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Screencaps for Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98, 95

To take a screenshot on Windows XP or 2000, press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard.

(Image courtesy of Chema)




This will take a snapshot of your entire screen, and put the information into your clipboard. You will still need to save it somewhere.

Go to:

Start --> Program Files --> Accessories --> Paint

(Image courtesy of [Sparrow])


Then:

Edit --> Paste (or ctrl + v).

On Windows 2000, it will prompt you to increase the size of the image. Click "Yes." On Windows XP, the image size is increased automatically. You can either save this as-is, and have a full image of your whole screen, or you can use the Lasso or + selection tool to select an area that you want to keep. Once you've got the exact selection of what you're keeping go:

Edit --> Copy

File --> New

Click on Don't save

Now you've got a blank file. Go:

Edit --> Paste

You're now left with the exact thing you'd like to save. Go to:

File --> Save as ...
(Image courtesy of -Listan-)


Where it lets you choose the type of file, I would reccomend using a JPG, unless the image's quality matters. In that case, save it as a PNG to maintain as high an image quality as you can possibly get. For most cases, a JPG will do the trick. Remember the location you saved it in, and hit the save button.
(Image courtesy of -Listan-)


Go to www.tinypic.com for a free image hosting site. Choose the file you'd like hosted, and click "host it!" Tinypic will give you all the links you'll need to share your picture with others.

Because I am on a mac, I don't have screenshots for the Windows machines. If someone has those screenshots avaialable, I'll add them in here, and I will credit you.

There are a few things that a lot of new members do that is not considered proper among most Gaians, and here are a few of them to help you out.

'Txt Tlkng'
I see lots and lots and lots of newbies doing this, using numbers and single letters, shortened words and acronyms to post, as if it were a chat room. This is looked down upon quite a bit. Gaia isn't a chatroom site, it's a forum board. You have plenty of time to type it out, please try to do so. This includes not doing things like using looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooots of characters in a word, talkin lyk ths, using numbers 2 talk, and USING ALL CAPS (Or not capitalizing when appropriate).

OMG!!!!11!!!1111!!!!ONE!7!SEVEN!
I see this too much. It gives me a headache. Please, no more than 3 exclamation marks, it's rather rude to have a long string of meaningless mumbo-jumbo after a sentence. It annoys people, and they yell at you.

Emoticon over-use
Nothing bugs people quite as much as people that use millions of emoticons (Smilies) in their post. A common example is "Please help me I'm poor!! crying crying crying crying crying crying crying ", or such like that. One is quite sufficient. (To be honest, most people dislike seeing the crying emote at all.)

Disabled PM's
I can't count the number of times I've seen this. People go around the forums, talking, and ask someone to PM them about something or another, and then they have their PM's disabled. When no one can PM you, it's impossible for people to give you help or offers, or talk to you in private. To make sure your PM's are not disabled, go to Profile>Mail>Receive private messages>Yes

Random Friend Requests
I advise against this, even though many people do it. It usually annoys other members, especially if you use it to pounce on them as soon as they're online with a 'was up' PM.

Random PM's
While these are okay most of the time, I heavily recommend that you only PM people if you have a reason. If you're just looking to chat with someone, there are millions of threads in the Chatterbox forum, full of people doing just that.

Random Trades
If you are sending new trades to people, it's usually a good idea to let them know why. If not, they'll just cancel it, and might even block you for harassing them about it. If you're asking for donations, there are forums for that, if you're trying to buy something, clarify by PM before sending the trade.

Multiple Threads
Especially in guilds, this can get annoying. You only need to make one thread on a subject, especially if it's just asking for gold, or advertising a quest.

Posting in the Wrong Forum
Often times, when a newbie has a question, they will simply go to somewhere like 'Welcome to Gaia' or 'General Discussion'. This annoys the Welcomers, and GDers (General Discussion Forum posters) will flame you and insult you. I advise you to avoid doing that, because then people will be less likely to help you and more likely to grumble about you to a friend later in the day. Instead, please ask your questions in the 'Questions & Assistance' forum, which is dedicated to answering questions and helping with problems. There are subforums for more specific problems.
-Foray

The stare icon
The stare icon is usually considered hostile, so watch how you use it.