POD jump-start!

So, you're new. No worries, we've all been there! Nothing can be more awkward than trying to simply 'jump' in the middle of a very tight niche of individuals that can practically read eachothers minds. Dolphin pods (including ours) do welcome newcomers, but are often quite wary of involving them too deeply in any affairs of the pod. Merely something that you as an individual will have to deal with until we get to know you and you get to know us. Now, we here at POD realize that not everyone is a computer genius that can build a computer from a pile of sand, so don't feel as though you have to be like that to fit in. Simply be yourself, try to relax, and by all means ask questions! This helpfile assumes that you have already read the POD connection instructions section and are already at Transient rank. If this is not so, please go back.

POD, being a talker, adds a new dimension to the learning curve. At the same time you are learning to get to know everyone, you're also going to have to learn how to communicate properly. POD has many levels of communication, but for the purpose of this help file we will focus on what is available and most useful to you. Namely, the .sto command.
'sto' is short for "Say To" which will allow you to INSTANTLY fit into any conversation. The usage of this command is to allow you to direct what you are saying to a specific individual publicly. I HIGHLY recommend that you use this command at all times when there are more than a couple of folks logged on at once. Here is what it does:(for this demo, your name is "Phin" and you're talking to user "Dolphin"

     You type:    .sto dolphin Hello!
     POD sees:    Phin says (to Dolphin): Hello!

As you can see, this instantly eliminates any confusion as to who you are speaking with and at the same time makes the message much more personal than typing "Hello!" and hitting the enter button in a room with 8 phins in it.

Primary things you will want to look at in the who screen are:

• Who is on.
  As you can see, there are 5 total users signed in, note your name also appears on the list along with your time, rank, mood, age, gender, and your species.
  
• What is their status.
  Status being the STAT field. The status of a user defines their readiness to talk. ACTV means that they've said something within the past 60 seconds, AWKE means they've said something within the past 5 minutes, IDLE means they've not said anything for more than 5 minutes, and AFK means 'Away From Keyboard'.
• Time they've been on, mood, age, gender, and species.

Things that can be observed from the .who screen are:

• What room are they in.
  The main login room is the ocean_cove. Most folks tend to stay in the ocean_cove, but as you can see, Phin and Squeakie are in the room kelp_forest; therefore you will not be able to speak with them while you are in a different room.
• What their present description is.
  Usually, most phins will put in their description what is going on in their lives. Sometimes it helps to break the ice.

Here are some other things to keep in mind when conversing on POD:
• NEVER type everything in caps.
• Give those you are speaking to time to reply to what you've said. (especially when you're leaving)
• Use .afk when you are going away for a few minutes or more.
• Use the .rev command to 'catch up' on what is being talked about when you sign in.
• Want to know more about someone? Type .ex username before you ask them. Your question might be answered there!
• Be careful about snuggling or hugging folks that don't know you. Give everyone their space to get to know you.
• Don't spend long periods of time idle then come back and exclaim how bored you are. Most folks that are signed in will consider such an act to be rather insulting.

• Questions or comments? •