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Old 05-06-2009, 04:28 AM   #1 (permalink)
Juicious Maximus III
 
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Default READ ME! The Newcomers Guide to MusicBanter

The moderators team have put their heads together and written up a guide for newcomers to our community. All newbies should read the welcome section, then use the index or search to find answers to their questions.


INDEX :

  • Welcome
    • Introduce yourself
    • Put yourself up for adoption
    • Dos and donts
  • Simple User Guide
    • Quoting, editing & deleting posts
    • Post Interfaces
    • Posting / Attaching Images to Posts
    • Embedding youtube videos
    • Creating New Threads
    • Searching
    • Private Messages
  • Frequently Asked Questions
    • How do I upload a large/animated avatar?
    • How do I put my last FM in my sig?
    • Can I link my blog / website / whatever in my sig?
    • Can I post download links to my own stuff?
    • How do I change my name?
    • How do I change my user-title?
    • Can I make my own members journal?
    • Why can't I see my post in the members journal forum?

Last edited by Guybrush; 05-04-2011 at 05:33 AM.
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Old 05-06-2009, 04:28 AM   #2 (permalink)
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Welcome

Welcome to musicbanter! As you've probably found out, musicbanter is a large internet community for people who want to discuss music, write/read album reviews and so on. Musicbanter is heavily moderated by a moderators team that do their best to keep this place ad-free and friendly to registered users. As a result, there are some strict rules that you need to pay attention to, otherwise you might get perma-banned. Let's hope it doesn't get to that. In general, we want members who are here to be part of our community and not those who only sign up to promote themselves, events or an artist. Newcomers who are here to advertise something are generally not allowed to stick around for long.

Posting links requires that you have a 15 posts post count. The forums are divided into different reasonably self-explanatory sections. Posting in the introductions forum and lounge section does not add to your post count and posts in the editors pick and members journal area need to be validated by moderators before they show up.


Introduce yourself

If you wanna be a part of our community, you should start by introducing yourself. Do so by creating a new thread in the introductions forum. What you wanna write is up to you, but some things you might include is who you are, age and gender, where you come from and, of course, what sort of music you like.

First impressions are very important, so make an effort!


Put yourself up for adoption

If you want, you can try putting yourself up for adoption in the http://www.musicbanter.com/introduct...pt-newbie.html thread. Exactly what a foster parent / adoptee do is up to them, but if you make a good impression in your introductions thread, some might want to take you on as a young padawan / grasshopper / apprentice.

In any case, it's a good way to get to know someone on the forums!


Dos and donts

On musicbanter, you have to post according to the rules. Posting here is a privilege and not a right. Rule breaking may result in bans or gained infraction points. Infraction points can accumulate over time and if you get enough, they eventually result in a ban. Moderators can also see the infraction history of all users and the severity of punishment tends to increase with the amount of infractions previously recieved. Other than obeying the rules, there are a couple more things you should be aware of.

These are threads will be deleted on sight :
  • Any advertising whatsoever
  • What genre is this?
  • Please name my band
  • Hello i'm new here, here's a link to my blog
  • Hear my band
  • I don't know the name of this tune, download a sample of it here
  • Vs threads (Maybe left open at moderators discretion)
  • Help me with my project/study/survey/poll

Please don't start any of these threads unless you have our explicit permission. Also, new members should stick around long enough to become a part of our community before they start promoting stuff. Other than that, whenever you make a new thread, make an effort. For example, if you start a thread about a band, please add a little info on who they are or some kind of opinion about them and so on. Try and write a little more than just "anyone heard them?"!
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Old 05-06-2009, 04:28 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Simple Users Guide

This is a simple user's guide which should help with some of the basics. Our forums use BBCode, an html-ish set of code tags that let's you format text and do other things in your posts. You might wanna also check out our list of MusicBanter's BBCodes and how to use them.



Quoting, Editing & Deleting

On any forum, it is prudent to avoid double/triple posting as it clutters up threads. You can do this by making use of the multi-quote/edit features of the forum.

If you want to use more than one quote in a post, use the multi-quote button to quote each post instead of using the regular quote button and creating a new post for each post you are quoting. The multi-quote button is located at the bottom right of each post, right next to the quote button. Simply click the multi-quote icon for each post you want to quote before you press the "QUOTE" button on the final post. When you click the icon, it will change, indicating that the next time you click "quote" on a post, its content will also be quoted.

If you make a post and then decide you want to make a revision to it, rather than making a second amended post, you can simply edit the first post.



Post Interfaces

There are two main interfaces for making a post/reply on this forum - the Quick Reply interface and the Advanced Reply interface. If you type up a post using the quick reply interface and decide that you want to switch to the advanced posting interface, there is a Go Advanced button available.

The Quick Reply box is located at the bottom of any thread. To use this, simply type your message in the box and click the reply button. Provided in this interface are basic text formatting functions, and image/hyperlink/quote functions.

The second more advanced posting interface is accessed by clicking the Quote button at the bottom of any post or by clicking the Post Reply button at the bottom of any thread. Thread creation defaults to the advanced posting interface. This interface includes all the basic Quick Reply widgets as well as extensive emoticons (smilies) support, advanced text formatting and additional vBulletin tag widgets. Furthermore, the advanced reply interface allows you to manage attachments, rate and subscribe to threads etc.



Posting / Attaching Images to Posts

This is also covered in the BBCode list. For simply posting off-site pictures in a post, use the [IMG] BBCode tags.

Usage : [img]value[/img]
Example Usage : [img]http://www.musicbanter.com/images/statusicon/forum_new.gif[/img]

If you want, you can also attach an image with your post. Please don't do so unless you have ownership of the picture you attach. The file size limit for such attachments is 976.6 KB for pictures. Other attacheable formats are zip and doc files, though at very limited file size. When you write a post, click "Go Advanced" if you're not in the advanced editor, then look for the "Manage Attachments" button somewhere under the post editor box.



Embedding youtube videos

This is also covered in the BBCode list. You can use the [youtube][/youtube] BBCodes to embed youtube videos in your post.

Usage : [youtube]value[/youtube]
Example Usage : [youtube]JFwCCL0Vh6U[/youtube]

The "value" is the ID of the video you want to embed. As an example, the ID values of the following two youtube video URLs have been bolded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TcDLCkW5SM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TcDLCkW5SM&feature=PlayList&p=840A040DB10EDCA1&playnext=1 &pl aynext_from=PL&index=8



Creating New Threads

If you plan to create a new thread, please check that there isn't already a similar thread in existence. To do this, use the search function at the top of the screen. Your search will yield more accurate results if you do an advanced search and try searching by both title and post content. If you want to make a thread about a band whose name consists of three or fewer letters such as Can, Yes or U2, searching for earlier made threads can be hard since search terms have to be four letters or more. In those situations, check out Comus' thread http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...haracters.html to see if there already is a thread about the band or artist.

Ensure that the thread is meaningful and well set out, if you make a thread, also make an effort. Also note that VS threads are very heavily moderated - if you're going to make one, at least choose a sensible comparison and formulate a good argument yourself.



Searching

Near the top of the screen, there is a search menu which offers a basic and advanced search function. The advanced search function consists of many different criteria, and these are the primary ones of interest:

* Search Entire Posts / Search Entire Titles
* Show Results as Threads / Show Results as Posts
* Search By User Name

The basic search function searches entire posts by default and offers a search parameter for displaying results as threads or posts.

Please note that the minimum search string length is 4 characters - this is a limitation of the vBulletin system. In order to circumvent this limitation and perform a successful search, search for a related relevant string instead of searching using the original string. For example, if you are looking for a thread about the band called XTC, it would be sensible to search for an album by the band, i.e. English Settlement.



Private Messages

Private Messages can be sent between users. You can send a message to one or more users. A link to your private messages can be found in the forum's upper right corner or in the left-hand menu in your control panel. From that page, you can see the contents of your inbox and can also navigate to the outbox to see your sent messages. Links in the menu on the left let you send new messages, set up your own folders or track messages.

Remember that there's a limited amount of messages that can be stored on your account. How much space you have left is shown on the bar of your "list messages" page. Delete messages in the inbox/outbox if you have too many.

Last edited by Guybrush; 03-01-2015 at 02:59 PM.
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Old 05-06-2009, 04:32 AM   #4 (permalink)
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Frequently Asked Questions

These are questions commonly asked answered. However, if you have a question and you can't find the answer below, in the Users Guide or in the BBCode list, just leave a post with your question in this thread.


How do I upload a large/animated avatar?
By default when uploading an avatar in the user control panel, the vBulletin system restricts it to 80x80 pixels or 19.5 KB. If you want a larger avatar, simply post your desired picture in the Avatar Requests thread after reading the instructions in that thread. Currently our maximum size is 175 pixels wide by 250 pixels high. If you want to create an animated avatar, there are many programs on the internet with which you can do this.


How do I put my last FM in my sig?
You can include your last.fm chart using [last.fm.charts=YOUR_CHART_STYLE]NAME_AT_LAST.FM[/last.fm.charts].

Usage : [last.fm.charts=Option]value[/last.fm.charts]
Example Usage : [last.fm.charts=lastfmplain]Seltzer[/last.fm.charts]

Check out last.fm charts to get an overview of the chart options.


Can I link my blog / website / whatever in my sig?
Advertisement is not allowed on musicbanter. If you want to put up an ad to a personal project, show you're here to be a part of our community and not just here to promote yourself first.


Can I post download links to my own stuff?
Same answer as above.


How do I change my name?
Moderators do not have the power to change user names, so you need to send a request to Yac, the administrator.


How do I change my user-title?
Provided you have enough posts (post count of 50ish we believe), you can do so in the "Custom User Title" box in the Edit Your Details of your Control Panel.


Can I make my own members journal?
Members journals are a very good way to promote yourself, your reviews or your ramblings. However, before you make one, you should first try and become part of our community. When you think you're ready, request one in the About Members Journal thread.


Why can't I see my post in the members journal?
The Members Journal forum is more heavily moderated than most other forums on musicbanter and each post there must be validated by a moderator before it appears. Because of this, make sure you put a little effort in your posts there and have patience!

Last edited by Guybrush; 06-04-2012 at 05:09 AM.
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Old 05-06-2009, 04:41 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Useful guides and other links


Navigation

These are threads that help you find stuff on the site.



Guides and how-tos

These are threads that give you instructions or tips on how to do something.



Informative / Educational threads

These are informative and educational threads that aim to teach you something about a subject, typically a broad genre of music.



Community / Fun Stuff

These are recreational threads with predicted long survivability (typically stickied).


If you wanna read album reviews or discussions, thoughts and opinions around music, then the Editors Pick or Members Journal forums are well worth checking out.
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Old 05-06-2009, 05:00 AM   #6 (permalink)
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place holder

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Old 05-06-2009, 05:00 AM   #7 (permalink)
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.. So this is what the newcomers guide looks like. As I mentioned in the first post, the guide is a collaboration effort by the mod team. If you have any questions not answered in this guide or in the BBCode list, feel free to ask them here and we'll try and answer them and/or add them to the faq or user guide. Also, if you have any suggestions for helpful links, changes, etc - just leave a post!

Hope you like it!
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Old 05-17-2009, 05:31 PM   #8 (permalink)
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Bump!

Any members feel they can add to this thread, please post suggestions...
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Old 05-17-2009, 05:40 PM   #9 (permalink)
I'm sorry, is this Can?
 
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Maybe add this and contribute to it to help stop multiple threads: http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...haracters.html
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Quote:
Originally Posted by antonio
classical music isn't exactly religious, you know?
um
last.fm
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Old 05-18-2009, 01:55 AM   #10 (permalink)
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^Added to the "Creating New Threads" section of the user guide and under useful guides and links.
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