Newcomer's Guide to Boolprop

Warning: Reading this forum will cause you to be able to navigate Boolprop with ease.
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Newcomer's Guide to Boolprop

Post by Chase »

:plumbob: Welcome to Boolprop!!! :plumbob:
You have landed yourself in the best place to find a diverse, friendly community of Simmers of story-writers, established in 2005!
If you were a member of Boolprop before our 2014 server transition, welcome back! Follow this guide to get back in the game! :sly:

Here are all of the steps you should follow to become the most popular Simmer in school!


Step 1: First Off...

First off, you'll want to post in the-WAIT A MINUTE!
Before you post anything, make sure to read the Rules! Read them carefully to ensure that we're all on the same page here. :idea:



Step 2: Introduce yourself!

Alright, as I was saying, you'll first want to post in the Introductions section. Just make a new topic by pressing the aptly named "New Topic" button towards the upper-left, type a little something about yourself, and allow the love of Boolprop to flow into your heart! :heart:
Your first post won't show up immediately; it has to be approved by a mod. Have no fear, we won't reject you! This is just a very successful spam prevention measure we've installed.

Step 3: Venture forth...

Now, if you so dare, venture into the User Control Panel! This can be found underneath the "Board Index" button at the top-left of the page.
Click the "Profile" tab, and you'll see a few places where you can share information about yourself!
(Don't feel pressured to share anything you don't want to; having the occupation "Sims nerd" and living in Pleasantview won't make anyone think you're weird. ;) )

In here you can enter your Birthday! On your special day, the mods will award you this medal: Image (Ah, medals... we'll get to those later.)

In the User Control Panel, you can also change your avatar and signature! You'll find the correct pages for these ("Edit signature", "Edit avatar") on the left side of the panel. Make sure to refer to the rules when creating a signature!
Also, are you looking to have a super rad signature image, but you lack the skills required? Make someone do it for you! :woot:


Step 4: Legacies and Challenges and Stories, oh my!

Boolprop has been the home to many classic Sims legacies and challenges since 2005! They're one of our main attractions :sly:
Legacies follow a Sims family through 10 generations! Challenges are other kinds of, well, challenges! Stories follow Sims without sticking to any established rules.
Go! Read some! Check out legacies here! Check out challenges here! Check out stories here!

You may very well want to share your own legacy, challenge, or story on Boolprop! If so, FANTASTIC! :mrgreen:
Here are some tips to ensure that your story is accessible to new viewers:
  1. Have a clear title! Name your story and perhaps give the date of your most recent update. "The Boolprop Legacy: Chapter 1 (11/24)" is a GREAT title! :yes: "My Legacy" is a little less clear... :no:
  2. Link each chapter! This makes it much easier for viewers to read your story as new chapters come along.
  3. Put an image in your first post! Let the masses know what they're getting into!
  4. Put a link to your story's topic on Boolprop in your signature! (Refer to Step 3 for help here ;) )
  5. Update your topic!!! As you create new chapters, use the "Edit" button on the top-right of your first post to add the new links. You should also edit your topic's title as needed.
  6. Bump it! When you've made a new chapter, go ahead and make a new post in your topic, even if the last one was yours. This is the only time double posting is permitted on Boolprop.
If you're feeling extra spicy and want more places to share your story, go ahead and post in the (Un)Official Story Update Threads! This is an easy way to see what stories have been updated recently, and to show others that you've updated! TS2 TS3 TS4 :plumbob:

Step 5: Participate in Events!

One of the best parts of being on Boolprop is that you can participate in recurring and seasonal Events!

You can always expect events like Let's Build It!, Boolprop Chef, and Featured Stories to be going on. Other events, like Boolprop's Next Top Model and the Golden Plumbobs, occur annually. There are other annual events that pop up around holidays, like Boolprop's Birthday (Nov. 24), Halloween, and the Winter holiday season! :D

Events are a great way to win medals! Medals are those little icons underneath many users' avatars. To read more about those, look at the next post in this topic!

Step 6: Post Around!

The best way to have fun on Boolprop is just to participate in as many discussions as you can :D Go on and check out Sims Central, the Off-Topic sections, Writers' Corner, the Legacy/Challenge chats, the Games section! Anywhere that you can post is fair game, so long as it is on-topic :D

And finally, check out the Chatbox! Here you can talk to other members in real time, so this is a great place to make friends! Don't be shy!

Thank you for reading this guide! Now it's just up to you to handle the stress of being oh, so popular! :pearls:
Just remember to follow the rules, so the mods don't have to use their sticks on you!
Also, make sure to check the Updates section for new announcements from the team!

If you have any questions, PM a mod or admin!
The staff here all have colored names; Administrators, Global Moderators, and Staff Moderators will be able to help you best! :D

Keep on scrolling down for guides on Medals and Vocabulary!
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A Guide to Medals

Post by Rosanna »

What are medals? Medals are those shiny, shiny icons that appear below your avatar. Their purpose, other than to stretch out your posts, is to represent your accomplishments here on BoolProp! You can see what medals are available at BoolProp by clicking on the "Medals" button on the top right of the forum, near the Logout button.

You can get medals in several different ways:
  • :heart: Events: Medals are sometimes awarded to members for participating in events. They can also be awarded for winning competitions
    :heart: Accomplishments: Such as finishing a legacy, OWBC, alphabetacy, etc. In order to earn one of these, you must have a thread for your story here at boolprop. To earn the medal, once you finish your story, report the thread and ask for it to be moved to the completed stories section. The mod should award you the medal in the process, if not, feel free to PM a mod to ask for it.
    :heart: Misc: This includes the birthday medals and randomly awarded medals. Find out how to get the birthday medal here
There are also two medals that you earn through nominations by fellow members: Tip-top-topic and #1 game. The only way to earn this medal is if somebody nominates you for the medal. You may not nominate yourself. If you feel like somebody deserves a medal for starting an exceptional topic or game, go ahead and give them a nomination! To do this, go to the members profile and click on the "nominate medal" link. Let us know why you think this member deserves a medal, and don't forget to include a link to the topic or game thread!

And there you have it! A brief guide to medals. Feel free to PM me with any medal related questions! :chat:
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Boolprop Vocabulary Guide

Post by Chase »

Are you new to the Sims community?

Does all of this OWBC WYDC LOL OMG hullabaloo make you go shoo flee? :heavybreathing:

Worry no more, as the Boolprop Vocabulary Guide is here to help! :yes: There will be a test!
Here is a list of terms and abbreviations that are used on Boolprop and in the Sims community, and what they mean!

You don't need to read this to successfully browse Boolprop, but if you're lost on what something means, feel free to refer back to this! :D


General Terms:
  • TS2: The Sims 2
  • TS3: The Sims 3
  • TS4: The Sims 4
  • Palmer: Palmer is a yellow duck who loves potties. He's the mascot of Boolprop, and comes from The Palmer Legacy, a legacy by one of Boolprop's founders, Rhea.
  • RP: Roleplay. This is unrelated to the Sims; check it out here.
  • CC: Custom Content. This is anything you download to your game's download folder; it could be hair, objects, hair colors, clothes, skins, mods, jewelry, furniture, the like.
Common Challenges:
  • Legacy: You mean you made it to Boolprop without knowing what a legacy is? A legacy is a Sims challenge where you have one family on one plot of land for ten generations! The challenge was originally written by Pinstar. Rules: TS2 TS3 TS4
  • Uglacy: A legacy, except where you start with the prettiest founder possible and try to get the ugliest 10th generation heir you can!
  • Prettacy: A legacy, except where you start with the ugliest founder possible and try to get the prettiest 10th generation heir you can!
  • Apocalypse: The Apocalypse challenge is an incredibly difficult challenge, written by Pinstar as an expansion on the legacy. In the challenge, the apocalypse has happened, and your family must reach the top of each career path to return the neighborhood to normal. The rules could fill a textbook or two! Tread carefully! Rules: TS2 TS3* TS4
  • Alphabetacy: a.k.a. Alphabet Legacy. This is a super-long legacy with 27 generations; one for the founder and one for each letter in the alphabet. Each generation must have at least three kids, and there's a whole bunch of other complications for you to have fun with along the way! This was originally written by TSFKAT. Rules: TS2
  • OWBC: Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge. This is a challenge written long ago by Boolprop staff for The Sims 2. There's four generations and a whole host of challenges and mini-challenges to choose from! It's guaranteed to be wacky! Rules: TS2 TS3* TS4*
  • EPIC: (Boolprop) Evolution & Progress In Change (Challenge). This is a challenge originally written by Boolprop staff for The Sims 3. It's a ten-generation challenge that follows one family that must build itself from the ground-up. Rules: TS3 TS2*
  • BaCC: Build a City Challenge: This is a challenge originally written for Sims 2 by clintcasey85 in which you must build up a neighborhood to a population of 50,000 Sims. Don't worry, it's not 50,000 actual Sims, but worry as it's still very long, and very hard. Rules: TS2 TS3* TS4*
  • ISBI: I'm Surrounded By Idiots (Challenge): This is a ten-generation challenge in which you can only control one Sim at a time. To clarify, that means you can't select another Sim at all until it's time to move to the next generation. Spoiler: fully autonomous Sims are idiots! Rules: TS2, TS3*
  • DITFT: Differences In The Family Tree (Challenge): A fifteen-ish generation challenge that follows one family through many twists and turns. It was originally written for The Sims 3 by angelofafallen. Rules: TS3, TS2*
  • Prosperity: This is a challenge originally written for The Sims 2 by Sheri and Robin. It's all about having a prosperous neighborhood, and is won at the beginning of the fifth generation. Rules: TS2
  • RKC: Royal Kingdom Challenge. This is a challenge for The Sims 2 written by EnblithTheFair. It's about running a 'royal kingdom' neighborhood through five generations. Rules: TS2 TS3* TS4*
  • BC: Bachelor Challenge. This is a formerly very popular challenge in which seven Sims strive for the affections of one Bachelor/Bachelorette! It all takes place in one Sim week, and a Sim is eliminated each day. Rules: TS2 TS3 TS4*
  • Asylum: The Asylum Challenge is one in which you can only control one 'doctor' in a house of seven 'patients', until the doctor achieves their Lifetime Want. Oh, and you're limited on skilling objects, and chairs, and beds.... and smoke detectors..... This was originally written by Scout at Mod The Sims. Rules: TS2 TS3* TS4*
*These rulesets are not 'official' in the sense that they're adapted by the original challenge author.

Boolprop Events:
  • BNTM: Boolprop's Next Top Model. This is Boolprop's annual modelling competition; there's several rounds and only one Sim can come out Boolprop's Next Top Model!
  • Golden Plumbobs: The Golden Plumbobs are Boolprop's annual 'awards show'! There are categories for both stories and Boolprop members. All of the awards are nominated and voted on by all of Boolprop!
Other:
These other Sims communities are not at all connected to Boolprop; beware!
  • MTS: Mod The Sims*: This is another website in the Sims community that is very popular for its downloads (custom content).
  • GoS: Garden of Shadows*. This is another forum in the Sims community with an emphasis on (dark themed) downloads.
  • LJ: Livejournal. Livejournal is a blogging platform that some Simmers use to share their stories.
  • simblr: Tumblr, specifically in its use to blog about Sims. Tumblr is a microblogging platform/social media platform.
  • The Exchange: This was EA's online spot for sharing stories; there was also a forum attached. Boolprop originally grew out of a need to escape the exchange! Hooray! Stories were also hosted directly on the exchange, so when the Sims 2 website was shut down, many stories were lost.
  • Clockwatching: Link; This is an archive of stories originally hosted on the exchange. Not all stories are hosted on it, just ones that were requested before the exchange shut down.
Have any terms you're still confused on that weren't listed here? Any suggestions for terms to add? Send me a PM! :lightning:
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Historic Getting Started Guides

Post by Chase »

Well, that's the end of the Newcomer's Guide! :crickets: :crickets: :crickets:

These two guides are from way back, and were written for a different age. Curious?

JustMe's "A Posting Guide to Boolprop" 2007
Spoiler:
by JustMe on December 23rd, 2007, 7:01 pm

As everyone knows, each forum has its own distinct atmosphere and accepted codes of behavior. Posting etiquette, while generally the same from forum to forum, changes a small amount as well. One of the hardest adaptations to make, when adjusting to a new forum, is the change from old styles of posting to new styles. So, within this post, are a few hints and tips for adjusting your posting style to the style that is generally found on BoolProp. Some of these are hard-and-fast rules, and some are just suggestions. I suppose it's up to you to decide which are which.

Do:
  • Write in complete sentences.
  • Use capitals and punctuation.
  • Run your posts through a spell-checker.
  • Separate long posts into paragraphs.
  • Quote posts if they were posted a significant number of posts before yours (two or three is fine).
  • Trim quotes so that you're only quoting the relevant portion.
  • Censor any rudeness; that's not something that's really welcome - and it will just incite arguments.
  • Use clean language.
  • Elaborate on your thoughts.
  • Stay on topic.
Don't:
  • Write one long run-on sentence.
  • Use chatspeak/netspeak/l337.
  • Be rude.
  • Use profanity.
  • Post one line posts (these are sometimes appropriate, but until you can tell when it's just best not to post one-liners at all).
  • Make pointless posts (repeating things others have said, one-liners, posts with just a few words or smilies, posts that add nothing to the discussion,etc).
  • Post off-topic things.
  • Quote pictures.
  • Quote long posts just to say "Wow, you're right!" or "No, I don't agree".
  • Double post (posting more than once in a row. Edit your post instead.)
  • Post in all capital letters.
An example of a good post:
JustMe wrote:Once there was a little boy named Timmy. Timmy liked to surf the web and play the Sims, so naturally he found BoolProp. His mother didn't want him to join the forum at first, but then she read a few topics and decided that everybody was very friendly and would not corrupt Timmy. So Timmy joined BoolProp and began to post. Timmy loved to post, but he was not a very interesting poster - usually he just said "yeah!", "me too!", or "that's weird!". A lot of people would do this, but Timmy took the cake for sheer volume. He never seemed to have an original idea or anything interesting to say. Other people wanted to be nice to Timmy, because they knew he was only ten, but he was becoming very annoying. So one day some BoolPropians went up to Timmy and said, as nicely as they could, "could you please not just post three words at a time, Timmy?". At first Timmy was very annoyed, but then he realized that they weren't trying to be rude - in fact, they were just trying to help. Timmy took a deep breath and began to post long posts full of interesting and funny things. Soon Timmy was the most popular boy on the block!
Some examples of bad posts:
JustMe wrote:LOL, so once there was this boy named Timmy and he was really little so like he posted just a little bit and then everyone asked him to not post so much silly stuff and he agreed and then they decided that he was pretty cool and so they all went "yay!" and were his friends Timmy's mom gave them all chocolate and then they were all happy.
JustMe wrote:Yeah, I agree.
JustMe wrote:k, so 1nc there was dis boii namd Timii. he wuz lyke rlly annying n so evry1 h8d him. Den all the ppl decided dat they lyked him after all, OMG!
JustMe wrote:1 l0\/3 l337!!!!11! 17'5 50 |=\/N!
JustMe wrote:HAHA OMG THERE WAS THIS BOY NAMED TIMMY AND HE WAS SO KEWL, BUT NOBODY LIKED HIM. THEN THEY STARTED LIKING HIM, THOUGH!
That's all very well and good, though, but it's all about content. How should you format your posts? Well, hang onto your seats and I'll tell you:

Do:
  • Use a normal sized font for the majority of your post.
  • Use bold and italics to emphasize certain words (it is also sometimes okay to capitalize words - use common sense, though).
  • Use a readable color.
  • Use spoilers for spoilers.
Don't:
  • Post in a huge font, or a very tiny font.
  • Use excessive amounts of smilies.
  • Use very light colours, or colours that are hard to read.
  • Use spoilers for things besides spoilers.
  • Make your entire post in either bold or italics.
An example of a good post:
JustMe wrote:I'm showing an example of how to post, so that we won't have any confusion about the subject. I wouldn't want people to be confused; that'd just be horrible. This is just some filler fluff, because otherwise the post looks too short - and I might not have enough space to show all the behaviors I want to encourage. This is something that's a nice readable blue, although I'm not sure why. Anyway, I guess that's enough!
Some examples of bad posts:
JustMe wrote:Haha, look, I'm posting in light yellow! Isn't this pretty?
JustMe wrote:I bet you can't read this!
JustMe wrote:This font is HUGE like the Jolly GREEN giant!
JustMe wrote:[*spoiler]Hi![*/spoiler]
JustMe wrote:Look at my cool formatting!
Hopefully now you've got some idea of how to post on BoolProp. :wave:
The Ben's "A Social Guide to Boolprop" unknown
Spoiler:
First off, Hello, and welcome to Boolprop! I'm pretty sure every member here is excited to have another new member roll in to our (not so) little community. And Second, you should know that most Boolpropians are here to help you if you ever get in a rut (SimShrink), to help with technical problems (Help!), and to give you a little comic relief (Anywhere). If someone else breaks the rules, you should always use the [!] button on the top right hand side of the post instead of dealing with it yourself, because that would just get you in MORE trouble.

So, to the main point of the post-

How to succeed (socially) at Boolprop

Chances are, after posting in a thread you will see the many colorful signatures ("siggys") of the other members. Chances are they are either advertising their legacy and/or other sims challenge, showing what they like, or an inside joke. If it is the latter, you will most likely have no idea what the siggy means at all, and nobody likes being out of the loop, right? Why not be in the loop? Here are some things you can do to be noticed/get friends/have inside jokes to put in your siggy!

1. Post, post, post!
This one is kind of obvious, but if you don't post, nobody will know you're there! Come'on you shy lurkers! It's ok to post, but don't get out of hand and start pressing "submit" when you've got barely anything.

2. Get Involved!
Join some Contests! Play some forum games avidly! Roleplay! These are only some of the many things you can do to get involved an meet people!

3. Chatbox!
The Chatbox is a great way to meet new people, and it's a breeding ground for inside jokes. (Take it from me!) It may seem intimidating at first because of it's speed, but once you get the hang of it - it's really really fun!!

4. Be Tolerant.
There are many kinds of people here at Boolprop, and everybody has different views. Be courteous to your fellow Boolpropian, no matter what race, sexual preference, or religion they are. Boolprop is pro-tolerance.

5. Be courteous to the staff
They work hard to make you happy, plus if you don't the mods may hunt you with their mod-sticks! :P

6. Start a Legacy!
It will really help you connect with the jokes, general talk, and frustrations of the community. And if you don't want to start one, read a few & get back to the authors. Talk to other fans about your favorite parts & soon you'll of conquered the world of Legacy-(Thanks Sophie :D)

7. Picture Thread!
It is also a great way to meet people and go fishing for compliments. :P It gives something extra for people to be able to see who they're talking to, also.

Do not open this spoiler if you don't like bluntness
-Limit perversion. It gets on people's nerves and sometimes creeps them out.
- Don't advertise your legacy/ask people to download your content/ask for simselves or ask people to download your simselves in most discussion topics or in the chatbox because, frankly, it's annoying, and people will usually just ignore you. Although, you CAN talk about your legacy as much as you want.
-Remember that even though they're on the internet, people still have feelings. Try not to playfully degrade people too much. Even I get in trouble with this at times.

Anyway, if you follow these, you'll have forum friends in no time!

- Boolprop

(Written by The Ben with help from Sophie)
hello! :heartbeat:
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