Newbie tutorial. Tres serieux

Ok, if you are new to this site, then I hope this helps you. I know there have been newbie tutorials before, so I hope that this adds something.
Antipoints: A point system in which users assign points to other users. Points can only be assigned by people who have at least 50 positive points. And people who manage to acquire 300 negative antipoints get banned from antionline.
People must be extra careful with what they post as, there is a feature in antionline that makes people assign, roughly the same number of positive antipoints as negative antipoints. Most people give away antipoints, you can tell by looking at their "user tends to assign" bar, which will either move towards the left if they are assigning too many negative points, or the right if they are assigning too many positive points. So, if most people assign antipoints, well then they have to balance those babies out, and guess where they do that! Well, thats right, they balance them out on questions that are considered lame, or rude or anything else common sense forbids you to post on a security site.
1. Please remember that this a security site and that for that reason people here to not take kindly to people asking for tools and programs that are considered lame, and/or tools and programs that do not take any skill and can cause great harm. People also do not take kindly if you encourage somebody who talks about those things. People will balance their points on you, and if they do it en masse, then your account may be banned.
2. Do not post in the wrong forum. EX: People should not post computer bugs in the "oops, a bug" forum, because if you read the description, it is for site bugs only. Doing this eill likely earn you antipoints and your post may be deleted or closed by JP or a moderator.
3. Do not post things that you think people CAN assign you antipoints for. Some people tend to assign antipoints for one line replies, so just don't do them, instead post some extra stuff, post some compliments, you might even get positive antipoints! If you think somebody might take offense to your post, then don't post it, OR use the spoiler option, where you can hide your post.
4. Do not be rude to anybody, a lot of people tend to stick together for one thing, if you flame, then you will get a LOT of antipoints. Just use common sense here. Explain your situation in a diplomatic way, and if that isn't possible, refer to no. 3 and just don't post it, or use the spoiler option.
5. Be helpful, that is how people get positive antipoints and gain the ability to assign others antipoints. This is important, contribute to the community, help others, report bugs, write tutorials if you can. This is very important, because what would the fun be if you kept coming here for a year and never got any respect because you only had 10 positive antipoints? Be helpful, and people will like you, and when you have enough antipoints, people will even respect you.
I think that by following these 5 suggestions, you can fit in at antionline. I am just posting this because I noticed a lot of the banned people are newbies, and I figured I could help. So, hope this help!:) Bye.

BTW, I may be redundant in something, I got sidetracked half-way through, so please correct me if I made any mistakes.

The most important thing for a n00b to know is not to post something like: How can I hack into someone's email account/ AIM/ MSN/ Java etc. etc. Still, no matter how many times it is said, someone will still post a cracker question because their lame.













However, the massive flaming that results in such a case is always funny to watch.

True, perhaps we can get a line explaining how to ask lame questions like that in the faq or in the e-mail sent to people who signup.

Good post, but I think most of these topics have been covered in the AntiOnline FAQ.

Ennis posted a great one not too long ago. Still things like the Anti Points and how to earn and give them is always a source of n00b confusion. When your a newb, you can't really give any antipoints at all. This is often misunderstood when someone posts that: you need at least 50 Positive Anti Points to be able to give them out yourself. So many n00bs have more then 50 points but still can't give away points. Another point is that when a n00b does click to give either positive or negative points, when they check their Anti Point Center the point icon is always shown as dark (negative) even though they selected approval of the post. This leads to confusion since they would believe that they can only assign negative Anti Points. So if a n00b does try to give positive points they should at least type a message that tells the receiver they at least intended the points to be positive. Well thats enough of that. Anyways, at some point there should be a massive effort to construct the: Ultimate Newbie Guide! That way, certain topics like those explained above wouldn't need to be explained many times. We practically already have an Ultimate Newbie Guide. Someone justs needs to gather all of the information and post it all at once, or the guide could become part of the main website. Now my fingers hurt from all that typing. :( My final suggestion (as khakisrule pointed out), is that this information could be in the email sent to someone when they signup.

Yeah but how many people read the antionline faq?? I don't think many people really bother to do so. And newbie tutorials are only good for as long as they remain on the main page, once they are gone, newbies never think of searching for them. Thanks for the input.

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Originally posted here by khakisrule
Yeah but how many people read the antionline faq?? I don't think many people really bother to do so. And newbie tutorials are only good for as long as they remain on the main page, once they are gone, newbies never think of searching for them. Thanks for the input.

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... and that is why they will forever remain newbies. They'll never get anywhere if they aren't willing/motivated to search for information you're looking for. Many of the senior members here learned through experience and the desire for information. This information wasn't just handed to them... they had to go out and find it on their own. If they're not willing to search, they don't really want to know it... the newbies you are referring to just want to have information handed to them on a silver platter, minimizing the amount of work they have to do on their own. I have been working on computers for 15 years and I only ask questions here (or at other, more related online forums if it's not a security-related question) if I cannot find it anywhere else, or would like to ask my peers for the advice based upon their experiences. All newbies should know... search first, search again, and finally ask a question if you really can't find it.

AJ

Given a chance, they could become very helpful. Who knows, perhaps some newbies are very good and helpful, but made one post that pissed off a couple of people.

I agree completely. I feel that many newbies who leave here (either forcibly or under their own free will) could definately add to this community. This community, however, is based upon individuals, and many of the individuals who are known and respected worked for their knowledge and they expect others to do the same. It's just my observation, though. I see a lot of potential come into this community, and quite a bit of it leaves just as quickly as it arrives, but that's the nature of these sort of things... if someone doesn't find what they're looking for one place, they will move on to the next, adding to whichever community he/she decides fits his/her needs the most.

AJ