Forum Frequently Asked Questions

[Gadget]

This post is a general FAQ to encourage new members to post and show how to do fancy things in your posts. (note all the terms in italics are outlined in the "what is" bit of this post.

It is split into <a href="#why">Why?</a> <a href="#when">When?</a> <a href="#what">What?</a> <a href="#where">Where?</a> and <a href="#how">How?</a> Sections - if printed it may run onto six pages (It's created in Word and runs to 6 pages) Attached at the bottom is a microsoft word version of this document that you can download if you really want to. (Should load into any text editor)

<a name="why"><hr></a>

Why? <a href="#when">When?</a> <a href="#what">What?</a> <a href="#where">Where?</a> <a href="#how">How?</a>

Why?

Why post?
Everyone here enjoys the same passion; Dancing.

There are people here of every level; novice, improver, teacher, taxi, multiple competition winner, but all dancers - there is a vast depth of knowledge and experience. Every "good" dancer was once a beginner and they are always eager to help with advice and explanations.

With the vast range of people from every warp of life, you will also find discussion on philosophy, books, ethics, hobbies, holidays, gardening,... you may find you not only share dancing, but other interests with fellow forumites.

Please don't feel shy about posting; no-one here should criticise or extract the urine... unless everyone knows you or you profess a liking for The Maverics {sorry - an in-joke }


Why don't people respond to my thread?
It can be disheartening when you think on a really good idea for a discussion, post a thread, then no-one posts to it and it slowly sinks into obscurity. Don't worry about it - it's not a personal insult or intentional disrespect. Here are a couple of tips that may help;

• Make sure you place it in the right area (see [font size=2]Where to post?[/font] below)
• Make the title relevant and a summary of the main idea within the post and use a smilie to categorise the post
• Set up the start of the text to give the post a context ("this post was prompted by...", "I had this happen to me and...", "Someone mentioned in another thread...", etc)
• Phrase your post in the form of a question, but don't answer it fully (yet)
• Don't make the question or answer too complex; most folk will only be able to put together a sentence or two response - not a whole thesis.
• Don't try and go into too much detail; if curious, people will ask and it will stimulate discussion.
• Try not to respond to every post in your thread within seconds of people posting; give others a chance to comment and see where it leads. You may also find that you manage to kill you own thread by saying all there is to say in a relatively short period of time.
• Don't check on your thread every five minuets; a watched thread never rises.

Sometimes people would like to respond, but don't have the time to create a decent answer - by the time they do, the window is lost and the post has sunk.

<a name="when"><hr></a>

<a href="#why">Why?</a> When? <a href="#what">What?</a> <a href="#where">Where?</a> <a href="#how">How?</a>

When?

When to post?
Threads are a form of conversation, and as with normal conversation, deviating from the main title of the thread is common. Moderators try and keep on top of it by splitting threads when they deviate from the title too much.
Generally it is considered good netiquette to only post a reply in a thread if...
... you have something constructive to add to a thread,
... you strongly agree with something said,
... you disagree with something (*)
* If you disagree, you should explain what you disagree with and why - a post just saying "no that's wrong" is not much use unless you explain why

When not to post?
There are a lot of threads here, and most common topics have been discussed in detail before - some come round every couple of months, others raise their heads when new members discover old posts they find interesting.

The most common topics seem to be:
... why do people dance?
... what do I do with my feet?
... how do you define Ceroc/Modern Jive?
... what classifies as Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced?

If you think on a question, it is perhaps worth searching the forum for a similar post before posting: you can always add on to the end of an existing thread if you have questions or want to bring the thread up to the top of the list.

Please don't post personal details like phone numbers or home addresses - there are some bad people out there: Think on this as a magazine with a global publication - anything you post could be read by anyone anywhere.

A note of warning: the forum has an area (Outside) where you get sent if your posts start heading towards personal attacks, abuse or slander (/liable). If your post was considered too abusive, it will be removed from the forum. Please consider twice before actually naming anyone or throwing insults about.

<a name="what"><hr></a>

<a href="#why">Why?</a> <a href="#when">When?</a> What? <a href="#where">Where?</a> <a href="#how">How?</a>

What?

What to post?
Anything.
OK, so this is a dance forum, but you don't need to limit yourself to dance related topics; there is a thriving area of non-dance topics (that is getting bigger than the dance side of things )

To repeat a point made above - abusive posts will not be tolerated, neither will direct marketing, or advertising.

When writing posts, it may be useful to follow a couple of guidelines:

• Keep it short.
  {yea, says he who posts pages and pages in one post } If you have/want to post a lot of information, break it down into bite-size, digestible chunks.
  
• Not that short.
  Don't be monosyllabic about your answers; if you agree/disagree, say to which bits and why. If posting questions, perhaps give a bit more detail about the context it should be taken in.
  If you agree/disagree but have nothing really to add to the post, consider using the rep system instead of posting.
  
• Avoid personal references.
  Unless you are directly responding or quoting someone, try not to post hear-say or gossip - it is likely that the person involved will hear about it, if not read it themselves.
  
• Try to keep it on-topic.
  If something said in one post sparks a question or idea not relevant to the current discussion, it's better to create a new thread to discuss it: It keeps things tidy and you may attract folk to read it that were not involved on the source thread.
  
• Don't try sarcasm or dry witted humour.
  At least until you are known on the forum. Or if you do, please point it out - not everyone will share your sense of humour.

What is...?
...an Advanced Dancer - Several competitions define 'advanced' and there are multiple posts about it. Generally, winning competitions helps.

...an aerial - or Air-step is when both the dancers feet leave the floor. Think 'ice-skating'. There is discussion on this forum about what is and is not an aerial, aerials in competition etc.

...an Attachment - is any picture or document you put in/on a post. When creating posts, there is a link at the bottom of the page to 'manage attachments': this is where you up-load them from your computer.

...an Avatar - The little picture to the left of posts, below folks names. There are loads to pick from under the "Edit Avatar" link in your User Control Panel. After so many posts, you can create and up-load your own avatar.

...BB - Acronym: Can either refer to the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom (one of the finest dance floors in the UK that has great parties) or the Beach Boogie (a week/fortnight dance event in England with workshops and parties)

...a Beginner - or Novice so someone who has just started dancing. The line as to when this title no-longer applies has been discussed at length here.

...the Bible - Slang term for the 'Ceroc Bumper Book Of Moves' that every Ceroc teacher has for reference.

...Blues dancing - a sub-form of Modern Jive that uses close moves and slower music. Also see UCP

...BTW - Acronym for "By The Way"

...Ceroc - The brand of Modern Jive that has the UK market share (or at least Scottish market share) of dancers. Also used as a generic term for Modern Jive

...the Collective - a slang term from star-treck's Borg analogy to refer to Ceroc (the company)

...the Control Panel - or User CP There is a button on the furthest left labelled "User CP"; from here you can see your rep, manage PM's, add/change info about yourself and manage the way you see the forum.

...a Demo - the person who helps the teacher demonstrate moves

...The Doughnut - A spectacular aerial move seen performed by David & Lily Barker where Lilly forms a ring by grabbing her feet on the horizontal plane balanced above David's head, then drops round him.

...fixed couples - Not changing partners during a lesson: Where as most MJ classes, workshops and events allow leads/followers to rotate, there are some that do not (normally the UCP ones).

...floorcraft - the skill of being aware of (and considerate to) other dancers on the dance floor. Also being sensible/aware enough to not place their partner in danger.

... a follower - the person led around the dance floor; normally the lady of a partnership.

...a forumite - slang term for a user of this forum

...Franchisee - Ceroc has multiple "managers" who over-see various areas/venues around the country. These people actually make a living from the rest of us dancers.

...Hipsters - A MJ club in London that has a reputation for "advanced" dances

...IMHO - or IMO Acronym for "In My (Humble) Opinion"

...an Intermediate - Someone who has lost their 'beginner' status, but is not yet 'advanced'. Some competitions define this for themselves, but there is lots of discussion on this forum about it.

...a lead - the person in charge of the dance; normally the man in a couple. The lead dictates the moves and allows the follower space to shine.

...Membership - For a small fee, you can gain benefits and enhancements to your viewing of the forum - it's all explained in the "Subscriptions" link on your UserCP.

...Modern Jive - or MJ is the common name for the dance that Ceroc, Leroc, MoJive,... all practice. It's the name that is used here to globally encompass all brands of this dance. There are multiple posts here trying to define what exactly this dance is.

...a Moderator - One of the forum gods who can change/move your posts and watches for any foul language or personal attacks.

...an MP3 - a compressed music format that is played through computers instead of playing the tracks directly from a CD.

...a Muggle - Slang term used here to describe a non-dancer. (plagiarised from Harry Potter)

...Navigating - moving from page to page on the web by clicking on links and using the "back" button.

...a neck-break - signal of 'L' shaped arm at shoulder height that the lady steps into; similar to a "clothes line" in wrestling

...a Post - any text you type in and submit to part of a discussion. A thread is made up of multiple posts

...a Perv - Slang term for a dancer who's behaviour is socially un-acceptable and sexually discriminating.

...Private Messaging - or PM is a form of direct e-mail between forum members. You can use it like any other e-mail system and all the forum tags work as if it was a post. You can view, create and manage your PM's through a link on your User CP.

...Quick Reply - A feature on this forum that allows you to click on an icon beside a post to activate a simple text-only box at the bottom of the thread.

...Reputation - or rep is accumulated by people approving or disapproving with your posts. The level is indicated by green 'pips' at the bottom of the left-hand information panel against posts. You can see your rep & how it was accumulated through your UserCP.(see "How do I give Rep?" below)

...Sharking - Slang term for a dancer who is dancing purely to pull.

...signalling - a visual aid that lets the lady know what move is coming up next. Commonly frowned upon on this forum.

...a Signature - Paid up members get to add a bit of text below every post; it's similar to the user name and avatar in that it helps other forumites get an idea of who you are. This is controlled from the UserCP.

...are Smilies or Emoticons - the small happy faces () you see in posts; there are several and can simply be added by clicking on them when creating a post. (or typing in their : waycool : tags)

...Splitting a thread - When people discuss something and it goes off on a tangent, the thread may be split into two, keeping the original and creating a new one for the tangent conversation to continue on.

...a Stinker - Slang term for a dancer who does not change shirts/use spray/wash or generally smells bad.

...a Tag - A command code that makes text bold, italic, underlined, or adds a web link to text. In this forum they use square brackets [ b ] (to make something bold) but you can also use HTML &lt;b&gt;

...a Taxi Dancer - Specifically in Ceroc, an intermediate/advanced dancer that helps beginners go through steps and gets them into dancing. Is also used as a generic term for "teacher's helpers" no matter what brand of MJ is discussed.

...a Thread - A conversation on the forum, made up from sequential postings on a particular subject. Hopefully all relevant to the first post of the thread.

...Trolling - Slang term for seeking a new partner to dance with.

...UCP - acronym for "Up Close and Personal"; a style of move using close/sexy actions. Also a slang term for a blues dancing and can mean "Unexpectedly cosy predicament" {thanks Lory }

...a URL - or address A web link - click on it and it will pull up the specified web site.

...WYSIWYG - Acronym for "What You See Is What You Get"

...a Yanker - Slang term for a dancer who is forceful and pulls you about the dance floor.

...a Zouave - Fifteenth century, French infantryman. Renown for colorful uniforms and excellent drill-work. Nothing to do with dance, but had to have a Z in the list and thought Franck may appreciate this one


<a name="where"><hr></a>

<a href="#why">Why?</a> <a href="#when">When?</a> <a href="#what">What?</a> Where? <a href="#how">How?</a>

Where?

Where to post?
The forum is divided into four main areas:

• Ceroc / dance technical discussions - Posts that are to do with the dance we dance or music we dance to
• Discussion Lounge - Social posts and discussion; the 'lounge' area that everything non-dance is discussed
• Fun & games - Posts that will waste time and provide some distraction.
• Testing testing - Posts about the forum it's self, a little test area to try out posting and some features, and an "Outside" area where all the bad posters go.

Each of these is sub-divided, but if you get the general idea of what you want to post, it should fall into one of the above areas. If you post in completely the wrong area, PM a moderator and ask them to move it.


Where can I find...
... a specific post: use the Search tool or just browse. If you are looking for a specific post you made yourself, there is an option in the userCP to look through them. You can also see what attachments you have used in different posts from here.

... information about a user: Either through the Members list or by clicking on the user's avatar in a post.

... my rep/my PM's: in the User Control Panel.

... how to register: there is a link on your control panel to Subscriptions.

... who's on-line: The title page has a list at the top, but paid-up members have a special link through the "Quick links" button that tells them what everyone on-line is doing as well.

... how to change it from orange: This option is only available to subscribed members of the forum, but it's in your user control panel, or at the bottom of every thread.



<a name="how"><hr></a>

<a href="#why">Why?</a> <a href="#when">When?</a> <a href="#what">What?</a> <a href="#where">Where?</a> How?

How?

How do I post a reply?
You have two main options - posting a quick reply is the quickest {doh} and all you need to do is click on the little page with quill icon to the bottom right of a post and the web page will jump to the bottom and activate a blank text box.
Typing in this box you will need to use tags to do anything special unless you click the button saying "go advanced" which will take you to the normal editor...

Which is the second option - clicking on the "Post Reply" button at the bottom of the page. This loads up a blank editor. The default editor is WYSIWYG editor - fairly simple and you don't see any tags. The default editor type can be changed from your userCP.

There is another way; if you click the "Quote" button to the bottom right of a post, the same editor will open with the whole post quoted for you. See the next item for advice on dealing with quotes.


How do I work with quotes in my posts?
Best way to do this is to simply use the "Quote" button attached to a post. However you may want to do certain things...

• Only quoting a bit of text
  Simply delete the bit's you don't want. Try not to take stuff out of context and when doing this, you may want to use ~snip~ or ... to indicate that text has been removed. If there is a long post, please don't quote it all again in your reply - assume that people have already read it and trim it down to a few relevant lines.
  
• Multiple quotes
  Concept - the forum recognizes quotes because they are bracketed by the tags [ quote ] and [ /quote ] so all you need to do is put text in between tags like that and you will be quoting.
  
• Splitting a quote
  If you want to reply to a bit of a post, then another bit; just add an end [ /quote ] tag, type in your reply, and start the quote again with a [ quote ] tag.
  
• Multiple quotes: copy & paste
  When replying to a post, notice that you can scroll down; and under your editor you will find the last 20 or so posts. Simply highlight a section of text, r-click and copy (ctrl+c) then go back to your post, r-click and paste (ctrl+v)
  
• Who said that?
  When something is enclosed in quotes, it just boxes it in and highlights it. To add the "Originally posted by Gadget" to the top, you need to edit the start tag like this:[ quote=Gadget ] Note that this makes everything in the quoted text italic, so any italic text quoted will loose it's emphasis.
  
• Quotes in a new thread
  As with the copy/paste above, when you copy something, it remains copied in your clipboard until you either copy something else or shut your machine down. So just create a new thread and paste away. Alternatively; reply with a quote, copy what's in your editor, then go back and create a new thread - saves you a bit of typing.

How do I start a thread?
It's dead easy: navigate to the area of the forum you think the post is relevant to (using the tree at the top of threads is useful in this) then click on the "New Thread" button.
Remember that the "Title" is what will appear when people are browsing, so try and summaries your post well. Also note that you can attach an icon to the post - not used enough in my opinion: it's a quick visual clue as to the nature of the post.

To start a poll, you will find an option at the bottom of your post with number of options. Type in the main body of your text, then just tic this box and click "submit new thread" - you will be taken to a page with the multiple choice options and other tic boxes to control it's behaviour. Note: once the post has been submitted, you cannot change the text of your options, or add/remove any other options so be careful!


How do I give rep?
When you look under everyone's name/avatar there are green 'pips' - hover over them and it will say something like "forum member has a magnificent glow about them".
These pips are based on an accumulation of "rep" points, the pop-up description too. There are different colours of 'pips' green for 50 points, bright green for 250 points. Red pips for negative reputation.
Everyone starts at 10.

To gain/loose reputation, anyone can click on the little scales (cabbage) to the left of the post (beside the on-line green light) and post a comment with an "I approve" or "I disapprove" tag.

The number of points gained/lost depends on both your current reputation and the number of posts you have posted.
(Although you can rep having only a few posts under your belt, it won't carry any weight until a threshold has been reached)

To see your current rep, just click on the "User Control Panel" link at the top of the page and it's right in front of you: Thread/post title (linked to specific post), Good(green)/Bad(red) Date and Comment.

Most people add a comment like "good post - I know where you're coming from. {Gadget}" or "What are you talking about; shear nonsense - {Gadget}" &lt;- note the names on the end. You can choose to omit a name but the person you are rep-ing can't tell who it's from without it (*). This poll is asking whether this should be the case, or whether it should list who it's from in your control panel.

(* the moderators can tell - so any abusive comments can be reported and the poster tracked down to be chastised.)


How do I post a link to another post?
Links are areas of text that point to a web address: what you see on the "address bar" of your browser; http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/ is an address.
To make a section of text a link, you need to know the address (URL) of where you want it to link to. This can be done in a couple of ways:

... simply navigate to the page you want to link to, highlight the address in the "address bar" of your browser and r-click, copy (Ctrl C)
... if you see an existing link to a thread (for example having performed a search or looking at another post) you should be able to r-click and "Copy Shortcut" or "Copy Link Location".

If you are using the buttons on your editor, simply R-click and 'paste' this into the box that asks you to. The URL should look like this - http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8888

If you want to go further and link to a specific post within a thread, you need to add &p=8888 to the end of the URL above. The easiest way to find this number is to hover over a link or button at the bottom of the post that refers to it:

• The rate link (scales), the report link (warning triangle), the Quote button (says 'quote') and the Quick reply button (parchment & quill) all link to this number - if you look at the grey bit at the very bottom of your browser when hovering over any of these toy will see something like this:
  
  http:\\www.cerocscotland.com\forum\showthread.php? p=8888#
  
  that number on the end is what you need to remember and add to the thread's URL.

Note: If you copy a link from a search you have done, you may want to remove the bit from the URL that highlights the key words you searched for: just delete the bit that says &highlight=Ceroc from the end.

If you want to manually enter a link, you just need to surround the text with a [ URL=www.cerocscotland.com\forum\ ] tag at the start and a [ /URL ] tag at the end of the text you want to be clicked on.


<hr>

If you have any more questions, suggestions, or any more tips on how to use this forum, please post on this thread.

[Gadget]

This should really be in the "technical suggestions" area of the forum, but I've spent ages re-formatting it to work with links and things, then found that the "suggestions" area does not allow html code in it's posts
So it's here. Maybe it will get moved some day.

[Lory]

Congratulations Gadget!

I've only managed to skim though it, cos it's 2-15am and I'm Kn*****d but what I've seen looks brilliant!

And I see you've even managed to get a sneaky little entry into the BFG spelling awards, in the title!

[TheTramp]

I think that we need a forum award for 'longest post'.

You'll win hands down.

That's a lot of work there. Well done

Trampy

[Dancing Girlie]

Hi there Gadget

Just wanted to say that although I've only managed to read half of your message just now, (as it is rather late), I've found it very helpful being new to the forum....I look forward to reading the rest tomorrow!

Dancing Girlie

[DavidY]

What Trampy/Lory/Dancing Girlie said.

Excellent stuff and very comprehensive.

[Alfie]

Well Done Gadget,
Very comprehensive and very informative. It should be a great help for the not so technically adept. Maybe this post ought to be in its own slot so it will stay readilly available for ever. I think we all should buy you a drink next time we see you

[Andy McGregor]

Originally Posted by Gadget

Keep it short.

Great post Gadget: well done

I just couldn't resist the above quote though

[RobC]

Jeez, how long did that take you ?

Originally Posted by Gadget

...BB - Acronym: Can either refer to the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom (one of the finest dance floors in the UK that has great parties) or the Beach Boogie (a weekend dance event in England with workshops and parties)

Small correction for you - Beach Boogie is a fortnight dance event (not a weekend event) on the Isle of Wight (although this year it was only a single week, it has been confirmed to be 2 again next year).

[Kay]

Well done Gadget - it must have taken you ages. It's very informative, not that I've had time to read it all yet, but I intend to as you've answered a few of my queries.

[Tiggerbabe]

Originally Posted by RobC

Small correction for you - Beach Boogie is a fortnight dance event (not a weekend event) on the Isle of Wight (although this year it was only a single week, it has been confirmed to be 2 again next year).

I've corrected this in Gadget's post
Fantastic work Gadget and I'm sure Franck will be post it to an appropriate spot on his return

[Gadget]

that's the one thing I can't do: make any changes or corrections {ta sheena } - but I did put the most important BB first

[Tiggerbabe]

Originally Posted by Gadget

but I did put the most important BB first

I absolutely agree