Newbie Guide Index
This guide was originally created by Nadine
Welcome! So have you just started CS and are a little confused? Or maybe your a more recent member that needs to brush up on somethings? An old member reviewing the site? Either way, you've come to the right thread!
Important Notice
This has been requested by a few staff members because there have been many threads that have the right intentions but are repeats and spam. This guide and or index is here to tidy up the Introductions forum so instead of having many topics scattered throughout the forum they can be found here, where it's updated. The GH's and moderators will be running the guide,please do not remake it or make more topics related to this, it's here so we don't have so many related ones.-
Annoucement
We've also seen many eager members helping out and welcoming newbies, that's great. The only thing we ask of you is instead of posting several links to multiple threads just start posting this one, that's why it was made. c; Secondly, if the link is already posted don't post it again, it's just spam. Welcoming members isn't though.
Basics
What do these links do? They're the main parts of chickensmoothie. Home page lets you view the homepage where announcements are made, featured drawings are shown, etc. My Pets allows you to view your pet collection or pets you've adopted. Adopt brings you to a page of adoptable pets. The Store is where you can purchase items using the site's currency, ChickenDollars (C$). The archive stores and shows past pets through out the months & years. The Pound is where you can adopt pets from other users for free, it opens randomly. Oekaki, also known as chibi paint, is a online paint program free to use. We'll get more into depth with all these topics soon!
Account
Your account is well, your account. You can personalize the background, edit your signature & avatar, view messages, etc. Each person is allowed one account, creating multiple accounts end in permanent banning from Chickensmoothie.
By clicking "My Account" on the row above you'll see a page like this. There are several tabs, the automatic one leading you to Board Preferences. The individual tabs will take you to different places. Overview will give you a view of important, must read announcements. II Profile is what the other members see. Here you can edit your interests, signature, avatar, & account details like your username. Do not share your account information or password with anyone! II Next we have Private Messages, if you're account is permitted to send PM's you can compose, view, save, and delete messages. This is a safe way of letting our members communicate privately. Administrators can still read PM's though.
Wishlist
Your wishlist affiliates with the Archive, you can add a pet to your "wishlist" for several reasons, the main one being you want that pet. Wishlist helps mostly when trading, it helps you and or your trading partner give a better view on what pets you're interested at the moment.
Balance
As stated earlier, Chickendollars are the site's currency. C$ can only be obtained with a valid purchase of real money, via Paypal or Paynearme. View options here. Have no fear though, if you can't buy C$ you can always find a few members who do & ask them to trade it. There is no way of transferring C$ to a separate account. You choose the items you want and ask your trading partner to buy them, then add the items into a trade.
Member Groups
Member groups or 'colored usernames' are members who have been chosen to play a certain part in running the site. They all play an important part in the community, as well as the other members. These groups are closed and members can only join when applications are open, Tess will announce applications, please do not ask!
Administrators - Creators of the site. Run & maintain it, chooses staff members, etc. Gives warnings & bans.
Admin Assistants - Similar to an Admins job, they monitor and help maintain the site. Also give warnings & bans.
CS Staff - A mixed group involving official artists, archivists, etc. Create pets & items for us to adopt and update the Archive. C:
Global Moderators - Monitor the entire forums, give warnings, keep spam to a minimum, handle bullying, harassment, art theft, etc.
Oekaki Moderators - Monitor the Oekaki pages. Decide what is put up and what is taken down on the forum.
Roleplay Moderators - Monitor the Roleplay forms, keeps threads appropriate, etc.
General Helpers - Members who have volunteered to help around the site. Whether it's guiding a newbie,giving advice, or just making a moderators job easier. General Helpers are NOT part of the Chickensmoothie Staff/team. You should feel comfortable reaching out to a GH for help, that's their job.^^
Fanart Archivists - Members who have volunteered to help with running the Fanart Gallery. They sort through and display the artwork submitted by CS members.
Forum
The forum is where announcements are made, roleplays are created, general topics discussed, etc. We have a forum for every topic, you can view them here. The important thing to know is the difference between a forum, thread/topic, post. Forums are sections where threads are put into. Threads are the topics within a forum, there's usually pages of them. See? A post usually a reply to the topic, when viewing a thread you'll see different posts made by different members. We'll use WildDragonfly's post as an example.
Making a topic
If you aren't COPPA'd you can make posts and topics outside of the Oekaki boards. To make a new topic go the forum you'd like it in, at the top of the page you'll see a "NewTopic" button. Remember to always use the search function before making a new topic! Otherwise it's spam.
Posting
There are two ways to post, "post a reply" and "quick reply". The only difference between them is that "post a reply" gives you a task bar full of BB codes you can use such as color, bold, italic, underlined, etc.
Pets
Click the 'Adopt' button on the main menu to reach the Adoptables available for the month. It is best to adopt the maximum amount of each pet type. As pets grow they often have several outcomes, so adopting all you can, gives you a better chance of obtaining most, if not all of these outcomes. Extra double outcomes that you get will also be great to go toward trading for pets you need. ;) You have noticed the pets rarity tags, rarity isn't discovered until they grow up. Some pets are more rare than others. Older pets are worth more than others. Gah, so confusing! Well, that's why our lovely CS team has put together a guide. It can be found here.
Pet Groups
Tess Cat Guide - Why is there a separate guide? Because in 2010 Saltytoothpaste and Tess teamed up to create a new cat line art, because the old 2008 - 2009 cat line art known as 'Warrior Cat' lines were based on the Warrior Cat novel series by Erin Hunter, and due to copyright we can no longer use them.
No, we will not release more designs in this line art. - You have what's left, however some times on December 18th you may receive an old line art cat, this is a re-release, not a new design.
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Creating several groups for your pets is a great way to keep track and view your different pet types. It is a good idea to create a "Trade Group" and move the pets you are willing to trade here. it makes it easier for potential trading partners to know what you have to offer. Creating a new trade group is very easy. Just go to your 'My pets' page, and click the 'Create a new group to organize your pets' link at the bottom left. From here simply enter your new groups name, and click 'Create'. You will now have a new group.
Moving Pets
To move pets into a new group, tick the little white box under each pet you wish to move. If you want to move a whole page of pets, scroll down to the bottom right of the page, and click 'Mark all' which is located under the drop down menu.
Once your pet(s) are selected, use the drop down menu to select the group you wish to move them to, and click 'Go'. Your pets will now be moved.
Note: If moving large amounts of pets, be aware that you can only move one page at a time.[/b]
Working upon, please do not edit ~ Nadine