Difference between revisions of "FAQ"

Revision as of 12:23, 29 November 2005

General

What if my question is not listed here?

At the bottom of this page, you will find a list of links with pages that provide more information. Internal links to the other help pages on this site, and external links to sites that run on the same system. Maybe you will find your answer on one of those pages.

If you have a question about something specific, for example if you need further clarification of any rules we have set, please pose your question at the discussion tab of the relevant page. That way your question might also benefit other users.

If you can’t find a relevant page to attach your question to, you can ask it on this page’s discussion tab.

If it’s a question you’d rather pose in private, you can email the administrators at faramirfiction@gmail.com.

So, what’s this ‘Interactive Story’?

The Faramir Fanfiction Archive started it’s life at Angelfire, a provider of free webspace. However, life at a free web account is very restricted. So when we finally bought faramirfiction.com, with all the freedom that gave, we wanted to make good use of all those new possibilities and offer our visitors something more than plain, ‘flat’ pages. This interactive story is one of the things we came up with.

An interactive story is written by its readers, and everyone is welcome to join in. As you read the story, each page tells part of the story, and each page ends with two choices for what to do next. Click on one of the two links to read what happens next. When you reach the end of the part that the readers before you have written, you have the possibility to write the next chapter.

There are lots more interactive stories out there, covering all sorts of fandoms, and using a variety of different scripts and formats. This one is about Faramir, and it’s a wiki.

And, what's a ‘wiki’?

A Wiki is a type of content management system that allows all users to easily and quickly add and edit content, create links and new pages. The term "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian "wiki wiki", which means "quick" or "informal" - and that a wiki system certainly is: all you have to do to create a new page or link to an existing one, is put a word (or several words) in [[double square brackets]].

There is a wide selection of wiki software available. This wiki runs on MediaWiki. You may have seen it before; it is the same engine Wikipedia runs on.

And what's so great about wikis?

They're great for collaborative projects. You're not dependent on a webmaster: everyone can create new pages, edit them, and make links.

All pages have their own discussion page (the 'talk' pages) where you can comment on the page's content; see the tabs at the top of your screen. There you'll also see a tab to edit the page. This is an essential part of the wiki way: all users can edit (almost) all pages; no one 'owns' a page.

Everyone can edit pages? Isn’t that unsafe?

We trust you are all mature adults who respect one another's work, but even if we should be visited by a vandal, pages can be restored to their original state. That is what the history tab is for. You can look at all previous versions of a page there, and save the last undamaged version should some sad, bored, immature, disturbed person destroy a page.

We hope however, that being able to edit and link will create a whole new level of interactivity. You might want to give just one option at the end of your chapter, and leave the other one to be filled in by whoever gets there first. Or maybe you want to enter a very long chapter without having to breaking it up into parts, and leave it to other users to edit in an option somewhere in the middle, in a place that best suits their needs. Perhaps you'd even like to create pages to provide background information on (original) characters or locations, all easily linked to from your chapter and those of others.

Reading

How do I find new chapters?

All newly created pages show up on the New Pages list – you’ll find the link in the menu on the left. There you’ll also find Recent Changes which does not only list brand new pages, but also changes made on existing pages.

New chapters will also be posted on the Interactive Home page for a while, and there’s a list of the most recent chapters on the Hotlist.

If you have lost track of all the twists and turns, you can see a list of all chapters on the Overview page. If you’re a regular visitor, the chapter you have recently read will show up as dark blue links, while the new ones (or those you have not read recently) are a much brighter blue.

With the old system there was a button to go to the previous chapter at the bottom of each page. How do I go to the previous chapter now?

If you want to find the previous chapter (‘one up the chain’ from the one you’re at now), click on ‘What links here’ in the toolbox (the toolbox is the lowest part of the left-hand menu, below the search box – it’s contents varies per page type).
The ‘What links here’ page produces a list of all the pages that link to that page.

How do I find all the chapters of one author?

Click on Userlist in the menu for a list of all registered users. Click on any of the names for that user’s userpage. There, click on ‘What links here’ in the toolbox for a list of all their chapters, and any other places that link to this user’s userpage.
Ideally, you should also be able to use ‘User Contributions’ in the toolbox, but because when we migrated from the old system all the existing chapters were moved in by the administrators, those will not show up in ‘User Contributions’.

Amongst the Userlist you will also find one called Unregistered Users – click here if the user you are looking for is not on the list. This will land you on a list of authors who are not registered. Again, click on ‘What links here’ in the toolbox for a list of all the chapters.
Do not be intimidated if you land on a page that is still empty (and thus with a edit box). These pages also have a toolbox and a ‘What links here’ page.

How do I search for one specific page?

There is a search box in the menu on your left. Enter your search terms, and notice there are two buttons: ‘Go’ and ‘Search’.

‘Go’ will land you on the page with the title you entered. If you enter ‘Imrahil’ and hit ‘Go’ (or enter) you will go straight to the Imrahil page. ‘Search’ will search for all pages containing the word ‘Imrahil’.
If you click ‘Go’, but the term you used does not have a corresponding page, you will still be presented with search results.

Contributing

Can anybody join in?

Yes, everybody can comment on chapters or add a chapter of her/his own. Please do! You do not have to be a registered user or even signed in to do so.
Of course you are very welcome to sign up.

How do I comment on a page?

First of all: please do! Writers love feedback, it lets them know their work is appreciated and encourages them to write more. We all want that, right?

You don't have to be registered or logged in to comment. Just click on the discussion tab (second of the row of tabs at the top) of the page you want to comment on. If there are no comments yet, you will land straight on a page with a text box where you can type in your remarks. If there are previous comments, you'll first see those. Click on the + tab (next to edit) or hit alt-+ (hold down alt and press +) to add your own.

Note that also pages that are still empty (the pages in red) have a talk page: the perfect place to, for instance, speculate about how a thread may develop, enter your wishes, and hope the future author uses your advise to her advantage.

You can sign your comment using the signature button (second from the right). This will produce your username plus the current time and date.

How do I add a chapter? Do I need to be a member?

No, you don’t have to be a registered user – everyone can join in. Just follow the story choosing either one option or the other until you come to the end of what the people before you have written. Once you come to the end, you will automatically land on a page with a box where you can enter your chapter text.

We have some rules for entering chapters which you can find here. These rules are guidelines aimed at making this Interactive Story as interactive as possible. If you see room for improvement, do add your comments to the discussion page.

There is also a page with practical help for entering chapters. How to enter options at the end of your chapter, do the layout, headings, and so on. You will always find a link to this page just below the box where you edit the chapter, all the way to the right of the ‘Save Page’ button.

How do I know someone else won't post the chapter while I'm working on it?

To give you some peace of mind someone else won't enter 'your' chapter while you are working on it so all your work will be for naught, you can claim a chapter as your own.

That means you get five days to work on it, and no one else is allowed to post this specific chapter during this reservation period.
Read more on Claiming.

Can I edit my chapter after I’ve posted it?

Yes, you can. Simply go to your chapter and click on the edit tab, or hit alt-e (hold down the alt key and press e).

If you do come back to edit something small, say a typo or a small layout change, please tick the "This is a minor edit" box below the main editing window. Some people filter the Recent Changes list, or the email notifications they receive, to exclude minor edits (i.e. to only include major edits: edits with new text).

If you come back to edit something bigger, do remember that other users may already have posted / be working on a continuation of the story, using the information you have provided. Changing something, even if it seems insignificant to you, can have implications for later chapters.

Can anyone edit my chapter?

Yes, in theory, everyone could. But hopefully, all of us here understand you cannot ruthlessly revise a text someone else has worked on very hard. Someone else’s Chapter pages are certainly off-limits. On the Wikiquette page some of these conventions are outlined.

If anyone edits your chapter without your permission it’s called vandalism and any changes can always be undone.
If you still feel very uncomfortable with others being able to meddle with your work, you can ask the administrators to protect your page so it can only be edited by admins. This means you cannot edit your own work anymore either! Read more on Protected.

If you spot any mistakes in someone else’s chapter that think need to be corrected, please don’t dive right in and correct the mistakes, but post your suggestions on the chapter’s talk page. Always be tactful – not everyone appreciates unsolicited betas!

Can I add images?

Yes, you can. We’d love it if you’ve for example made an illustration of a chapter!

Read Images for more information.

Membership

How do I sign up?

Go here, fill in a username and password, retype that password and click on 'Create new account'.

An e-mail address is optional. However, giving your e-mail address allows other users to send you mail without knowing your address, email notifications of updates, and enables password reminders to be requested. We won't reveal your address to anyone.

Why should I sign up?

You can read eveything, post chapters and comments just as easily whether you are signed up or not. However, if you’re a regular reader or writer, there are some perks to signing up.

If you are a registered user and signed in, there'll be one more tab: ‘watch’. Clicking here will add the page to your ‘watchlist’, a list of pages you monitor for changes - your favourites. It is like Recent Changes, but customised to only include changes to pages you find interesting. If you want, you can have every page you edit automatically added to your watchlist.

If you have provided an email address, you can choose to receive email notifications of changes on your watchlist, of new pages, or even of all changes. This might be reason enough to sign up even if you do not plan on writing chapters yourself.

As a member, you will also receive a user page at which you can write a little about yourself, provide a link to your homepage, your blog or whatever you want. All changes you make, all comments you add, will be contributed to you, with a link to this userpage with the listings of these changes on pages like Recent Changes or the history tabs.

If you want this functionality, other members can email you from your userpage without your email address becoming public knowledge.

What information do you need about me, and what about privacy?

If you sign up, all we need from you is a username and password.

If you want, you can also provide an email address. This email address will in no way be made public.
Providing an email address will enable you to receive email notifications and emails from other users. However, whether or not you turn these options on is your choice. If you choose to receive emails from other users they will not be given your email address, but presented with a form from which they can send you an email. If you decide to reply to this email (from your regular email programme), the other user will see your address.

If you are not signed in and change a page, your IP address will be logged instead of your username. This is for security reasons, since wikis are prone to vandalism. It gives us some way to identify otherwise anonymous offenders and ban them from further use, but most websites track IP addresses to create statistics on the site’s performance.
An IP address can give away information on your location and internet provider.

What if I forget my password?

If you have provided an email address, simply go to the sign in page, fill in your username, and click on 'Email new password', and a new email password will be emailed to you.

If you have never provided an email address, it's a little less simple. Please contact the administrators at faramirfiction@gmail.com.

@@ Line 191: / Line 191: @@
 * [[help:editing|Practical editing help]]
+* [[entering_chapters|Guidelines on entering new chapters]]
+* [[claiming|Guidelines on claiming chapters]]
 * [[images|Adding images]]
 * [[rss|RSS Feeds and Email notification]]
-* [[entering_chapters|Guidelines on entering new chapters]]
-* [[claiming|Guidelines on claiming chapters]]
 * [[vandalism|What to do in case of vandalism]]