avoid fruitless controversy. No conclusive proof on anyone cheating in the multiplayer game can be obtained or presented. Therefore, the Staff and the majority of the patrons (approximately 70% voted in favour) feel that it is for the best to avoid making accusations; even if truthful, their inconclusiveness will probably lead to "flame wars" which are inconvenient to the forum and every member. Keeping of private "cheater blacklists" is allowed, indeed encouraged, but The Org does not wish to be a medium for this. (Note: in the case of "name posting", the staff will often edit out the name rather than deleting the entire message.)
Posts containing "spam", such as advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations. Recommending a game you like is not wrong, as long as you are not trying to sell it. User accounts created exclusively for the purpose of posting inconsequential advertisements will be unceremoniously banned.
Posts containing any generally objectionable material: knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. Posting of copyrighted material, unless the copyright is owned by you or by The Org, is discouraged. The Org expects its patrons to remain civil even in the face of disagreements. Any kind of "flaming", slurs, or insults -- addressed to either an individual or a group -- is extremely inappropriate. Please respect etiquette at all times.
Separate forums exist for the purpose of grouping the messages by their primary topic. Please see the Synopsis of the Org Forums (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=45417) for a rundown of current forums, which a description of each. Care should be taken to post messages only in the forum meant for that type of content. The Staff makes every attempt to keep topics in their correct forums. Topics posted in an inappropriate forum will usually be moved to the appropriate forum (usually with a redirect left in the original forum and a message explaining the transfer), where the discussion can continue. Please note that the supposed inactivity of some forums compared to others is not an excuse to post messages in the wrong place.
Although The Org does not and cannot review all messages posted, and is not responsible for the content of any message, we at The Org reserve the right to delete any message for any reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Org, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (the makers of the bulletin board software), and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).
We at The Org also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.
Membership Information
Junior members are given access to all the publicly available forums. They are, however, given restricted posting permissions in some of these forums.
Junior Members can also search most of the main forums: see the advanced search (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/search.php) page for more details. You can check you posting privileges for any given forum by checking the Posting Rules box, usually at the top left corner of your screen.
Promotion to Member sets all posting permissions to Yes, with some notable exceptions: Guides, Library, and repository forums and the Ludus Magna forum. In these forums, new threads can only be posted by members of Staff. Please contact the Moderator(s) of these forums if you wish to start a thread.
Junior Members are also restricted from certain UserCP options, e.g. the Custom User Titles, and profile pictures. (See relevant section on the UserCP below.)
Promotion to Member
Promotion to Member is based on participation, conduct and contributions in your posts. Quantity of posts doesn't matter - you could be promoted on the basis of one amazing post, although just showing the ability to interact with the membership in a helpful and polite manner is easily sufficient. In other words, you don't need to do something special, just enjoy yourself whilst following the Forum Rules above. Introducing yourself (if you have not already done so) in the Entrance Hall (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?28) doesn't hurt either! ~:)
Promotions are handled manually by the Org Staff, and are generally done en masse. So as a very quick rule of thumb: if you've been here for a couple of weeks and been posting reasonably regularly during that time, you should be promoted to Member.
In any case, the staff will always try to help you if they can. If you feel perhaps that you've been mistakenly overlooked (as does happen on occasion), your best bet is to either PM TosaInu (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=6381) or Ser Clegane (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=5532) and explain your situation.
Senior Member
Senior Member is an honorific, used to recognize members' contributions to the overall good of the Org.
Contributions can range from creative endeavours (such as mods, art, guides and stories) to leadership and commitment (organization of community efforts, running events) to being a fine, honourable, upstanding member of the community. It is a way to recognize and say "thank you" to those who make the TW community a better place. Post count doesn't matter much: there are Senior Member's with less than 400 posts, and Members with thousands.
Two or three times a year, the Staff nominates Members who they feel are deserving of the Senior Member title. Only 10-12 Senior Memberships are approved; if more are nominated, that list is whittled down to the required number.
Senior members get a slightly larger PM mailbox, a title under their avatar, free beer at KukriKhan's house (although apparently none have so far shown up!), and the publicly displayed respect of the community.
Staff Organisation
As you can see from the View Forum Leaders (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showgroups.php?) page, there are a number of different types of Staff members.
The Org Staff comprises Administrators, Moderators, Content Managers, and Technical Administrators:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/images/Orgstructure.png
We have two types of Administrator, each with a specific role: Forum Admins are the overall Forum and Site Administrators, whereas the Technical Administrators are responsible for maintaining and improving the site as well as assisting Members with technical problems.
The Moderators have green usernames, whilst the two types of Administrators are a shade of red. We also have Content Managers, responsible for assisting content creators here at the Org. Please see this thread for more information on the Org's staff structure. All other Members have the same colour for their username (black). The Members listed on the Forum Leaders list are the moderators of Hosted Modification Forums, and are not members of Staff.
Moderator (and with Hosted Mod Leader) powers are forum specific. You can find out who moderates a particular forum by going to the Moderators box at the bottom of the forum homepage. A Moderator of one forum cannot moderate another forum. The exception is the Forum Administrator, who can moderate all forums, and the Technical Administrators who can solve problems all over the site.
A complete list of currently assigned staff members:
User Control Panel
There are many options and useful tools to be found in your User Control Panel (UserCP). There is a link to your UserCP at the top left corner of every page, or you can click this link (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/usercp.php?). Some of the key features are detailed below:
Avatars: Junior Members get a wide selection of avatars (~400) from the all three Total War games. The selection will increase when you are promoted to Member, and again if you are honoured with Senior Member status. The pool of avatars is also dependent on your postcount; the pool will gradually increase as your postcount goes up. You can view all the avatars available to your usergroup by clicking on the Show Avatars link on the Navigation bar at the top of each page.
You can select your avatars by going to UserCP/Edit Avatar or by clicking this link (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editavatar). By default, you are given an avatar called RTW 100, found in the RTW_M folder. Select the picture you'd like to change it to by clicking the little circle, then press Save Changes at the bottom. Your avatar should now be updated.
Custom Avatars, although supported by vBulletin, are not supported by the server running this site. Please ignore this option in the UserCP. We can upload a profile picture which will be displayed above your selected avatar.
Signatures: There is a strict limit on the overall size of signatures as we have a signature box. As a result, only the first 500*200 pixels of your signature (images and text) will be show. The rest will be not be shown. The box provides room for one or more pictures of 500*150 pixels (the maximum size), with 2 lines of text (above, below or split) or 11 lines (700 characters) of text, as well as various combinations of the two, e.g. 5 lines of text, and a couple of smaller pictures.
As mentioned above, pictures can be added to your signature, which will be displayed with your posts (unless you chose otherwise), to your profile, and within the body of your posts. You can do this by using the IMG vB code tags (see vB section).
The rules for signature pictures are:
51,200 bytes max.
no sound.
max 650 pixels wide, max 150 pixels high.
Scrolling topics containing high signatures is considered difficult, so they are limited there too. A signature can be 10 lines high, 500 characters long, 200 pixels high or what limit is reached first.
These restrictions are in addition to the general forum rules, so any inappropriate pictures are also prohibited. The Staff ask that Members adhere to these limits, as it makes the Org a better place for people on slower connections.
There are no specific rules for either profile pictures or the occasional image in a thread, although commonsense should be applied. Posting of very large images, both in terms of dimensions and file size, is not considered respectful behaviour.
The Org can host signature pictures; use this tool (http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Uploaders/picupload.php). Again, please ignore the Avatar upload, as this is not currently supported. You can also host the picture yourself, on your personal webspace or a site like ImageShack (http://www.imageshack.us/).
Thread Subscription: The best way to keep track of interesting/useful threads, or indeed threads you have posted in, is by using the thread subscription function.
For automatically keeping track of threads that you post in, modify the Default Thread Subscription Mode in your UserCP/Options. This link (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editoptions) should take you there. There are a number of options for thread subscription:
No email notification: the board will send no emails to you registered email account, although you will still be subscribed to threads.
Instant: the board send you a message as soon as possible about a new post in the thread.
Daily: Once a day, the board will send you an email about activity in the thread, assuming there is any.
Weekly: As with Daily, except once a week.
You can also set this manually each time you post. Just select the appropriate option in the Additional Options/Thread Subscription box, which is below the Reply to Thread box (the one you type your post in).
You can also subscribe to threads that you haven't posted in. Just to go the thread and select Subscribe in the Thread Tools menu.
Every subscribed thread will have a tick indicator next to You then just need to go your subscriptions (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/subscription.php?) (there are also links from your UserCP and from Quick Links).
There are a number of methods to unsubscribe from a thread. You can edit the post to change the thread subscription, delete the thread subscription from within your UserCP, or from the Thread Tools menu from within the subscribed thread.
There are also a couple of options for altering the notification settings for each thread: whilst editing you post, and in you UserCP – select the thread(s) you wish to change and then select the appropriate option from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the box.
You can organise your subscriptions into folders, in much the same way as for PMs, once you get too many to easily manage.
Editors: There are three different editors available: Basic, Standard, Enhanced (WYSIWYG). Each offers a different way of writing messages. The simplest of these is a simple text box, while the last is a fully-fledged WYSIWYG editor, which allows you to format your text as you want it and see the results immediately. Depending upon the capabilities of your web browser, you may not be able to use all of these options. If you experience problems when posting messages, try switching to a different interface type. Try each one out by selecting the appropriate option in the Edit Options page (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editoptions).
Buddy List: The buddy list is a small but often quite useful feature. In the Currently Active Users box of the Org homepage and the Who's Online page, users in your buddy list will have a + after their username, which allows you to quickly distinguish them. It also lets you see which of your buddies is online via Open Buddy List quick link. But perhaps its most useful function is that it allows you to quickly Private Message (PM) as an address book to PM a user (or number of users at once). The exact number is dependent on your User Level.
Misc options: There are various other useful preferences in your UserCP. For instance, if you have a slow connection, you can turn off various elements of messages, such as avatars, signatures and images in posts. Some prefer the basic look to the forums even if they have a fast connection. Another useful tool for bandwidth strapped users include changing the number of threads and/or posts displayed at one time.
For privacy conscious users, there is an "Invisible mode" option. This will make your online status visible only to Administrators. Information such as the time of your last activity, which thread you are currently viewing, or if you are online, will be hidden from users.
Members also have the ability to choose a Custom User Title. This is the test that is displayed directly below your Username – the text below you avatar is your primary Usergroup. By default, Custom User title will be your usergroup before you edit it.
Members can also now change their username without the assistance of an admin. See the Edit Email, Password & Username (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editpassword) section to do this.
Forum Browsing
Not yet fully written. Suggested topics: changing views, sorting orders, finding out who Moderates a forum, Online/Offline indicators, Posting Rules Box, Quick Reply.
Report Bad Post button:
The report bad post facility (see the https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/images/buttons/report.gif next to every post) is useful for Members to notify Moderators about serious infractions of the Forum Rules above (e.g. flaming or bad language) that you believe they have either not yet seen or have missed. This sends your message via an urgent email to every Moderator of the forum in question. It should only be used for this purpose: please do not use this facility frivolously. All other communication with Moderators should take place via the Private Message (PM) system.
Warning System
Questioning Warnings:
If you want to question the warning, or get more information about why you were warned, please PM the issuing Moderator to discuss. Moderators can rescind warnings at any time if it is justified. If the warning did not indicate which Moderator issued the warning, and it came from a forum with more than one Moderator, just PM the all mods of the forum to find out.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of your discussion with the moderator, you can PM TosaInu (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=6381), our Forum Administrator. Should it concern general forum policy, as opposed to specific issues concerning the warning, you can post a thread in the Watchtower forum to discuss the policy.
Private Messages (PM)
Members can send each other private messages. Private messages work a little like email, and use much the same formatting as posts (vB Code, smilies and images), except that they are only visible to the recipients that you select.
Sending a Private Message
There are various ways in which to send a PM. One way is to use the Send New PM (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm) link in your UserCP, clicking Send PM to User the link in a member's profile, or by selecting the appropriate option from the drop down menu.
When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of the message in your Sent Items folder.
Private Message Folders
By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the Inbox and the Sent Items folders.
The Inbox folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent the message to you, and the date and time the message was sent. The Sent Items folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy of the message for future reference.
You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders' link. Each folder has a set of message controls that allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, or delete them completely. You may also have a button that allows you to forward multiple messages from a folder to another member of the forum.
You will need to periodically delete old messages, as there is a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed that number, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old messages. The exact number is dependent on your usergroup.
It is possible to download all your messages, or a subset of them, to your local computer for archiving purposes.
Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply to the message, or forward that message to another member of the forum.
Message Tracking
When you send a new private message, you may have the option to request a read-receipt for that message. This will allow you to check whether or not a message has been read by its recipient by viewing the Private Message Tracking page. This page is divided into two sections: unread messages and read messages.
The unread messages section shows all messages that you have sent with a read-receipt request, that have not yet been read by their recipient. The read messages section shows all messages you have sent with a receipt request that have been read and acknowledged by their recipient. The time that the message was read is also shown.
You can delete read receipt requests for both read and unread messages. Note: this will not delete the unread message; it will just end the tracking.
Using Buddy List
There are now two ways to use this feature to PM users. First add a few of users to your Buddy List: you can do this via the link in their user profiles, by clicking their username in the forums and selecting the Add to Buddylist option from the dropdown menu, or you can add usernames in this page - https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editlist.
Perhaps the easiest way to send a PM is to click Send a new PM (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm) from your UserCP. This will allow you to send a new PM, much the same way as you post in the forum. You will see that your Buddy List is there as a kind of address book for users. Select the user(s) you wish to PM, enter a title and a message, and then send as normal.
The second method uses the Open Buddy List link from the Quick Links menu. A small window should pop up, with all the members of your buddy list. It should divide them into online or offline, a useful method of finding if your friends are currently online. Check the box beside a couple of them, and then press the PM Users button. As before a new PM box should appear, with the users you selected automatically entered into the recipients box.
Searching the Forums
Board Search
Section not yet written. Members can only search in specific forums. See advanced search (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/search.php) page.
Google Search
For finding previous threads that a member has posted in, Google is probably your best bet, but its index of the site is far from complete. Perhaps the best to find posts by an individual user is by search for "username's avatar"
e.g. "KukriKhan's avatar" site:forums.totalwar.org (try this link (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22KukriKhan%27s+avatar%22+site%3Aforums.totalwar.org&meta=))
It is possible to search for just a username, but adding the "'s avatar" means that it will only find posts in threads made by that user, and not posts with that user's name. However, Google also indexes forum pages, so you could get lucky and find a index page with that the username you are after sas either thread starter, or last poster.
CA Threads
Many like to read posts by CA staff members.
Threads containing useful information posted by CA members should have a CA shield under the Rating category. These are placed manually by both Org and CA Staff.
You can also use this feature to quickly find all useful information posted by CA staff in a forum. Just sort the forum by rating: the CA marked threads should now be displayed first.
You can also use Google: this link will find all posts by a CA staff member indexed by Google. (Not currently working)
"Avatar. CA" site:forums.totalwar.org (http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=%22Avatar.+CA%22+site%3Aforums.totalwar.org&btnG=Search)
Other Search Methods
Finding lost threads
Another trick that I find useful is either going to the Archive (there’s a link to them at the bottom of each page), or displaying more than the default number of threads with the full forum display. You can do this by creating urls such as this:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=32&page=1&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=100&daysprune=-1 (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=32&page=1&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=100&daysprune=-1)
Which should display the first 100 threads in the Colosseum. To change the forum, change the f=32 (e.g. f=26 is the Watchtower). You can also change the number of threads displayed at one time. Advance through the posts by changing the page number. The appropriate parts are highlighted above.
Another good way to find threads started by a specific patron is to sort a forum by thread starter. Go to the bottom of homepage of the forum you want to search, and select "Thread Starter" in the "Sorted By" drop down box. This will order the threads in that forum by the patron who started them. All you now you need to do is browse to find the username you are looking for.
These methods should make it easier to search for lost threads.
vB Code
vB code is a set of tags based on the HTML language which allow you to add extra formatting to posts (e.g. indent, lists, images and links). There is a through rundown of most of the vB codes (and how to use them) here (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/misc.php?do=bbcode). A useful set of tags not covered there are TABLE code tags. Please see this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=40986) for how to use them.
This is a collection of useful information that answers many commonly asked questions, as well as gives a few hints and tips on how to get the most out of the Org Forums. It is a Work in Progress, so please feel free to put forward suggestions for inclusion.
Sections
Forum Rules
Membership Information
Staff Organisation
User Control Panel
Forum Browsing (not yet written)
Private Messages (PM)
Searching the Forums
vB Code: Message Formatting
Forum Rules
This is The Org, a fan site for Creative Assembly's (http://www.creative-assembly.co.uk/) Total War series of games.
Considering the real-time nature of this forum, it is impossible for us to review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the contents of posted messages and are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of The Org or any entity associated with The Org. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact the Moderator(s) of the pertinent forum by using the Report Bad Post facility (there is a link in the bottom left hand corner of each post).
The Staff have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is warranted. This is a manual process, however, so please realise that we may not be able to remove messages immediately. The Staff also have the ability to edit messages by users. When this is deemed necessary, the Staff will make every effort to highlight any edit, as this avoids misunderstandings as to the author of any given text. However, if the content of a post or topic is determined to be predominantly objectionable, it will be deleted instead.
Examples of objectionable messages include (but are not limited to):
Posts containing addresses of warez sites or anything piracy-related: note that this includes "hacks" designed to enable Total War games to run without a CD. The administration is aware of the fact that some use a "no-CD hack" for the purpose of enhancing their system performance, but we feel that the possible illegal benefits from these hacks outweigh all other considerations. Such hacks also require reverse engineering of the game, and this is in violation of the End User Licence Agreement. Anything pertaining to software piracy in general is highly discouraged.
Posts containing information on and/or requests for the CD key codes: if you have lost your CD key, you should contact Electronic Arts, Activision or Sega Customer Support depending on the game in question. Anyone asking for a CD key here will be assumed to be trying to deny the developers rightful compensation for their work.
Posts concerning, or asking about, technical specifications for multiplayer cheating. Cheating in the single-player game is a private matter for each user, but cheating in the multiplayer game detracts from everyone's enjoyment, and from the gaming community as a whole.
Posts containing names of people suspected of cheating in the multiplayer game. This clause has been much debated; its purpose is to avoid fruitless controversy. No conclusive proof on anyone cheating in the multiplayer game can be obtained or presented. Therefore, the Staff and the majority of the patrons (approximately 70% voted in favour) feel that it is for the best to avoid making accusations; even if truthful, their inconclusiveness will probably lead to "flame wars" which are inconvenient to the forum and every member. Keeping of private "cheater blacklists" is allowed, indeed encouraged, but The Org does not wish to be a medium for this. (Note: in the case of "name posting", the staff will often edit out the name rather than deleting the entire message.)
Posts containing "spam", such as advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations. Recommending a game you like is not wrong, as long as you are not trying to sell it. User accounts created exclusively for the purpose of posting inconsequential advertisements will be unceremoniously banned.
Posts containing any generally objectionable material: knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. Posting of copyrighted material, unless the copyright is owned by you or by The Org, is discouraged. The Org expects its patrons to remain civil even in the face of disagreements. Any kind of "flaming", slurs, or insults -- addressed to either an individual or a group -- is extremely inappropriate. Please respect etiquette at all times.
Separate forums exist for the purpose of grouping the messages by their primary topic. Please see the Synopsis of the Org Forums (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=45417) for a rundown of current forums, which a description of each. Care should be taken to post messages only in the forum meant for that type of content. The Staff makes every attempt to keep topics in their correct forums. Topics posted in an inappropriate forum will usually be moved to the appropriate forum (usually with a redirect left in the original forum and a message explaining the transfer), where the discussion can continue. Please note that the supposed inactivity of some forums compared to others is not an excuse to post messages in the wrong place.
Although The Org does not and cannot review all messages posted, and is not responsible for the content of any message, we at The Org reserve the right to delete any message for any reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Org, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (the makers of the bulletin board software), and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).
We at The Org also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.
Membership Information
Junior members are given access to all the publicly available forums. They are, however, given restricted posting permissions in some of these forums.
Junior Members can also search most of the main forums: see the advanced search (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/search.php) page for more details. You can check you posting privileges for any given forum by checking the Posting Rules box, usually at the top left corner of your screen.
Promotion to Member sets all posting permissions to Yes, with some notable exceptions: Guides, Library, and repository forums and the Ludus Magna forum. In these forums, new threads can only be posted by members of Staff. Please contact the Moderator(s) of these forums if you wish to start a thread.
Junior Members are also restricted from certain UserCP options, e.g. the Custom User Titles, and profile pictures. (See relevant section on the UserCP below.)
Promotion to Member
Promotion to Member is based on participation, conduct and contributions in your posts. Quantity of posts doesn't matter - you could be promoted on the basis of one amazing post, although just showing the ability to interact with the membership in a helpful and polite manner is easily sufficient. In other words, you don't need to do something special, just enjoy yourself whilst following the Forum Rules above. Introducing yourself (if you have not already done so) in the Entrance Hall (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?28) doesn't hurt either! ~:)
Promotions are handled manually by the Org Staff, and are generally done en masse. So as a very quick rule of thumb: if you've been here for a couple of weeks and been posting reasonably regularly during that time, you should be promoted to Member.
In any case, the staff will always try to help you if they can. If you feel perhaps that you've been mistakenly overlooked (as does happen on occasion), your best bet is to either PM TosaInu (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=6381) or Ser Clegane (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=5532) and explain your situation.
Senior Member
Senior Member is an honorific, used to recognize members' contributions to the overall good of the Org.
Contributions can range from creative endeavours (such as mods, art, guides and stories) to leadership and commitment (organization of community efforts, running events) to being a fine, honourable, upstanding member of the community. It is a way to recognize and say "thank you" to those who make the TW community a better place. Post count doesn't matter much: there are Senior Member's with less than 400 posts, and Members with thousands.
Two or three times a year, the Staff nominates Members who they feel are deserving of the Senior Member title. Only 10-12 Senior Memberships are approved; if more are nominated, that list is whittled down to the required number.
Senior members get a slightly larger PM mailbox, a title under their avatar, free beer at KukriKhan's house (although apparently none have so far shown up!), and the publicly displayed respect of the community.
Staff Organisation
As you can see from the View Forum Leaders (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showgroups.php?) page, there are a number of different types of Staff members.
The Org Staff comprises Administrators, Moderators, Content Managers, and Technical Administrators:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/images/Orgstructure.png
We have two types of Administrator, each with a specific role: Forum Admins are the overall Forum and Site Administrators, whereas the Technical Administrators are responsible for maintaining and improving the site as well as assisting Members with technical problems.
The Moderators have green usernames, whilst the two types of Administrators are a shade of red. We also have Content Managers, responsible for assisting content creators here at the Org. Please see this thread for more information on the Org's staff structure. All other Members have the same colour for their username (black). The Members listed on the Forum Leaders list are the moderators of Hosted Modification Forums, and are not members of Staff.
Moderator (and with Hosted Mod Leader) powers are forum specific. You can find out who moderates a particular forum by going to the Moderators box at the bottom of the forum homepage. A Moderator of one forum cannot moderate another forum. The exception is the Forum Administrator, who can moderate all forums, and the Technical Administrators who can solve problems all over the site.
A complete list of currently assigned staff members:
User Control Panel
There are many options and useful tools to be found in your User Control Panel (UserCP). There is a link to your UserCP at the top left corner of every page, or you can click this link (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/usercp.php?). Some of the key features are detailed below:
Avatars: Junior Members get a wide selection of avatars (~400) from the all three Total War games. The selection will increase when you are promoted to Member, and again if you are honoured with Senior Member status. The pool of avatars is also dependent on your postcount; the pool will gradually increase as your postcount goes up. You can view all the avatars available to your usergroup by clicking on the Show Avatars link on the Navigation bar at the top of each page.
You can select your avatars by going to UserCP/Edit Avatar or by clicking this link (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editavatar). By default, you are given an avatar called RTW 100, found in the RTW_M folder. Select the picture you'd like to change it to by clicking the little circle, then press Save Changes at the bottom. Your avatar should now be updated.
Custom Avatars, although supported by vBulletin, are not supported by the server running this site. Please ignore this option in the UserCP. We can upload a profile picture which will be displayed above your selected avatar.
Signatures: There is a strict limit on the overall size of signatures as we have a signature box. As a result, only the first 500*200 pixels of your signature (images and text) will be show. The rest will be not be shown. The box provides room for one or more pictures of 500*150 pixels (the maximum size), with 2 lines of text (above, below or split) or 11 lines (700 characters) of text, as well as various combinations of the two, e.g. 5 lines of text, and a couple of smaller pictures.
As mentioned above, pictures can be added to your signature, which will be displayed with your posts (unless you chose otherwise), to your profile, and within the body of your posts. You can do this by using the IMG vB code tags (see vB section).
The rules for signature pictures are:
51,200 bytes max.
no sound.
max 650 pixels wide, max 150 pixels high.
Scrolling topics containing high signatures is considered difficult, so they are limited there too. A signature can be 10 lines high, 500 characters long, 200 pixels high or what limit is reached first.
These restrictions are in addition to the general forum rules, so any inappropriate pictures are also prohibited. The Staff ask that Members adhere to these limits, as it makes the Org a better place for people on slower connections.
There are no specific rules for either profile pictures or the occasional image in a thread, although commonsense should be applied. Posting of very large images, both in terms of dimensions and file size, is not considered respectful behaviour.
The Org can host signature pictures; use this tool (http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Uploaders/picupload.php). Again, please ignore the Avatar upload, as this is not currently supported. You can also host the picture yourself, on your personal webspace or a site like ImageShack (http://www.imageshack.us/).
Thread Subscription: The best way to keep track of interesting/useful threads, or indeed threads you have posted in, is by using the thread subscription function.
For automatically keeping track of threads that you post in, modify the Default Thread Subscription Mode in your UserCP/Options. This link (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editoptions) should take you there. There are a number of options for thread subscription:
No email notification: the board will send no emails to you registered email account, although you will still be subscribed to threads.
Instant: the board send you a message as soon as possible about a new post in the thread.
Daily: Once a day, the board will send you an email about activity in the thread, assuming there is any.
Weekly: As with Daily, except once a week.
You can also set this manually each time you post. Just select the appropriate option in the Additional Options/Thread Subscription box, which is below the Reply to Thread box (the one you type your post in).
You can also subscribe to threads that you haven't posted in. Just to go the thread and select Subscribe in the Thread Tools menu.
Every subscribed thread will have a tick indicator next to You then just need to go your subscriptions (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/subscription.php?) (there are also links from your UserCP and from Quick Links).
There are a number of methods to unsubscribe from a thread. You can edit the post to change the thread subscription, delete the thread subscription from within your UserCP, or from the Thread Tools menu from within the subscribed thread.
There are also a couple of options for altering the notification settings for each thread: whilst editing you post, and in you UserCP – select the thread(s) you wish to change and then select the appropriate option from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the box.
You can organise your subscriptions into folders, in much the same way as for PMs, once you get too many to easily manage.
Editors: There are three different editors available: Basic, Standard, Enhanced (WYSIWYG). Each offers a different way of writing messages. The simplest of these is a simple text box, while the last is a fully-fledged WYSIWYG editor, which allows you to format your text as you want it and see the results immediately. Depending upon the capabilities of your web browser, you may not be able to use all of these options. If you experience problems when posting messages, try switching to a different interface type. Try each one out by selecting the appropriate option in the Edit Options page (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editoptions).
Buddy List: The buddy list is a small but often quite useful feature. In the Currently Active Users box of the Org homepage and the Who's Online page, users in your buddy list will have a + after their username, which allows you to quickly distinguish them. It also lets you see which of your buddies is online via Open Buddy List quick link. But perhaps its most useful function is that it allows you to quickly Private Message (PM) as an address book to PM a user (or number of users at once). The exact number is dependent on your User Level.
Misc options: There are various other useful preferences in your UserCP. For instance, if you have a slow connection, you can turn off various elements of messages, such as avatars, signatures and images in posts. Some prefer the basic look to the forums even if they have a fast connection. Another useful tool for bandwidth strapped users include changing the number of threads and/or posts displayed at one time.
For privacy conscious users, there is an "Invisible mode" option. This will make your online status visible only to Administrators. Information such as the time of your last activity, which thread you are currently viewing, or if you are online, will be hidden from users.
Members also have the ability to choose a Custom User Title. This is the test that is displayed directly below your Username – the text below you avatar is your primary Usergroup. By default, Custom User title will be your usergroup before you edit it.
Members can also now change their username without the assistance of an admin. See the Edit Email, Password & Username (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editpassword) section to do this.
Forum Browsing
Not yet fully written. Suggested topics: changing views, sorting orders, finding out who Moderates a forum, Online/Offline indicators, Posting Rules Box, Quick Reply.
Report Bad Post button:
The report bad post facility (see the https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/images/buttons/report.gif next to every post) is useful for Members to notify Moderators about serious infractions of the Forum Rules above (e.g. flaming or bad language) that you believe they have either not yet seen or have missed. This sends your message via an urgent email to every Moderator of the forum in question. It should only be used for this purpose: please do not use this facility frivolously. All other communication with Moderators should take place via the Private Message (PM) system.
Warning System
Questioning Warnings:
If you want to question the warning, or get more information about why you were warned, please PM the issuing Moderator to discuss. Moderators can rescind warnings at any time if it is justified. If the warning did not indicate which Moderator issued the warning, and it came from a forum with more than one Moderator, just PM the all mods of the forum to find out.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of your discussion with the moderator, you can PM TosaInu (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm&u=6381), our Forum Administrator. Should it concern general forum policy, as opposed to specific issues concerning the warning, you can post a thread in the Watchtower forum to discuss the policy.
Private Messages (PM)
Members can send each other private messages. Private messages work a little like email, and use much the same formatting as posts (vB Code, smilies and images), except that they are only visible to the recipients that you select.
Sending a Private Message
There are various ways in which to send a PM. One way is to use the Send New PM (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm) link in your UserCP, clicking Send PM to User the link in a member's profile, or by selecting the appropriate option from the drop down menu.
When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of the message in your Sent Items folder.
Private Message Folders
By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the Inbox and the Sent Items folders.
The Inbox folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent the message to you, and the date and time the message was sent. The Sent Items folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy of the message for future reference.
You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders' link. Each folder has a set of message controls that allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, or delete them completely. You may also have a button that allows you to forward multiple messages from a folder to another member of the forum.
You will need to periodically delete old messages, as there is a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed that number, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old messages. The exact number is dependent on your usergroup.
It is possible to download all your messages, or a subset of them, to your local computer for archiving purposes.
Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply to the message, or forward that message to another member of the forum.
Message Tracking
When you send a new private message, you may have the option to request a read-receipt for that message. This will allow you to check whether or not a message has been read by its recipient by viewing the Private Message Tracking page. This page is divided into two sections: unread messages and read messages.
The unread messages section shows all messages that you have sent with a read-receipt request, that have not yet been read by their recipient. The read messages section shows all messages you have sent with a receipt request that have been read and acknowledged by their recipient. The time that the message was read is also shown.
You can delete read receipt requests for both read and unread messages. Note: this will not delete the unread message; it will just end the tracking.
Using Buddy List
There are now two ways to use this feature to PM users. First add a few of users to your Buddy List: you can do this via the link in their user profiles, by clicking their username in the forums and selecting the Add to Buddylist option from the dropdown menu, or you can add usernames in this page - https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/profile.php?do=editlist.
Perhaps the easiest way to send a PM is to click Send a new PM (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/private.php?do=newpm) from your UserCP. This will allow you to send a new PM, much the same way as you post in the forum. You will see that your Buddy List is there as a kind of address book for users. Select the user(s) you wish to PM, enter a title and a message, and then send as normal.
The second method uses the Open Buddy List link from the Quick Links menu. A small window should pop up, with all the members of your buddy list. It should divide them into online or offline, a useful method of finding if your friends are currently online. Check the box beside a couple of them, and then press the PM Users button. As before a new PM box should appear, with the users you selected automatically entered into the recipients box.
Searching the Forums
Board Search
Section not yet written. Members can only search in specific forums. See advanced search (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/search.php) page.
Google Search
For finding previous threads that a member has posted in, Google is probably your best bet, but its index of the site is far from complete. Perhaps the best to find posts by an individual user is by search for "username's avatar"
e.g. "KukriKhan's avatar" site:forums.totalwar.org (try this link (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22KukriKhan%27s+avatar%22+site%3Aforums.totalwar.org&meta=))
It is possible to search for just a username, but adding the "'s avatar" means that it will only find posts in threads made by that user, and not posts with that user's name. However, Google also indexes forum pages, so you could get lucky and find a index page with that the username you are after sas either thread starter, or last poster.
CA Threads
Many like to read posts by CA staff members.
Threads containing useful information posted by CA members should have a CA shield under the Rating category. These are placed manually by both Org and CA Staff.
You can also use this feature to quickly find all useful information posted by CA staff in a forum. Just sort the forum by rating: the CA marked threads should now be displayed first.
You can also use Google: this link will find all posts by a CA staff member indexed by Google. (Not currently working)
"Avatar. CA" site:forums.totalwar.org (http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=%22Avatar.+CA%22+site%3Aforums.totalwar.org&btnG=Search)
Other Search Methods
Finding lost threads
Another trick that I find useful is either going to the Archive (there’s a link to them at the bottom of each page), or displaying more than the default number of threads with the full forum display. You can do this by creating urls such as this:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=32&page=1&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=100&daysprune=-1 (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=32&page=1&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=100&daysprune=-1)
Which should display the first 100 threads in the Colosseum. To change the forum, change the f=32 (e.g. f=26 is the Watchtower). You can also change the number of threads displayed at one time. Advance through the posts by changing the page number. The appropriate parts are highlighted above.
Another good way to find threads started by a specific patron is to sort a forum by thread starter. Go to the bottom of homepage of the forum you want to search, and select "Thread Starter" in the "Sorted By" drop down box. This will order the threads in that forum by the patron who started them. All you now you need to do is browse to find the username you are looking for.
These methods should make it easier to search for lost threads.
vB Code
vB code is a set of tags based on the HTML language which allow you to add extra formatting to posts (e.g. indent, lists, images and links). There is a through rundown of most of the vB codes (and how to use them) here (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/misc.php?do=bbcode). A useful set of tags not covered there are TABLE code tags. Please see this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=40986) for how to use them.