Advisors Guide

New Advisors Guide

Written by: Hayley (lex_icon) and Dara (editor)

Introduction

Congratulations for being appointed as an Advisor on FunAdvice!

On FunAdvice, and advisor is appointed by the administrators, in recognition of their great answers, trusted and accurate advice, a good grasp of spelling and grammar, and a reasonable level of maturity. These things are usually recognized by other members of the site, and the people who display these qualities are recommended for advisory roles.

The admins on the site are (predominantly) Thedude, Editor and Stephanief987. Editor is around on weekdays, while Stephanief987 minds the site on weekends.

As a new advisor, there's probably dozens of questions you have on what you're supposed to be doing in your new role on FunAdvice. Here are a few guidelines to help you along the way, and if you're unsure about something, feel free to ask any of the other advisors or admins- we're more than happy to help!

Terms of Use

The terms of use is linked at the bottom of every FunAdvice page, and is updated as issues arise. The Terms of Use is the ultimate, binding authority on FunAdvice —so please read it and if you believe it's ambiguous in anyway, let us know and we can try to make it more clear.

Advisor privileges- deleting

After you are promoted to advisor, you will see small red links with the words "edit" and “delete” on questions, photos and answers. This is the most powerful tool you get when being promoted to advisor! You can now delete things that break the Terms of Use (which is why you need to be very familiar with the Terms of Use). Once you delete something, it goes into a holding bin called “Pending Delete”. Only administrators can empty this bin. Admins can either permanently delete OR republish anything in this holding bin. This allows advisors to get terms of use violations off the site immediately, but also allows room for error—if you accidentally delete something, it can be restored! Editing works the same for advisors as regular members, except the two hour window doesn't expire. So if you see a question in the wrong category, with a title such as "Help" you're encouraged to fix these to make them more readable and place them in the correct category.

When you go to delete a question for a breach of the Terms of Use, a box will pop up and ask you to select a reason why you're deleting a question. Choose the reason from the list that best fits the reason for deleting the question, i.e.: a “wanna chat?” question would have the reason of: 12) Questions stating Can I chat, talk to me, phone numbers, etc, will be removed. We do not allow am I hot, rate my photos, how old do I look, send me an email questions OR answers. Clicking 12) will generate a fun mail which will automatically be sent to the user explaining why their question was deleted.

Underage users

Anyone on the site who indicates they are under the age of 13, report to the advisor's group (Editor's group), and one of the admins will delete the account.

Editor’s Group

Editor’s group is a place for all advisors to talk and learn from each other. Only advisors are invited to the group. Feel free to ask questions here.

If in doubt, point it out- Editor's group is not just there to report things you've deleted. You can also ask other advisors and admins about whether a post should be deleted or monitored, users who may be skirting the line with site rules, bugs on the site, or anything that just seems a bit odd. Editor is on the site every weekday for 8 hours. The group gives you a fantastic opportunity to ask an admin directly if anything on the site seems fishy.

Deleting/Locking questions or answers which you have participated in

If you're involved in a discussion on a question, and things get heated to the point answers need deleting or the thread needs locking, DON'T DO IT YOURSELF! Get another advisor or administrator (one not involved in the discussion) to take a look at the thread, and let them assess the situation. If you start deleting things on a thread you're involved in, it looks biased. So just take a backseat, and point it out to another advisor/admin to handle.

Things to automatically delete or report

Celebrity phone numbers/email addresses- delete. No one on the site knows them (even though some people claim they do, 99.9% of the time, they don't), so there's no point asking.

Suicide, self-harm, “I want to break a bone” questions should be deleted immediately.

Abuse- If a user is abusing you, be it via fun mail or in a question, let an admin know. They will handle the situation.

Hacking Myspace/Facebook/email, etc- delete it. Hacking is illegal, and can get us into a load of trouble.

Acquiring Gaia Gold- Delete. The bots to do it are often bogus, not to mention illegal.

Celebrity impersonators should be reported to an admin ASAP

Am I pretty/can I be a model/rate me photos are annoying and clog the boards, as a result, we remove them immediately as well.

Repetitive sex-related questions should be deleted on site. They have been asked dozens of times on the site:
"How to give head?"
"How to go down on (boyfriend or girlfriend)"
"How to finger a girl?"
After deleting the question, Fun Mail the asker with a link to their topic on the site search.

Homework questions are allowed on FunAdvice.com as of November 2008.

Questions with link should be deleted—we can’t take responsibility for any viruses attached to these links, and we want to keep people on this website, not send them away from links. The same applies to questions specifically telling people "go here and do XYZ" if the intent of the question is to get them to explicitly visit a 3rd party website, it should be deleted.

Trolling or flame-baiting should be deleted—this means anything that is purposefully offensive to some part of the community, to stir the pot or cause an argument.

Any physical threats, racism, bigotry, religious intolerance, etc., should be deleted and reported in Editor’s group.

Photos to delete

Naked pictures have no place on funadvice. However, there are some guidelines where we may let a photo slide. For example:

• •If the photo has genitals covered and/or (if applicable) breasts/nipples covered, it is OK to keep on the site. The administrators have a “bikini” rule—if you don’t see any more nudity at the beach, the photo is OK.
• •If the user is deemed to be of an age that they accept responsibility of half naked pics of themselves being posted on a public website, we will let the photo remain.

•Any photos of famous people that the user is trying to pass off as themselves, should be deleted and reported to editor’s group. Impersonating a celebrity is illegal.

•Generally speaking if it's PG-13 keep it, unless something is showing.

Categorizing

Another big perk you get with being an advisor is the ability to change the category of questions. There are 24 categories on FunAdvice.

Sometimes it can become confusing on which topics belong where. Here is a “barebones” guide to help you.*

Beauty & Style- makeup, hairstyles, clothing, hygiene, products, pimples, shaving, ‘scene’, ‘emo’ styles, etc.

Computers & Technology- phones, operating systems, computer hardware, trouble with computer systems, photography, software, chat rooms, viruses, word processing, iPods, stereos, ringtones, etc.

Education & School- help with school concepts (*not homework*), class choices, universities, applications, portfolios, etc.

Entertainment- movies, TV shows, famous people, stars, cartoons, parties, sleepovers etc.

Environmental Issues- global warming, pollution, recycling, oil drilling, UV rays, etc.

Food & Dining- recipes, restaurant suggestions, favorite foods, fast food, meal plans, etc.

FunAdvice Community- questions about FunAdvice, how the site is run, bugs, account issues, user information and updates (marriages, deaths), things that concern the the site or the community.

Gaming & Games- Console games, including Wii, Playstation, XBOX, etc., computer games, online games, board games, Ouija board, truth or dare, etc.

General Knowledge- anything that doesn’t fit into our other categories can go here. Also trivia can belong here. Recent examples at the writing of this guide include: “Are Vampires Real”, “Who wrote this quote?”, “How Many Men have walked on the moon”, books, poetry, surveys, riddles, jokes, dreams, meaning of dreams, dream interpretation, etc.

Health- sunburn, menstruating, health conditions and diseases, allergies, weird symptoms, PREGNANCY (not in love and relationships!), hospital stays, doctor visits, insomnia, discharge, etc. Some sex-related questions should go in health, if it is referring to the person’s health more than the relationship in the question

Home and Garden- Do-it-yourself home projects, growing plants or flowers, building onto the house, electrical projects, stain removal, cleaning supplies, mattress choices, home repairs, real estate, apartment rentals, room mate issues, cleaning, and related topics.

Jobs & Money- Career questions, career planning, resumes, making money, the stock market, investments, bonds, salary questions, disability benefits, job interviews, etc.

Kids- potty-training, baby names, children behavior, baby health (i.e. Colic), bottles, entertaining kids, babysitting questions, punishment for kids, baby equipment, medicine for kids, etc.

Love & Relationships- Sex, dating, crushes, does he like me?, marriage proposals, kissing, losing virginity, exes, this also includes: FRIENDSHIPS, co-worker relationships, teacher relationships, etc.

Music- good bands, favorite songs, song identification, musicians, radio, guitar playing, lyrics, etc.

Nutrition & Fitness- dieting (healthy), weight, food nutrition, exercise, calories, burning calories, flexibility, gyms, gym equipment, toning, “fad” diets (i.e. Wu-yi tea), bulking up, bodybuilding, etc.

Parents & Family- issues with parents, siblings, cousins, moving out of the house, emancipation, boyfriend/girlfriend’s family, grandparents, divorce, etc.

Pets & Animals- buying pets, breeding dogs, adopting from shelters, pet behavior, fish, pet ailments, pet sicknesses, wild animals, zoo animals, etc.

Politics- presidential candidates, the President, political parties, current events, foreign relationships, church and state, political history, etc.

Religion & Spirituality- Questioning religions, religious values, bible verses, God V. Allah, atheists, ghosts, spirits, church, tarot cards, the afterlife, religious tolerance, bible versions, sins, religion and abortion, religion and the death penalty, religion and gun control, religion and politics, rosary beads, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. ALL religions should be included and respected.

Science- DNA, human beings, fossils, earthquakes, ocean life, planets, mammals, multiple dimensions, seasons, electricity, temperature conversion, aliens, the solar system, etc.

Shopping- stores, where to buy (insert name of item here), choice of products, certain type of clothes, online shopping, best brands, seasonal clothes, specific stores, etc.

Sports- playing sports, watching sports, school sports, athletes, skateboarding, team loyalty, current events in sports (i.e. Finals, playoffs, etc.), Olympics, training, favorite sports, etc.

Travel- vacations, destinations, hotels, local events, sightseeing, airplane regulations, airlines, cruises, travel-related health (i.e. Ears popping), airports, tours, etc.

*these lists are NOT inclusive and do not represent every topic that could belong in each category.

Have more questions? Send editor a fun mail or use the contact form.