Where do I find definitions for forum words? (WQ Dictionary)

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WQ Coordinator
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Where do I find definitions for forum words? (WQ Dictionary)

Post by WQ Coordinator » Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:46 pm

Right here! WolfQuest community members have worked together to create this WolfQuest Dictionary to help make things more clear to new users who may not know what things like 'avatars', 'beta testers' and 'bbcode'. Thanks to all the users who participated in the creation of this dictionary!

***A***
Abbreviation - A shortened form of a word or phrase, this is mostly used in informal writing such as chatspeak.
Administrator(s)- The people in charge of the forums. They can change pretty much whatever they want on the forums. Also known as admins. On these forums, their names are red.
Advertise- To call the attention of the public to a product, website, business, Job Etc. You may advertise WolfQuest if you wish to, the Team would greatly appreciate it! - Advertising other websites, products Etc. on the forums is not allowed though there is a topic in General discussion which you may advertise your roleplaying sites only.
AI- Initials which stand for "Artificial intelligence" - Intelligence created from a machine which is normally given to thinking machines and artificial beings (In WolfQuest's case, Bears, coyotes, eagles, elk, etc.)
Alpha- the word that used to describe the dominant pair of a wolf pack. This term is no longer accurate, as described by Dave Mech, who originally coined the term. Visit this thread: (http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=942) for more information.
Alpha Testing- is the testing of the very first series of versions of the game. The first versions may start off as simple as a landscape or 3-d model you can look at, or could include some aspects of gameplay. This is reviewed and tested by the WolfQuest Development Team.
AM- Commonly-used initials which stand for the name of the first episode of WolfQuest - Amethyst Mountain.
AMD - Initials which stand for Amethyst Mountain Deluxe, the first episode of WolfQuest. The "Deluxe" version - the one in the game right now - differed from the original version in that it included many bugfixes and added features such as bears, the two ponds, and the mate following you.
Amethyst Mountain- The first episode of the WolfQuest game.
Announcement Topic- A very important topic that is sent to the very top of a certain board, it is more important than a sticky topic
Art Theft- Similar to Plagiarism, this is the theft of artwork, piece of artwork or is used to claim the use of a copyrighted picture for your own use. This is a highly illegal act.
Avatar- The picture or icon on your profile. It is also shone wherever you post, just below your username. Also known as 'avvie.'

***B***
Backseat Moderator- A user that replies to posts as if they were a moderator, for example reminding other people of the rules.
Ban- a temporary or permanent loss of use of your account on this site.
Bandwidth -The maximum amount of information that's able to be transmitted into bits & seconds among an internet channel. Often referred to in downloading programs off the internet, or transferring something from the internet onto the computer.
Banhopping - The use of and creating of another account to get around a temporary or permanent ban. This is highly discouraged.
Banned User- A user that has disobeyed the rules and misbehaved. Banning them means they can no longer post or harass members.
BBCode- A type of HTML code that, when put into a post, makes things appear colored, bold, italicized, etc.
Bear Rock - The rock in Amethyst Mountain which is a spawn spot for grizzly bears. Also called Grizzly Rock.
Beta Tester- The current moderators on the forums and a handful of regular members make up this usergroup. They test out early versions of the game before it is released and report bugs and glitched found within.
Blocked User- A user that another user has blocked so they cannot receive PM's from them. They cannot see posts by them also.
Board- A certain place on the forums. For example, Wildlife, General Other Topic Discussions, and Introduce Yourself are all boards.
Board Index- the home page of a forum, all boards and forums can be seen from here.
Bob- A frequently used nickname for the grizzly bears in WolfQuest.
Bots-These are Search engines to collect information to add to their engines, there are various bots around the forums.
Bug- The synonym to a Glitch, it is often an error, default, flaw or fault in a computer system or electronic device. This is most commonly used in reference to the WolfQuest game, especially beta versions.
Bumped- A topic which has been posted on in order for it to appear at the top a the page under a sticky topic(s) and for it to be noticed by community users.
Bunny Flower - A known spawn spot for hares. Found near the larger pond in Amethyst Mountain. Also called the Musical Flower, because sometimes the music changes when they appear.

***C***
Cana
- used to refer to the current forum administrator, WQ Coordinator
Canids - Any of various carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae, which includes the foxes, wolves, dogs, jackals, and coyotes.
Case-sensitive- This is a program often used on sites for certain things such as passwords. This only recognizes upper case letters as upper case and lower case letters as lower case. (eg; PaSswOrD would be PaSswOrD as opposed to Password or password)
Category- Part of the forums that talks about one topic or topics similar about it. Boards can be made in it by administrators. For example, 'The Wild and You' and 'Talk About The Game' are categories.
Character Map - A Windows utility that displays all the characters in various fonts. To find your character mao on Windows, Just go to - Start Menu - Accessories - System Tools - Character Map. You can also searcj on the internet and find lists of the symbols and copy and paste them.
Characters- Another word for letters, numbers, etc...
Chat box- A box which people may chat on freely, these can be found on websites or multiplayer games. In WolfQuest's case there is a chat box for multiplayer which is located at the bottom left side of your screen, if words appear as "???" then they aren't in the chat lexicon, words which you want to say are needed there in order to be able to say them in the chat box.
Chat filter- A filter to take out bad, Or mean words among WQ, or other sites
Chat lexicon- A list of words which are enabled to be said on multiplayer games.
color stick- a colored line or shape in a person's signature
Chat Speak - The blend of informal language, conventional abbreviations and emoticons which is normally used in many types of chatrooms. Examples of chat speak are "Kewl", "nvm", "brb" Etc. - This type of speaking is not encouraged on the community forums since its normally hard to understand.
COPPA User- Stands for Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, this is a user group that is for members usually under the age of 13, the legal permission of a Parent or Guardian must be signed and a form filled out in order for them to post.
Copyright - A form of protection for original ideas by a specific person. This is to show that the work is made by the person, and is not allowed to be taken from or used/edited in any manner without permission.
Contest- an opportunity for users to compete against each other and possibly win a prize.
Controversial - State of a public dispute or debate, usually including a use of opinion and language, this can usually lead to fights - Topics created which can cause this type of discussion/behaviour isn't permitted on the forums.
Coyote Rock - The rock in Amethyst Mountain which is a spawn spot for coyotes.
Critique - The discerning or suggestion to a value of persons or things. For example, wolf artists may request critique on their art in the User Artwork subforum.

***D***
Dave
- used to refer to loboloco,the producer of WolfQuest
David Mech- A famous wolf biologist. Part of the WolfQuest Development Team.
Deleted Topic- A topic that is purely gone. You can never see it again as there is no way of getting it back.
Deleted Username- When a username appears white, it means it is deleted. The user account is no longer active, meaning that the username cannot be used to log in on WolfQuest anymore. You cannot PM, view the profile of browse through the posts of a deleted username.
Dial-Up Network- A type of internet connection that can only be connected through the use of telephone lines.
Dictionary - A book containing an alphabetical list of words, with information given for each word, usually including meaning, and pronunciation.
Disable- An action to make a certain action or option ineffective, unfit, or incapable of being used. On the WolfQuest Community forums you are able to disable BBcodes, smilies, signatures being added to your posts and a reply from when someone posts on a topic. To disable these actions/options, just go to the bottom of your post where it says options when tick the boxes for which option you want disabled but for the signature and topic notify you have to leave those boxes unsticked to disable them.
Dispersal- a wolf who has left his/her family pack and is looking for a mate
Double-Posting- When someone posts right after they posted in the same topic. It is quite pointless and annoying, hence they can just edit it.
Download- To retrieve a file or program from a specific location. Often is used to bring a program from the internet onto your computer system.
Druid - One of the packs whose members you may encounter in the WolfQuest game, based on the real-life Druid Peak Pack.

***E***
Edit
- A little option you can click so your can edit your posts. Be sure to do this instead of double posting. Registered users cannot edit their posts after a topic is locked.
Eduweb- Developers of WolfQuest and other educational games.
EFA- Stands for Excuse for Absence.
E-mail - A method of exchanging digital messages. On the WolfQuest Forums you are able to email users information or just for talk, the email button can be found under the user's avatar and next or near the PM button.

***F***
FAQ
- Stands for Frequently Asked Questions, it is a Topic or Section in the board that answers questions commonly asked about the forums.
Flyover - Refers to the view you see when first loading a new or saved game, where it flies over the game world until it zooms in on your wolf.
Foe list- The list of people you have added as ‘Foes’. Posts and PMs of foes will be hidden unless you click a view button.
Forum- The whole community of this site, like the boards, categories, threads, etc...
Forum Guidelines- The community's rules which is expected for you to follow in order to keep the community a friendly and happy place.
Font Size- The size of somebody’s font in their post, Private message, email Etc. On the WolfQuest Forums you are able to change your font size by pressing the bar which says "Normal" and then a list of options should appear, click on one of them or you may personalize your own font size by just simply pressing one of the options and changing the number which appears after "[/size#" - Large font size can be considered as SPAM.
Free use gallery- a site that has a lot of uncopyrighted pictures
Friend list- A list of users you have added as your friends. When a friend is online it will be shown in your User Control Panel, and private messages from a friend are indicated with a different colour.
Funding- A sum of money or other resources set aside for a specific purpose, in this case for the WolfQuest Game.

***G***
Glitch
- A default or error in a game or computer's system, often something that is not supposed to happen within an electronic device.
Global Announcement- Topics that are quite important. They can also be found at the top of every board, including on your "User Control Panel."
Grizzly Rock - The rock in Amethyst Mountain which is a spawn spot for grizzly bears. Also called Bear Rock.
Groups- The user's current group [User's role] that they are apart of/play in the community.
Guest- a user of a forum who has not registered yet or is logged out
Guide - Something, such as a leaflet, book Etc. That offers basic information or instruction for a certain thing for example a game. WolfQuest offers many guides to the games and forums, one is provided with the game download though you may find tons of guides created by community users have created to benefit players. Most of them are found in the tips, hints and help section of the forums.
Guideline-a statement that you are expected to follow

***H***
Hard drive
- A non-volatile containing device for digital data, mostly directed towards laptops/computers. Data is encoded within the container space, the storage capacity measured in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes..
Headcam - Refers to the "wolf's eye view" camera in WolfQuest. The default key for it is 9 on the numberpad, or Function+9 for keyboards without numberpads.
Hidden Members- Members of the community that don't want their status to be shown, do to issues probably concerning other members harassing them to make them art, trying to start a fight, and other things. They can do pretty much anything a regular registered member can do, though the only thing that makes them different is that their online status is never shone.
Home Page- The front page of a website, also referred to as the Index Page.
HTML- Stands for Hyper Text Mark Up Language, this is the use of several BBcode materials for the making of webpages.
Hues - One of the main properties of a color, refers to a pure color, one without tint or shading.

***I***
Icon
- used as a reference to Avatar, it is often the icon located above the posting information on a user's side bar or viewed in the left section of their profile page.
Image- This is a picture often used on the internet, a user cannot post this on the forums as the IMG has been disabled. Only an admin can do this.
Inappropriate- Behavior verbal, visual, actions or writing which is not suitable for a particular occasion, in the case of WolfQuest for example: Mates. - This kind of behavior is not tolerated on the forums or game.
Input tab - Refers to the tab where the controls can be viewed or changed. In the box that comes up when you open the game, before clicking "play", go toward the top and click "Input" to access it.
Instant message-a message that is considered sent and can be responded to instantly. here on WolfQuest,users can send messages to those on Yahoo, AIM, MSN, Icq, and several other services.
Interests- A user's interests and hobbies shown on their profile.
International wolf center staff- those who work at the International wolf center. they have forum accounts,even though they rarely post. their names are a yellowish-green color
Introduction- The way of introducing someone to a topic, it is also a part in which you introduce yourself to the entire community within a board named "Introduce Yourself".
IP Adresses - IP stands for Internet Protocol; It is a numercal label assigned to each computer network.
IQ- A measure of someone/thing's relative intelligence which is determined by a standard test of some kind. For example in General WolfQuest discussion or tips, hints and help there are many topics [mostly user's looking for help] testing your intelligence or the game or forums to answer the user's question.
IWC- abbreviation for the International Wolf Center, found at http://www.wolf.org.

***J***

***K***

***L***
Literature
- Written material such as poems, novels, stories, character descriptions etc. There is a section called User's Writings which you may post your written stuff there - Remember that the must follow both forum guidelines and user's writings rules so that users are free to enjoy your work.
Location- An option on your profile where you can put any location you wish.
Locked Topic- A topic that is closed and will not accept any future posts from registered users. Can be locked by moderators and administrators.

***M***
Merged Topic
- Two or more topics that have been combined together to form one topic.
Michelle- the previous forum administrator, WQ Project Coordinator
Minnesota Zoo - The Minnesota Zoo is a zoo located within Apple Valley, Minnesota. Apart from being a zoo holding various types of animals, the zoo also has it's very own High School. The Zoo is one of the funders and supporters of the WolfQuest generation.
Mod(s)- Short for "moderator(s)".
Moderator(s)- The people who moderate the forum. They are sort of like an admin's helper. Usually, one or several mods will be in charge of one or two forums. On this forums, their names are green. Also known as mods.
Modlet - A frequently used phrase for new forum moderators, meaning that they are new to their job on the forums.
Moon Tree - A nickname given to a tree in Amethyst Mountain. It is a tall dead tree, surrounded by regular, healthy pines. It can be found near the Specimen pack's territory near the bottom of the map. In real life it is a tree that was struck by lightning.
Moved Topic- A topic that has been moved to another part on the forums, probably because it didn't belong in the board it was posted in.
MP- An abbreviation for multiplayer
Mutliplayer- A mode in the game where two or more gamers can play in the same game at the same time, though in this case for WolfQuest only up to five people can join multiplayer games.

***N***
NAT
- stands for Network Address Translation; this is an standard, electronical Networking space that is used localy for the internet. It uses invisable IP adresses as a host.
Newbie - Another term for a newcomer to the forums, who isn't very experienced or doesn't have alot of knowledge about the site or any sort of activity.
Newsletter - A report giving news or information of interest to the public or members in a group. For WolfQuest a newsletter comes out and is sent to users by email which gives information and news of the games and sometimes the community forums.
NO- Newcomer Orientation, used mostly among the Packs section of the WQ community forums

***O***
Occupation
- A user's job/their current progress in education or job.
Original Game Preview video - The game in this video looks much different from the game we know today. That's because it was designed before WolfQuest was actually created; it showed what the game could look like.
OTT- Stands for Off Topic Topic, it is a topic used in relevant as a chatbox and can be usually found at the top of the Get To Know Each Other board.

***P***
Paint
-a program on windows computers that allows you to paint a picture
PC- Pack Central. This is an area of the forums in which you can create and join packs.
Pelt - The outer covering/colour of an animal for example the colour of a wolf's fur.
phpBB- the company that made the creation of this forum possible
Pixel - A form of digital art, which can be created through the use of a graphic software plus it can also be classed as the smallest unit of picture that can be handled.
Plagiarism- The copy and pasting of another ones words or writing that has been taken credit for. This is an illegal act.
PM- A message a user gets when someone contacts them. Officially named private message(s).[/quote]
Poll- Sort of like a survey. It is found at the very top of a topic, topics that have it at least.
Post- A statement, made by a user, is placed into a topic decided by the user. Something each user writes to talk/communicate with other users.
Power playing- Roleplaying like you are invincible. People who do this often are disrespected.
Preview - An advance showing, like a game/movie/artwork/story etc., to which is viewed before someone/public before it is completely presented.
Private Message- A message linked to only one member, unless several members are picked to be sent the exact same message.
Profile- or user profile, showing the personal information which the user provided, such as age, interests etc. and gives information on their posting behaviour.
Post History- The list of a user’s profile that shows all their posts that are not moved to the trash.
Pup- the offspring of a wolf.
Pup killer- A person who roleplays killing pups on multiplayer games. People who do this often are disrespected.

***Q***
Q&A
- Commonly used initials which stand for "Question(s) and Answer(s)"
Queue Posting- This is when a users posting has been disabled, a Moderator or Administrator must look over each users individual posts and/or topics and approve of them in order for them to be visible.
Quote/Quoting- Directing to a past post with a reply. A quote will be shown in a seperate block of text.

***R***
RAM
- A form of computerised storage, which takes the form of integrated circuits that allows any stored data, to be accessed from anywhere on a computer system.
Rank- A word(s) that you get under your username that have to do with your posts. 20 posts in the minimum to get you a rank. We are changing the ranks at this moment.
Registered User- A regular member of the forums. Their names are orange or white.
Report - The filling out of a document and/or form to tell an administrator or moderator about a rule breaking of a user or some sort of upset/issue. Often filed with the username of the reported person, screenshots of the issue and the issue itself. Mostly referring to Multiplayer Reports – for forum related reports, see Reported post.
Reported post- Basically, a post that has been reported by users. If you see a post that is disobeying the rules, please report the post other than backseat moderate. Moderators will deal with it right away.
Rob- a nickname for the coyote in Slough Creek
Roleplay- A changing of someone's behavior in order to assume a role of a character. Roleplay can be realistic or unrealistic. On the WolfQuest forums, roleplaying is not allowed.
Room- refers to a Multiplayer Game.
Router - A type of connection device that connects two or more computer networks with each other, and selectively changes the connection data between them.
RP- short for Roleplay
Rule- a statement you must follow. Known on the WolfQuest Community Forums as Forum Guidelines

***S***
"Saving Spots"-
Somewhat common behavior which occurs on multiplayer in open games, a user or a group of users asking a certain user(s) to get out of their multiplayer game since they are waiting for others [mostly friends] to join their games. - Telling people to leave your games [If they are open] isn't fair, open games are for everyone to join and are games where users are willing to play with anyone. If you want all of your friends and nobody else to join your game it is recommended you create private games, that is what they are there for, to play with users you want to play with and nobody else.
SC- Commonly used initials which stand for the name of the second episode of WolfQuest - Slough Creek
Search Bar- A search bar in order to find certain information, in this includes topics or posts.
Screenshot- a picture of what a computer showed at a certain point in time
Signature- The very end of a post. It says the same thing on each post for the same user. Also known as 'siggy' or 'sig'.
Single Player- One-player game solely against an element of the environment (an artificial opponent, for example predators) and also against one's own skills or in order to test them.
Slough - One of the packs whose members you may encounter in the WolfQuest game, based on the real-life Slough Creek Pack.
Slough Creek- The second episode of the WolfQuest game.
Smiley- A small icon you can put in your posts- looks like a face.
SMS- A shortened "language" used on forums, blogs, chats, cell phones, just about anywhere. Includes words like "lol", "brb", and "wb"
SP- An abbreviation for singleplayer
SPAM- Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Is discouraged here.
Spawn Spot - A specific point where, when you approach it, a certain animal appears. The two rocks in Amethyst Mountain are spawn spots for bears and coyotes. In Amethyst Mountain there is a flower near the larger pond which is a spawn spot for hares (commonly called the Bunny Flower or Musical Flower).
Specimen - One of the packs whose members you may encounter in the WolfQuest game, based on the real-life Specimen Ridge Pack.
Steve- WolfQuest's Associate Producer, also known as WileE
Stickied Topic- An important topic that is sent to the near top of a thread, above the regular topics, but below announcements.
Store- A place where you are able to buy products. In WolfQuest's case you will be able to buy items or donate in order to help WolfQuest with funding.
Subforum- Another forum within a main forum which may be related in some way to the main forum.
System Requirements- Necessary specifications your computer must have in order to use the software or hardware you are wanting to use. WolfQuest System Requirements can be found in the WolfQuest FAQ section.

***T***
Topic/Thread
- A discussion/informative talking space made in a thread. Users and Staff members can post in a topic.
Trash- The trash is used by the moderators and administrators to disable topics from being seen and posted on by regular users. Trashed topics aren’t completely gone, merely moved. Posts in a trashed topic cannot be showed by searching your posts. However, your post count will not decrease when a topic is moved to the trash.

***U***
UCP
- User Control Panel
Unity - The gaming programmer used to make WolfQuest, often used for 3D game making.
UOTM- Commonly used initials which stand for "User of the month"
URL- Stands for Uniform Resource Locator, this is the address of a specific webpage on the internet.
User- A member of the forums.
User Control Panel- A section for your account's information which is only available for you to access, there are many different sections which you are able to edit which you think will suit your profile and you are able to edit your information such as your location, signature, avatar, etc.
User of the month- A community user who has been spotted and chosen by the WolfQuest Team for their behavior around the community and also for following forum guidelines, they can also be spotted for other reasons for example their helpfulness around the community - This user will have a yellow name around the forums. The User of the Month title cannot be earned more than once by the same person.
User statistics- Information on a community user's activity around the forums this includes, user's joining date, the last time the user visited the forum, total amount of posts, their most active forum and topic.
Username- A user's name on the forums.

***V***

***W***
Warning- Given out to members that have disobeyed the rules/misbehaved. A reminder to follow the rules and guidelines of this community in both the forums and multiplayer games.
Web Browser - An application that is used for seeing, retrieving, presenting and transferring information from the World Wide Web to a Computer.
WiFi - A local area network that uses high frequency radio signals in order to transfer data long distances so that one may have access to the internet. (See this site for more details: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network1.htm)
Wolfaboo - A person who is overly obsessed with wolves, believing they are a wolf and tend to put wolves into human based situations, along with comparing them to humans.
WolfQuest Team Member- the group of people who work directly with the WolfQuest game, including development, content advising, project management, public relations, and a large variety of other tasks. Their names are a bluish gray color.
WQ- Commonly used initials which stand for "WolfQuest"

***Y***
Yearling
- A one year old wolf- like an adolescent.
Yellowstone National Park - A national park located within the U.S. state of Wyoming, however the park also extends into Montana and Idaho, the park is very well-known for it's geysers and wildlife, especially the wolf packs which live there. The WolfQuest Game location is set within this park.
"You Cannot Post so soon after your last"- This is for the use of separating posts, this only last for a few moments before you can make a next post. It is also part of the filter system, trying to prevent uncontrolled posting around the community.
Thanks for the avatar, Silverness!

I am no longer the acting administrator of these forums, so please read the WolfQuest FAQ and Tips, Hints, and Help forums for answers to any questions you may have.

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