I'm New to Proboards : What Do? -- THE GUIDE

[Matthew Williams]

Welcome to the “I’m New to Proboards – What Do?” Guide!

This guide has been written by yours truly, Maple, just for those of you who are brand new to the Proboards style of role playing! It, as you have probably already been able to see, differs greatly from layouts of other well-known playing sites (LiveJournal, Solia, Gaia, etc.) and is very closely related to the layouts provided by another forum-based site, InvisionFree. I know that, at first, websites such as this may seem daunting, but I promise you, after a little while here you’ll be so used to it that nothing bothers you!

My handy little guide shall encompass a little bit of everything you need to know about role playing on a Proboards layout. We’ll talk about layouts, profiles, how to play, Chatango Boxes, PM systems, Codes… You name it, we’re probably going to mention it a little bit in here.

This project will span numerous responses, so just keep going until you see what you need, or just read from the beginning! I promise, everything here will be as exciting as possible and completely relevant!

Sit back, relax, and begin your lesson~

[Matthew Williams]

I Found A Site I Think I Want To Join :: Now What?

You have just taken your first big step into the world of Proboards! You found a site that you like the plotline for and think, hey, maybe this will be fun. You really want to go ahead and reserve a character, BUT WAIT. We’re not that far yet, now are we? Nope! Let’s first get familiar with the site.

Take a look around. Each Proboard layout is different and unique, created by the Administrator’s liking. No two Proboards will be EXACTLY alike. Each one will have different Boards and Different Forums and Different Threads. What you, as the new applier, must do is glance around and become familiar with it. What I shall do to help you along is do a nice screencap of my particular board and use arrows and comments to help you figure out MY layout.

(And yes, this probably will stretch my board, orz.)

There! Now you have a basic explanation of them! You see? This isn’t so hard after all, is it?

Now that we’ve gotten a feel around the place, let’s go reserve ourselves a character! Just click the Drop-Down menu in the “Welcome” Section, and go to the Reserves. Make sure your character isn’t already Taken or on Reserve, and post! There you go! You just finished step one! Now that you have your reserve… Go read the Rules and Regulations. It’s CRUCIAL for all players to read EVERYTHING written here, even if you don’t understand it all just yet. Most Moderators will leave surprises in this section, like hidden words, that they will expect to see in your application to prove that you DID read the rules!

Now that you are familiar with the rules, CREATE AN ACCOUNT. Yes, you do this now! However, never make it Character-Specific. Like… Say, in the case of our Board, you are applying for America. NEVER make an account with the name “AMERICA” or “ALFRED F. JONES”. That’s presumptuous. You may, however, make it ALLUDE to your character (“Burger Muncher”, “Hero Baby”, etc). You will need an account to post your profile.

[Matthew Williams]

I’ve Made My Account… What Do I Do With This Application?

You fill it out, obviously!

In the “Application Template” Topic, you will find 2 posts – One will be what the Application LOOKS like when it’s posted. The one beneathe it will be written inside of a Code Box. Copy the code written here and paste it into a Document to begin your application! That’s simple, right?

Now, let’s say your deadline is 4-days, and on day 3 you’re starting to realize that MAYBE it’s not going to be done in time. That’s no problem! Take what you have worked on, and do the following :
1. Click on “Character Profiles”. That’s in the “Character Specific” Section.
2. Go to the “In Progress” section.
3. Look at the top. You should see something that says, “Create New Topic”, or just “New Topic”.
4. Click.
5. In this new topic, write the name of your character in the title and attach [WIP] at the end of it! That lets the moderator know that you are working on it!
6. Complete when you can (On my board, Deadline is 4-days, but a WIP gets a 2-day extension)!

When your application is FINISHED, make SURE there is a Thread for it in the “In Progress” section. If it is FINISHED, do NOT have “[WIP]” tagged on at the end. When the Mod see’s that it is complete, it will be checked over. If it’s good to go? You will be ACCEPTED and the Profile will be moved (by the moderator) to the “Accepted Applications” section!

Congratulations, you have finished that! But now a Mod is telling you to go do all of these sign ups? Don’t panic! That’s just below the Applications Forum. It’s called “School Sign Ups”. Everything found inside should be easy and straightforward. To apply in any of those topics, just copy the code and fill it out.

You are now ready to begin Role Playing!