Everything A Newbie Needs To Know!!!

[STAFF]

Welcome to MSOS! In this thread you will find answers to most of the first timer questions that we get on this site. If you still have other questions after reading this WHOLE post, then please feel free to post your question in this thread or PM a staff member!

***NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE 15 POSTS IN ORDER TO USE THE PM FEATURE, IF YOU NEED THE ATTENTION OF A STAFF MEMBER AND DO NOT HAVE 15 POSTS, CREATE A THREAD HERE***

The first thing you HAVE to do as a newbie is read up on both OPSEC and the TOS for this site. We have had many people just skim through it while signing up and then come post all kinds of violations and then say "but I didnt know" or some other excuse. Here are the links to both, there are no excuses, if you break a rule and post a violation, you WILL receive an infraction! OPSEC is taken VERY seriously here!

OPSEC & PERSEC...MUST READ!!!

TOS: TERMS OF SERVICE

Another page to check out is our Forum Guidelines

Before you read any further, We here at MSOS have an 18+ age rule. Any member found to be under 18 will be banned until their birthday. If you re-register under a new name and are still under 18 you will be permanently banned from the site. For more information, Click Here!

For your safety, the use of last names in Usernames is against TOS, if you have registered your UN with a last name in it, please start a thread here to request a name change: http://www.militarysos.com/forum/private-channel-staff/ This is the sites only PERSEC rule. While the staff STRONGLY advises against giving anyone your personal information (last name, e-mail, address, phone number, unit, ect.), this is the only rule on it. Everyone is over 18 and other then your screen name, it is up to you what you give out.

Please, please, pretty please check the DATE for when a thread was posted, and when it was last posted in. If its been longer then a month or two, please start another thread and do NOT bump the existing old/dead thread. Staff will close threads that are bumped if they are found in the following sections of the board: Long Distance Love, Love Shack, Life After Love, Grieving and Loss, Pregnacy Loss, and Venting. This will happen if the thread is over 30 days old.

Threads in other sections of the board will be allowed to fade away on their own when bumped.

One last thing before we get to the goodies! Please be aware that there are both post count and time of membership required for some areas of the site. It is not a stab at people who aren't on as often or the site trying to hide things, the reason there are requirements is so that members who stick around and are active can have a place to post things that is a little more secure from passers by and guest viewing the site. However, it is VITAL to remember that NOTHING IS SAFE ON THE INTERNET, and you should ALWAYS keep OPSEC and PERSEC in mind!

Please be aware - we have Fundraising, Advertising and Classified Guidelines that are enforced on this site! They can be found here: Fundraising, Advertising and Classified Guidlines

Now for the fun stuff!!!

For avatars: (the icon under members names)

*Click on "User CP" in the upper left.
*Look at the options bar in on the left of the screen.
*Scroll to "Edit avatar."
*Click the button by one you and hit "save changes."

For signatures: (the graphics/text at the bottom of members posts)
***YOU MUST HAVE 30 POSTS IN ORDER TO CREATE A SIGNATURE***

*Click on "User CP" in the upper left.
*Look at the options bar in on the left of the screen.
*Scroll to "Edit signature."
*Put in something cool, or pretty, or that you like. (some ticker suggestions: Daisy Path , Ticker Factory )
*Click "Save signature."

Things to keep in mind when adding a signature:
*Check the size! When you are done, make sure to post in the Official Siggy Check Thread to double check that your siggy is not over the limits. If you dont, it can get hacked and you will have to start all over!
*If you add a ticker (count down/up), you need to make sure it does not violate any site rules. There are NO MILITARY RELATED COUNTDOWNS ALLOWED, you may countup (show how long your SO has been gone) if you wish to have a military related ticker.

For the branch blinkies:

*Join the groups here Military Significant Others and Spouse Support - MilitarySOS.com and save, and the blinkies under your name will appear!

To add pictures to your posts:
How can I add Pictures to my Posts?

Useful Tabs:

There are 3 tabs that will make navigating MSOS a bit easier!
*First, there is the "New Forum Post" tab that will show you a list of the threads that have the most recent posts (where our users are currently active in). To get to this page, find the blue bar at the top of the page and look to the right side of the screen. "New Forum Posts" will be the 4th tab in (from the right) and will be slightly more bold then the others on this bar.

*Second & Third, there is the "My Threads" and "My Posts" tabs. These will show you any threads you have started yourself (My Threads) well as any posts that you have made in both your threads and other threads (My Posts). To access these tabs, find the red bar at the top of the page, look to the right of the screen. They will be the first two tabs (looking right to left) on this bar!


Message Board Acronyms!- Here is a list of SOME of the more common acronyms used on the site. The ones in pink are for marital status, family, and relationship status. The ones in red are the most commonly used, and the black are general ones you may see!

DB: Dear/Darn Boyfriend
DG: Dear/Darn Girlfriend
DF: Dear/Darn Fiancé
DH: Dear/Darn Husband
DW: Dear/Darn Wife
DD: Dear/Darn Daughter
DS: Dear/Darn Son
MIL: Mother-In-Law
FIL: Father-In-Law
BIL: Brother-In-Law
SIL: Sister-In-Law

FYI : For Your Information
IMO: In My Opinion
JK: Just Kidding!
JMO: Just My Opinion
KWIM: Know What I Mean?
OP: Original Poster
PM: Private Message
SO: Significant Other
SOS/MSOS: Significant Other Support/ Military Significant Other Support
BTDT: Been There, Done That
IRL: In Real Life

ITA: I Totally Agree
WTH: What/Who The Heck
ASAP: As Soon As Possible
BOC: But Of Course
FWIW: For What It's Worth
HTH: Hope This Helps
IMHO: In My Humble/Honest Opinion
PITA: Pain In The A$$
POV: Point Of View
SAHM: Stay At Home Mom
SS: Secret Sister
YAGE: Yet Another Grand Exit


"My thread didn't get any responses!":
Welcome to an online community, you will post threads that won't get any or many responses. Thats forum life. This message board has thousands of members who post tons of threads a day, it may take more then 10 minutes for you to get a reply. It's not that people don't like you, or their just not interested in reading, its just going to take some time to get replies.

Also, you may see that members who have been here a while get replies quicker, thats normal as well. Just like IRL, if you know someone your going to be more likely to reply to them. Its not favoritism or cliques, its just how things work. Just keep posting and putting yourself out there and soon enough you will find your nitch!

Tip: When posting a thread, make sure it's in the right forum, sometimes the reason you didn't get a response to your thread is because you didn't post it in the right area. Take the time to look to see where you should post your thread. If you post it and its in the wrong place, report it (small white triangle at the bottom left corner of your post with a! in it) and asked for it to be moved!

For instance: If your having trouble with a deployment, don't post about it in the General, post it in the Deployment and Separation forum. You will get a lot more responses because people will want to read your thread because thats why they came into that forum in the first place.

Account Closure

If you decide MSOS is not a good fit for you:

You may ask for your account to be banned, however this will result in a permanent closure of your account, not a Banned status. You may not ask for your account to be reopened. To add, you may have your account closed up to 3 times before it becomes permanent.

If you choose to close your account, you will be given an option to take down a mod's contact information so you can ask for it to be re-opened if you so choose. You may also want to keep in contact with a friend here who can contact staff as well. Staff will also ask if you would like to set the account to automatically reopen after six months, or if you would prefer to contact us when you want to return. If you choose the automatic reopening, we still encourage making sure you have a way of contacting us in case of system issues.

The staff will continue to add information and things to this page as we get more common questions asked! Thanks also to the other members of MSOS who have helped put this thread together!

[Rainbow Brite]

Holy information Batman!

[Crystal]

Awesome post!

[gatorbird24]

This was a great idea,Crystal. Wish I had a guide like that a month ago!! It's awesome!

[His*PITA*]

Glad everyone likes it so far! The information has always been there, we just decided to combine it all into 1 thread instead of having 3!

[GreenSoap]

I think this actually makes it less overwhelming when you first come in.......bc I remember trying to read everything and got lost =(
This is GREAT!!!!!!!!!

[SandyKay]

I added a line about UN's, can comeone check the phrasing of it for me

[His*PITA*]

looks good sandy!

[FertileMertile.]

[ChristyLou]

Very helpful! I was wondering about the blinkies!