So how does everything work?

[Savior]

If I ask about complex stuff that only like one or two people would know (don't quote me on that because I'm guessing every member that's been here for like a year would probably know most terms), forgive me for that 'cos I'm kinda new and don't get how stuff works around here. :/

First off, what are the various member groups? Well, apart from the obvious stuff like the admins, I mean all the stuff like Acolytes, Mascots and Yellow Members. What do they mean? :I

Secondly, what does the ''code'' option when you make a post or topic do? It confuses me greatly since trying to do stuff like spoiler tags and encoding videos and images are all seperate things and remembering all the things boggles me like a confused dog chasing its tail. Me no understand.

Thirdly, what's the usual sort of consideration of fun or general activity? I mean, everyone has their own interest in games and hobbies and stuff, but what does everyone here do apart from discuss stuff?

And, how does the ''Happy Birthday'' membergroup work minus the shiny red name and special powers? It looks kinda confusing at first glance to be quite honest.

Last but not least, apparently you have to ask a certain admin to change your nickname? I've been researching it on past threads in here, but I never quite seem to understand.

And does anyone have any advice for a noob to forums like me to get me used to this place? I'm not really used to the atmosphere of this place (I blame certain exposure to some of the other sub-forums) but it seems easy to get comfortable with.

If I could get some answers on these questions, I'd really appreciate it, even if it's just impartial.

Thanks to anyone who finds the time to answer my questions.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

First off, what are the various member groups? Well, apart from the obvious stuff like the admins, I mean all the stuff like Acolytes, Mascots and Yellow Members. What do they mean? :I

http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,7629.msg480305.html#msg480305

Secondly, what does the ''code'' option when you make a post or topic do? It confuses me greatly since trying to do stuff like spoiler tags and encoding videos and images are all seperate things and remembering all the things boggles me like a confused dog chasing its tail. Me no understand.

Code: [Select]

It [b]disables[/b] [i]all[/i] bbcoding so that you can easily provide examples to other people.

Thirdly, what's the usual sort of consideration of fun or general activity? I mean, everyone has their own interest in games and hobbies and stuff, but what does everyone here do apart from discuss stuff?

Discuss more stuff. What do you expect from a forum?

And, how does the ''Happy Birthday'' membergroup work minus the shiny red name and special powers? It looks kinda confusing at first glance to be quite honest.

You get it on your birthday. That's about it.

Last but not least, apparently you have to ask a certain admin to change your nickname? I've been researching it on past threads in here, but I never quite seem to understand.

Your nickname is supposed to be what identifies you, and you should not have to change it as a result. If you've typo'd it or something you can ask an admin for help.

And does anyone have any advice for a noob to forums like me to get me used to this place? I'm not really used to the atmosphere of this place (I blame certain exposure to some of the other sub-forums) but it seems easy to get comfortable with.

Lurk more.

[fauxm]

http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,7629.msg480305.html#msg480305

Mascot and YOU WA BAN: silly groups, open to anyone to join and does not have to be staff approved

In this thread, it says the Mascot and YOU WA BAN ranks are open, but when I go to my Group Membership settings page, the only groups there are Atelier Idol, BunBunMaru Staff, No OS/Browser, Resident Artist++, Shrine Janitor, and Wordsmith, and only the No OS/Browser group is open without requesting membership. So did the requirements for those change since 2010, or am I just glitched? Looking at the groups' description pages, they each both only have six members.

[theshirn]

They used to be open and selectable; later they became gimmick groups that had to be assigned.

[NekoNekoRex]

The Birthday group has special powers related to avatars and member titles.

[Fonzi]

Greetings. I'm a noob with a noobish question, and I'm not even sure if this is the best place to ask it, but here I go:
When registering and posting, one gets prompted to answer a verification question. In my case the question was: "Are you not a bot?"
Trying out all sorts of negative replies, none of them were the "correct" answer. I retried the whole registration and received a different question "What is 25 minus four?", the answer to which is much more obvious than the previous question.
So if anyone would be kind enough to tell me the correct answer to "Are you not a bot?" for future reference, I'd much appreciate it.
Thank you.

[Kilgamayan]

I don't think there's any good way to explain this, but...

Assuming the answer to the question "Are you a bot?" is "No", the answer to the question "Are you not a bot?" is most likely "Yes".

[Fonzi]

Oddly enough, I tried answering "yes" as well, although not with capitalization, so that might have been the problem. Thanks for the insight.