Gaia Newbie Guide

Enabling your Private Messages:*
*Note: Your private messages are already enabled and set to "Yes" when you join.

• Step one: Click "My Gaia" in the top banner.
  
• Step two: Click "Account."
  
• Step three: Scroll down.
  
• Step four: Under the "Mail" menu, click Yes. However, there are three options. Let me explain them.
  
  
  
  • Yes allows everybody to send you Private Messages.
    
  • No means that nobody can send you Private Messages.
    
  • Friends Only means that only users on your friendslist can send you Private Messages.
    
  
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• Step five: Select your prefered option (I recommend "Yes" if you are a new user), and click submit.
  
• Ta-da, you are now able to chat with other GAIA users over the Private Message system!
  

Sending Private Messages:

• Step one: Click the mail button to the left of your avatar.
  
• Step two: Click the --- --- button.
  
• Step three: Fill out each of the boxes, and click "Submit."
  
  
  

If you see somebody in a thread and you want to PM them, you can do it
simply by clicking the PM button in the bar above their post. 3nodding





Replying to Private Messages:

When you receive a private message, the mail button on the navigation
bar will "light up." Click that to take you to your inbox. 3nodding



Once in your inbox, you will see this:




As the diagram says, click the subject to view the PM. The PM will look something like this:



To reply to the PM, click the --- ---
button. The same screen as if you were sending a new PM will pop up,
except all of the boxes will be filled out for you, and the PM that you
are replying to will be quoted. 3nodding

Buying a house:

First, you'll want to visit the town of Aekea. This is because Aekea is home to the Housing Commission!
(You can get to the housing commission by clicking that link or by
going to Aekea and finding it. It is located to the far right in the
town.)


Once you are at the Housing Commission, click "Homes: Get your homes
here!" It will ask you what style of home you want. Select the style
that you like the best. And there you have it. You now have a home!




Buying things to decorate your house with:

So, you're feeling pretty awesome because you now have a house. Congrats! But don't you want to decorate it? surprised

Buying items to decorate your house is very simple, actually. And there are THREE ways to do it. o_o;

1. Go back to Aekea where you bought your house, and travel your mouse up north to The Faktori.

2. Click that link or the image to the right.

3. Click the "Buy Furniture" button at the housing commission.




Decorating your house:

Now you've got your house and your housing items. All you need to know is how to decorate your house. 3nodding

There are actually very few simple steps to take to decorate your house. They are:

• Step One: At the bottom of any page, there is
  the GAIA A to Z list. Click the "Full A-Z Index" link. On that list,
  find and click the "Inventory Arranger" link.
  
• Step Two: You will see a "My Items" box and a
  "My Suitcase" box. Click and drag the items that you want in your hous
  from the "My Items" box into the "My Suitcase" box.
  
• Step Three: Save your changes.
  
• Step Four: Click "Arrange my home."
  

REMEMBER! When you are done arranging your home, be sure to save your changes. 3nodding


Upgrading your house and changing its style:

So, you're still not satisfied with your house? Maybe you want to
change the style of house that it is? Maybe you want to make it a bit
bigger, so it can hold all of those cool items that you picked up over
at The Faktori? Well, that is very simple, my friends!

Simply go to the Housing Commission again, and click the appropriate button (Upgrade or Change Style). 3nodding

.Contents.

• Friends List
  
  
  
  • Friendslists Requests.
    
  • How To Add A Friend.
    
  • Using Your Friends List.
    
  • Maximum Friends.
    
  • Ignore List.
    
  • Removing A Friend.
    
  • Finding Your Friend.
    
  • Friends@Gaia Feature.
    
  
  
  </li>
  
• Journals
  
  
  
  • Creating Your Journal.
    
  • Posting In Your Journal.
    
  • Commenting In Others' Journal.
    
  • Finding Your Friends Journals.
    
  • Seeing Your Entries.
    
  </li>
  

When you're first learning how everything works on the Friends List , the whole process can be confusing and very overwhelming. However, its all very simple if you take it step by step.

The first step is to go to the Profile of the person you want to add to your Friends List. There, you will see their avatar, and a bar above it. The first icon you see will look like this:



Click on it, and wait for the next page to load. When you get to the next page, it will look like this:



If you're positive that you want to add this
person as a friend, click on "Yes, I'm sure." This will add them
directly to your friends list, and it will send the user a confirmation
icon to show that you have added them, and ask if they would like to
add you back.

And voila! You have added someone to your friends list!

Note: Adding a person to your friends list will change
their name to a blue color. If they PM you, or if you see them around,
don't be alarmed. This just shows you that they are on your friends
list, and you're on theirs. 3nodding

If you get a friends request, it means someone wants to add you to theirFriends List.
When this happens, a bubble will pop up next to your avatar indicating
that someone has just put you on their friends list. Its very similiar
to the trading bubble, but it looks like this:





To see who added you to their friends list, click on the bubble next to
your avatar, or the text below your gold count. When you get there, it
will have a screen that says "Pending Approvals." This will show you
who just added you to their friends.

Is someone bothering you? Have you
asked them to stop talking to you, but they won't? Well, there's a
simple solution to stopping the problem instead of yelling. Its called
your Ignored List.

To add a person to your ignored list, go to your Friends List
first. There will be a tab that says "Ignored" at the top of the page.
Click on that tab, and it will take you to another page.

To add a person to your ignore list, put in their username in the small
text bar in the upper right hand corner. Remember to put their username
in correctly, and spelled right. Otherwise, you might put another
person on there that you didn't mean to.



After clicking "Add To Ignored", you have added this person to your ignore list!

Putting a person on your ignore list will result in the following:


• They cannot PM you.
  
• They cannot see your replies to a topic.
  
  Now you have that person on your ignored list. Enjoy not being bugged anymore!
  

So, you've decided that the person has been on your ignored list for too long, eh?

Well, that's alright. If you'd like to remove a person from your
ignored list, there's a way to do it -- so don't panic, saying they're
stuck on there forever. Because they're not!

To remove a user from your ignored list, go to your "Ignored" tab once
more. Once there, it's similar to adding a person. However, find the
person you want to remove from your list. To the far right, there will
be a little box. Click on it, and a check mark will appear. After doing
so, go down to the bottom and click "Remove from Ignored."



And now, you have mastered the art of the ignore list!

When getting a journal, the first step is to create one.

To first create a journal, go to the top header. Click "My Gaia," and
then click "Journal." That will take you to a screen that says: "Error:
You have not yet created a journal. Create now?"

Click on the link that says "Create Now." And it will take you to this screen.



Follow the step-by-step instructions I have provided for you.


• Title: The title can be anything you want it to
  be. The title will show up in your profile, and as the basic title for
  everything in your journal.
  
• Journal Description: What will you be using
  your journal for? To post your thoughts, ideas, opinions? Your everyday
  happenings? Or maybe something else. You tell us.
  
• Journal Header: The header of your journal can be a quote, or anything you want.
  
  The next step is to make a decision: Make your journal public, or make it private?
  
  
  
  When you make your journal publicially viewable, anyone can see it. If
  there's a random person in a forum that stumbles upon your journal,
  they can see it and comment in it with no problem. However, if you make
  it friends only, the only people who can see it are people who are on
  your friends list. This way its more private.
  
  If you want to use it only for yourself to view, cilck on "No." This
  will make it so absolutely NOBODY but yourself can view your journal.
  
  After you're done with your preferences, click the Submit button.
  
  It will take you to a screen that says: "SUCCESS! Your journal has been created. Create your first journal entry now?"
  
  If you'd like to make your first journal entry, click on "Create your
  first journal entry now?" And it will take you to a screen much like if
  you were posting a new topic on the forums. After you've put in your
  first journal entry, it will come out like this:
  
  
  
  If you're not satisfied with the way your journal entry turned out, you
  can either edit it, or delete it. If you delete it, that journal entry
  will be gone forever. It is not reversable.
  
  To view other users journals, your other entries, or to change your
  preferences, there are buttons for each of these actions in the upper
  right hand corner of the page. It looks like this:
  
  
  
  Congratulations on making your journal, and mastering your friends list!