Advicenators Frequently Asked Questions

Your Column

How do I update the user info on my column?
Click the "profile settings" link on the side column.

How do I customize my column colors and layout?
Click the "column settings" link.

What's the difference between displayed e-mail and site e-mail?
The first e-mail address you enter on the settings page is used internally by this site to send automatic e-mails and account information. You should probably keep this valid and updated, because if you lose your password you must be able to check your e-mail address to retrieve it. If you don't want to get e-mails about questions being asked to you or your questions being answered, you can turn off these options from your settings page. The displayed e-mail is shown on your advice column for people who want to e-mail you. If you want to protect it from spammers who might run across your column, it's completely acceptable to change it from something like you@whatever.com to something like you AT whatever DOT com.

I tried to upload a picture but it was too big. What do I do?
Uploaded pictures must be less than 15K in size. Non-uploaded pictures can be bigger, but keep in mind that it's not nice to make your visitors wait for a 40K picture to load. Some of them have slow connections.

To shrink your picture, open it up in an image-editing program like photoshop, paintshop pro, or the gimp. Almost every windows machine has Microsoft Imaging or Microsoft Paint... those work too. Go to Image -> Resize or Image -> Shrink or something and shrink your picture. Save it as a .jpg file and try to upload it again. If it's still too big, keep shrinking.

How do I put extras, like music and cursors, on my column?
We won't help you put things in your column that aren't directly supported. In addition, we do not allow the <embed> or <script> tags in bio information for security reasons, so that's going to make it extra hard to put music and things in there. Sorry, but advice columns don't need music. It's not nice to your nice visitors, and it lets your mean visitors obtain your password and user information through security holes in the third-party scripts.

How do I delete my column?
We don't totally erase usernames, but you can delete pretty much everything personal about your column by filling out the form that's here:

http://www.advicenators.com/deletec.php

You can also request a personal ban if you just want to take a vacation from the site. When you request your column be deleted, all your good advice will be archived and assigned to an account that is not personally identifiable to you in any way. All questions you have asked will also be saved under another account, so that the people who took the time to answer you do not lose their hard work.

How do I change my username?
Changing your username changes your URL and confuses people, so we don't let everybody do it.

Paid account users can change their names using this page: http://www.advicenators.com/tools.php?name=1

Will you put advertisements on my advice column?
Probably someday. But not right now. And chances are, we'll never use pop-ups.

I forgot my password.
Visit the lost password page:

http://www.advicenators.com/lostpw.php

Your username and password will be emailed to you.

I forgot my password and my email address isn't working.
We can't help you if the email associated with your account doesn't work. You'll have to start over with a new account. Next time, be sure to keep your e-mail up to date.

I forgot my password and I opened seven accounts with the same e-mail address and the lost password thing only sends me one e-mail.
Then use the password you know to change that e-mail. This is why we don't like duplicate accounts.

I'm having weird login issues.
Try to logout cleanly and then log back in: http://www.advicenators.com/logout.php If that doesn't help, log in from another page.

How do I get people to ask me questions?
Mostly, you just answer questions here and try to give good advice so you get noticed. Most members have to be here a while before they get questions straight to their inboxes. Also, make sure you link to your advice column on any page you can... if you've got another webpage or journal, invite those people to ask you advice. There are logos and instructions on our "Link To Us" page (side column, near the bottom).

When do I get displayed in the columnist directory?
The users listed in the directory of columnists have all answered at least five questions and are not currently banned.

How do I add someone as a favorite columnist?
1) Go to his or her advice column 2) Find the link that says "add as friend" or "add favorite" 3) That's it!

Can I visit my column without bumping up the 'visitors' counter?
If you visit your column from the "Column Settings" page using any of the preview links, your visit will not be added to the "visitors" count on your column. Basically, this just adds "&prev=1" to the URL. So if you want to visit your column without bumping up the hits, bookmark it from there.

I Am Having problems Activating My Account... HELP!
Hi there,

If you are seeing this page, you probably haven't activated your account since we upgraded the account manager program, or you are a brand new user who is having problems activating your account.

Either way, we are here to help. :-)

If you have had an account here for a while, and just started seeing this message:

You need to go to your profile settings page, and make certain that you have a valid e-mail address in "Part I:" of your profile.

That is the e-mail address we use:

• To make sure that the account belongs to you if you lose your password.
• You want to get e-mails when people answer your questions.
• To notify you when you are the featured columnist of the site. (Coming soon!)
• To let you know when someone leaves you a nice feedback comment.(Coming soon!)
• To assist you in fixing any problems you might have.
• If a moderator needs to get ahold of you for some other important reason.

ONLY the high level moderators can see this e-mail address. It is never displayed publicly, and is only used for site business.

Once you put in your valid e-mail address, and submit changes, you will be sent an e-mail containing a link to verify that the e-mail is working.

Click that link, and your account will be activated. After that everything will be the same as you are used to it. :-)

If you already have a valid e-mail account in your profile settings, all you have to do is go to the link below and hit the submit button on the profile settings page.

A link will be generated automatically and sent to your e-mail account. Click that link any your account will be activated.

If you use AOL, or have some kind of e-mail filter, make absolutely sure that you have 'noreply@advicenators.com' and 'admin@advicenators.com' in your allowed e-mail list, or you will not receive e-mails from the activation program.

Click here to update your Profile settings.

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New Accounts

If you have just created a new account, and you are not receiving e-mails, see the note above about un-blocking the activation program's e-mail addresses.

If you are sure that you have nothing blocking your e-mail account from being activated, then you should click this link:

Click here to update your Profile settings.

... and make sure your e-mail address is correct.

When you are sure that your e-mail is correct, press 'submit' to save your changes. This will send a new e-mail with a new link. Click it and you are all set.

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If you need a free e-mail account, I have a limited number of invitations to Google's GMail.

It is a very useful service, but you can only get an account if someone invites you.
I am willing to send the limited number of invites I have to the first people that need them. E-mail dangernerd@gmail.com to request your free GMail account.

If you have anything else that needs to be addressed, write me at the above e-mail and I will help you get this all taken care of.

Welcome Aboard!

My Column is Empty! Help!

If you were using your account as a chat board with your friends, your account was cleaned.

If you would like to give advice, or get help with problems, please feel free to start again.

If you just can't grasp the purpose for this site, you should leave... and please, take all your friends with you. ;-)

My column VANISHED! HELP!
If you are reading this, and your column is completely gone, here is a partial list of resons:

• Column was made while you were underaged.
• There were 10 abuse reports filed on your account.
• You had been banned on one column and made another.
• You just created an account to cuss at people and put them down.
• Your column was mostly chatting.
• You were warned not to chat on your column, and you kept doing it.
• You haven't updated in 6 months.
• You asked the same question to too many columnists. (This is automatic.)
• You sent a harassing note to another user, example: "you are a bitch okay .. so bye bye you should die right now !" That will get your account deleted, no ifs and or buts. You have a gripe, you take it to the mods. PERIOD. This isn't a flame board, and anyone trying to turn it into one is not welcome here.
• You said on your column that you quit the site. When you quit, your column will be removed as soon as we get to it.
• You gave someone else the login info for your account, willingly... and they posted something stupid on the site. (You are responsible for what is on your column, period.)
• You have stolen a picture of someone else, and are pretending to be them. (Fakersbusted.com)

Click here to start your own advice column!