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Forums
Forums on OGS are a world apart. They serve as the backbone and heart of the OGS community. On the forum you meet other players, share ideas, say hi and discuss all sorts of subjects. Of course go is the main subject to chat about. However the forum is not limited to go alone; there are also categories with topics that have absolutely nothing to do with go or are only vaguely related to go. When you first visit the OGS forum you see an overwhelming variety of categories, topics and more, much more. In the following paragraphs we introduce you into how the forum functions.
(insert screenshot start page OGS forum)
Here you find all the categories of the forum, followed by the number of topic in that specific category. With the 'magnifying glass' you can also search for a particular category.
Under this heading you will find the topics chronologically ordered (from new to old) according to the activity that took place in this topic.
If there is a new topic this category will show. New (6) means that there are six new topics since you last visited the forum. When there is nothing new this category is absent. So there is no New (0).
If there is an unread item in an already existing topic (a reply) this category will show. Unread (6) means that there are six topic where one or more new replies have been made.
OGS forum has a lot of categories and subcategories. To name just a few of the categories:
- general go discussion: general go discussion that doesn't fit into other categories
- support: OGS site and forum support
- strategy and tactics: discuss topic related to strategy and tactics
- ladders: discuss all things related to ladders here
- feedback: suggestions on how to improve OGS
There are many more categories. It will take some time to find your way in the system of categories.
Here you can type what you are looking for and automatically topics that deal with your search will appear.
(insert icon magnifying glass)
The OGS search function is not super, but there is a more advanced way of searching by using an external browser (Google, duckduckgo, etc.) and adding site:forums.online-go.com at the end of your search request. The search is then limited to the OGS forum.
(insert icon 'three lying bars')
The three lying bars include:
- latest: a chronological list (from newest till older) of topics where recently activity took place.
- new: new topics appear here.
- unread: new post at already existing topics.
- top: shows the most popular topics of the period before today; so if you select week, it will show the topics of the 7 days up until today.
- badges: see special paragraph on badges.
- users: listing OGS forum user's statistics (hearts given/received, topics, replies, viewed read and visited) per last day, week, month, quarter, year and all time.
- groups: shows moderators group (activity: post, topics, mentions per member)
- categories: colour coded list of categories.
- about: listing admins (developers) and moderators; that is the people who run and rule (benevolently) the OGS site and forum. See https://forums.online-go.com/about or https://online-go.com/docs/team.
- FAQ: https://forums.online-go.com/faq deals with forum etiquette.
- keyboard shortcuts: list with keyboard shortcuts.
(insert screenshot keyboard shortcuts)
- notifications: responses, likes, mentions or edits.
- bookmarks: saving important topics so that they are easy to access; favourites.
- mails: inbox, sent, archive.
- type title or paste link: this is the subject of your topic. Keep it short and clear.
- category: chose the category your topic fits in best.
- write post: initially the field says 'Type here. Use Markdown, BBCode or HTML code to format. Drag or paste images.' This text disappears when you start to type or drag/paste an image.
- create/ cancel topic: if you hit create topic, your topic will become public. If you don't want this, you can cancel it definitively (by abandoning) or save it as a draft and (maybe) post it later.
From left to right you see:
- title of topic: description of subject of topic.
- category: category the topic creator has chosen.
- line of profile pics: right of the post there is a list of profile pics. The first profile pic is from the creator of the topic, the rest are pics from users who replied to the topic.
- replies: number of replies to a topic. This number does not refer to unique persons (more replies by the same person are possible).
- views: number of unique users who have opened this topic.
- activity: shows when the last activity (reply) took place.
- last visit line: in the topic table there is placed the last visit line. It shows the topics where activity has taken place since you last visited the OGS forum.
(insert screenshot of last visit line)
- title: title of topic.
- category: a topic can not be created without assigning it to a category. OGS forums has 26 categories. Chose a category where your topic belongs to. If you don't a moderator will have to move it to the correct category. Keep the forum tidy.
- (initial) post: if you create a new topic, your post will be the first of the thread. Other users can reply to it or give it a like (heart will turn red).
- like: if you agree with a post, but don't want to reply, you can like the post.
- share a link to this post: share a (forum or otherwise) link to this post; twitter, facebook, mail.
- ...(flag, bookmark): via ... you can either bookmark or flag a post. Bookmark: adding/saving a favourite as to facilitate quick access to tthat specific topic. Flagging a post: you can flag a post when it is is inappropriate. Flagging a post helps to keep the OGS community civil. There are several options to choose from: direct message to poster or notify the OGS staff if the post is off topic, inappropriate, spam or something else.
- reply: you can respond to a post in two ways; namely directly to the poster (reply in the post) or in general (at the bottom of the topic). Both replies are visible for everyone. If you don't want this, send the poster a personal message.
- suggested topics: shows topics which are more or less related with the topic and/or the category in which the topic is placed.
And just before the suggested topics you will find:
(insert icon bell alert)
- bell alert: how do you want to follow this topic? There are four options: watching (notification of every new reply in a topic, count of new replies are shown), tracking (count of new replies are shown, notification if your @name is mentioned or replies),normal (notification if your @name is mentioned or replies to you) and muted (no notification at all).
- system: OGS uses the Discourse badge system and trust levels.
- badges: have as a goal to reinforce positive user behaviour and facilitates and stimulates users to learn by doing. There are two ways to receive a badge: an administrative user manually grants you one or they are automatically granted by the system.
- trust levels: are a method of protecting new forum users so that they cannot accidentally hurt themselves or other users, while they are learning what to do and at the same time granting experienced users more rights over time, so that they can help everyone maintain and moderate the community they generously contribute so much of their time to. There are our trust levels: new, basic, regular & leader
- the category badges is divided into four subcategories: getting started, community, posting and trust level. To name a few badges: Autobiographer, Editor, First Emoji/Flag/Like/Link, Read Guidelines & Reader (Getting Started); Appreciated, Enthusiast, Nice Share, Thank You, Welcome, Aficionado, Campaigner & Devotee (Community) and Nice Reply/Topic, Popular Link, Good Reply/Topic & Great Reply/Topic (Posting).
- for more detailed info on badges and trust levels: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-are-badges/32540 and trust levels: https://blog.discourse.org/2018/06/understanding-discourse-trust-levels/
- community guideline: on https://forums.online-go.com/guidelines you will find community guidelines on forum etiquette. Summarised it all boils down to: the OGS forum is a place where you input is appreciated. We love the way you improve in your own words a discussion in a civilised and respectful way. So even when you disagree, do it in your most charming way. If you encounter problems on the forum, don't be shy and flag it. Keep the forum tidy.
- responsibility: do realise that as a poster you also have a responsibility for what you post. If you don't, you might be warned (at first) or (eventually) banned by the moderators. It is wise to check the Terms of Service: https://forums.online-go.com/tos.
- Meta: advanced forum tricks: the OGS forum category Meta is completely dedicated to hints for using the forum: https://forums.online-go.com/t/useful-hints-for-using-this-forum/1833
See you on the forums, where you can create your own topic, reply (seriously or jokingly) to other topics, make friends and be a part of the OGS community!