SquidU's Lensmaster Lounge: Help for New Squids

First things first: set up your profile.

1. Go to the Lounge. Click the Login tab, if it says at upper left that you're not logged into the forum.
   
   
2. Once you're logged in, you should see four tabs (pictured). Click the Profile tab.
   
   
   1. To add a small graphic that appears next to your posts: Choose "Personality" from the lefthand menu, then "Upload Avatar". Then browse your computer for a graphic to upload. Your avatar (icon) may be up to 60x60 pixels and no larger than 10K.
      
   2. While in the "Personality" menu, you may want to add a signature, text that appears beneath all your posts. Many folks include links to their best lenses. See below for how to do links.
      
   3. Browse the other options in your Profile to see if there's anything else you want to set up. You can come back later, of course!
3. Click the "Index" tab near the top of the page to get back to the Forums. READ THE RULES at the top. There's only a few, but breaking them could get you banned!


4. Now, you'll probably want to Introduce Yourself if you haven't already, or go to the Critique Me... sub-forum to get feedback on a lens you've made. (The "Post New Topic" button is at the far right above a sub-forum).

Squidoo member USVIA suggests that specific, original titles like "Comic book collector greets the SuperSquids!" will help your thread get read, since all the "Hi, I'm new!" threads start blurring together.

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BBCode, short for Bulletin Board Code, is a set of codes in brackets [] that let you add links, images, and formatting to your posts on discussion forums. Many online forums use BBCode instead of HTML, because certain mistakes in HTML can screw up the rest of a page.

Here's the most useful BBCodes:

To Make Links

[url]http://www.squidoo.com/mylens[/url]   makes   http://www.squidoo.com/mylens

[url=http://www.squidoo.com/mylens]Click this link[/url]   makes   Click this link

To Make Bold or Italic Text

[b]This text will be bold[/b]     [i]This text will be italic[/i]

To Make Smilies

They're silly, but they help make up for the fact that you can't tell tone of voice from text. For example, ;) makes .

Below the reply box at the bottom of each thread, there's a "Smilies" link to the complete list of smilies.

There's a few other codes available. At the bottom of each thread, below the reply box, there's a "BBCode" link that will give you...

the complete list of BBCodes.

Note: BBCode work in Discussion forums ONLY! Your own lenses use HTML.

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You may notice that some people have titles under their names like "Landlubber" or "Got Yer Sea Legs". These are just for fun! Titles change depending on how many posts you've made. You start with "My.First.Post.Ever.com" and then, "Newbie!"

There are also Moderators/Mods, in charge of keeping order in the forum; Squid Staff, official employees of Squidoo; Giant Squids, lensmasters with 50+ quality lenses; and Citizen Squids, a rotating thinktank of experienced lensmasters chosen by the Squidoo Team. See The Giant Squids (and how to become one) and the Citizen Squids (Squidizens) HQ for more info on these two groups. For a who's who of the Squidoo Team, see About Squidoo.

There are also Squid Angels, whose blessings to your lens will give it a small lensrank boost. Be careful! For quality purposes, they can't bless a lens that's sloppy and doesn't meet their standards. Read Megan's thread about Squid Angels for more information, or Squid Angel rksmythe's helpful What I Look For in a Lens.

(Tip: There's no forum icon for "Fresh Squids," but I want to let newbies know about Fresh Squid Headquarters, which helps promote newbies' lenses, holds a monthly contest for the best newbie lenses, and has a great tips/help blog at the bottom of the page!)

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Post your messages in the right sub-forum, and please don't spam by posting the same message in multiple forums!

Here's a partial list of the Lensmaster Lounge sub-forums, showing those most useful for newbies. Be sure to check the "Sticky Threads" at the top of most sub-forums for VERY important information.

• New? Introduce Yourself is where you can say hello.


• Critique Me... is where you post a link to a lens you've made that you want feedback about (not just to advertise; that goes in the Lenses We Like sub-forum).


• Help, Please! is where to ask questions about how Squidoo works, or any problems you've run into while making lenses. As with the Critique forum, remember those answering questions are members just like you, but more experienced, who want to be helpful!


• Tricks of the Trade is where to learn from other Squidoo members. See the Crash Course sticky thread in this forum for links to a TON of how-to lenses to help you learn to Squidoo!
  


• The Squid Angels forum is where you can share links to your very best, finished lenses, and if they meet the Angels' high standards, they'll get a blessing, which boosts your lensrank slightly. Read the "Angel's Personal Note" thread at the top of this forum to see what they're looking for!
  


• Scroll down to the Lenses We Like forum to share links to some of your best lenses. Before you post here, I recommend reading A Word About Self Promotion, the sticky thread in the "New? Introduce Yourself!" forum.

There are several other forums, and sooner or later you should browse and get to know them, too, but that's enough to get you started!

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