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

Hi!

My name is Clive and 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 basically we try to be nice and friendly, answer all
your questions and appear knowledgeable about stuff. Occasionally, on those rare
occasions when we are totally flummoxed ourselves we will endeavour to point you in
the direction of someone else who can help. The ACE's are researchers just like
yourself who have signed up to this volunteer scheme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Aces
We flit from space to space and I've popped over to say a big friendly "Hello".

"HELLO!" <-----(BIG & *FRIENDLY* )

H2G2 is huge and it can be quiet disorientating for new arrivals. Therefore I've got a
couple of links to places around the site to kick-start your adventures.

May I suggest first off looking in Preferences
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/UserDetails
and sampling the site in it's more groovy state of Classic Goo. I'm not bias, promise.
While your there you can also change other things about how the site is viewed on
your computer like turning Frames on or off as well as editing you user name.
This is all explained in more detail in a welcome message for all new researchers
here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/welcome-newcomers
If you want to learn more about h2g2 click here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/C550

Douglas Adams was intimately involved in the foundation of this on-line community
before his sudden death earlier this year. He has a page on site that you can visit if
you like to read more about him, the stuff he wrote (for and about The Guide) or even
leave a tribute:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/U42

If you are wondering how to draw those little smiley faces and pictures that I've been
flinging about with glee abandon. This site has loads of them and you can find out all
about how to use them in conversations like this by clicking on this link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Smiley
Of particular utility to you and Krayzee I predict will be:
< kiss > =
< smooch > =
< loveblush > =
&
< cuddle > =

There are many, many different conversations being had here so try doing some
investigating (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.

We have our own newspaper - published weekly. With editorials and regular
contributions from researchers all across the site as well as feature articles and not
forgetting the superlative H2G2Life Cartoon strip.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/thepost
Those nice people at The Post have also gone to some lengths to gather their own
list of useful links for researchers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A616718
As well as a list of the wacky clubs, societies and WSOGMM* that goes on around
site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A626069

Try visiting
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Talk - to see where the community hot spots are this
week.

Seek enlightenment by consulting these oracles of wisdom
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/HowdoI
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/askh2g2 - here you can post a question about
more-or-less anything!

These are some of the popular forums where you can engage with the rest of the
community. The forums form one half of the site, they are were researchers meet and
chat. Forums stem from particular Guide Entries written by researchers.
For instance the AskH2G2 forums all stem from a page set up by the staff who run
this site.
The Powers That Be - fondly known as The Italics because their names all
appear in bold italicised font - Gawd Bless 'em all have pages on site. You can
learn more about the team that runs the site here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Team

The forums are where researchers meet and talk. However, by far 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. You
can write about whatever interests you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/index
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/Search
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/randomentry
As you can see, Guide Entries can also be about anything at all. The aim of the site is
to write a kind of comprehensive encyclopaedia for Earth (with some handy tips to
help you live on it.) But the Guide is not yet complete!
And this is where you come in. If you have an interest in diverse a topics as ballet, car
mechanics, advanced quantum physics or the daily frustrations of trying to navigate
the London Tube System or anything else, now is you chance to flex your writing
muscles and put finger to keyboard.
And there's plenty of help to get you started:
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 and can enhance the look of anything you write. I
promise it doesn't require a doctorate to master!
It is based on a series of open <> and closed </> command brackets and is similar in
structure though not identical to HTML. A really helpful place to keep referring to 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.
Your personal Space counts as a Guide Entry and can also be edited to include
pictures and text formatting using GuideML.
This is a link to an archive of pictures and images you can use to brighten up you
personal space using GuideML!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/C809

If you are genuinely stuck you could always try looking at other researcher's Guide
Entries to get some ideas.
If you want to see how any one has constructed a page using GuideML put this URL
in your address bar
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/testXXXXX - where XXXXX is the number of a
page without the "A" or "C".
If you want to see how someone has constructed their Personal Space in GuideML
use this URL
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/testuserpageXXXXX - again where XXXXX is the
number of the page minus the "U" number.

Clicking the Who's On Line button will call up a menu that displays all researchers
currently logged-in.
Clicking on anyone's name will take you direct to their personal space. People are
quite flattered to have people post to their journals. Give it a try, see who responds.

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 putting
the final finishing touches to their articles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/PeerReview

If you are stuck for anything else you could try first checking the Don't Panic! Help
Pages & FAQS :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/dontpanic

If you want to reply to this message I will know if you do because my page displays a
record of all conversations
that I have taken part in and have replies to and I'll come back and say hi again!
If you want to stop by my page as well, you are more than welcome to come by ask
any questions or even pop over just for a
quick chat.
I am here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/U113478
A cup of will be waiting.

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.

* Whole Sort Of General Mish-Mash.

Thanks! Your info was all really helpful!

I'm just in the midst of writing myself a real Guide Entry. I should be able to post it pretty soon. They really need to clarify the Smileys thing I think. Where what tags work and what tags don't.

GuideML's pretty easy to get the hang of (esp. since I'm a web programmer... )

ah. You could try leaving a note in the feedback section of the guide. The Editors and the Guru's (technically minded bods) take a serious view of suggested improvements to the site. If you think the smileys instructions page needs clarifying, drop them a line and tell them.

The basic gist IN FORUMS though is this. Some smileys are colon dash bracket combinations

: - ) =

: - ( =

: - / =

< > < =

most however are words inside brackets.

< choc > =

< hug > =

As a web programmer your right you shouldn't have a hard time working GuideML to your advantage, it is really simple once you grasped the basics. To use smileys in GuideML the above methods don't work you have to activate them with a short piece of GuideML. (That is to use smileys in Guide Entries which is the only place you *can* use GuideML )

- note the self-closing nature of the tag - this and Line break tags are the exception to the rule that you should always have an open <> and </> closed brackets

Where XXXXX - is what you would normaly type for any of the other < smiley name here > emoticons

So to get in a Guide Entry you would type

Hope that helps.

Clive