h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"'That was easy!' said Man, who then went on to prove that black is white and got killed at the next zebra crossing."

Hello NotEvil (That's comforting declaration - or is it to lure me into a false sense of security?

Anyway,

I am one of the ACE's here at H2G2. ACE stands for Assistant Community Editor. We are the official Meeters and Greeters of this wonderful site and try to be nice a friendly and appear knowledgeable about stuff. We flit from space to space and I've popped over to say a big friendly "Hello" and welcome you to this great on-line community.

If you are wondering how to draw those little smiley faces that you occasionally see people employing in conversations. This site has loads of 'em and you can find out all about how to use them in conversations like this on by clicking on this smiley face --->

To start you off http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A270325 is a pretty much exhaustive (guide within a guide ) to all of the clubs and sillyness that Researchers (regularly) indulge in.
There are many, many different conversations being had here so try doing some investingating (or "Lurking" as it is known here on-site.) You can join in by clicking the Discuss Entry button to start up a brand new conversation or if you want to reply to a message in pre-existing conversation just hit the Reply button (9/10 times it doesn't hit back! ) at the end of the appropriate posting.

To see where the community is talking
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Talk - hosts a comprehensive list.
A good place to start there is
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/askh2g2 - here you can post a question about more-or-less anything (Meaning, Reason, Synysthesia or even the lyrics to The Elements!) or
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/howdoi - where you really can learn a new thing every day!

These are forums where you can engage with the rest of the community. The forums form one half of the site, they are were reseachers meet and chat. Forums stem from particular Guide Entries writtten by researchers. (For instance the AskH2G2 forums all stem from a page set up by the staff who run this site - fondly known as The Italics because there names all appear in bold italicised font - they're lovely .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Team and they live at the H2G2 Towers http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/C599

The best part about using this on-line community is you get to write your own articles otherwise known as Guide Entries and have other people talk about them in the forums they generate.
Guide Entries can also be about anything at all. If you have an interst in diverse a topics as ballet, car mechanics, advanced quantum physics or the daily frustrations of trying to naviagte the London Tube System now is you chance to flex your writing muscles and put finger to keyboard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Writing-Guidelines

The site supports two methods of writing. You can use either Plain Text or if you want to make a page look special you can use a specialised code system called GuideML. It is terribly simple to use (It is based on a series of open <> and closed </> command brackets and is similar in structure though not indentical to HTML. ) A really helpful place to start then is the GuideML Clinic, which can be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/GuideML-Clinic It explains the basic structure of GuideML, how to use it and is the best place to go if you need any help or get stuck using it. You personal Space counts as a guide entry and can also be edited to include pictures and text formatting using GuideML.

There is plenty of help to get you started writing entries for the Guide
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Writing-Workshop offers helpful advice and also there is the Peer Review System that lets researchers help each other out in puting the final finishing touches to their articles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/PeerReview

If you are stuck for anything elseyou could try first checking the Don't Panic! Help Pages & FAQS:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/dontpanic or if you fancy it come and talk to the rest of the ACES here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/ACES - we are a friendly
bunch always ready with the and s

If you want to reply to this message you can by clicking on the Reply button in the corner. I will know if you do because my page dispalys a record of all conversations I have taken part in and have replies to. If you want to stop by my page as well, you are
more than welcome to come ask any questions or even pop over just for a quick chat.
I am here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/U113478

Welcome to H2G2.
Enjoy, reading, taking part in and contributing to The Real Life Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy [ Earth Edition ].

See you around.

Clive.