Stories Space Help

General Site

• How do I join Storiesspace.com?

  Please go to the homepage and click on the Register link. Choose a username (it’s strongly suggested you don’t use your real name) and password, state your gender and enter a valid email address in order to verify your account.

• I forgot my username / password. How do I retrieve the details?

  Visit the Forgot Login Details page and enter your details.
  If you have forgotten both, you will need to enter the email address you used to sign-up with.

• How old do I have to be to join Storiesspace.com?

  The minimum age for members is sixteen.

• Can I set up multiple accounts?

  No. Members are not permitted to have multiple accounts. Please limit your site membership to one account only. Having multiple accounts is an unnecessary use of resources. Further, it may be interpreted as trolling behavior. Subsequent accounts set up by a member may be deleted by our admins without warning.

• Where can I find the terms and conditions?

  Our site terms and conditions can be found here.

• How do I report any technical problems?

  Please go to the home page and click on the Contact Us link at the bottom. Choose "Problem with the website" from the dropdown menu.

• How can I stop people messaging me?

  Anyone can contact you, either by chat or PM (private message) unless you can update your social status. You can choose whether you’d like only your friends to contact you, or (block all) so no one can contact you. Only friends are able to send you online instant messages.

• How can I block another member?

  You can block someone else from seeing you and contacting you from various places throughout the site. Whenever you see a context menu appear over the member's name, there should be an option to Block. Alternatively, you can go to your friends settings page, and at the bottom you can enter a member's username to Block.

• How do I style text I submit to Storiesspace?

  Most areas where you enter and submit text, such as your profile page, chat window and private messages you can stylise your words.
  
  To bold text, surround the word(s) with a * e.g. *this is bold*
  To italicise text, surround the word(s) with a _ e.g. _this is italic_
  To strikethrough text, surround the word(s) with a - e.g. -this is striked through-

• The chat window will not open, how do I allow popup windows?

  If your browser blocks popup windows or you are running popup blocking software, you will need to allow popup's before you can receive chat messages from other members.

• What are the shortcuts for adding emoticons to my text?

  When you submit text on Stories Space, you can include an emoticon in your text. Simply use the codes below to add an emoticon image to your text:

  :) :D ;) :p (h) :@ :s :$ :( :| :^( (an) 8o| 8-| +o( <:o) |-) *-)

  :-# :-* ^o) 8-) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) :-' (woot) (t) [f] [m] [bh] [sp] [bs] <3

  {} -@ (cat) (dog) (p) (rofl) (6) (b) (w) (freak) (bow) (read) (stop) (ke) (jb) (ic) <('') (pc)

• I moved away from a page and I lost my black box online messages, can I get them back?

  As soon as you realise you have new messages appear as you navigate away from a page, use the back button on your browser to go back to the previous page. This will cause the page to retrieve the same messages again from the server.

Story FAQ

• How do I submit a story?

  Click on the Submit Story link on the front of the site, and follow the instructions.

• What are your rules for story submissions and which kind of stories are acceptable?

  You can find all our story submission rules on this page. There is also a reminder of unacceptable stories on the story submission page itself.

• How do I edit a story?

  Click on the My Stories link at the top of the home page when logged in.

• How long does it take for a story to appear on site?

  Normally our moderators will verify new stories within 24 hours. If there are several moderators online, it could be the time it takes for one of them to read it.

• My story has been verified but is not appearing, why?

  There is a limit of 1 story per author, per day, to hit the home page to prevent story flooding. Subsequent stories posted will be queued, and appear on the home page 24 hours apart.

• My story was rejected, why, and how do I get help with it?

  The moderator that rejected your story will have given you a reason why it was rejected. Normally, if you correct the items they have highlighted in their rejection notice and resubmit, the story will be passed. If it still doesn't pass for failing to meet quality standards or for another reason, you might want to post asking for help in the relevant forum section.

• I want to delete one of my stories, how do I do that without cancelling my account?

  Go to My Stories on the home page and click on it. It will take you to a register of all your stories, and you can edit or delete them.

• How can I add a copyright to my stories?

  From your copyright settings page, you can enter your own copyright information or link through to an external page. When you publish a story, there is an option at the bottom to include your copyright notice on the story. Check this to include your copyright notice.

• How can I block stories from certain categories showing for me?

  You can choose which categories of stories you would like hidden from the
  hide categories settings page. This will mean that you no longer see this category listed on the site, or any stories published under that category.

Forum FAQ

• Where can I find the forum rules?

  All the forum guidelines may be found here.

• Which type of pictures are allowed and where?

  Please make sure pictures in your profile page, the forums and avatars are PG rated.

• What are we allowed to show in the signature area?

  Signatures are restricted to 10 lines of text to keep the site clean looking and fast loading. Images can be up to 500 (w) x 150 (h) px in dimension. Please keep signature images below 75kb out of courtesy to people on slower connections.

• Why don't my links work, and why can't I post images?

  You need to make 20 posts before you can post links and images, it's a preventative measure to help tackle spammers.

• Are there any subjects which are not allowed to be discussed?

  Yes. Do not post anything racist in nature, the same applies to religious matters. Hate speech of any kind is forbidden. Do not post, link or make available anything obscene, indecent, violent, gory, or illegal. Do not use insulting or denigrating personal attacks against other members, nor make inflammatory posts obviously intended to start a fight, get a reaction, or cause problems (flaming).

• How do I post pictures on the forums?

  There are two ways to post a picture in the forum. Firstly, if you click on this image you can submit a url to an image hosted somewhere on the internet. Note This hot linking of an image may not always work, if the host of the image has blocked access from other sites.

  Once you have posted at least 20 replies in the forum, there is a new button available to you . This button will allow you to upload an image from your computer onto our servers.

• How do I post a youtube video?

  After you click on Post reply, at the top of the text box you will see a small youtube button. Click that, and enter the youtube embed code.

• How can I be notified when an interesting thread has been added to?

  At the top of each thread on the right hand side there is a button called Options. If you click that, there is an option to Watch this Topic. An email will be sent to you when new posts are made. The same procedure will enable you to unwatch a topic.

Profile FAQ

• How do I change my privacy settings?

  There is a settings link in the red header of the site, which you will see when logged in.

• How do I add friends?

  Whenever you see a context menu appear over the member's name, there should be an option to "Add to friends". Alternatively, you can go to your friends settings page, and enter a member's username to befriend.

• What are my options to block someone?

  There are two options to block a member, either a soft block or a full block.

  A soft block is where you block a member who is on your friends list, so that they remain your friend, but they cannot see you online and you do not get updates in your friends activity. To soft block a friend, go to your friends settings page and hover over their name and choose the Block option. Your friend will now appear in your friends list and your blocked list.

  You can remove this soft block on a friend by hovering over their name in the blocked list and choose the Remove Block option. They will then become a full friend again.

  To block a member fully, you need to firstly, remove them as a friend. Then you can choose the Block option available on the context menu when you hover over their name or you can enter their username on your friends settings page. Once a member is blocked, they cannot see you online or contact you in anyway. You can remove a blocked member from your settings page. Simple hover over their name and choose the Remove Block option.

• I accidentally blocked a friend, how do I unblock them?

  If you go to your friends settings page and scroll down you will see where you have members that are blocked. To un-block someone, simply hover over their name and choose the Remove Block option.

• How do I add a picture?

  In the settings area, you will see a link to your image gallery. Browse to the image you wish to upload from your computer, and press the upload button.

• Can I post images of my children?

  All photos must contain people over the age of sixteen who have given permission for their image to be posted on the site.

• Can I post images of anything I like in my profile page?

  As long as the image isn't depicting nudity or anything pornographic or illegal in nature, and you either own the copyright, or have permission to publish it, then yes. More guidelines are posted here.

• How do I add videos?

  At this stage we only accept Youtube videos. In the settings area enter the Youtube embed url and click on Upload Video button.

• What are the various badges and how are they obtained?

  You can view the entire set of badges available and what it takes to achieve them from our badges page.

• How do I bookmark a favourite story in my profile?

  At the top of the story you are reading, there is a box located at the top right of the story, which contains a link where you can Add to favourites.

• How do I follow authors I like?

  At the top of the story you are reading, there is a box located at the top right of the story, which contains a link where you can Follow Author.

• How do I add or change the background color/picture on my profile?

  In the settings area, you will see a link to Customize Profile". There you can change the background colour and image to anything you like.

• Why can't I see some people's images or their whole profile?

  This depends on their privacy settings. Some people will only allow friends to view their images for example.

• How do I post a comment on someone's profile page?

  To do this, you need to be on that person's friend list. Then, at the bottom of their comments section, you will see a text box where you can send them a message, picture or video.

Chat Room FAQ

• How do I find the Chat Rooms?

  There is a link to the Chat Rooms in the left hand side navigation section of the site, as well as the red header bar.

• What are the chat room rules?

  The chat room rules and code of conduct can be found here.

• How do I create a room?

  At the bottom right of the chat room page, you will see a section where you can create your own room.

• Why can't I access some rooms?

  It is likely that the chat room creator has set it up as a private room, indicated by a lock icon. This is normally for friends only. Publicly accessible rooms will not have a lock icon next to them.

• Someone is persistently harrassing me, what can I do?

  There is an option in the chat rooms to block anyone you like. The chat rooms are supposed to be self managed, we are not here to hold people's hands. However, if you have a serious issue with someone in chat, make sure you take a screenshot and send it to us when reporting the offender. Without this evidence as proof, it's impossible for us to take someone's word over anothers on the basis of what may or may not have been said. If it's a minor issue, please just block the person and be done with it. This site will help those who don't know how to take a screenshot: http://take-a-screenshot.org.