Resource A Helpful User Guide- now with pictures !

The Inner Sanctum: A Guide​

So! My goal here is to identify issues I see people having frequently, and in turn, making little guides that should be helpful to those that need more of a visual to understand things.
This will grow over time as I find more topics to share with you all.

Thank you for not banning me, James.

 

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Tricks for Mobile Users

If you are using your phone to view the site, there are some things you may or may not know. What I want you to do is turn your phone sideways (unlock that screen position).

This is the top of my screen with my phone upright in my hand. And then the same location on the screen if I turn it.

Again, let's look at my RT. It's got some fancy coding in there that will stretch out your screen. Or, maybe not?

And last example I have for you is the preferences page. No side bar vs. side bar. There are things hiding from you in plain sight.

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Editor & Image Sizing

This is found in the list under "Your Account"
First and foremost, note the link pictured.

I... Did not realize it was there, I genuinely thought this page was just broken or something when I first started.
In playground, you can test coding and follow the link easily to find a basic guide to possible BB codes on site.

Please Note: the playground will not save a draft of anything you are editing.
It's not like a normal post box and if you leave the page you will lose anything you had there unless you hit back on your browser and get lucky.

So let's try to test out an image's size just because I need some sort of example, and you all could probably benefit from this trick, too.

"Oh no, help me, my image is HUGE. "

CLICK on the image. A box will appear. You can adjust your size so easily.

Another method is to toggle on the BB Code marked with the [ ] symbol button shown on the top right.

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Theme Picker

You can go about this two different ways.

The first is by going through the Preferences page. To do this you click your name, then Preferences. You'll see a drop-down menu.

There's another route to take!
First you'll want to get to the bottom of your page. Don't want to scroll there?
Click on the down arrow found at the bottom right of your screen!

Now, that you're at the end of the page, you'll see this bottom bar:

Themes are updated from time to time.

Notice the Accessibility themes? These, in particular, may or may not help with dyslexia.

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Navigating Your Threads

When you're new to a forum setting, it's easy to feel a little lost.
Essentially, anything that you have posted can be found in a handful of ways, so let's check that out.

If you're at the top of the screen it's going to look a lot like this.

If you're further down the screen, you can click the arrow that sits beside the "Forums" button.

and for mobile,

• Your Threads: This is a list of the threads that you've started yourself.
• Threads With Your Posts: Any thread you've made a post inside will appear in this list.
  
• Watched Threads:

( I'll break this down )

The Watch Function is a great way to keep an eye on threads. You can view the settings for this under preferences.
Edit these as it suits you.

Automatically watch content you create: will give you a notification if someone has posted in your thread. It will also add your thread to your "watched threads."
You'll also get emails for this unless you turn that off.

Automatically watch content you interact with: means if you post in any thread, it will be added into your watch list.

You can also choose to do this manually. If you are already watching a thread, the same button will give you the option to "unwatch" it.

So, if you're in a roleplay with someone, and they started the thread, make sure to click that watch button so it doesn't get lost!
And, if you've found threads you just like to look at and want to get updates on them, watch it, buddy!
You get it.

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Locking your Request Threads

This is a great feature that is only available to users when posting request threads.
Locking it means no other user can post comments below, though you are able to, because it's your thread.

So, let's start with a new thread.
You'll begin to set it up as you normally would.
But, go ahead and click that button that says
"More Options..."

Once you open that menu, it will look like this at the bottom of the page.
Notice the box I have placed, this is the important part.

Uncheck the box.

After you post your thread, you will see this under your post.

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Profile Banner Dimensions

Care to make a custom banner?
Well, Here is a look at some dimensions that should help with that!

Just remember, it will stretch and shrink depending on your window size.

The smaller hover will focus on the center of the banner specifically!

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Badge Display

First you'll find your icon at the top and select that to go to your own profile.
Click on your name.

Next you will select the "Badges" option to see what you've earned so far.

• Staff can display 12
• Nobility can display 8
• Standard Account can display 4

Scrolling, you'll see various Badges.

If you wish to customize your display (although Xenforno does not give us the option to order them in a specific way, it seems to follow the dates and times badges were added onto the site as far as order of display method goes) you can toggle badges on or off with the click of this megaphone button.

The page will refresh after each button you click, so just wait a moment for that and then carry on.

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Threadmarks

Sometimes people use threadmarks in their threads. I use them here in this one!
For quick navigation and browsing, you may choose to utilize threadmarks. A good place to have these might be in a picture forum, or coding forum. There are plenty of ways to make use of it if you deem it necessary or helpful.

To use them for navigation, find the button at the top of the thread you are in.

Simply click the button and find a drop-down menu.

To create your own threadmark in one of your threads, you'll only need to type it into the bar above your post.

If you want to go back and add one through editing your post, the option will be on the bottom instead.

You can also edit what the threadmark says by clicking on the pencil icon here.

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Organize Your Roleplays

Finding it difficult to keep track of your active roleplays on site? I think I can help with that.
If you don't often make use of your "watched threads" section, which I've spoken about above under Navigating Your Threads, this might be what convinces you to do so.

Let's take a peek at my Watched List. It's... a mess. So many things.

Let's filter all of this so that only my active roleplays show up and it leaves out the rest of what I'm following. Looking on the right side there is a button to filter.

This is even easier to do on mobile. On the PC the menu might cut off and not let you reach the bottom, but mobile gives you check boxes and allows you to scroll all the way down.

On PC, to select multiple forums at one time, you will want to hold the CTRL button as you click your selections.

When you are finished selecting all the places you have active roleplays, scroll down and tick the box to "Save as Default." Then click "Filter."

You can see what I've selected on top of my Watched List here.

Now, with just a glance to the right hand side, I can see who was the last person to post in all of my active stories, and where I owe posts.

The list will remain this way anytime you revisit your watched threads unless you change it to a new default.

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Signature Image Sizes

When you go in to your signature settings and your image is too large (covered in post #3) you might not know what size is the best option to make it fit properly.

Somewhere lost in an old announcement, we have this information, but it's already buried. So, after a friend asked me where to find this, I realized a new post here was an easier place to store and locate the specs!

This is a sample test to show how the sizing works. Your signature space is 250px wide, however, due to spacing, images should be 245px or the bottom of the picture will be cut off.

You can find the old announcement here for more examples of the signature spacing: Site Signature Update (and a new theme)

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