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Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Accounts: Do I need an account to use the site?; Does it cost anything to get an account?; What are the benefits of having an account?; How do I change my preferences?; I changed something and I don't like it! How do I put it back?; I created an account, but I haven't gotten the activation email!; If I get an account, will I be able to post stories like the regular contributors?
Stories: Can I post a story?; How do I enter my new story?; What are sections and how do I use them?; What's this "All Topics" box?; How can I keep track of my stories?; Why isn't my story showing up?; How does the story moderation system work?; Why was my story rejected?; I don't like this WYSIWG editor; how do I turn it off?
Comments: Do I have to have an account to post a comment?; How can I keep track of my comments?; What's the difference between "topical" and "editorial" comments?; What's comment rating and how do I use it?; I see things like "(2.85/6)" on comments; what does that mean?; How do I find out who rated a comment and what rating they gave it?; Some comments seem to have been rated "0". How did that happen?; What are all the different options for viewing comments?
Feeds: What's a feed?; Are feeds like RSS?; Where do I get a feed reader?; How do I subscribe to your feed?
Miscellaneous: My question wasn't answered here. Who can I contact for help?

Accounts

Do I need an account to use the site?: No; anyone can come and read the stories and comments here, and anyone can submit a comment. Creating an account will open up some extra features, though.
Does it cost anything to get an account?: No; signing up is free. The only thing you'll need to provide is a valid email address; we'll send an email to that address telling you how to activate your account. We won't ever give your email address to anyone else.
What are the benefits of having an account?: One big advantage is that you'll be able to post comments under a name of your choice, instead of having them all labeled "Anonymous Hero" (that's the name used for any comment left by a visitor who doesn't have an account). You'll also be able to keep track of your comments and see if anyone has replied to them or rated them (see the section on comments below for more information), create a personal profile that other users can see, and set some preferences for how you'd like to use the site.
How do I change my preferences?: In the right-hand column of each page will be a link which says "User Preferences". Click it to go to your personal preferences page. Across the top of the page will be a few links to different groups of preferences you can set. When you've set the preferences you want from a particular group, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the group and press the "Save Preferences" button.
I changed something and I don't like it! How do I put it back?: On the page for any group of preferences, you can click the "Reset Preferences" button to go back to the initial settings your account had when it was created.
I created an account, but I haven't gotten the activation email!: The most common cause of this is over-zealous spam filtering. If your email account has a "spam" or "junk" folder, look there to make sure the activation email wasn't accidentally flagged as spam.
If I get an account, will I be able to post stories like the regular contributors?: Probably not, at least at first. Only a small group of regular writers can directly add new stories to the site. Some other users can submit stories, but they go through a moderation process to determine whether they'll be posted. See the section on stories below for more information.

Stories

Can I post a story?: If your user account has permission to post new stories, then the first link in your user menu (located in the right-hand column, just beneath the search box) will say "Post New Story". Click the link and you'll be taken to a form you can fill out to add your story to the site.
How do I enter my new story?: Each story has three main parts: a title, an intro and a body. The intro is what appears on pages which list lots of stories (like the front page, or the index of a site section). When someone clicks a link to the full story, both the intro and body will be displayed. Because they both show up on the full story page, there's no need to repeat the intro in the body (and in fact this will look strange if you do it). The title, we hope, is obvious.
What are sections and how do I use them?: Sections are how stories on the site are organized. Even though there may not be an exact fit, try to pick the section which best suits what you're writing about.
What's this "All Topics" box?: The system which powers the site can also allow stories to be sub-categorized using "topics". For now we don't use this feature, so just leave this box set to "All Topics".
How can I keep track of my stories?: To see a list of all the stories you've posted, click the link in the right-hand column which says "Your Stories". The list will show the dates your stories were posted, the number of comments people added to your stories, and the number of new comments which have been posted to your stories since the last time you checked.
Why isn't my story showing up?: Not all users are able to have their stories appear immediately on the site; some users' posts have to go through a moderation process first. If your story doesn't show up after you've submitted it, it's probably waiting for review from moderators and there's no need to submit it again.
How does the story moderation system work?: Some users have been designated as site moderators; they can see stories which have been submitted, and they can discuss and vote on them. If enough moderators think the story should be posted, it'll show up where everyone can see it. If enough of them think it shouldn't be posted, the story will be deleted. Either way, the process shouldn't take longer than 36 hours, so if your story hasn't appeared within that time it was probably rejected.
Why was my story rejected?: Each moderator probably has his or her own reasons for thinking a story shouldn't be posted, but common culprits are poor spelling or quality of writing, overly inflammatory style, or factual inaccuracies. If you submit a story and it's rejected, keep in mind that this is not a reflection on you personally; even the best writers will sometimes have stories rejected, and can learn and improve from the experience.
I don't like this WYSIWG editor; how do I turn it off?: If you don't like the WYSIWYG editor (the set of buttons and controls that lets you add formatting and links to your comments and stories), you can turn it off by clicking the "User Preferences" link in the right-hand column, then clicking the "Interface" link at the top of the preferences page. Un-check the box which says "Use WYSIWYG Editor". If you decide later that you want to use it again, go back to that preferences page and check the box again.

Comments

Do I have to have an account to post a comment?

No, but if you don't have an account any comment you post will be listed under the name "Anonymous Hero" (this is something of a joke written into the system which powers the site; some places had taken to labelling such comments as "Anonymous Coward"). If you don't have an account you also won't be able to keep track of comments you've posted, and whether anyone has replied to them or rated them.

How can I keep track of my comments?

To see a list of all the comments you've posted, click the link in the right-hand column which says "Your Comments". The list will also show you the ratings of your comments (if any) and whether anyone has replied to your comments (and how many replies).

What's the difference between "topical" and "editorial" comments?

Some stories go through a moderation system before being posted. While that's happening, the site's moderators can post comments about how the story could be better written, or pointing out typos or other errors. These comments should be labeled "editorial" and will be hidden by default after the story is posted. All other comments should be labeled "topical".

What's comment rating and how do I use it?

In order to keep the quality of comments high, we ask users to rate the comments they see on the site. You can rate one comment at a time, or select ratings for all the comments on a page and submit them all at once; either way, you just select the rating you want from the drop-down box and press the "Rate All" button. Comments can be rated anywhere from 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The point of comment rating is to encourage thoughtful, well-written posts, not to reward or punish people based on whether they agree with you.

I see things like "(2.85/6)" on comments; what does that mean?

That's the current rating for the comment. It's just an average of all the ratings people have given, and the number of people who've rated the comment. So "2.85/6" would mean that the average of all the ratings for that comment is 2.85 and that six people have rated it.

How do I find out who rated a comment and what rating they gave it?

The rating numbers (see above) will be a link; click it and you'll see a list of all the people who have rated the comment, and the ratings they've given it.

Some comments seem to have been rated "0". How did that happen?

Some users have the additional power to give "0" ratings to comments. This is only intended for comments which are obviously spam or trolls, and which serve no useful purpose to the site. Comments which receive enough "0" ratings to bring their average rating below 1 will be hidden from most users, so if you are granted the privilege of handing out "0" ratings you should use it with care. Again, the purpose of this system is to prune out comments which are completely worthless, and not to punish people who disagree with you.

What are all the different options for viewing comments?

On any page which shows comments, you'll see a set of options for controlling how they're displayed. Here's what they do:

The "View" options determine which comments are displayed (for example, you can choose here to show or hide editorial comments).
The "Display" options determine how comments which reply to each other will be displayed. "Threaded", for example, will show all the replies to a particular comment indented beneath it.
The "Sort" options let you choose how to sort comments; for example, you can choose to show the highest-rated comments for a story first, and lower-rated comments below them.
The "Rate" option determines whether you'll see ratings boxes on each comment.

Feeds

What's a feed?: A feed is a special file that a website can provide; it lists all the latest things posted to the site in a format that certain special programs (called "feed readers") can understand. If you have a feed reader, you can tell it to keep track of our feed (this is called "subscribing"), and the feed reader will let you know each time a new story is posted here. This can be a great convenience if you want to keep up with a lot of sites, but don't have time to visit each one of them on every day to check for new posts.
Are feeds like RSS?: Sometimes you'll see feeds referred to as "RSS feeds", "Atom feeds", "RDF feeds", "XML feeds", "syndication feeds" or other strange names. Except for some minor technical differences they all mean the same thing, so we just say "feed" because it's simpler. You'll also see feed readers called by several names (for example, "news readers", "news aggregrators", "RSS aggregators" and other big words). Again, we prefer just to call them "feed readers".
Where do I get a feed reader?: Many feed readers are available for free, and some are run through websites so you don't even have to download anything. A list of popular feed readers is available here.
How do I subscribe to your feed?: To subscribe to our feed, just enter the address of this site -- http://www.chequer-board.net/ -- into your feed reader and it'll locate our feed and add it to your list of subscriptions. Or, if you use a feed reader that runs through a web site, you can click one of the buttons below to subscribe. If you don't see a button for your feed reader, let us know and we'll work on adding one as soon as possible.

Miscellaneous

My question wasn't answered here. Who can I contact for help?: If you have a question about the site that isn't answered here, please write to us and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

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