Editing Getting Started on Poliwager Forums!

== Welcome to Poliwager! ==
It's an honor to see you here! It really is! We really hope you enjoy our site with all the eggs you can [[Adopt Page|adopt]] and all the users you can talk to.

...What's that? You wish you could talk to other users more? Well then lucky for you, we have the '''[https://forums.poliwager.net/index.php Poliwager Forums]''' to help you with! And lucky for you, I'm here to tell you all there is to [[Poliwager Forums]]. You must be the luckiest person there is to get all this info!

== What is a Forums? ==
But a miserable pile of secrets. But luckily for us we can find out what these secrets truly are. 

Forums collect topics that other users have posted. Users can share their thoughts about Pokémon video games, meet new friends, and ask questions about Poliwager Adoptables on Poliwager Forums. Forums have four levels of organization at their basic core:

'''Categories:''' These are the big sections that have everything else go under them. At the time of this writing, we have 3 categories: Forum and Site, [[Pokémon]], and General. Clicking on one of these headers will let you go down to the next level. Like a video game!

'''Forums:''' These are one level down below categories. You can see these on the main page without needing to click on Categories too! These help organize what gets talked where, so you don't need to search for 3,000 years to find one thing. Poliwager Adoptables talk will go in '''Poliwager Adoptables Discussion''', Pokémon talk in '''Pokémon General Discussion''', you get the idea. It's like a nicely cleaned room, if you are lucky enough to have one. 

'''Subforums:''' Some forums have subforums underneath them. These are related categories to the forum they are underneath! Notice in this image example how Entertainment has a few Subforums, including Music and Sports. Subforums help the main forum categories stay organized.
[[File:Category and Boards.png|thumb|959x959px|An example of a category (this one being "General") and its related boards under it. Hey, that's me in the top right!]]



'''Topics:''' Now this is where the real meat and potatoes are. These are the talking points or threads that anyone can create. You can talk about anything you want here with starting a topic. Just make sure what you post follows the rules, and it is in the right place, so the staff have to do less work fixing it. You'll do that for them right? please? You don't want to see a cutie like [[Oshi|me]] beg for you, do you?

'''Replies:''' This is where you can say your thoughts out loud on someone's topic. Try to keep it on topic with how the conversation is going! The [https://forums.poliwager.net/viewtopic.php?t=1792 '''Chatterbox'''] can be a good place to start once you get used to the forums!

== Making and Editing Your Profile ==
Congrats on getting this far! Now you are one step closer to poling and wagging it up. Now the secret to make a profile is clicking on the [https://forums.poliwager.net/ucp.php?mode=register "Register"] button you see at the top right. Please note that the Poliwager Forums account is separate from the [[Poliwager Adoptables]], so you'll need to make an account on the forums if you already made an account on Poliwager Adoptables. After agreeing to the terms, we can really start making a profile. This should be the first thing you see after you click on the button. As long as your eyes are open that is.
[[File:Making A Profile.png|left|thumb|952x952px|The secret sauce of making a profile.]]



Most of this is quite self-explanatory I want to say, but if I am wrong later you can hit me with a chair. Once you got all of that entered, and put in the secret bot-preventing "Confirmation of registration" code that I legally cannot say here, you will now be able to edit your profile! Editing your profile is easy. After you log in or make your profile, you can click on the drop-down menu by your name to see all the fun options just ready for you. And here is a quick rundown of things, only because I like you so much, yes you!
[[File:Oshi's profile drop down menu.png|left|thumb|What the drop-down menu will look like after clicking on it.]]
'''Profile -''' This lets you see all of your profile! It includes your info you entered for profile creation, your stats, and your signature!

'''User Control Panel''' - This links to some of the other tabs you could click on. This lets you edit your profile, board preferences (like themes), private messages, the user groups you are in, and your friends and foes (foes are blocked users). 

'''Edit Signature''' - Now this lets you edit the block of text that appears under your post. Most of the time people like to put their Adoptables Pokémon here. Or you can put anything here that floats your boat. As a secret tip from me, you can spoil your adoptable Pokémon, so they don't take as much space up!

'''Edit Avatar''' - Choose an image of your liking to be your profile picture, or just choose one from the gallery.  I heard one of the gallery profile pictures is awesome.

'''View Subscription''' - Shows what topics you are subscribed to! These topics will notify you when they get an update. 

'''View Bookmarks''' - Shows what topics you have bookmarked! An easy way to come back to certain topics for later.

'''View Drafts''' - Shows what drafts you have been working on. Drafts are private posts you can make to make sure your topic looks the best it can be before posting it for real. I have my fair share of drafts saved up.

'''Your Posts''' - Shows all the posts you have done! For better, or for worse. I have some embarrassing ones I have done when I was younger.

'''Logout''' - Logs you out of the forums so you can go enjoy your real life. We will miss you and hope you come back soon!

== The Rules of the Poliwager Forums ==
The first thing you should do after making your account is to review [https://forums.poliwager.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2 The Rules]. The Rules are in place to help keep things fun, safe, and cool for everyone on the forums! 

== browsing/posting an intro ==

== posting around - replying with good comments. - also link my poliwager guide here as a good example to post too? ==

== Ending while I complain I don't know how to use wikis. ==