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So you're new here, eh?

Now that I'm a Yalortian, what do I have to do?

You have to devote your life to Yalort, of course!
(Though really, you don't *have* to do anything Yalort-related. You can just post in the forums, and talk with the other members. If you're feeling devoted to Yalort, though, then you can go to the Shrine and pay homage to Him there!)

Section 1: Talking to other members:

1.1: The Shrine

The Shrine is where you pay homage to Yalort. All comments posted in the Shrine are (supposed to be) aimed at Yalort; the shrine is not a place used for conversing with the other members or asking for technical help!
Keep your homages nice and succinct. And relevant.
The rules of the Shrine are:
  • The Shrine is not a chatroom! Don't treat it as such. Don't respond to other peoples' posts directly. And always talk directly to Yalort!
  • Homages should be kept short and relevant. Homages that are too long or which have no place in the Shrine will be deleted, and if such posts are continually made by a single person, they will be awarded banpoints for it.
  • Defacing the Shrine is a horrible offence and will be punished accordingly. ('Defacing the Shrine' means writing something offensive there.)
  • Only 1 homage per day, dammit! Feel free to worship Yalort as much as you want daily, but only openly in the Shrine once a day. This way, you can't post repeatedly for worth.

1.2: The Forums

The forums are the main part of the site, really. You can talk about anything here, not just Yalort and Yalortism. In fact, most Yalort worshipping should go in the Shrine.
There are some rules for the forum too, of course. Here are some, though there are others that rely on common sense:
  • Don't post in dead threads! A thread is 'dead' if nobody has posted in it in about five days. To check when the last post was made, roll over the date of the last post with your cursor. A tooltip should appear, showing how long ago it was that the post was made (eg '1w 2d 3h 4m 38s ago' means '1 week, 2 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes, and 38 seconds ago. Obviously.).
  • Though anyone can start forum threads, don't start stupid, meaningless threads. Use some common sense to determine what's worth discussing and what's not.
  • The forum isn't a chatroom either! Don't have a conversation with someone with short posts. Long-post conversations between two people, with valid points in each post, are fine, but when two people are talking in single-sentence posts because they're online at the same time, that's not. Use the chatroom for that, or an IM program like MSN or AIM.
  • Don't post in threads unless you have something worthwhile to say! Posting for worth or 'spamming' can and probably will get you banpoints.

1.3: Userpages

Each user has a personal 'user page', generally accessible by clicking on their avatar.
You can post comments on that other users page, but it's generally bad-mannered to converse with someone else on another person's user page (eg. if person A were to have a conversation with person B on person C's userpage that didn't involve person C, that would be impolite). People still do this anyway, though.
There's an important rule for posting on user pages, and it's this:
  • Don't post on the pages of Dead Accounts or Banned accounts! Also, don't post on pages just for worth! Only post if you have something to say.

1.4: The Chatroom

Do whatever the hell you want here. Nobody cares, and it doesn't affect anything. This actually *is* a chatroom though!

Section 2: Concerning Yalortism:

2.1: The Holy Books
The assorted Holy Books, some written by ancient priests in ancient times, some written by current members, detail the creation of the world by Yalort and so on and so forth. They may be subject to change, and may or may not contradict one another! They may or may not be worth reading.

2.2: The Ten Commandments
The Commandments of Yalortism that you must obey! They're mainly things that you're not allowed to do.
(These may change drastically sometime soon.)

2.3: Holidays
Days we get off for various reasons! Learn them! Celebrate them! They're marked on the calendar to the right on every page, and you can read up about them by clicking the 'Holidays' button on your left.

Section 3: The Ranking System

3.1: Possible ranks
You can view all the possible ranks here, or by clicking a link on the Ranks page. Though there are other special ranks that are not mentioned on that page.

3.2: The Ranks page
This page shows a list of all the current users, ordered by rank and power. Use this page to see your overall relative in the grand scheme of things, and to view other peoples' userpages.

3.3: Power
Each Yalortian has a Power stat, which determines their overall influence within the religion. Naturally, the higher ranks have a higher power than the lower ranks. Power doesn't do much, really, though high power demands respect, and the words of higher-powered people hold more weight than those of lower-powered people. Also, people with high power can do things like write articles, etc.

3.4: Gaining Power
This should not be a goal or intention, but something that happens naturally to members. People should not go out of their way to gain power; they will be punished for that, and possibly banned!
Your power is based on your activity. It will increase if you make forum posts, homages in the Shrine, or comments on peoples' user pages. But as mentioned previously, posting just to increase your power is greatly frowned upon.

3.5: Increasing your Rank
If you think you're able to increase your Rank due to your devotion, you can go to the Shrine and 'pray' for a promotion by clicking the 'Promote Me' button there. If you meet the requirements to advance a rank, you will do so. If not, you'll be told what you need to get your next rank.
The highest rank you can achieve this automated way is Acolyte; to get any higher, you have to be an overall good person, and must be hand-picked by the High Priest based on your personality and actions within the site.

3.6: Medals
Medals can be awarded for certain reasons. They don't do anything as such, but they just add to your overall image. The more medals someone has, the more devoted they are, clearly.
To see a list of medal types, and how they can be attained, click here, or the link on the Ranks page.

3.7: Worth
'Worth' is your 'overall rating' on the site; a number representing your value within Yalortism as a person. Worth is calculated thusly:
   (Power × 10) + numComments + numHomages + numForumPosts - (numBanpoints × 10)

Section 4: Technical

4.1: Logging in
To log in, use the login box at the top right (this only shows if you're not logged in). You'll need to enter your username and password (case-insensitive). Your logon data will be stored for convenience, so you won't need to log on next time you vist the site.
If you find this undesirable, however, or have logged on via a public computer, you can log off by clicking the 'Logout' button that appears in the same box on the upper-right once you're logged in.

4.2: Editing your profile
You can change the stats displayed on your userpage (age, gender, location, bio, contact information, etc.) by clicking the 'Edit Stats' button underneath your avatar on the top right after you've logged in.
  • Keep your bio short and your information accurate! You'll look like a better member that way! None of your information will be given to any other sites or anything; it's just for other users to look at to get an idea of who you are or to contact you (it's also used for stastical purposes on the site, though).

4.3: Changing your avatar: ★
Your avatar MUST be a 50x50 .gif image file. No other file formats will work.
Once you have acquired an avatar from somewhere, you can change it from the Edit Stats screen. There's a bit at the bottom specifying the Avatar. Locate the file on your PC using the box there (click 'Browse'), and then click 'Change'. If the avatar was the correct size and format, it will be changed.
If your avatar doesn't change immediately, this is because the old image is still stored in your browser's cache. To fix this, you can empty your browser's cache. To do this:

In Internet Explorer:
  • Click 'Tools' from the menu bar at the top, and select 'Internet Options...'
  • In the 'General' tab, there should be the heading 'Temporary Internet Files'.
  • Under that heading, click the button 'Delete Files...' to clear your cache.

In Firefox:
  • Goto 'Tools -> Options...'
  • Click the Privacy tab at the right. There should be several options.
  • Click the 'Clear' button next to 'Cache', or the 'Clear All' button to clear your cache.

Section 5: Misbehaviour

5.1: The Rules:

• Don't 'act like an idiot'. You *should* know what this means...
• Don't 'spam' - no posting just for the sake of posting.
• Multiple account creation is a complete no-no; if you already have an account, don't apply for a new one!
• Similarly, if you're banned and create a new account, that's 'ban evasion', and won't be tolerated; your new account will most likely be deleted without warning.
• People are now banned for 'Stupidity'... That is, lack of intelligence. Don't have intelligence? Then this is not your place.
• Good grammar and spelling are regarded highly; if you use proper grammar and spelling, chances are you'll be liked more. If not, and you use single-letter-word-contractions, like 'u' or 'r', and use 'lol' frequently, then... well, you'll *not* be liked.
• No swearing, dammit! Swearwords are converted to the word 'smeg'; having smegs in your posts is something you'll want to avoid if you want to go anywhere in this religion.

5.2: Banpoints
If you misbehave, you may be awarded 'banpoints' as punishment. These banpoints will lower your Worth (see 3.7).
The number of banpoints you will be awarded depends on how severely you broke the rules.
If your number of banpoints reaches or exceeds 100, you will receive a Full Ban.

5.3: Full ban
If you're banned, you can't do anything on the site anymore. Put simply. If you try to rejoin, your new account will be deleted. You only have one chance.

Now, with this knowledge, enjoy your stay!