Wrong Planet FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

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So where do I host my images (whatever that means)?

Forum posting an image that is already on your computer:

You can add your own saved images to a post if you click on the insert image button (with the mountains and sun landscape) in the "post a reply" box, enter the image address (where it is hosted) in the provided text box.

imgur.com (click) and photobucket.com (click) are able to be used to host images. With imgur there is the option to have images hosted anonymously or for you to create an account, photobucket requires the creation of an account. Creating an account (with imgur or photobucket) may arguably make it easier to track and control the images that you upload. Hosting images anonymously on imgur is OK and you can still delete hosted images if you have saved the associated deletion link information provided by imgur (provided by imgur at initial upload of the image). Please refer to the imgur FAQ for further detail (click).

If you do create an imgur or photobucket account it is recommended that, for the sake of maintaining anonymity/security, you name your account randomly or creatively. This is because your image file properties (accessible via right click for Windows, ctrl-click for Mac) will reveal your account details via the image hosted address as part of the image information (unavoidable), and you may prefer not to disclose real-life name information (I would recommend against it). Naming images randomly and out of sequence (alphanumeric combinations instead of pic0001, pic0002 etc), and setting appropriate privacy controls where available (in your imgur or photobucket account settings) will also contribute to better security. Using imgur to host images anonymously will generate a random URL that will not identify you via the image information properties.

After the image is uploaded you will be provided with an image address that can be added directly to a forum post, it will include the prefix [img]%20and%20suffix%20[/img]. Alternately, the image address will need to be added via the insert image button. Typically the former is the case, if the latter occurs the image address may resemble the following (minus the quotation marks): "host_name.com/your_account_name/image_name.jpg".

Forum posting an image using the image code or image information:

Image code may be provided by a website where the image is located. As an example, if you trim down the "Image code" below the picture shown at the web address http://www.lolcats.com/view/11559/ :

Image code =

...then trim to this



and then add that information via the insert image button...



= maximum lol cat happy.

If you click for image information or properties (right click for Windows, ctrl-click for Mac) of, say, the WrongPlanet.net logo on the front page you will see:

This image can also be forum posted by adding the above information via the insert image button.



Similarly, if you are quoting a news story you can add the image that may appear in or with the text by acquiring the image information (right click for Windows, ctrl-click for Mac) and adding it via the insert image button in your post.


Broken links and re-hosting an image:

The original site that an image was linked from might restrict linking to other sites to minimise data load on itself. The image may become a blank, a broken link, a red "x", or a place holder.

Some sites will do this depending on their bandwidth limitation/budgeting, it can be a point of frustration - but it is a problem that can be overcome by using imgur to directly re-host the image.

If you go to imgur.com and click the "image URL" button and copy-paste the image address (as per below example) into the provided text box, imgur will re-host the image for you and give you a tidy new address to drop into a forum post.



The new address where the image is re-hosted by imgur is as below.


Adding the prefix [img]%20and%20suffix%20[/img] to the above image address will allow the image to be dropped straight into a post... or the image can be added to a post by copy-pasting the image address minus the prefix [img]%20and%20suffix%20[/img] via the insert image button.

Using the latter method will save a few keystrokes, it will add the prefix [img]%20and%20suffix%20[/img] to the image and drop the image into the post.

Re-hosting is something to remember, sites may restrict cross linking images to keep data demand/bandwidth down for themselves.

Finally, if in doubt, preview your post!

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

Why doesn't the chat work anymore?

Still does; I was there tonight! You need to "identify to services" now because spammers overwhelmed that room sometime ago.

Or your client might not work anymore. Please try this browser-based one:

http://webchat.freenode.net and then when you enter the room, it's "#wrongplanet" in case anyone forgot.

(To enter another way, is "/join #wrongplanet")

Can I delete my account?

In a word, no. The site policy as dictated by Alex (the site owner) is that accounts cannot be deleted. Moderators do not have any tools to delete entire accounts anyway. Only Alex has tools to delete an entire account (i.e. all your posts), however, he has never done so as far as I'm aware.

I understand the primary reasons why entire accounts cannot be deleted is that it messes up the database, and that conversations in threads no longer make sense, or become misleading if one part of the conversation is missing. Even if an entire account was deleted (by Alex) it would not remove any of the members posts that have been quoted in part or in whole by other members.

Members have the facility to delete (or edit out) their own posts for up to thirty minutes after posting them. After that posts are locked.

A moderator can only do the following actions:

1. Suspend your account so you can no longer login, but that does not remove any of your posts. Your account can be suspended / banned at your own request. To have your account suspended / banned make a post asking in the moderator attention thread or send a PM to an active moderator.

2. In extreme cases, and at the moderators discretion, one or two posts may be edited to remove personal or sensitive information from members posts. For example if a member has disclosed their real name. However, since we can only do this one post at a time, don't expect us to edit more than a couple of your posts.

Disclosure of personal information on Internet forums.

Members are advised that nothing posted on the internet ever disappears anyway. There are a number of sites (unrelated to Wrong Planet) that archive web pages and either keep them briefly in caches (e.g. Google) or other sites that hold the information permanently. Think about this before you post personal information on the internet! It may be linked back to you in the future.

The important thing when posting on any internet forum is not to use your real name anywhere or disclose anything that can be linked directly back to your real life. It is easy to find posts of members here by doing a Google search. There is no such thing as privacy on the internet. When you post something it is there for ever, lurking around on the sites posted to, or in various search engine databases or archive site databases. The only none-searchable area on WP is the Members forum.

Nowadays it is quite common for potential employers to type the name of prospective new employees into Google and to see what comes up... links to Facebook pages or other online forums etc. Do you really want a potential employer to discover that you have disclosed a drink / drug problem or mental health issues or some other "impediment" that would make them reject your job application?

Think before you post. Once you have disclosed personal information on this or on any other internet forum it is too late go back.

Due to a recent rumour that seems to have been doing the rounds:

Will I be banned purely because I am a member on another site/webforum?

No.

Why am I "banned"?

due to multiple recent messages and complaints.
the erroneous "ban" message is a glitch and if you were able to post about it, you aren't banned, of course. as to what may be causing that message, none of us is fully aware. occasionally members with dynamic IP adresses get caught "behind" an IP that has been banned here for whatever reason, thus we try to keep IP bans to a minimum.

Why is there so much spam when regular users have trouble posting?

i noticed quite a few users have been asking questions similar to this in response to the recent wave of indian spam, so i just wanted to put this here.

in my experience, and according to the experiences of many other users, the captcha is triggered only when making a post containing a quote, or in response to an existing thread.

that spam we get does neither of that, and thus it manages to get through quite easily. i imagine that the captcha triggering is somewhat random and blocks some of the spam, but long story short: we are defending a position that the 'enemy" never attacks from. (as naturalplastic so nicely put it).

there is a period of time after a post during which another one cannot be made, but it is incredibly short, less than ten seconds.

Why doesn't the site-wide search function work?

honestly? i don't know. i don't know who could tell you with absolute certainty, but workarounds are always in order. the problem so far only affects the site-wide search, the search function within individual threads seems to work fine.

the site uses a modified google search. one way to search WP only is to type the phrase "site:wrongplanet.net" followed by your search term in quotes. this is essentially the same process as using the site's search.

if i wanted to search wp for the term "alexithymia": "site:wrongplanet.net 'alexithymia'"

How do I block someone from sending me PMs?

this should work in theory, but as with everything else on WP there's the unfortunate chance chat it may not. it hasn't feiled me yet, though:

1) on the PMs page, go to "rules, folders and settings" under Options.

2) add a new rule:

* if sender (next)
* is (next)
* write user's name here (next)

and then specify delete message.

add the rule.

that should work, hopefully.

How do I block an obnoxious member's post? (new)

i have to link you to Soliliquist's post here because i can't paste the actual content of it here - i'd like to.

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