Hello my fellow House-loving Fanpoppers!

Recently, Fanpop has undergone some mini make-overs, with the introduction of new features such as IM and the Ответы section. And Fanpop has become a much bigger site, attracting new users and perhaps confusing some of us old-timers! So I thought I would put together a guide to help all Fanpoppers come to grips with everything that goes on in our little Fanpop world, specifically focusing on the House MD Spot, because we are one of the biggest, most active spots on Fanpop (Muhahahahahaha!)
So, here are some key things on Fanpop that I think every Fanpopper should at least consider while they are participating in crazy House fandom. For this guide, I have collected Статьи from all over Fanpop, written by Fanpop users just like Ты and me, that are intended to help explain certain features, practices and other aspects of Fanpop in order help all Fanpopper and make Fanpop a better place. Hopefully, this guide will provide Ты with a quick, user-friendly reference for issues on Fanpop.


~The Basics

I recommend Чтение an Статья written by harold called link. This Статья explores basic Fanpop functions like how to find a spot/fan club, how to Фан other users, how to "favourite" things and so on. harold also provides Ссылки to other Статьи in his User Guide, including his Совет on how to make a spot, how to format your text and how to post links. These Статьи are great reads for new Fanpoppers who are unfamiliar with how Fanpop works. I highly recommend that new House MD Spot Фаны check out harold's fantastic User Guide articles.


~Medals

Ok, lets get this out of the way quick. For new fans, the medal system is an ever-interesting topic of discussion. Basically, Медали are rewards for your efforts in contributing to a spot. No one knows exactly how Ты get a medal in a spot. All we know is that the еще content Ты add, the еще likely Ты are to get a medal. BUT WAIT! Before Ты run off and post masses of crap, Ты must read an Статья written by germany123 called link. This Статья will answer all your Вопросы about medals. In addition, there are other issues relating to rating, crediting and repeat content that need to be considered when posting content to a spot, which I will talk about later in this guide. But germany123's Статья is an excellent place to start if Ты have any Вопросы или concerns about Fanpop medals.


~Crediting

Image crediting is a very tricky issue, especially as it is not compulsory on Fanpop. Basically, image crediting is acknowledging the owner of the image that Ты are posting. Confused? Don't worry, so is everyone else. There are no set rules for image crediting (despite what some people, including me, will have Ты believe!), but an Статья by astroasis called link provides some information that many Fanpop users follow. While I personally do not agree with all the information provided, other people follow all these guidelines without a problem. At this risk of looking like I'm pimping my own work, I have also written an Статья about image crediting called link, in which I talk about how I image credit and the reasons why it is important to credit images. If Ты have any Вопросы about image crediting I suggest that Ты read both of those articles. The reality is that there is not agreed upong right way to credit images, but there are definitly some wrong ways (i.e. claiming other people's work as your own).


~Ratings

For those of Ты who know me, Ты will know that I am a ratings nut! Rating content is important for a number of reasons, but I believe the most important reason is that ratings give Ты an indication as to whether the content Ты are posting is appreciated by users или hated by users. For example, if I post an image that gets rated '1' star, I can assume that people think it is crap, therefore, I could be еще mindful to not post similar Обои in the future. Conversely, if my content gets rated '4' stars, I know that people like it and would probably like it if I Опубликовано similar content. I suggest Чтение another one of harold's User Guide Статьи called link, as well as an Статья by Cammie called link. Now, from my perspective, image crediting, keywording, titling and repeated content are also very, very important to the rating process, however that is just my opinion and many other people do not rate based on those other aspects of the image. It is up to the individual user how they chose to rate. The important thing is that Ты rate, and can explain why Ты rated the content a certain way.


~Keywords & Titles

Lets ignore my pet peeve of people putting "<3" in titles for the moment, and just focus on why keywording and descriptive titles are important. There are a number of Статьи on this suject, so here are 3 great ones:

link by cliff

link also by cliff

And my personal favourite,
link by heeeresjoyce.

I encourage Ты to take special note to an important point in heeeresjoyce's Статья about bulk uploads and keywords. If Ты are posting multiple Обои with say different members of the cast of 'House MD', please do not use all of their names as Ключевые слова unless they are all in every single image. Using "Wilson", "Chase", "Foreman" and "Cuddy" as a Ключевые слова for a bulk Загрузить of which only one picture of each character renders your Ключевые слова pretty much useless. Ключевые слова are there to help other people find the Обои when using the Поиск function. For example, if someone were to searcd for a picture Chase, using my Назад example, pictures of Wilson, Foreman and Cuddy would also appear because the way in which the Ключевые слова have been used. Ключевые слова are also important for people searching for content to avoid posting repeated images. If Ты have used your Ключевые слова to effectively describe the image, people will be able to Поиск for those Обои to avoid posting them again. If Ты have not дана good Ключевые слова (or any at all!), then it is much еще likely that people will mistakenly add repeated content.


~Repeated Content & Searching

Repeated content is a HUGE problem in this spot, mainly because it is so big. Firstly, please use the Поиск function to Поиск for content BEFORE Ты post it. Please read germany123's Статья called link This Статья tells Ты all Ты need to know about searching and avoiding repeated videos, picks, Ссылки and images.
Unfortunately, if people have not used their Ключевые слова effectively, the Поиск function is not useful to finding the content. Thus, posting reapeated content is a mistake that anyone can make. So, if someone leaves a Комментарий telling Ты that Ты have Опубликовано repeated content, please be aware that 99% of the time, the people leaving these Комментарии are being very polite and simply informing Ты of your mistake. Please do not be offended. We all know that this is a very large spot and we cannot expect everyone to be familiar with all the content Опубликовано here. So if someone does inform Ты that your content is repeated content, please do not get angry about it. Ideally, if someone does inform Ты that the content Ты have Опубликовано has already been posted, Ты should remove it. This is because repeated content clutters up the spot and is also pointless. There is no point in everyone posting the same image of Wilson 300 times, no matter how cute he is. When in comes to picks, it is very, VERY easy to serch for them, so there is not exucse for a repeat pick. People usually get a little angrier about repeat picks because they are so easy to Поиск for. So if Ты post a repeat pick, people will tell Ты so, and sometimes less than politely (although that is very naughty! People need to at least try to be polite about it). еще than likely, your pick will be reported and removed. Don't be upset by this, but use it as a lesson to remember to Поиск before Ты post.












~Questions/Answers

I have decided to include this section because oh my god people are driving me nuts with it. Here are 3 Статьи to help Ты understand the purpose of the Ответы section:

link by papa

link by Cinders

And,
link by harold.

Please, please, please note that the Questions/Answers section is for asking Вопросы that will have a factual answer. link is a good question, because even though there may be some different was to argue and justify the answer, ultimately there will be a difinitive answer available. However, asking Вопросы like "Who is your favourite character?" или "Who loves Huddy?!?!?!?!?!" are NOT supposed to be asked in the Questions/Answers section. Such Вопросы will only produce OPINION-BASED answers. So, I beg you, read those 3 Статьи and think carefully about where Ты post a question.


~Reporting

Just a small aside, please also read an Статья on reporting called link by harold. It provides an excellent guide for when to Сообщить content или when to just rate it. I think this could be very important as sometimes people over-react (particularly when it comes to shipping...) and Сообщить people who have done nothing wrong except express an alternative point of view. So I definitely encourage Ты to read this article.




So that is my little guide to point people in the right direction if there is something about Fanpop или the House MD Spot that is confusing them. I have tried to present a few different points of view, as there are definitely some aspects of some of the Статьи that I have recommend that I do not agree with, but we all have different perspectives on things. So even if Ты don't agree with the ideas in the articles, sometimes the Комментарии that other people make on the Статьи will be of some benefit to you, so I suggest that Ты not only read the articles, but also read the Комментарии that other users leave on the articles.

Of course, all of this stuff applies to all spots on Fanpop. I had just noticed a few issues creeping in lately because during the House MD off-season, Фаны often look for ways to fuel there House addiction by joining Фан клубы like Fanpop, so repeated content and other general missunderstanding increase in occurance.

I hope that this guide points someone in the right direction, and as always, feel free to Комментарий with any thoughts Ты have on these issues, especially if Ты feel as though there is something that I have not covered in this guide.