The first two may be utterly silly because I can’t figure it out. So, don’t laugh too loud. The last one, I’m just not clear on and I’ve never participated nor started one. Please be gentle…
[ol]
[li]Is there someway that you can make your Online check mark thingie to show you’re NOT here? I leave mine logged in all the time and I’d hate for someone to think they could get ahold of me immediately and me be AFTK. I’ve looked all over the User CP section and can’t find it if it’s there. (Of course, I have trouble with the nose on my face, so who knows.)[/li][li]How does one do a vanity search? I know no one is talking about me ever, but just in case. The only way right now that I’m even close to knowing is by looking over threads I’ve either authored or replied to. So, in other words, those I’ve subscribed to.[/li][li]I’m aware that TPTB frown on anything that’s gratuitous, considered post padding and makes the hamsters work harder to upload a page(s) with 4 gabillion hits/views/responses. Therefore, is a flirt thread acceptable? Like I mentioned above, hadn’t even remotely been involved in one in any way (well, besides the independent posts here and there) and I’m curious. Would it be an okay thing to do upon occasion?[/li][/ol]
That’s alllllllll folks! I certainly appreciate what you guys do and’ll look forward to hearing how simple the answers are to all the mundane questions I just had to ask. And my obligatory HELP!! Thanks!
Oh, and I bet y’all thought this was gonna be about something else, given the title. Well, I see how it is. Being naughty will get you only coal from Santa and besides, I know that threads of that nature should be placed in GD, right?
Note: I have no idea about the inner workings of the board. So this first one is a WAG based on my observations.
Staying logged in is a browser thing. It has a cookie that saves you information, so you don’t have to re-log in every time you visit. This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the board though, as I’ve noticed that when I’m reading a long thread, when I go back to the forum threads I haven’t read yet no longer have a new posts icon. Your sessions time out after a certain period of inactivity, so basically–don’t worry about it.
Go to ‘search’ at the top of the page, and type in your user name. Voila.
Can’t answer that one. Gratuitous seems to be in the eye of the beholder. I’d ask a mod first before opening that kind of thread.
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[li]Is there someway that you can make your Online check mark thingie to show you’re NOT here? I leave mine logged in all the time and I’d hate for someone to think they could get ahold of me immediately and me be AFTK. I’ve looked all over the User CP section and can’t find it if it’s there. (Of course, I have trouble with the nose on my face, so who knows.)[/li][/QUOTE]
Having your login saved simply automatically logs you into the SDMB when you direct your browser here – you’re not listed as here when you’re offline (or online and without a SDMB browser window in operation).
To do a vanity search, you simply pull down the search option (on the blue line below the thread titles and “Welcome, faithfool”), go to advanced search, and type your name in the left box, which then, after frenzied hamster scurrying, gives you a list of posts in which someone has mentioned or addressed you by name. Searching in the right box by your username simply gives a list of threads in which you’ve posted – which can be useful to see if anyone has responded to you. Set options for the range you want to seek – a week or a month at most is probably a good idea, and keeps the hamsters from having to go down into the dungeon and search threads archived away three years ago, in a forlorn search for your username.
I should mention that, while doing vanity searches is not forbidden, it does put a bit of a strain on the server, so my impression is that it’s mildly discouraged – do it occasionally but not daily, is the impression I get of what staff prefer.
Regarding flirt threads, there’s a comment somewhere in the MPSIMS pinned-threads stuff. Somebody with a faster connection might link to it, if they’re so kind.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I was gone all weekend and had no access to a computer. So, thanks to everyone for replying. I had no idea that the vanity search thing was so easy. Apparently, I was making it much more complicated than it should be. :smack: As far as invisible mode, I suppose I’ll just live with it whichever way it goes. Since I always stay logged in -and- leave my browser up, anyone wants me, they can just use my email through my profile (Oh, and umop ap!sdn, that’s what I meant – someone saw me ‘here’ and emailed expecting an immediate answer or whatever back, then thinking I wasn’t gonna.) and wait until I really am here.
On to flirt threads… I thought they were generally frowned upon and I had read the sticky a million years ago, but didn’t remember if it said anything about them or not, or thought if so, it was just an across-the-board discouragement. I think I’ll just let that be then. I have no desire whatsoever to annoy the Higher Ups. I likes anonymity just fine.
So you know, the online checkmark (I didn’t know that did anything until now, and I’ve been here over a year!) is likely only “triggered” when you open a new page. If you’re just sitting there with threads open in tabs or windows, the browser’s not actively communicating with the server, it’s just displaying something it downloaded earlier. So unless you’re actively opening threads or posting messages or the like, it shouldn’t indicate that you’re online. Note also that these boards don’t support private messages, so the only real way to contact someone is to email them or use their IM names, if they choose to share them.
