Wrong Planet FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

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calandale
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29 May 2007, 4:14 pm

The moving avatars are really bugging me. How can I make them stop?

Quick fix - hit the escape button. This should freeze them on the currently loaded page.

There are also image blocker addons for firefox, and perhaps other browsers.

Many versions of Adblock allow one to censor a specific avatar by right-clicking the image and selecting "block element".

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



lau
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01 Jun 2007, 7:16 am

How do I "collapse quotes"?

There is a Greasemonkey script that is quite nice. It stops display of all but the top level "quoted" parts of each post. You can even collapse the top level, as well as being able to expand all the rest:
Image

To get Greasemonkey up and running, see How do I block an obnoxious member's posts?

The "phpBB Collapse Quotes" script may be found here.

You will have to set the "Included Pages" in the same way as for "User Hide".

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



Last edited by lau on 10 Mar 2008, 11:33 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Quatermass
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03 Aug 2007, 6:18 pm

Why doesn't [spoil] work? (The sequel)

calandale wrote:
Actually, there is a way to simulate it. Just not the way that you expect it to do so.

Quatermass wrote:
Code:
[quote="spoiler"][color=white]Heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee's Johnny![/color][/quote]



Just use this template, with the text you want hidden


And it looks like:


spoiler wrote:
Heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee's Johnny!


There is a trace of the message, and you can
highlight over it, in order to fully view it.

Seems like a reasonable compromise,
since the actual spoiler isn't working.

Thanks to lau for telling me how to reformat this


I have been told that with certain WP backgrounds, spoiler texts still show up, even as white lettering in quote boxes. While I myself cannot see them, I was asked by lau to convert his spoiler text to an alternative using hexadecimal code, so, here's the template, but with the hexadecimal equivalent:

[quote="Quatermass"]
Code:
[quote="spoiler"][color=#FAFAFA]Heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee's Johnny![/color][/quote]


However, I personally cannot tell the difference, so it is probably a matter of personal preference....

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



Last edited by Quatermass on 04 Aug 2007, 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

TheMachine1
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03 Aug 2007, 6:37 pm

What size image can I post?

640x480 should be the largest size pictures you routinely post.
You should be able to right click on an image and then select image properties to view its size. Larger images are not forum friendly as they extend the maximum line length to the point reading the forum gets cumbersome.

There are occasional exceptions, such as the "Post an image of your desktop" thread, and other threads which, from their title, are specifically aimed at having large, high quality images posted.

Free image hosting sites like http://img242.imageshack.us/
have a feature to automatically convert an image to a forum friendly size if you select that option.

Ideally you should host your image on a image hosting site and not merely use links you find on the net. As the links may disappear or refuse to load when referred from WP.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



0_equals_true
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17 Aug 2007, 6:45 pm

Is there a list of the members and their details?

Cal said I should put this in here. Owe credit to richie who I saw post this. To think I created I crawler program to craw through all of the profiles :x

This is the little known members list:
memberlist.php?mode=group&g=17

It contains the basic information about members (not as detailed as in the individual profiles)

You can select from the dropdowns what field you wish to sort by and if you want your results in ascending or descending order.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



calandale
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15 Sep 2007, 2:09 pm

How do I make a poll?

Press the New Topic Button.

Write the body of a message and a title, as normal.

Add a question, where it says Poll Question

Then put your first possible answer in.
Hit the Add Option button.

Repeat preceding step as desired.

Hit submit.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



calandale
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15 Sep 2007, 7:20 pm

How do I post a YouTube video?

Open up a message for editing; either as a new post, or a prior one.

There is a series of buttons underneath the subject line.
One of them (Image) says "Post a YouTube Video". Push it.

A message box will open up, asking you for the URL of the you tube page.
Enter said address.
Click OK.

Now, there will be BB code, inside your message, which will display the you tube stream, when your post is displayed.

For example, you should see something like this:

Code:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZBbAZVw3_7A[/youtube]
If there is a "country code prefix", after the "//" and before "youtube.com", remove that. I.e. trim "//au.youtube.com" to just "//youtube.com" by removing the "au.".
Although not essential, if there is an "&" in the link, remove it, and anything after it. For example, remove anything like "&feature=related". All you want is the initial "?v=xyz123" part, as above.

Preview, and it should be there. Post.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



lau
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29 Nov 2007, 7:55 pm

How do I get avatars to have transparent backgrounds?

(An amalgam of useful tips)


There may be better ways, but here is one way to do it.

  1. Get GIMP : http://gimp.org
  2. Zoom in on future avatar (after opening the picture, prefer to be a .PNG image instead of a .JPG because .JPG makes it fuzzy)
    Image
  3. Make a selection box over a white area, do not include any of the picture in it.
    Image
  4. Select colour to alpha and say ok. This makes that box disappear to a different background/section is transparent.
    Image
  5. Reselect the selection button and pull it over the entire image.
    Image
  6. Erase the white parts, and use a good brush size. Small for small areas, big for large areas of background.
    Double click the eraser button for the brush selections. If you click hard edge on the scroll down part where you have the brushes it erases better too, without it it doesnt make it completely transparent.
    Image Image
  7. Click "Save as" and save it as a .GIF. If you save it as something else it won’t stay transparent (and PNG takes more space).
    Image

    It may go to some other box >_> if it does click export and save.


You can do larger areas with step 3 and 4, it makes it quicker with some images but harder with others.

Image and Image
It works, at least...

==========

The "Alpha" stuff is explained at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_compositing.

In brief, when it is just "one bit Alpha", every pixel in an image has a flag that goes with it, saying either "draw this normally" or "forget this pixel and just let the background show through".

You cannot do Alpha (transparency) at all in a JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group, .jpeg or .jpg) file.

With GIF files (Graphics Interchange Format), you can do transparency, but you don't get very good image quality (you can only have at most 256 distinct colours). It has the advantage of being compact.

The PNG (Portable Network Graphics) files are, in some senses, best, but often are rather large.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



eddiedog8
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10 Feb 2008, 1:31 pm

How do I put up an article?

whoa i found this out only selected people can post an article :)

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shadexiii
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01 Mar 2008, 7:54 am

How do I change my username?


You can't change your username.


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Kaleido
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19 Apr 2008, 10:00 am

How to get your age to show in the author panel?

How to show your age alongside your Post Count, Location and other details in the Author Panel – the Author Panel is the bit to the left of your post where your User or Nickname shows along with your avatar if you have one ;)

Click "My Account" at the top of the page to edit your profile. Under "Date of Birth", enter your birthdate in mm-dd-yyyy format. Despite what the example to the right may say, you must use hyphens and not slashes, or it will not display correctly in the Author Panel or the profile page.

Some people just put a birth date near their real one, so its clear ROUGHLY what their age is, but without giving their exact birth date because they are cautious about identity theft (although I'd think that wasn't all that big a risk).

Please bear in mind that you can't access the adult forum without giving your birth date and being at least 17 years old.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



KingofKaboom
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01 Jun 2008, 7:56 pm

What happens when my Inbox is full?

If your Inbox is full, and more mail arrives, the oldest mails drop out of the box to make way for the new ones.

If your Sentbox(Sent+Out) is full, you won't be able to send any more (or do the old ones drop off, again? I'm not sure about this one, and don't feel like testing it :) ).

If your Savebox is full, you can't put any more messages into it.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



mystyc
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10 Dec 2008, 11:50 pm

Where can I find a list of all the rules and policies regarding WP?

There are three sets of rules that contain the universal guidelines for every forum on WP:

  1. The WrongPlanet Rules: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt12459.html
    These rules basically concern posting and message board behavior, and reiterate the applicability of the Terms of Service and the Privacy policy. This is located in the General Autism Discussion forum as a "sticky" under the subject topic, "Announcement: WrongPlanet Rules. You must read this before posting."
  2. The WrongPlanet.net Terms of Service: http://www.wrongplanet.net/tos.txt
    This is a formal legal document regarding liability, service responsibilities and restrictions, and enforcement of the law. This link is located at the bottom of every page on WP.
  3. The WrongPlanet Privacy Policy: http://www.wrongplanet.net/asperger.html?name=Privacy
    Concerns user privacy, data collection, and data use. This link is located at the bottom of every page on WP.
  4. The #wrongplanet chat rules
    http://www.wrongplanet.net/chatrules.txt
    Note that the chatroom is independent and the moderatos of WP have nothing much to do with it.

Code:
Additionally, each forum might have additional rules located in a sticky thread.

Comment: I wanted to give The Haven as an example, but it does not have a simple official post on the rules. Will edit later based on recommendation.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.



lau
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03 Apr 2009, 2:29 pm

What is a "TOR user"?

ouinon wrote:
Was told this morning that I am TOR user, ( unbeknown to me ), "critical error" etc, and that could not post. Anyone else get this?

It seems to have gone away, but don't know why it did it. Was worried that it was that global worm.


WP wrote:
phpBB : Critical Error

Sorry. Tor users must get permission from the site admin before being allowed to post. You can email [email protected] to request an exemption from this rule.


The Problem

This seems to be cropping up more often. I gave a detailed explanation, somewhere else, but here goes again....

TOR is a system that lets people access the web anonymously and untraceably.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)

People volunteer to be "exit nodes", which means that all the traffic for the anonymous users comes from those IP addresses.

The system is used genuinely by political dissidents, say.

The system is misused heavily by spammers, etc.

The TOR designers understand this, and provide means whereby sites can easily reject TOR users, via blacklisting all IP addresses used as exit nodes.

All this would be OK if the people who set themselves up as TOR exit nodes knew what they were doing, but many of them don't. They have "dynamic" IP addresses. This means that each time they disconnect from the net, their old (now blacklisted) address goes back into a pool, and then passes on to some other user.

The blacklists are not updated terribly frequently (as a TOR exit node might just be temporarily offline). I think I heard it was something like a month, as the time an IP address might remain "tarnished" by having been used as an exit node.

It would be nice if ISPs could make it part of their rules. They could insist that a user with only a dynamic IP address was not allowed to operate as a TOR exit node.

The Solution

When the problem crops up, it will generally be just after you have re-connected to the net. Just disconnect and reconnect - which should give you a new IP address. Just possibly, you might get the same one back. So do it again, but stay offline for a little while.

Of course, this solution is of no use if you do have a static IP address and wish to operate as a TOR exit node. In that case, as the message states, you will have to ask Alex if he will exempt you.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.


_________________
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lau
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06 Aug 2009, 8:07 am

Why can't Wrong Planet do <feature of choice>?

Wrong Planet is essentially a phpNuke website, using phpBB3 and formerly, phpBB2 for its forums. However, the software has been quite heavily tailored, over the years.

Features that may be found on other websites, will not available on Wrong Planet for various reasons. The main ones being that they would take too much effort to add, or that we feel they would actually be detrimental.

For the latter category, asking for any significant "embellishments" to the site will fall on deaf ears. WP is all about the text of posts - not about big avatars or fancy signatures.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.


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lau
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06 Aug 2009, 8:15 am

Where are the bunnies?

I will (try to remember to) delete this message and repost a similar one when I make any updates... it just occurred to me that if people had this thread on their watched threads, they might like to know about updates.

The "bunnies"? Well, maybe I'll leave them here and/or hop over them with this.

NB Before posting here, please read the start of this thread.


_________________
"Striking up conversations with strangers is an autistic person's version of extreme sports." Kamran Nazeer