This is a fairly long article BUT it gives you a good insight into how Guppylog works. If you are in a hurry and just want to get your first post underway, check out FAQ's in brief. I would recommend that you come back to this page soon though and read the details.

To read some of the best and most informative log entries here at Guppylog, check out the Quick Links page.

Frequently Ignored Answers to common Questions:

Note: Almost all the answers to this were adapted from the two main scoop sites F.A.Q.'s, Kuro5hin, and Scoop.

What is the software that runs this site?

Scoop!

What is Scoop?

Scoop is a "collaborative media application". It falls somewhere between a content management system, a web bulletin board system, and a weblog. Scoop is designed to enable your website to become a community. It empowers your visitors to be the producers of the site, contributing news and discussion, and making sure that the signal remains high.

A scoop site can be run almost entirely by the readers. The whole life-cycle of content is reader-driven. They submit news, they choose what to post, and they can discuss what they post. Readers can rate other readers comments, as well, providing a collaborative filtering tool to let the best contributions float to the top. Based on this rating, you can also reward consistently good contributors with greater power to review potentially untrusted content. The real power of Scoop is that it is almost totally collaborative.

Account Questions

Do I need an account?

But, without an account, all you can do is read the stories on the site. An account is necessary if you want to actually take part in the site. It is your way of identifying yourself to the community. It also adds a measure of accountability that is generally not found in a system which allows for true anonymous postings. We are trying to build a community, and as such, we would like to know who you are. If you have something that you are afraid might come back to haunt you (such as exposing an illegal practice of a company or person), you can easily create a "throwaway" account using one of the many free webmail services out there. We would prefer that everyone only have one account though. Be aware that accounts can and will be deleted for abuse of Guppylog. We do not allow anonymous submissions and commenting.

How do I sign up?

Creating an account is straightforward. Follow these directions:

1. Click on the MAKE A NEW ACCOUNT link
2. Enter a username and a valid email address. These are very important; review both for errors before you click the CREATE ACCOUNT! button.
3. You will receive an email that contains an initial password and the URL that you need to activate your account.
4. Follow the URL and that is it.

Please note that you should probably change your password immediately to something that is easier for you to remember. Also, if you enter a bad email address, not only will you never receive an initial password, but you will also lock that username out of the system. This email address you give us will NEVER be revealed to anyone in any way, nor will this email address be shown on any log entries or comments, unless you choose to put it there.

How do I log in?

Once you have set up your account, you can log in on the right side of the Guppylog home page by entering your username and the password that was provided to you. Please note (and this is VERY IMPORTANT): you must have cookies enabled in order to use your account.

Should I ever log out?

This is up to each user. If you are the only one using your computer/terminal, then feel free to stay logged in. It will make your life much easier and faster. However, if you share your computer/terminal, we would recommend that you log out. This will stop someone else from "fiddling" with your account, and in the end, save many headaches and problems from occuring.

How do I modify my account?

You can edit your user preferences and display preferences easily once you are logged in. Click on the appropriate link and follow the onscreen instructions.

You can modify the following user options:

• Real email
• Fake email
• Homepage
• Bio
• Signature
• Public Mail Key
• Receive Email story Digest
• Real Email address
• Account Password

You can modify the following display options:

• Time Zone
• Number of new stories to show
• Number of old stories to show
• Font face
• Font size
• Image display on/off
• Server for images

What happens if I lose my password?

If you do lose your password, you can get a new one emailed to the "real" email address you originally gave us. Unlike other sites, we do not keep a plaintext copy of the password list. All our password information is kept encrypted. You can get a new password assigned to you by entering your username on the login on the account information area and then clicking the MAIL PASSWORD button. Do not share your password with anyone else. Once you lose control of your persona, it is your problem.

LOG ENTRY SUBMISSION QUESTIONS

What kind of articles (or, 'log entries') should I submit here?

Well, the short answer is anything you find interesting. We do not get upset if we do not like your articles. In fact, if we do not like your article, but it was posted in all sincerity as something you thought was interesting, we will just leave it alone and let the users decide whether to post it or not.

The longish answer is anything related to guppies or live bearers, or stuff you think is interesting. Articles do not have to deal with both - they can be about either. Yes, it is broad on purpose.

Do not be intimidated by these guidelines, either. Read the site for a bit. If the articles that appear here interest you and you come across a article elsewhere that also interests you, chances are it will interest us too. We would rather have too many submissions than not enough.

In general, we prefer articles that have some meat to them. A summary of an article on another site, with only a one- or two-sentence statement of opinion added by you, is not usually preferred here (there are other places for that). We encourage submitters to extend their posts, and perhaps offer some insight or explanation as to why they thought their item was interesting, and what it means to us. We also encourage original writing on such things as guppies, breeding, fry, medicine, tanks, fish shows, fish clubs, or anything you have to say. As always, the readers will decide, so your job is to interest them in your article!

How do I submit an article (or, 'log entry')?

Create an account, or have an account already and log into it, click on the SUBMIT Log Entry link, and write your article. As a matter of practicality, it is much easier (and much better) to write your story in a good word processor where you can spell check (and hopefully grammar check) your article before posting it. While decent spelling and grammar is not all-important, you could come under heavy fire for making mistakes in these departments. For example, over at Kuro5hin, they say in this section

"Our readers take a rather obscene delight in pointing out mistakes of these kinds. So make life easier on everyone and check your story thoroughly before posting it."

What goes into writing an article (or, 'log entry')?

Each article has eight parts:

1. Title - Come up with a good title for your story. Something informative and catching that summarizes your article in a nice way while drawing the reader's attention.
2. Introduction - A one- or two-paragraph introduction. State what it is you are writing about, why you are writing about it, and a short introduction to it. Generally it is not acceptable to make your entire submission in this area, but there are exceptions.
3. Body - This is where you write your detailed story. Please do not include your introduction here again.
4. Topic
5. Section
6. The Poll - This is an optional section where you can include a reader poll. Pick a question and put up to eight answers in the lines below. Not every story needs a poll, but they are interesting or amusing sometimes.
7. Preview the article a few times and make as many changes as needed. We would recommend you check all links manually and read your article aloud a few times. Keep re-previewing it until you are 100% happy with it. Then preview it again.
8. SUBMIT!

What should I really pay attention to?

• Check your facts! We cannot stress how important this is.
• Check all of your URLs.
• Spam is NOT tolerated and will be deleted.
• Pay attention to what HTML tags are allowed in the story. To date, the following are supported: <A HREF="[url]"> <B><P> <I> <OL> <OL TYPE="[type]"> <UL><LI> <DL><DT> <DD> <EM> <BR><STRONG> <BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="cite"><CITE> <TT><CODE> (of course, all the relevant closing tags are allowed too). No other tags will work. If you need to use some tags that are not listed here, you can email Scott and ask him to edit them in for you. There is no guarantee that he will do it though.
• The readers moderate the site - so expect feedback. Expect that sometimes your stories will post and sometimes they will not. Learn from what happens and keep trying.
• Sometimes you will be resubmitting a story. Please refrain from pointing out that "I am resubmitting this for X reasons". Rather, just make the changes and corrections and post it as if the original had never existed. A good way to point out that this article is a resubmission is just before you are finally ready to actually submit the story, create in another document a editorial comment which you will cut and paste into your article as (hopefully) the very first comment in the story.
• You are forced to preview each story at least once. We recommend doing it MANY times until you are sure your story is correct. We cannot stress how important this is. Too many people make this mistake and leave broken links and really poor language in their articles. This is the guaranteed, fastest way to make sure that your article never gets past the moderation queue.
• Once you hit that SUBMIT button, it goes into the queue and you cannot edit it in any way - so make sure it is right the first time.

How are articles (or, 'log entry') sorted?

Articles are sorted in two ways. Each article has a TOPIC and a SECTION. Topics are (as nicely defined by Grayhame) "narrow focuses", while sections are "broad categories". When submitting a story, pick carefully what topic and section it applies to. Here is a brief rundown of what the different categories are. Please note that there are always exceptions to the rule.

What section/topic should I use?

The choice of section and topic is up to you. However, it is not unheard of for articles to be rejected because people feel they should be in a different section. In general, section matters more than topic.

How do I know when my story gets posted/dumped?

There are four easy ways to tell if your story has been posted or dumped:

• Check the moderation queue, if it is not there, it has either been posted or dumped.
• Check the Front Page and Section Pages of Guppylog.com. If you find it there, it has posted. Be very aware that most stories get posted to the Front Page. Very few stories get posted now only to the sections. We accept just about anthing here, as of now, though this hopefully will change as we gain new readers.
• Check your email. Whenever a story posts or dumps, you get an email from the server saying so.
• Click the VIEW MY STORIES link (if you are logged in) in your account information area.

What do I do if my log entry gets posted/dumped?

Well if your story gets posted - celebrate on a job well done. If your story gets dumped, you have a few options. You can forget it and get on with your life, you can rewrite it (and pay attention to any comments that might have been posted on your story) and then resubmit it, or you can find a new topic and write something else. No matter what, do not get upset that it did not get posted. Many great articles do not always make it first time.

Also, don't forget about the diary section - if you want to preserve it, you can always post it as a diary entry. Diary entries are not voted or, or subject to the queue. Please refrain from posting multiple diary entries a day. The system won't stop you from doing it, and the occasional day with two, or perhaps in extraordinary circumstances even multiple entries, will be overlooked. Making it a habit, on the other hand, is discouraged.

What are diaries?

Diaries are the exception to everything. You are the only one who can post to your diary, and no one can say whether it posts or not. It automatically posts in your diary. To post to your diary, click on the NEW DIARY ENTRY link in the account information area. Diaries work exactly like stories/articles/log entries. They have an intro and body (please use the body!) and polls. Anyone can view them and comment on them. Be aware that anyone can (and will) comment on what you say though. You are not required to use them should you not feel like it. Use at your discretion or lack thereof.

ARTICLE MODERATION AND READING

What is the moderation queue?

Once an article has been written and submitted, it is put into the moderation queue. This is an area where only members of Guppylog.com can review articles before they are posted to the site for general consumption. You are allowed to vote once on an article in the queue.

You have four options when it comes to voting on the moderation queue:

• Post it to the Front Page! (+1)
  
  Choose this if you like the log entry, or feel it is really worthy of being on the front page of Guppylog.com.
• Post it to the Section Page Only (+1)
  
  Choose this if you like the story, but think it should be on the section page (not on the front page).
• Dump It! (-1)
  
  Choose this if you dislike the article and feel it is not worthy of everyone's time.

Once you have voted, this part of the page will change to reflect how you voted: Likewise, a list of who voted and how they voted will appear on the right side of the screen.

It is important to remember that, just because an article might not be about a topic you are interested in, it is not a reason to vote -1. Likewise, if this article has "been seen before", or "I saw it on the other site", or any such similar thing, that is not a reason in and of itself to vote a story -1. Don't vote if you do not really care.

Once you have voted, you can see the current score of the story. There is a "post threshold" and "dump threshold" which are both defined by a mathematical formula based on the percentage of total registered users on Guppylog.com. Once the voting score reaches either of these two thresholds, the story either posts or dumps. If a story posts, and if it got at least 50% of its votes "+1 Front Page", it will appear on the front page. Otherwise it will go to the section page. Do not get upset if your story does not make it to the front page; at some point, it may be very hard to get a story there.

How do I respond to a poll?

If an article has a poll, it will appear on the right hand side. Click on which option you want, and then press the vote button. To see the results of the poll, you can click just below on the view results button.

What are all the links on the right side of the article?

When a story is submitted, all the links in the story are collected and listed on the right side. This is just an easy way to quickly follow the links of a story to get more information on it.

COMMENTS

What are comments?

An important aspect of Guppylog.com is the ability to post comments about the stories that you see here. Comments provide insights, feedback, questions, new discussion issues, and sometimes humour. Commenting is a very good thing, and really helps articles develop into the discussions we like to see here.

Note: You must have an account and be logged in to post a comment. Please see "Account Questions."

How do I submit a comment?

Comments are submitted using an interface similar to that of story submission. Here are the details:

1. First, you need to get a user account and log in.
2. Either click on a REPLY link on a comment, or by clicking the POST A COMMENT link that you see at the bottom of an article.
3. Choose a nifty title for the comment.
4. Choose whether the comment is topical or editorial. Topical comments are about contents of the article, while editorial comments are suggestions and remarks about how the article is written (or why it is written poorly). Use your judgement as to which type of comment you're posting. Note that when replying to a comment, if the comment is a topical one, your reply is automatically topical; if it is editorial, your reply is automatically editorial as well. Once a story is posted to the front page or a section page, you can only post topical comments (unless it is a reply to an editorial comment). If you have something to say, and it contains both topical and editorial comments, post 2 comments (1 editorial and 1 topical). It is fairly common amongst Guppylog.com readers that once a story posts, editorial comments are ignored.
5. In the body, enter the text of your comment (spamming is not tolerated). You may enter your comment in HTML or plain textm (look for the pulldown option below the entry box). If you enter it as HTML, the same tags which are valid for articles apply; <A HREF="[url]"> <B> <P> <I> <OL> <OL TYPE="[type]"> <UL> <LI> <DL><DT> <DD> <EM> <BR> <STRONG> <BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="cite"> <CITE> <TT><CODE> (of course, all the relevant closing tags are allowed too). Plain text comments are converted into HTML; line breaks become paragraph breaks, etc.
6. Preview the comment, make as many corrections as required, and then preview it again. Sometimes several iterations are required before all problems are fixed, so be patient :)
7. SUBMIT! (I've always wondered why submit is more popular than more descriptive words, such as 'post,' on HTML forms.)

What are trolls?