Finding Your Way Through The Mess

First things first- obviously you know where the GAs page is, otherwise you wouldn't be here. You might be having a problem finding Heaven though. Luckily for you, there just happens to be a convenient link right here:

HEAVEN

Unfortunately, just getting to Heaven isn't enough. You'll notice, in whatever forum you choose to go into, that there are a mass of other conversations down the left hand side. But, lucky you, there's even more help at hand. Just for you new Saints, the following is a guide to the myriad conversations that go on in Heaven:

Heaven Sent: Now here's where we tell you about the bar! Heaven Sent is home to the Wings Bar, where Saint Rasputin will serve you any drink known to man (and a few they haven't been told about yet...). Everything's on the management, of course, so come in and make yourself comfortable- this is where you'll finally meet your fellow saints, and get to know them- make sure you get there ASAP.

Top Secret: this is a noticeboard for the Saints- upcoming events are announced here. Make sure you bookmark this page so you don't miss out.

Do Not Disturb: As mentioned above, this is where you can chat to God (if you're feeling brave enough...)

The Heavenly Signpost: If you're feeling a little lost, you'll find guidance here

Basic Flight Lessons: A fun and lighthearted introduction to the wonder of flying (you'll find this comes in really handy at parties...)

St Peter's Guardian Angel Helpline: For all Angels, be they old or new. This is where to go if you're in need of advice from the great Saint himself.

The Heavenly HTML helpline: Having trouble with that nasty HTML stuff? Or is GuideML being less than friendly? The HHH can help- here our GAs will answer all your technical questions (for answer, read: offload to Bruce, since he's the one who really knows what he's talking about...)

GA Flight Log: To help us GAs stay on top of things (and you thought being able to fly would be enough...) this is where GA activities are recorded. Ok, ok, not all of us use it, but we really should...

Zax's Lounge and Jeltz's Cafe: these two threads are specially reserved places for the two of the oldest Saints. Get drunk in the lounge, and then sober up in the cafe. Perfect arrangement, don't you agree?

Fashion Cat's Study: a cosy corner of Heaven, where you can come and have a chat with FC (and get absolutely rat-arsed on whisky if you're nice...)

So what have you let yourself in for?

The Angels' calling is to welcome newcomers as and when we can, helping to make them feel at home here at the Guide.

The main focus of h2g2 is the articles and entries, which are written by us- the researchers. OUR goal as angels is to encourage a comfortable atmosphere where newcomers don't feel like outsiders- and will (hopefully) feel free to contribute their knowledge!

To serve this purpose, the GAs attempt to form real relationships with the newbies they welcome. (There is always the option to adopt a newcomer as your Guardee if you find you get on really well with them... AND if they agree!)

The good news is, you don't have to feel any pressure. This is due to the useful little fact that there isn't any on you.

The basics:

OK! so... to start...

The idea of trying to search out tons of newbies every evening can seem a little daunting. Fear not! There are ways and means of doing these things. First off, the online users list. This handy little list shows you everyone who's logged on at that moment in time, and beside all the newbies' names is a little tag saying "new this week".

However, after using this list for a while, you'll notice that you're developing a small twitch when you get to certain researchers' pages, and a near-irrisistable urge to smash you monitor. This is because you'll keep hitting pages with the heading "This researcher has not yet had time to activate their page...". And you cannot post to these pages! Fortunately, someone had the bright idea to set up a page listing all the newly activated pages for each week: Vegiman's New 2h2g2 List

And we're still making life easier for you! If you're not sure about your skills as a speller, or how you want to sound in your welcoming messages, write a draft message and post it to Tweetie, who has volunteered to fine-tune your welcoming words, and make sure they say what you want them to say.

You may also want to consider putting links in your welcomes, just to start the newcomers off. Here's a selection of some of the best:

http://www.h2g2.com/A344756 -the Quick Reference Guide

http://www.h2g2.com/A352667- the Angels’ Guide for Newcomers

http://www.h2g2.com/F617?thread=55960 -the Newcomer’s Welcome

http://www.h2g2.com/A270325 -Colonel Seller’s Overwhelmingly Huge Guide to h2g2 Clubs

More than h2g2...

We Saints are a close knit bunch, and we like to keep in touch. For that reason, when it became apparent that the threads couldn't hold all of our traffic, Zax set us up with our own eGroups Forum. To join, you must email [email protected] telling us your username, the email address you want to use etc... Within a couple of days (as long as no extenuating circumstances apply) you should receive an email invitation to join. From there, it's only a couple of steps until you too can experience all of our idiosyncrasies through your email account, too. You'll also get access to a chat room, polls and lots of other fun stuff *g*

Homepage stuff

When you become an Angel, you'll notice that some of the others have pictures and drop-down lists on their pages, that relate to the group. Well, you lucky lucky Saints you- here's the place for all your Angelic resources...

Firstly, the URL for the Angels logo is http://homestead.deja.com/user.matkershaw/files/GA.jpg

You must be in GuideML or HTML to put the logo on your page. For more infomation on which tags to use, go to The Guide ML Clinic. To use the picture in HTML, simply use the same tag, but replace PICTURE with IMG in both your opening and closing tags. Easy, huh?

Most new Saints want to know where they can get the GA drop-down list (and who to whine to if their name isn't on it...). So, in answer to your pleas, click on this link for the much-sought-after code: GA List