TDWTF Forum FAQ



  • This FAQ list started as a community-constructed wiki-style FAQ started when we moved over from Community Server and people were mightily peeved. It still is actually.

    There's a more comprehensive set of FAQs over at http://what.thedailywtf.com/category/meta/faqs


    Q: I can't log in with my usual username and password
    A: Not all accounts have were transferred from Community Server. You will need to either

    • create a new account, like everyone else.
    • use the password request form if your username was one of the lucky ones selected to be 'pre-reserved'. And your email address hasn't changed from what it was at the old system. Historically the reset emails have taken a while to be received so please be patient. Also, some users have reported the email landing in their spam folder so be sure to check there as well.

    Q. Whoa, where's the pagination?
    A: This site uses a new fangled concept called infinite scrolling. Love it or hate it, we've got it. It sucks and we're actively trying to fix it.

    Q. I don't like it, what should I do about it?
    A: You could go ape shit and vent your frustration, like in various blakeyrants that have appeared on the forums, or you could go through to one of the next stages of grieving. Once you hit acceptance you'll be golden!

    There are keyboard shortcuts that will make finding your way around a little easier. There is no way in hell you'll ever figure them out on you own, so pressing ? will pop up a list of them.

    Q. No, seriously, where are the goddamn pages?
    A: We don't have them! But we do have a scrollbar progress bar coloured bar that sometimes shows the correct number of posts.

    And have you seen Markdown? It's like WYSIWYG, if what you see is random punctuation barfed all over the screen because your keyboard is broken, and what you get has inexplicable formatting, just like that time your toddler was left unattended with your computer for 30 minutes and somehow made Office format everything in Klingon.

    Q: What about some keyboard shortcuts?
    Press ? - though not if you're editing a post, it will just create this weird loopy character with a dot below it ... come to think of it, it looks a lot like the symbol on the keyboard!

    Q: MORBS SHOULD BE A MODERATOR AGAIN
    A: Technically not a question, but extremely thought-provoking nonetheless. Unfortunately a tragic oversight resulted in not everyone who was a moderator in Community Server being imported as a moderator here. Please stay calm while our crack team of programmers works around-the-clock to restore Morbs' privileges. Together, we can make it through this.

    Q. I'm new here, what should I do to fit in?
    A: Follow these simple rules guidelines and you should be ok:

    • Wind other forum members up, it's great when you induce a hissy fit in somebody and then sit back and watch the carnage.
    • Seriously though, this isn't like other forums. There's no need to play nice, we're all big boys here.
    • Always file your posts
    • Develop a healthy hatred of markdown
    Q. Why can the questions in the FAQ expand and collapse?

    Thanks to [details-shim](https://github.com/tyleruebele/details-shim) we can use the HTML5 <details> tag to make expandable sections! ```

    I am a summary (you need one of these Content goes here. This details section will be initially closed.
    I am a summary (you need one of these Content goes here. This details section will be initially open.
    ```
    Q. Why can't the questions in the FAQ expand and collapse?

    Apparently we can in Chrome (but not as of IE11 or FF29) if you feel like mucking about with HTML instead of Markdown (who wouldn't).

    A: Because this isn't actually an FAQ. It's the bastard child of a wiki page and a thread topic. Around here that pretty much means this thing will be entirely useless and probably end up full of dick jokes.

    Also this means that custom jQuery can't be applied so there's no way to make appearing and disappearing paragraphs/divs or whatever crazy thing markdown does here to screw up post formatting (don't worry we'll come up with an XSS attack to fix it soon).

    Q. Why are so many things sexy?
    A: Because @algorythmics.

    Q. Why doesn't the unread post tracking make any sense?
    A: You need to fix your profile settings to always automatically track posts that you enter and to consider topics new when you haven't viewed them.

    Q. What's with the weird formatting of stuff I type?
    A: Welcome to the whacky world of markdown. There's a tutorial being developed here. You can also find some useful information by googling "markdown syntax". Or just go get drunk; you'll probably be happier.

    Q. When will @Nagesh be made a moderator?
    A: We are hoping he won't be made a moderator. We don't like outsourcing to begin with.

    Q. WTF? The link I posted suddenly appeared inline.
    A: That's called "onebox". Any URL on a line by itself may be oneboxed. Non-image links will only be oneboxed if the site they point to has been whitelisted. Any image link will be oneboxed, so tread carefully there, my son.

    There are several ways to prevent oneboxing if you just want to post a link. The simplest is just type a space in front of the URL. Discourse will automagically hide the space, and not onebox the link. New users will be bitten by this over and over again, and the forums will be polluted with "WTF is this crap?". Please direct them to this FAQ, which will surely be inaccurate and outdated. The user will read that they have to type a space in front a link, just like they always did on other forum software. Sorry, I mean like they never did. The user can add it to the growing list of "hoops and shit one must jump through just to almost get the forum working" levels. It's a long list, so long that it might not fit on a single page.

    Q. How come when I edit this FAQ, there's a whole section at the bottom in an HTML comment that tells me to increase this number whenever a whitespace only change is made?
    A: Well, you see, "editing" a post is an outdated concept only used by cavemen and idiots like you. If you edit a post, you're probably making a minor correction. Well, Discourse assumes instead that you're making a BRAND NEW POST, and won't let you post something too similar to anything you've already posted, because we know better than you, because you're an idiot. So if you just edited a post to add some whitespace-- because you forgot to break a paragraph, or forgot to put space betweenaword, or because you need to undo a dumbass "oneboxing" (see above), then YOU CAN'T! You're trying to dupe post. No one would ever edit a post to fix whitespacing! NEVER! So since lots of people do need to edit posts to fix whitespacing, the hack-- umm workarond-- umm unfixed bug-- umm PROPER way of doing things (you idiot) is to put even more junk into your post. But remember, Discourse is for average users, who all know how to write HTML comments, and will instantly know that making numerically increasing HTML comments will let them fix their whitespacing.

    Q: What if I want to edit a post to vandalize a FAQ instead of fixing whitespacing?
    A: Carry on, my son. You are blessed to do so.

    Q: Give me this website source code
    Sure.

    require 'discourse'
    Discourse::Application.load_tasks
    

    Q: Why are some of the bolded lines in this FAQ randomly in a larger font size than others?
    A: Fucked if I know. The FAQ isn't the place for questions.

    Q: Is the real part of any non-trivial root of the Riemann Zeta function ζ(s) always equal to ½?
    A: I SAID NO QUESTIONS

    Q: What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
    A: African or European?

    Q: Am I using the software right?
    A: No, you are Doing It Wrong™ :doing_it_wrong:

    Q: Is PHP always TRWTF?
    A: Yes, unless the question involves Discourse.

    Q: How do I make a poll?
    A: It's explained in this post


    Filed under: There, that's better!



  • ...I'm confused by this thread topic. What exactly is this? Is this stuff that's going to go into the FAQ? Is this going to become the FAQ? What does "always file your posts" mean?



  • It looks like everyone can edit sam's post. So we can wiki that thing into a FAQ?



  • Fall in love with infinite scrolling.

    I already have and it is doing wonders to my sleeping habits.


    ☀


    Post Cunt is overrated.

    There is no post count that is immediate available for viewing pleasure.



  • Trust level is confusing.

    I made 170 posts, I am at basic user trust level, while @Lorne_Kates made about 65 posts and he is at regular user trust level.



  • @Nagesh said:

    I made 170 posts, I am at basic user trust level, while @Lorne_Kates made about 65 posts and he is at regular user trust level.

    Then the system is working properly.



  • @moderator said:

    Then the system is working properly.

    We need a special level just for Nagesh. Because Nagesh is special, very special.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    We need a special level just for Nagesh. Because Nagesh is special, very special.

    Trust Level MIN_INT.


  • Considered Harmful

    I didn't see the need for a "dislike" button until now.


    Filed Under: [💔](#tag)

  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Nagesh said:

    Post Cunt is overrated.

    You sir are an underrated comedy genius.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    We need a special level just for Nagesh. Because Nagesh is special, very special.

    Nobody is special. All of us are victims of our past carnations.







  • @Nagesh said:

    /Dashavatar

    None of those are flowers.



  • Why doesn't Intercourse notify me when Morbs somebody vandalizes updates the FAQ?



  • @Nagesh said:

    Dashavatar

    I'd like to dash the creepy Eye of Nagesh avatar against some sharp rocks.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic



  • Um, you lost me. Is there a point to posting oneboxed links to wikipedia articles here? Ok, oneboxing should probably be mentioned in the FAQ, because it is unexpected behavior that will catch a newbie by surprise. But if there is something about those articles or their content that is relevant, I'm missing it.


  • Banned

    I wonder if you should add a bit of guidance about what lines are not allowed to be crossed.

    For example:

    Personal insults fine, racism not.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    Why doesn't Intercourse notify me when Morbs somebody vandalizes updates the FAQ?

    Wasn't me. Must've just been some patriotic, Morbs-loving private citizen.



  • @codinghorror, @sam. Can somebody check the stuff I added for accuracy? I think I got it right, but it would be nice for somebody who knows for sure to check.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @HardwareGeek said:

    Um, you lost me.

    Really? EYE really lost you there? It breaks my HEART that you can't figure out the joke. I bet MORBIUS Wilters has no problem divining the hidden meaning.

    Also, OneBox is a nice idea on paper, but stupid in practice, and ripe for abuse.



  • @Lorne_Kates said:

    Really?

    Ah, 👀 guess 👀 was looking at the trees and missed the forest.

    @Lorne_Kates said:

    OneBox is a nice idea on paper, but stupid in practice, and ripe for abuse.

    I would not disagree with that statement, especially about being easy to abuse.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @HardwareGeek said:

    Ah, guess was looking at the trees and missed the forest.

    Are you a Discourse developer?


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @sam said:

    I wonder if you should add a bit of guidance about what lines are not allowed to be crossed.

    We have those now?



  • @sam said:

    I wonder if you should add a bit of guidance about what lines are not allowed to be crossed.

    For example:

    Personal insults fine, racism not.

    How about discriminating against stupid people and they happen to be Indian originally?



  • @Nagesh said:

    How about discriminating against stupid people and they happen to be Indian originally?

    We are equal-opportunity discriminators against stupid people, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ...



  • @Lorne_Kates said:

    Are you a Discourse developer?

    Sir! I regard that as a mortal insult, and I demand satisfaction! Behind the Cathedral at dawn!


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @HardwareGeek said:

    I demand satisfaction! Behind the Cathedral at dawn!

    Are you a priest or an alterboy?



  • @Lorne_Kates said:

    Are you a priest or an alterboy?

    He's a nun. Be ready with your sword to plunge in.



  • @Lorne_Kates said:

    HardwareGeek said:
    I demand satisfaction! Behind the Cathedral at dawn!

    Are you a priest or an alterboy?

    Damn, I can't find a clip with the right scene, but there is a recurring bit in http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045125/ in which Stewart Granger, a member of the National Assembly, is intentionally insulted by a series of opponents, in the hope that one of them will kill him. The duel is always "behind the Cathedral, at dawn," to the point where Granger is replying, "Yes, I know, ..."

    The following scene is always later, in the Assembly; the clerk is calling roll. When the clerk gets to $opponent, Granger answers on his behalf, "The member from $jurisdiction will be absent from the Assembly {for $duration|permanently}."



  • @Nagesh said:

    they happen to be Indian originally?

    We call those "Native Americans". Just like we call black people "African American" even if they come from Jamaica and live in France.



  • @ben_lubar said:

    Just like we call black people "African American" even if they come from Jamaica and live in France.

    This is why I insist people call me European-African-Native-American.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @ben_lubar said:

    Just like we call black people "African American" even if they come from Jamaica and live in France.

    Or Australia.



  • That's a euphemism, right?


  • ♿ (Parody)

    Can we still talk about basoonists?



  • @Lorne_Kates said:

    alterboy

    Is this the new slang for trans man nowadays?



  • I'd like to petition @apapadimoulis to change ownership of the post above to 'system'.

    Instructions:

    .1. Be an admin
    .2. Click on your admin wrench

    .3. Select posts

    .4. Select the OP

    .5. Click change ownership

    .6. Choose system

    .7. Push the button


  • Considered Harmful

    @riking said:

    1. Be an admin

    Some bug seems to be causing problems with this step.



  • @riking said:

    I'd like to petition @apapadimoulis to change ownership of the post above to 'system'.

    I'd like to petition @apapadimoulis to change ownership of the post above to @PaulaBean


  • Banned

    Changing it to system makes no sense for me to own it.

    Though we probably want to add a feature that allows people to "subscribe" to changes on a wiki.





  • Hmm… I'dd add the following to the FAQ:

    Q: I can't log in with my usual username and password

    A: Accounts have not been transferred from Community Server. You will need to create a new account, like everyone else.

    But Discourse won't let me (as a new user) keep all the links in the edited post. Could someone edit it in in my stead? Thanks in advance.


  • Banned

    It should be editable, feel free to add it :)



  • That's just the thing, I tried, but it won't let me post the edited version because of too many links (even though I don't add any, maybe we could classify that as a bug?), I have to cancel the edit.



  • This post is deleted!


  • What's with the edit history? I fixed one misspelled word, and the edit history shows what appears to be several changes sprinkled through the FAQ.



  • @ZPedro said:

    it won't let me post the edited version because of too many links

    I'd guess it's probably a new user thing. Your profile shows "Trust Level basic user." Write a few more posts, get a little more history under your belt, and your trust level will go up to "regular user." You should be able to edit it then. I don't know for sure, but I think that's probably the problem.



  • Basic user is actually able to post links. It's only new user that has a limit. Regular user gains the ability to invite people, but that requires 50+ days of reading the forum to get to that trust level.



  • @ben_lubar said:

    Basic user is actually able to post links. It's only new user that has a limit.

    @ZPedro just joined today. Maybe he was still a new user when he tried.


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