Forums » The Lounge » Read Thread

This isn't high priority or likely to be finished soon, but I'd like to implement this feature: http://chooseyourstory.com/forums/feature-wishing-well/message/4426

Please reply to this thread (not the FWW thread) with a really good 'welcome message' to use for new members. They'll receive the message immediately after signing up. The message should link to important parts of the site and be, well, welcoming.

The best message will earn the writer 60 points.

Welcome to chooseyourstory.com! We're a community-driven website largely devoted to Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style stories, typically referred to as "storygames". They are characterized by  the fact that the reader makes decisions that alter the plot; the best storygames allow readers to have a profound impact on the narrative. If you would like to make your own, click on the "My Stuff" tab and open up the "Create a New Storygame" button. Some  storygames choose to  make use of the on-site  programming language to add things like variables and items. If you're interested in doing this, you should read Working with Variables  by solostrike(http://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=1), Working with Items by solostrike (http://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=2) and Going Advanced, by JJJ-thebanisher (http://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=35). 

However, there's more to the community than storygames. If you hop on over to the forums, you will find a number of sub-forums. Newbie Central is where you should introduce yourself. The Lounge is for any off-topic conversations you may have, provided they aren't pornographic or too absurd. News & Updates is your one-stop shop for updates on the website.  The Parlor Room is for discussion of already published storygames. Creative Corner is where you can share any  in-progress works, as well as any poetry or art you're working on. Writing Workshop is for critical feedback and discussion of the more "technical" aspects of the craft, such as syntax, grammar and structure. Got a favorite book? Share it with the  Reading Corner, which is a subforum dedicated to books and those who love them. The Advanced Editor  is for getting and giving assistance in the creation of advanced storygames. If you feel the site is missing something, feel free to suggest that something in the Feature Wishing Well. Finally, we have Bugs and Problems, where you can share any technical issues you discover on the website. 

But what if you've learned everything there is to learn and want to impart some of your wisdom? If there's a CYS-related topic you're knowledgeable about that hasn't been covered by an article, submit one yourself, and net yourself some handy-dandy points while you're at it. 

XP points function as a running “score” for a member. You can win points by winning duels, participating in contests or helping a moderator out with site curation. Generally, the more points you have, the more of a contribution to the website you’ve made. As you earn points,  you earn titles, your ratings increase in value, and you even earn trophies (ooh, shiny)!

If you'd like to know more about the site founders and administrators, check out the About Us section (http://chooseyourstory.com/Help/AboutUs.aspx#Admins).

Got any more questions? Post them in Newbie Central, or feel free to PM one of our site moderators or administrators. Enjoy your stay! 

First time I liked something Malk's

I actually really like Malk's :)

I think Malk's is good as a welcome message. It gives an overview, and provides some details and advice on what to do, so newbies won't be confused upon joining (Provided they actually read the message XD).

Malk's is a good start but it has far too many complex words. We need back up a little and make a series of tutorial videos with colorful hand puppets teaching new users how to read, as the first step.

But I thought this was a writing site o.o 

Shouldn't literacy be a guaranteed thing...?

Given some of the folks around here, I question that to be the case.

Well, if they don't understand the welcome message, it's rather questionable whether they belong on this site anyways :)

If you can write, you should generally be able to read. If you don't fit the "reading" requirement, you should probably go back to a place more befitting, like Preschool.

I don't think the welcome message should be dumbed down in anyway to better fit people who will write 2 page Storygames filled with poor grammar that brutally mutilates English.

I think they're kidding. You're definitely right.

I second the puppet idea. Pretty pictures and fancy colours would be so exciting!

Welcome to CYOA! We're a community that focuses on writing storygames, but we provide plenty of fun features for our members! Please enjoy your time here.

CYOA features:

1000+ Storygames

Multiple fun forums for posting and chatting

Private Messaging for one-on-one chatting

Two editors for writing your very own storygame

A fun point system

And so much more! Happy travels!

....the site is called CYS.

Damnit, I was editing.

Welp, that's in the toilet now.

Uh. You should write a complete post before posting a submission. And you should probably also read what you're up against so you don't waste everyone's time.

While it's ok to edit in more stuff if you think of anything after hitting the "post message" button, the submission should still be complete at the time you posted it.

Also, like I said, having a dumbed down welcome message probably isn't the best idea. As a writing site, the newbie welcome message should reflect that. XD

While the storygames are sometimes referred to as CYOAs(Choose Your Own Adventures), the site itself is called CYS.

Choose Your Own Adventure is actually a copyrighted term. Infinite Story originally called themselves that but had to change their name.

I remember reading CYOA stories. They had a series and everything by that name, if I recall correctly? 

Wow -- so much nostalgia.

So many memories. XD

Wow, I thought that was just a logo attached to that one Africa-themed Island in Poptropica for the longest time...

So the name of this site is on the banner, on (no shit) the URL, on the little copyright at the bottom and basically everywhere. By now you should piece together what the abbreviation is.

And you still fucked it up.

Also, Malk there should most likely be a list of the current Admins/Moderators included in the message, or a link to an article that tells who the current ones are. The user reading the message would be new, and most likely won't know the Admins/Moderators.

While you did say "feel free to PM one of our site moderators or administrators", you never mentioned who the site moderators or administrators were.

Thought about it, decided against it. There already is one and it got outdated fast. 

This isn't outdated. And it would be rather helpful :)

@Malkalack

I think a link to the help & info about us page that is always up to date is a good idea.

Done!

I guarantee noobs will still pm me asking for help with shit xD

Be glad I send some of them to Brad and Mizal for help as well.

Lol

Okay we're going with Malkalack's!

Thank you! :D 

Congrats, Malk! ^_^

Congrats malk! And to everyone who got cool stuff that I didnt.'t get in the new update xD

Such as Seto and his contributor trophy :D

Can the huge typo half way through be fixed first though... I feel like a writing site shouldn't have typos in the welcoming message

Isn't it kinda long? That might be unappealing to new members.

When 3J implements allowing RTE to work in PMs, I'm hoping it makes the message look better (since there'll be clickable links instead of pasted www.something.com)

Anyways, about the length...if they can't sit and read this 1) They don't need to. It's mostly a "if you need help" info dump thing and 2) It's confirmed that most of the good stories here won't be read by them, then xD

Which typo?

Knowledgeable instead of knowledgable, and If instead of I.  f

Also all the extra spacing. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed or if I'm just nitpicky >~<

Thanks, went ahead and fixed those typos.

The extra spacings such as in "Variables  by" still bother me, but it I guess it doesn't really pop out much for most people.

And thank you to you too, for fixing the typos  ^_^

Fix it and repost it here?

fixed:

Welcome to chooseyourstory.com! We're a community-driven website largely devoted to Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style stories, typically referred to as "storygames". They are characterized by the fact that the reader makes decisions that alter the plot; the best storygames allow readers to have a profound impact on the narrative. If you would like to make your own, click on the "My Stuff" tab and open up the "Create a New Storygame" button. Some storygames choose to make use of the on-site programming language to add things like variables and items. If you're interested in doing this, you should read Working with Variables by solostrike(http://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=1), Working with Items by solostrike (http://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=2) and Going Advanced, by JJJ-thebanisher (http://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=35).

However, there's more to the community than storygames. If you hop on over to the forums, you will find a number of sub-forums. Newbie Central is where you should introduce yourself. The Lounge is for any off-topic conversations you may have, provided they aren't pornographic or too absurd. News & Updates is your one-stop shop for updates on the website. The Parlor Room is for discussion of already published storygames. Creative Corner is where you can share any in-progress works, as well as any poetry or art you're working on. Writing Workshop is for critical feedback and discussion of the more "technical" aspects of the craft, such as syntax, grammar and structure. Got a favorite book? Share it with the Reading Corner, which is a subforum dedicated to books and those who love them. The Advanced Editor is for getting and giving assistance in the creation of advanced storygames. If you feel the site is missing something, feel free to suggest that something in the Feature Wishing Well. Finally, we have Bugs and Problems, where you can share any technical issues you discover on the website.

But what if you've learned everything there is to learn and want to impart some of your wisdom? If there's a CYS-related topic you're knowledgeable about that hasn't been covered by an article, submit one yourself, and net yourself some handy-dandy points while you're at it.

XP points function as a running “score” for a member. You can win points by winning duels, participating in contests or helping a moderator out with site curation. Generally, the more points you have, the more of a contribution to the website you’ve made. As you earn points, you earn titles, your ratings increase in value, and you even earn trophies (ooh, shiny)!

If you'd like to know more about the site founders and administrators, check out the About Us section (http://chooseyourstory.com/Help/AboutUs.aspx#Admins).

Got any more questions? Post them in Newbie Central, or feel free to PM one of our site moderators or administrators. Enjoy your stay!

Thanks!

"Knowledgeable" isn't misspelled,  I'm just not an American. 

Malkalack did a good job on this. Haven't been on the forums much to catch up on things, otherwise I would have responded sooner. The content looks fine other than needing basic info about Orders now (which was just added), but I feel the formatting is still kind of clunky, especially in terms of how readable the first couple sections are. Keep in mind this will be a first impression of us as a writing site, so I believe the presentation of it is also important. 

I'm also not sure if it's good to use the term "pornographic" in a welcome message, because it almost makes it sound like people are posting so much porn in the forums that it's specifically being mentioned as part of the welcome to prevent it. Some may find that as a bit of a turn-off. We're trying to get people to stay and contribute. It should be common sense that posting porn is not ok, since it's not allowed in almost all forum communities anyway. I think "inappropriate" should work good enough in place of that, since it more broadly covers things like racism, harassment, and such too. 

If anything, there should be a set of rules (that can be accessed under the Help & Info section), that includes mention of specific things that are not allowed in the forums. I believe rules have been posted a few times in the forums over the years, but it's not in an easy-to-reference location, hence why it'd make sense to put it in the Help & Info section. If that was added, then the welcome message could link to it.

Here's how I'd roughly recommend adjusting Malk's welcome message, if it's still open to feedback:

---

Welcome to chooseyourstory.com! 

We're a community-driven website largely devoted to Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style stories, typically referred to as "storygames". They are characterized by the fact that the reader makes decisions that alter the plot; the best storygames allow readers to have a profound impact on the narrative. 

If you would like to make your own, click on the "My Stuff" tab and open up the "Create a New Storygame" button. Some storygames choose to make use of the on-site programming language to add things like variables and items. If you're interested in doing this, here's a few articles worth reading:

Working with Variables, by solostrike.

Working with Items, by solostrike.

Going Advanced, by JJJ-thebanisher. 

However, there's more to the community than just storygames. If you hop on over to the forums, you will find a number of sub-forums. 

Newbie Central is where you should introduce yourself. The Lounge is for any off-topic conversations you may have, provided they aren't inappropriate or too absurd. News & Updates is your one-stop shop for updates on the website. The Parlor Room is for discussion of already published storygames. Creative Corner is where you can share any in-progress works, as well as any poetry, art or other creative things you're working on. 

Writing Workshop is for critical feedback and discussion of the more "technical" aspects of the craft, such as syntax, grammar and structure. Got a favorite book? Share it with the Reading Corner, which is a sub-forum dedicated to books and those who love them. The Advanced Editor is for getting and giving assistance in the creation of advanced storygames. If you feel the site is missing something, feel free to suggest it in the Feature Wishing Well. Finally, we have Bugs and Problems, where you can share any technical issues you discover on the website. 

But what if you've learned everything there is to learn and want to impart some of your wisdom? If there's a CYS-related topic you're knowledgeable about that hasn't been covered by an article, submit one yourself, and net yourself some handy-dandy points while you're at it. 

XP points function as a running “score” for a member. You can win points by winning duels, participating in contests, helping a moderator out with site curation, or by earning sanctions through the Order system. Generally, the more points you have, the more of a contribution to the website you’ve made. As you earn points, you earn titles, your storygame ratings increase in value, and you even earn trophies (ooh, shiny)!

Orders act as a system that runs parallel to XP points, and is built around rewards known as "sanctions". The first sanction you earn each day will earn you XP points. Users who earn a lot of sanctions may earn other rewards as well. Your order is randomly assigned and you can see which one you belong to in your profile. Sanctions are rewarded based on quality contributions to the site, such as forum posts, writing articles, or getting your comment on a storygame featured.

If you'd like to know more about the site founders and administrators, check out the About Us section.

Got any more questions? Post them in Newbie Central, or feel free to PM one of our site moderators or administrators. Enjoy your stay!

This is wonderful! Thank you so much, IronPanther!

As far as your point about rules in the articles section, you should get in contact with Will11.