A Guide to Plugins used on this Forum

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This guide will detail plugins that have functionality usable by members of the forum. I'll be making one post per plugin and giving detailed instruction on it's usage. In the event that a plugin uses BBcode for some functionality, I will be giving examples of that BBcode using < and > instead of [ and ]. So all of the examples I provide can be tested in practice threads. You simply have to replace <> with [].

Table of Contents

• Custom Profile Fields Organizer
• Posting Templates
• NPC Profiles
• Spoiler Tags
• Whisper Tags
• Color Smear
• Tabbed Sections in Posts
• Predetermined Post Dropdown
• VDice
• Monetary
• Vpop
• HashTags in Posts
• Color Palette

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Custom Profile Fields Organizer

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Location: Edit Profile -- Personal Tab

When you go to this location, scroll down until you reach the Signature box. Underneath this you will see two tabs. Character Information and Default.

This plugin allows custom profile fields to be organized into categories. Simply click the tabs and the content below them will alter into the fields associated with those tabs.

This is more of a simple plugin, to make custom fields easier to work with. Rather than one long list of them.

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Posting Templates

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Location: Edit Profile -- Settings Tab

Going to this tab, and scroll down until you see a section entitled: "Posting Templates".

What are they? Well, if you have seen Lexi post, you know she uses special BBcode to get her posts looking like that. But unless you save the default code somewhere to copy and paste, it's a real pain to remember it all. That is where this plugin comes in.

First, the limitations. All of the templates you save can only add up to 4,000 characters. That means that the more detailed you are with a template, the more characters will be required, and so limit you on the total number of templates you can have. This is a built in limitation, and not something I can change.

So how do you use it?

On the left side of the dropdown box are two words. Create and Delete.
Click Create and a popup appears. You must now enter a title for your template.
Choose something descriptive, yet short.

Once you do this, the dropdown will now contain the ------- line, and a line with the name of your template.
Now what do you do?

Type the BBcode you wish to use into the white box below this. When you are finished, you click the Save button.

For example, using this:

[b]Words:[/b]
[b]Tagged:[/b]

will result in this, when the template is used:

Words:
Tagged:

You can see how useful this will be, right?
If you happen to run over the 4,000 character limit. The template will not save for you.

So where do you use this? When you create a post or click on Reply, look near the bottom of your posting field. You will see the Preview and BBcode tags, right next to it you will see a dropdown menu that says Posting Templates.

Click on this dropdown to reveal your saved templates. These templates are APPENDED to your post when selected. This means you can use multiple templates for a single post. Such as one template for actions within your post, and another template for your character's spoken dialog.

Keep in mind, templates do not have to feature BBcode solely for your posting. They may also be used for commonly used information you wish to use. (There are plugins that will be featured later in this guide, that could make use of this fact.)

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NPC Profiles

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Location: Whenever you create a New Thread, Post, or Quick Reply

This is the first big plugin I will be covering. And it is a whopper. So pay close attention to the usage.

First, you will need to go to any board that is used for RP. These are the boards in which the NPC Profiles may be used. Create a new thread, or go to create a post/quick reply. This is where it gets interesting.

Look in the upper right of the UBBC buttons. You see the sword button? Click it and a drop-down menu will appear. This menu will list all of the NPC characters you are allowed to use during RP. Most of these are generic names with no gender or defining characteristics.

This was done so that you could decide the type of character your NPC will be. Selecting an NPC will alter your Mini-Profile in the post to reflect that specific NPC. If you happen to select the wrong NPC, don't worry. After you make the post if you need to change it, there should be a sword icon on the upper right side of the post. Using this you can change it to any available NPC. (If not, this may be a staff only function, and will require you to edit your post to change it.)

You can also look in the bottom right of every forum board. See that little popout menu? It has options for you. There is a sword icon here as well. But this is drastically different from the previous one.

When you click on this sword, a popup window appears. Showing all of your usable NPCs. Click on one.

See what happened? In the bottom right, you now see an image of the NPC's avatar. As well as his name, stars, and group. Why does it do this?

Go to another RP board. The icon of the NPC is still in your lower right portion of the page. Why? Because the sword icon there sets you to Permanently post as that NPC. Don't worry, it is only permanent until you turn it off. This is useful if you have to make posts in different threads. Though really it is a minor bonus the plugin grants, at best.

To remove your permanent NPC, simply hover the mouse over the avatar and click it when it says "Close".

Now when you post, it will be as your normal self.

Keep in mind that NPC characters are a privilege. If they are abused, they can and will be taken away. The point of adding this plugin was so NPC's could be posted with in separate posts. Rather than a member making a post and stating he was this or that NPC.

This plugin is also vital for the Staff. Rather than creating new accounts to RP as major plot characters, we can now use the plugin in order to create all of the special NPC characters we want.

I will say one last thing before I close this guide. Most of the generic NPCs are perfectly fine and open for use. However, some NPCs, such as the Yellow Turban, are more restricted in nature. Before you use it, speak with a staff member in PM about how the Yellow Turban would act. (If you do not see Yellow Turban on the list, it is likely because the Yellow Turban Rebellion is over, and they are no longer available.)

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Spoiler Tags

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Location: Whenever you Post.
UBBC Icon:

This UBBC allows you to hide a spoiler from those who don't wish to see it.

When you click the UBBC button, a window pops up. Simply type in a title and the spoiler information. And this is what you will get.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler Title}This is what a spoiler looks like when used.

You can click the Title in order to hide or reveal the Spoiler.

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Whisper Tags

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Location: Anytime you make a new thread, post, or quick reply.
UBBC Button:

Make sure your cursor in the Posting Field is where you wish the Whisper to be located. Then click the UBBC button. A window will pop up, asking you to list the usernames you wish to whisper to.

[div title="whisper crysis,crysis" style="font-size: 0px"][/div]

As you can see, if you insert your own username, two names will appear in the Title part of the BBcode. This means that those two users will be able to read the whisper. Please note that staff members who can edit posts, will be able to see your whispers. (So not a good idea to try and bash the staff with this.)

I can't show what a whisper will look like, without linking to every member with one. So this is one you can test out to view what it looks like for yourself.

Whispers are primarily useful in RP situations. If you are with a partner sneaking about, you can whisper to one another so someone else RPing with you will not know what you are planning. This can lead to more interesting situations. Although an RP in which all spoken dialog is through whispers, would be frowned upon. After all, nobody wants to read a story in which everything said is unknown to them.

So try to use this sparingly in your RP. A character who can only speak in a whisper is different from what this is meant for. Which is private whispers between several people.

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Color Smear

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Location: Various Places
UBBC Button:

Color smears. Some love them, some hate them. Sometimes they are just fun.

In posts, first a rule. Don't stick this all over your RP. That is unnecessary and will just lead to complaints and the removal of this plugin. However, when you tag or do a word count at the bottom of your post, if you do those things, feel free to use it.

<smear:COLOR1>text you want to smear</smear:color2:mode>

The COLOR1 and COLOR2 are HEX. Mode is a number: 0, 1, 2, or 3
The above code can also be used in your forum Signature.

What does it do?

[smear:1979e6]text you want to smear with mode 0[/smear:e62d19:0]
[smear:1979e6]text you want to smear with mode 1[/smear:e62d19:1]
[smear:1979e6]text you want to smear with mode 2[/smear:e62d19:2]
[smear:1979e6]text you want to smear with mode 3[/smear:e62d19:3]

Simply replace the word mode with a number and you are good to go.

Some other places may receive a smear, as a result of the staff electing to do so. This may be custom titles, board titles, or possibly in labels. Or none at all. However, some mild usage in posts, and in your signatures, is open for members.

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Tabbed Sections in Posts

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Location: In any post

This one is complicated, so pay attention. It may not come up a lot. But sometimes a tabbed container for content is better than a huge post. So I'm detailing how this works.

All content must be surrounded by this tag: <PTabbedContent> </PTabbedContent>
You may provide an optional table name by using <PTabbedContent=TableName> instead.

Each tab in your table MUST be surrounded by this tag: <PTab=Tab Name> </PTab>

Inline Style is available for a section or the table itself, by adding CSS to the END TAG:
</PTab={color:#FF0000; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-weight: bold;}>
</PTabbedContent={background-color:#000000; width:500px;}>

Additional overrides include:
tab-alignment:<left/center/right>
tabs:<side/top>
tabvalign:<top/middle/bottom>
tabgap:<number>
animation:<slide/fade>
tabwidth:<number> (this is for side tabs only)

These style overrides will go into the closing table tag:
</PTabbedContent={tabs:side; tabwidth:40; tabvalign:bottom}>

Specific tab styles require the following:
add tab- to the style in the closing </PTab> tag

</PTab={tab-background-color:#FF0000; tab-font-size:18px;}>

You can also affect hover and selected by adding tab-hover- and tab-selected- before styles as well.

</PTab={tab-hover-background-color:#FF0000; tab-selected-font-size:18px;}>

Now for an example:
Keep in mind, follow all capitalization as I have shown it. And replace all < and > with [ and ].

[PTabbedContent=Table Name]
[PTab=Tab 1]
This is tab 1's content.
[/PTab={color:#FF0000; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-weight: bold;tab-alignment:left}]
[PTab=Tab 2]
This is tab 2's content.
[/PTab={tab-alignment:right}]
[/PTabbedContent={background-color:#000000; width:500px;tabs:side;}]

Because of the nature of this plugin, using code tags will not display the base code used to make the above table. So instead, you can simply Quote this post. Which should let you see the BBcode example posted above.

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Predetermined Post Dropdown

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Location: Varied

This plugin allows the staff to create predefined templates to be used by the members when posting in certain areas. Most notably, you should have seen this plugin in action when creating a thread on the Pending Profiles board.

When creating a thread/post/quick reply, if there is a predefined template available for use, the following will appear:

In a new thread or reply, look near the Create Thread/Post button. You will see a dropdown menu with the title "Templates". Clicking it will reveal the available templates to you.

Be warned, always test the template BEFORE you enter any information into the posting field. In the case of the Profile templates, they OVERWRITE the posting field. If you type information of your character first, then select a template, the information will be deleted. Consider this a warning.

Some templates may be created for use that will instead APPEND the data. Meaning it will paste whatever BBcode is used by the template, where your cursor is currently located.

The variety of templates will increase as time passes and new ones are designed. Some will be made for the RP boards, while others will be made for general posting.

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VDice

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Location: Dice Rolls
UBBC Button:

This plugin allows dice rolls. This is important because dice rolls will be required for some items on the forum. In order to help moderate them. The board I listed above is where these rolls should be placed. Any personal rolls you wish to make should also be in this board. The easiest way to handle this is to create a thread and make posts for the rolls you make in the board. Please also describe WHAT the roll is supposed to be for. So we will have a running log of any dice action on the forum.

Dice rolls are submitted when you create a post. Therefore, the rule of the dice rolls board is that you are not allowed to edit your posts. This could be construed as cheating in order to get a better roll.

C7QBvnUVd4 d20

Using VDice Advanced, I am allowed to create range aliases. These are to simplify a roll. In this case you can use:

<roll=

along with the following: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20.

In order to use a d100, you must roll two die, instead of one.
<roll=dA><roll=dB>

dAdB

If you get 00 on the first die, it means you only use the number on the second die.
If you get 00 on the first die, and 0 on the second, it means 100.
Lastly, if you get a number on the first die, and a 0 on the second, you only use the first die.

So if you get 00 and 5, your roll is 5.
If you get 10 and 0, your roll is 10.

dA is the alias for 30-39. So when you click the UBBC button above, you can simply enter 30-39.
dB is the alias for 40-49. So again, click the UBBC and enter 40-49 will get you the second half of a d100.

This is do to the fact that d100 die are basically a d10 and a special d10.
So in order to make the images properly work, the ones used for d10 (0-9) are unavailable.

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Here is a list of the ranges each die uses. You can enter these numbers into the window the UBBC brings up. Or you can use the roll=d# option I listed above. As a quick way to remember.

d4 = 1-4
d6 = 1-6
d8 = 1-8
d10 = 0-9
d12 = 1-12
d20 = 1-20
dA = 30-39
dB = 40-49

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You are limited to 5 dice per post.

Given our use of the Monetary plugin, combining Money and Dice is obviously going to lead to gambling among characters. To that end, in the future I will be posting up rules and guidelines for playing some Chinese Dice games, that members may partake in.

Because of this, if you use the Dice for gambling, you are allowed to include the dice roll at the end of your RP post. Your opponent can then react to whatever your roll is, while your reaction will wait until your next post.d4·d20·dA·dB

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Monetary

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Location: Forum Pages, Member Profiles

This plugin allows us to better use a system of money on the forum. Several additions are made.

First, go to your Profile. Under posts you will now see Gold and a number. This is your current amount of money. If you look on the Mini-Profile, under Member Information, the bottom left will show the current amount of your gold more easily.

Earning gold is done monthly. It comes out of a kingdom treasury. Those playing Vagrants will find opportunities in the bulletin board to earn gold. Though it will not be as much as an officer can make. This is done because Vagrants have no allegiance, and so who would pay them? They are required to work more to earn money.

Members are responsible for paying their own debts. This is done in a pseudo fashion by the Donation option.
When does a member have to pay?

--If you create a bounty in the bulletin board, and someone fulfills it, you have to pay them.
--If you purchase an item from a member, you pay them.

But you don't -have- to pay. The staff is not here to police this. If you wish to renege on paying your debts, that is up to you. Within a kingdom, you might incur the wrath of your ruler. If it is to a member outside of your kingdom, you might incur a bounty. At the very least, characters will be less willing to trust you.

Keep in mind, all payments are IC only. They will not be handled in an OOC fashion in any way. Like I said, the staff will not police this. It is not our job to enforce deadbeats on an in-character matter. If you wish to complain, you need to do it with guards, rulers, or higher officers. Someone who can inflict IC penalties on the person in question.

Now, how do you check your donations? Look in the bottom left of any board. There is a little money icon. When you click it, you will be taken to your Donations Received page. It shows any money you have received.

But how do you donate money? Go to any members profile page and look on it. See the button that says Send Donation? When you click that you will be taken to a page.

This page shows the member's avatar as well as some other info. Their display name, how much you wish to donate. And a message why it is being donated. So you can keep track of what was paid, and WHY.

Consider this a receipt. You want it known why you paid. At the very least, this might make a Guard or Ruler listen more closely to your argument that you did in fact pay for an item.

The amount in your current wallet is shown in the upper right. This page does expire, so do not waste time with a long detailed message.

Now that we have money, what do we do with it? Well, your personal wallet will be used to purchase items of Common or Uncommon quality when they are made available. These items will be used to enhance characters and RP, so it is important to spend your money wisely.

This also opens the feature of robbery. Being a bandit character, you could always have an RP in which you rob another character. However, keep in mind that you won't be taking thousands of gold from the character you rob. More like less than 50.

This is also something that would best be moderated. At the very least, a bandit is going to incur a bounty on his head by the ruler of whatever area he frequents. So keep the staff informed if you wish to go into a life of crime.

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Vpop

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Location: Any Post
UBBC Button:

I don't have this one fully setup or styled yet. What it does is insert popups into a post. Why is this good? Personally I would like to see images placed into popups. So they don't disrupt the flow of RP. But that isn't a requirement.

Anchor Text 〈insert pop-up content here〉

Clicking on the UBBC offers a number of options.

The first is Anchor Text. This is what you see on the normal post.
Anchor Image will instead display an image as the anchor.

Preferred Position refers to where the popup will be created.

Pop-Up Title is the title that the popup will use.

Trigger refers to how the popup is activated. Either by hovering the mouse or clicking the Anchor.

Maximum Width will enforce how wide the popup is. You can leave this as default.

So why use this plugin? If you wanna use an image in RP, you can stick it inside a popup. Maybe you have a lovely picture of your weapon or horse. However, images should be limited in this fashion to your FIRST post in a thread. Do not use it every time you post in a thread, because it will flood us with images, and affect loading times.

But what about not using a popup for images, so much as using text? What if you have a text description of your horse, musou, weapon. You can create a popup to display that info when you want. For easy access by other members.

Remember earlier in Posting Templates I mentioned this? First you design your popup coding. Then create a Posting Template with it. Then when you post, simply place the cursor where you wish the popup to appear. Then click the template to enter it in.

Now you have your very own popup, to use regularly as you want.

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Hashtags in Posts

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Location: Any Post

This plugin allows you to create a hashtag for your post. First a little about what hashtags should be used. This plugin is not for tagging other members. Use the normal tagging method of @ and their username for that. It is also not for creating simple hashtags for a single posts.

The reason I installed this, is for plots. Whether they are plots by the staff, or personal plots engineered by members. Why hashtag them? Because of how it functions.

Let's use the Yellow Turban Rebellion as an example. With the hashtag: #YTR

Simple and easy to remember, right? First how to hashtag, because what I listed above is not how it works. However in the post that is what it will be displayed as.

<#>YTR -- (replace the <> with [] And only the words directly against the ] will be used. No spaces are allowed.

That is the proper way to create a hashtag on the forum. But what is the point? Well, any posts by Zhang Jiao, or leaders/officers of the Yellow Turbans, can feature this hashtag. When the rebellion starts, and people start using the Yellow Turban NPC more, they can also use the hashtag.

Again, what is the point, you might be thinking?

Well, all of those posts featuring the YTR hashtag, when you click the hashtag at the bottom of the post, you will be taken to an indexed search. That shows ALL of the posts featuring the hashtag. It is a great way to catch up on a plot or event.

Even if you are not a part of the event or plot, you can still go in to find all of the posts regarding it. So you know what to read. For personal plots, it could be a character's quest to find her missing father. Or to avenge the murder of her husband. Simply create your own personal hashtag and begin including it when your posts relate to that plot.

If other members are involved in the plot, they can also use the hashtag to include their posts in the search results.

Keep in mind, these search results are not perfect. Instead they can point to threads where the plot events are taking place. And you can jump to those threads to read them in full.

One last thing, it may take some time for the post to be indexed. So if you click the link and your recent post is not listed, wait a while and try again later. This is a limitation in Proboards, and not a problem with the plugin.

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[HASH]HashTagGuide

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Color Palette

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Location: Posts and PMs

The last plugin I'm going to talk about in the guide, for the moment, is the Color Palette. Where do you find it? Just click the color wheel like you usually do to post with colors. Something new is added.

Below the normal features, you will see the following:
+Fave, Delete, Delete All

Go ahead and select a color on the box area in the upper portion. When you find one you like, click +Fave.
It will appear in the bottom box. You can save 18 colors in this fashion.

Why is this good? Go and click one of those color squares. The color BBcode will immediately appear in your post, wherever the cursor was.

This plugin can be used to keep track of favorite colors, without remembering BBcode or Hex colors. Those of you using Posting Templates can use this to lighten the size of them a bit. It just requires you to color your text after you type it.

To do that, simply highlight some text, then select the color wheel. It will color it just as it normally would.

If you wish to Delete one of your saved colors, use the Delete button, then click any you wish gone. Delete All will clear all 18 and leave you ready for new colors to save.