Choose the "Edit Profile" option under the Quick Links menu at the top of each page. This will take you into your control panel, where you can make changes to your bio, interests, favorites, and more. Look for the "Edit Profile Picture" option to include a photo of yourself (up to 210x210 pixels)! Remember, your Profile page is viewable by other Members! Don't put anything in there you don't want others to be able to see.

Just look for the handy "Edit Signature" option under the Quick Links menu. This will take you into your personal control panel. Fill in the box with the necessary text and vB code (HTML will not work). You can include text, hyperlinks, pictures -- even smilies! When you are done, hit the "Save Signature" button.

1. Remember that the forum is rated PG. Do not include inappropriate (or borderline) images or links in your signature.

2. If you use an image in your signature, it must reside on a server somewhere on the Internet -- and you must have permission to use it.

3. The total file size of all images in your signature may not exceed 200KB.

4. Your signature's width must not be so wide that it stretches beyond the forum template -- about 750 pixels is the maximum width. It also may not be more than about 200 pixels (two inches) tall, in total. Remember, less is more! Your signature shouldn't dominate your post.

Avatars are the small pictures that appear next to member's names in each post. Choose the "Edit Avatar" option under the Quick Links menu at the top of each page to select or change your avatar. There are dozens of Stargate avatars to choose from, and the more you post, the more special avatar categories you get access to! Members who have reached a certain high post count can even upload their own custom avatars.

We have multiple avatars for the regular characters and dozens of avatars for many, many supporting characters (under both "Allies" and "Enemies" categories for all shows), plus ships, planets, technology, and more. If you can't find an avatar for a character or something else that you'd like to see, you can certainly suggest it to the moderators! Long-time members with high post counts (somewhere over 1,000) also earn the right to upload their own custom avatars.

Just click on the Private Messages link in your "Welcome" box, near the top of each page of the forum! You can send to or receive messages from any other registered member. Private Messages are like an internal e-mail service, without e-mail addresses; they are not displayed to the public. Remember to periodically delete old and sent messages; your inbox has a message limit.

Go to the "My Controls" option, and then click on "Buddy / Ignore Lists" to edit your Buddy List. You can also add any member to your Buddy List from his or her Profile page, or from the pop-up menu you see when you click on their username in a post they've made! When you look at the list of members currently online, look for the + icon next to usernames to identify your buddies.

Go to the "My Controls" option, and then click on "Buddy / Ignore Lists" to edit your Ignore List. You can also add another member to your Ignore List from his or her Proile page. Forum moderators cannot be ignored.

Use the big "Post Reply" button at the top and bottom of every thread to compose a new post with the normal editor. To automatically quote someone else's post in your reply, click the "Quote" button on their post. (Please delete from the quote those parts you aren't referencing.) To save time, click the "QR" (QuickReply) icon on a post; instead of loading the regular editor with tools for special formatting and smilies, you'll get the simple editor that appears at the bottom of the thread page.

For those users reading threads in "Threaded Mode," your post will only show up as a reply to a specific post if you use "Quote" or "QR."

Sure! Use the "Post Reply" or "Quote" buttons to access the standard editor, or start a new thread. After you've entered your message, scroll down to the Additional Options box and click on "Manage Attachments." Be selective with what you choose to upload; your account has a limit on the total file size of all attachments you post. You can manage all your attachments from the "Attachments" section of your personal control panel ("My Controls").

Thread rating is a feature only available to members who have reached a certain (and very mysterious) number of posts -- that is, who have proven themselves to be long-term contributors. Look for the "Rate Thread" drop-down menu near the top of each thread! It's a 5-star scale, and a thread must have at least five votes before the average is tallied and displayed.

Of course! You can subscribe to as many threads as you want; when a new post is made, the forum will send you an e-mail with a direct link to the thread. Click on "Thread Tools" near the top of the thread to which you would like to subscribe, then "Subscribe to this Thread." Remember, the post itself isn't sent to your mailbox -- and you'll need to visit the thread again to keep the subscription active. You won't receive e-mails for every single post without revisiting the thread.

You can even subscribe to an entire folder: Look for the "Subscribe to This Forum" option under the "Forum Tools" menu on the thread list page.

On the left side of your post is the date and time that the post was made. On the right side is the post number. This can be anything from 1 to tens or hundreds of thousands.

The little grey star icon is used to access the Reputation system. The Reputation system can be used to express your agreement or disagreement with a person's post. Clicking the grey scale will bring up a pop-up box with two choices: I Agree, or I Disagree.

Choosing "I Agree" will give the recipient of the post 'green' points, adding a number of points to a person's reputation, from 0 to as high as 20+ (depending upon a user's length of registration, number of rep points themselves, and other super-secret factors). Giving out red rep points will subtract one point from the recipient's reputation.

There is also the opportunity to add a comment to the reputation points. It should be noted that while the moderators do NOT police the Reputation system, we WILL police the comments left -- so please insure that any comments you leave fit within the rules of this forum.

From time to time you may find a post you believe might violate the forum's rules, and need to report it to the moderators. Just look for the black and white triangle icon in the top-right cover of the post. Click on it to access the Report Post dialogue box. The report post feature has many uses.

The main use is to report posts that break the forum's rules. This includes posts that contain language inappropriate to a PG forum; posts that have photos that are too wide (over 700 pixels) and are breaking the bounds of the forum; posts that contain personal attacks upon other users or members of the cast and crew; etc. It can also be used to report spam and other posts that simply have no place on a PG science fiction forum.

The Report Post feature should also be used to report threads that need to be merged, moved to another folder, etc.

It can also be used to make other requests for action, such as the changing of titles of a thread, or requests to edit some aspects of a thread, such as adding a poll, closing a poll, inserting spoiler tags and other maintenance procedures of a thread.

We do have an "Ask the Mods" thread in the Forum Announcements area, however that thread is for non-maintenance related issues. When the Report Post feature is used, every mod will receive an e-mail containing links to the pertinent thread along with whatever information you type in. When at all possible, please use the Report Post feature for any calls to action or needs for action in a thread and preserve the Ask the Mods thread for questions about the forum as a whole.

If you see a post that you believe violates the forum rules, click on the black and white warning icon in the top-right corner of that post. Include a personal message to the moderators explaining why you are reporting the post, and click "Send Report." The mods will examine the post and decide if action needs to be taken.

Your "Reputation" is a number that reflects a combination of the number of posts you've made, how long you've been a member, and what other forum members think of your posts. It's represented by a sequence of green (positive) or red (negative) blocks on the right side of the headers to all your posts (next to your actual post count). (If you do not want your Reputation displayed, use your control panel to hide it.) You started with 12 Reputation points when you registered, which goes up as you post and as the days go by.

By clicking on the star icon in the top-right corner of any post, you can add to (or subtract from) that member's Reputation by approving or disapproving of their post. There are safeguards in place to prevent Reputation abuse, however: you may only make so many Reputation votes in the same day, and you must rate posts for other posters before rating the same user again. And the forum won't allow anyone to add to or subtract from your Reputation over and over again.

The higher your Reputation, the more influence your Reputation ratings have on others!

A Reputation vote with a gray block indicates that another user attempted to cast a positive or negative "vote" for one of your posts, but has not yet reached a level where his or her votes are counted. Gray votes are neutral, and do not affect your Reputation one way or the other.

New users must be members of the forum for a predetermined length of time and reach a certain post count before their Reputation votes begin to count. Once a new member reaches that level, any previous votes remain gray.

Click on the "Calendar" option on the forum's main toolbar at the top of any page to see what's coming up! Click on "Monthly View" at the top to change to a Weekly or Yearly view. Click on a specific item on the calendar to read details.

Currently, only users who have been contributing members of the forum (based on membership length and post count) can add new items to the Calendar, which must then be approved by the moderators. If you have the "Add New Event" menu, feel free to add a Stargate-related event, from chat events to conventions to new product releases -- or whatever else you can think of that would be of interest to other members!