Help

Ethereal Realms Help

Getting Started!

» Looking Around
If you’re new to Ethereal Realms and would just like to see what the system is like, you can lurk (read posts without posting anything, yourself) in a few, selected realms. Simply click on “Guests” in the “Ethereal Realms” section of the “Links of Value” on the main page. There you can highlight a realm you would like to visit and click “enter.”

You will not be able to post anything, as the communications panel (see Vocabulary) will not be present. However, you will be able to see the room’s posts in real-time, to get a feel for the realm (see Vocabulary).

» Registering
If you like what you see and would like to be a member, just head on over to the “Register” link on the of any system page! There you will be asked for some specific information:

Login Name: This is the name with which you will login. It will not be your handle (so don’t worry if the one you want is taken), and will not be publicly shown to chatters.

Full Name: This is for records only, and will not be publicly displayed.

Email Address: You need to give Ethereal Realms a valid email in order to join. But do not worry! Ethereal Realms does not sell email addresses to anyone, and will not contact you unless there is a personal need to do so.

Password: This can be anything you want, but make sure to remember it!

There are several other options on the page, and these all deal with how the different realms will appear to you:

Javascript: If you allow for Javascript, then the site makes us of pop-up windows, along with auto-scrolling. However, if you choose not to use Javascript, then all new windows will be standard size, and auto-scrolling will not work.

Chat Preference: This is how the different realms will show new information to you (to see what the different options mean, go to the Vocabulary section of Help).

Formatting Options: If you have a slow connection, or simply do not like to see the screen cluttered with images, you can opt to have “No Images” – any images shown by chatters will appear as a link, which will open the picture in a new window. Choosing “limited formatting” shows no images, as well, but also removes other forms of formatting that chatters might use.

The options that you choose will become your “Default” options, after you select what you want. You will not have to re-select them every time you log in. However, if you would like to change your settings, you can do so be selecting the new options you would like through the log in page.

After filling in all the information, press “enter.” An email will be sent to you for verification. Follow its instructions, and you’re a member of Ethereal Realms!

» Logging In
When you first log in, you will be taken to a page with the words “Room Selection” at the . This is the Portal (see Vocabulary). You will notice that in the box near the words “Select a Puppet” there is the word “Puppet” followed by a string of random numbers and letters. This is your beginning puppet (see Vocabulary).

Your beginning puppet is there as a place holder, more or less, until you add more puppets (for more about adding puppets, see the “Managing Puppets” section). With it, you can go and explore the realms.

When you click on a specific realm from the listing, a small description of the realm will appear in the box at the bottom of the page. There, you will see a bit about the room and the room’s rating (see Vocabulary).

If you see a realm you would like to further explore, highlight its name and click the “Enter” button on the screen (private realms work a bit differently – see the “Private Realm” section).

This will take you to the realm’s Splash Page (see Vocabulary). It shows you a list of Who’s On within the realm, and a personalized section where the room’s basic rules and themes are better spelled out. Most realms have a webpage for further information, along with a link to their messageboard and the host’s e-mail.

Of course, the best way to find out about a realm is to actually go in and chat! Look around and meet the people!

» Creating a Puppet
You can get to Puppet Configuration from several different places – the Communications Panel (see below) in any room, or from the Portal.

In the Portal, click on “puppet manager” under the “Puppeteers” heading. This will open a new window in which you can create, edit, and otherwise manipulate your puppets.

Since you are new to Ethereal Realms, the only puppet you should see is the word “Puppet” with a string of random numbers and letters following it. This is just there so that you can go and look through rooms before actually creating any puppets – as soon as you have created at least one other puppet, you can delete it at your leisure.

To create a puppet, simply write the name you would like in the field titled “PuppetName.” The name must be at least three characters in length, and it cannot be the same as a name any other user has. Otherwise, you can choose anything you want!After you’ve decided on a puppet name, click “Add.” If the name is long enough, and if it does not already exist, then it will show up in the same box as your other handles.

Remember: your puppets are not the same as your login name. You cannot login using one of your puppets. Your login name and your puppets are completely separate entities.

Automated Login!
Also available on the “Puppeteers” list on the Portal, Automated Login is an option which allows you to forgo logging in every time you enter Ethereal Realms. Usually, ER has you log in every time you enter the site, or after a certain amount of time of inactivity.

If you choose to be logged in automatically, then click “Add” on the Automated Login page. This will add cookies to your computer. You should not use cookies if you are on a public computer, or any computer that will be used by people you do not want accessing your Ethereal Realms account.

The cookies expires after one month, so you will have to add it again at that time.

If you add cookies and then later decide that you would prefer to manually log in, then return to the Automated Login page and push “delete.”

Homepage Component!
Ethereal Realms offers personal webspace in return for a small donation. With this space, you can do whatever you want, from hosting your own, personal homepage, to storing pictures for use in chat! It’s up to you! (For more information on donating, please visit the donating page.)

After making a donation to Ethereal Realms, you can access your webspace by clicking the link entitled “Home Page” in the “Puppeteers” list on the portal.

The first time you ever go there, you will be asked to create a name for your space. This can be anything you want, but please make sure to use only numbers or letters. After you’ve decided on your name, click “Submit,” and your space has been created. So, if you had used the name “mypencil” then your pages would be available at “members.ethereal-realms.org/mypencil”

After entering, you will notice that you’ve been taken to a page which has a list of all your files (don’t worry; you shouldn’t have any there yet!), and allows you several different features. This is the main page (to see more on the main page, please see below.)

Remember: You will only be able to access the “Homepage” portion of the site after your donation has been fully processed. If you have any difficulties with this, please feel free to contact the council.

» Upload Files

The first thing you must do is upload some files! From the mainpage, click the words “Upload Files” that appear at the of the page. This will take you to a simple uploading format. Click “browse” to access the files on your computer, and then find the file you wish to upload. You can upload up to five files at a time, but, if you wish to upload less than that, then simply leave the extra spaces empty.

After you’ve decided what files to update, click “Create” at the bottom of the screen. You will be taken back to the main page, where, if all went well, the files you just uploaded will appear in the list.

If there was a problem when uploaded, then the new files will not appear and, instead, the words “Unable to create file/directory” will appear above the list.

» List Files

If you would like to see all the files you have currently uploaded, click the words “List Files” that appear at the of the main page. Then, you will be taken to a page where the URLs of all your uploaded files will be listed. If you would like to view a specific file, just click on it!

» Resize Images

If you have uploaded pictures, but you like to alter the size, you can do so by clicking the words “Resize Image,” as shown on the main page.

You will see a list of all the images you currently have uploaded. Highlight the image you would like to resize. Then, in the box that appears to the right, enter the amount of maximum amount of pixels you would like to be on one side (the default amount is 300). When you have decided, click “Resize.”

The system will automatically resize the image to your specifications, so that it starts porportional. It will not, however, replace the original picture file. Instead, it will create a new file. For instance, if your original picture had been “picture.jpg” then the resized picture will be “picture-1.jpg”.

» Main Page

The Main Page, obviously, is where you have access to all of the different features. However, it also has some options, of its own.

If you would like to remove a specific file, do so by highlighting it from the list shown. Then, check the box next to the button called “Delete.” Then, push the Delete button. The file will no longer be online (but, of course, it will still be on your personal computer).

If you have uploaded .txt or .html files, and decide that you would like to edit their content online, you can do so by highlighting the specific file from the list, and then pushing “Edit.” This will take you to a simple page in which the html of the file is listed. Make any changes you would like, and then push the “edit file” button to save your changes.

If you, at some point, decide that you do not like the name of a file you have uploaded, you can rename it. Highlight the file you wish to rename. Then, in the field that appears on the main page below the heading “Rename Selected File,” enter the new name you wish the file to have. Push the “Rename” button, and the file will now be changed.

Remember: To change the name of a file, you must put the file extension on the new name. For instance, if you have a file named “train.html” and wish to change it to “auto.html”, then you must write “auto.html” into the box, not simply “auto”.

Galleries!
The gallery is a site-wide program which allows talented users to showcase their artistic sides.

If you would like to browse the different galleries, you can do so by selecting different types of galleries from the pulldown menus. Then, when you push “Select,” the galleries meeting your requirements will appear at the bottom of the page, along with a brief description of each.

If you see a gallery you would like to view, simply click its title, and you will be taken to it! You can view the different pictures or stories they have available, and make comments or offer ratings by clicking the links available at the bottom of each piece’s page!

You can also search through the different galleries by using the search feature. You can search by genre, rating, or other such specifics to better find the types of works you’re interested in!

» Your Gallery

You can get your own gallery by making a donation to Ethereal Realms. For more information on donating, please visit The Donating Page.

Once you have your own gallery, you can access it through the editor. You will be brought to a screen that looks similar to the “puppet configuration” page.

First of all, you need to create a gallery. You can do this at the bottom of the screen, under the title “Create New Gallery,” similar to how you would create a new puppet. Once you push “create,” the gallery should appear in the list.

» Gallery Details

After you have created your gallery, you can edit it by clicking the “details” button which appears to the right.

The first time you edit a specific gallery’s details, you will be asked to specify whether it’s a literary gallery or an image/photographic gallery. Select whichever your gallery will be, and push “select.”

Next, you’ll be taken to the Details page for your gallery. You can choose genre, rating, and other such features to better represent your gallery to viewers. You can also supply a brief description, to describe your gallery to passers-by.

» Manage Works

From the Gallery Details page, you can click the “Manage Works” link at the in order to add and edit either the writing or pictures you want in your gallery.

Photographic Galleries: The first thing to do here is upload some of your pieces! To upload a file, go to the bottom of the page, under the heading “Create a New Work.” In the “Title of work” section, enter what you wish your piece to be called. Then, push the “browse” button to search through your computer for the specific file you wish to upload. You can only upload one file at a time. When you have selected the specific file you wish to upload, push the “Create” button.

After you have uploaded your file, the title you gave it should appear in the “Select/Delete” list on the page. If it does not show up, then there was a difficulty with the file and it could not successfully upload.

Now, you can select the file you uploaded and push the “details” button to edit how it will appear. You can choose the thumbnail you wish to appear and add a brief description.

Literature Galleries: First, you must create a title for the piece you wish to add. Do this at the bottom of the page, under the “Create a New Work” heading. Once you have entered the title you want, push “Create.” This will make the title appear on the “Select/Delete” list.

After you have selected the title you wish to edit, click the “details” button to the right. This is where you will add your actual writings. Put the actual writings in the “Text” box. If you would like, you can also make a brief description for the piece.

If you wish to use html in your piece, push the “preserve text” option. If it has a checkmark in it, then Ethereal Realm’s system will not add any breaks or other internal formatting to the piece. If it does not have a check in it, then the system will automatically put in breaks between the paragraphs, such as it does for posts and taglines in chat.

Internal Mail!
Ethereal Realms has in internal messaging system that is independent of the realms. You can use it to send messages to users whose e-mail addresses you don’t know, or similar. The Internal Mail option is available on the Portal (or in many of the realms), in the “Messaging” list (right below the “Puppeteers” list).

When you click the “Internal Mail” button, it will take you to the inbox. Here, you will see any new messages you might have, along with who they are from and the date on which they were sent. You can treat your internal mail system much like any online e-mailing system.

To write a message, click “Write a message,” which appears at the bottom of the “inbox” (the list of messages from others). This will take you to a new page where you can fill in the appropriate information along with whatever message you would like sent.

In the “Send to” field, write in the name of the puppet to which you would like to send your message.

Then, you can write in the subject of your message and the actual message, itself. When you are finished, simply push “Submit” and your message will be sent to their inbox!

If you mistype the handle of the recipient, then you will be returned to the “write a message” page when you push “Submit.” What you had written in the “Send to” box will be replaced with the words “Invalid recipient.”

When you have received an internal message, an e-mail will be sent to your e-mail account. Also, the link to Internal Mail on the Portal page will show the number of messages you have waiting.

Managing Puppets!
Once you’re in the “Puppet Management” section of the page (you can get here by following the instructions listed in the “Creating a Puppet” section, or by following the instructions in the “Communications Panel” section), you can alter the text and images that appear by your puppets.

On the front page of the “Puppet Management” section, you are given a list of all of your puppets, along with several options. The options involved are:

Details: If you would like to change the text or images that appear by a specific puppet, click on that specific puppet from the list provided then click “details.” It will take you to a separate page, discussed below.

» Delete If you decide you do not want a certain puppet after all, you can delete it. Select the unwanted puppet, then click the small box by the “delete” button (this is to ensure you do not accidentally delete a handle), then click “delete.” Should you decide you want the handle after all, after deleting it, you can always recreate it.

» Puppet Name This works as described in the “Create a Puppet” section.

» Puppet Details

Now that you’ve created a puppet, and looked about the different rooms, you have probably noticed that just about every single chatter has special text (called “titles” and “taglines”) and pictures (called “gummis” and “images”) surrounding their puppets.

You can add your own, by going to the Details section in the Puppet Manager.

» Image Link This is where you put the URL (the thing that starts with http://) of any picture you would like to use for your specific puppet. Each realm has a different limit on the dimensions (the number of pixels per side) and the file size (such as, 50k) of pictures.

You have to have your image uploaded to a website that allows remote loading in order for it to show up. If you do not have such a website, there are several free places available (though, as these seem to change regularly, they are not listed here. They are easy to find by asking others or by doing a simple search). If you would like something more stable than a free service, then feel free to buy space from Ethereal Realms – it is quite a good deal.

Once you have put the URL of your image in the “Image Link” box, you must click the “Submit” button all the way at the bottom of the Details page so that the change is made. If your picture works, then the “Image Width,” “Image height,” and “Image size” details will be filled in. These will tell you if your picture is too big for a specific realm.

If the width, height, and image size are not filled in, and if the URL you had typed in disappears after you push “Submit,” then that means the URL does not work. Perhaps you typed it wrong or your website is down.

If the dimensions (width and height) are too large for a specific room, then Ethereal Realms will instantly shrink it down to the right size. Please be warned, however, that the image will not look right, as it is doubtful that the shrinking process will keep it proportional. All you must do to make your image look right is use a picture-editing program to change the image size so that it is no longer too big.

If the size is too large (if your picture is 65k, for instance, when the limit is 50k), then your picture will not show up inside the realm. Instead, a link will appear above your puppet’s name. If you want it to show up, then you can use a picture-editing program to compress it.

Remember: Each room has different size requirements – even though your picture works in one realm, it may be too large to work in another.

However, if your URL works, and if your picture fits the size requirements, it will show up by your puppet whenever you post.

Homepage: If there is a specific webpage you would like to showcase, then you can do so by typing in the URL here. It will show up on the “puppet information” page that shows up under your gummy (see below).

» Gummy Image Every single puppet has a tiny little picture by their puppet name. This is called a gummy. When you click on someone’s gummy, it takes you to a “puppet information” page in which some information – such as their homepage, IM information, or e-mail addresses – about either the puppet or the player is available.

You can customize your gummy by choosing from the selection offered in the pull-down list. If you would like to see what the different gummies look like, simply click the little question mark that appears next to the words “Gummy Image.”

You may have noticed that there are several different colors of gummies. Unfortunately, the only ones available to a regular chatter are the black-and-white ones. To see what the different colors mean, please see the Gummy section of Vocabulary.

» Active Sometimes you do not use a puppet very often. Since there is no upward limit on the number of puppets you can have, you may want to deactivate a puppet if you know you do not use it regularly.

Deactivated puppets do not appear on the pull down menus of puppets available. This is to conserve space. However, you can see your entire list of puppets – active and not – by going to the Puppet Manager.

If the box by the word “Active” has a check in it, then the puppet is active. If you click the box so that there is no check, then it will be suspended.

If you suspend a puppet and then decide you would like to reactivate it, you can do so by simply clicking the box so that the check comes back.

You can also mange active and suspended puppets through the User Details section (see below).

» Default When you first login to Ethereal Realms, it takes you to a list of both your Puppets and the different realms. If you know there is a specific puppet with which you will consistently be logging in, then click the “default” button within its Puppet Details.

By clicking this option, the specified puppet will automatically be highlighted on the list of puppets on the portal page. If you decide, at some other point, that you would like to enter a realm under a different puppet (though you can switch at ease within a realm), simply highlight a different puppet on the list on the portal page.

» Display Contact Info Ethereal Realms allows users to show specific information about the puppeteer behind specific puppets (please see the User Details section). If you would like your specific puppet’s gummy to link to this information, then make sure this box has a check in it. If not, then make sure there isn’t a check.

» View Changes in Realm This option is only available if you reached the Puppet Details page through the communications panel in a specific realm.

If you are altering the details of your puppet, you may wish to see how your changes look in a specific realm. Well, Ethereal Realms allows you to do so easily! Just click the box so that it has a check in it. Then, when you push “Submit,” a private message will be sent to you with the words “A Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over The Lazy Dog.” This will allow you to see how your puppet looks inside the realm.

» Title The title is, by default, bold text that appears on either side of your puppet’s name. You can use this text to explain things about your character, show an interesting quote, or anything else you want! Look in any realm and you will see wonderful examples of the different uses of titles.

By default, anything you type in the Title box appears after your puppet’s name. For example, let’s consider your puppet’s name is “Jorge” and you type “is a big, mean, angry machine” in the Title box. Therefore, when you post inside a realm, it will appear as:

Jorge is a big, mean, angry machine

However, you might decide that you would like to put text before your puppet’s name. This can be done by typing “NAME” (without quotes) inside the Title box wherever you want your puppet’s name to appear. So, suppose you are still Jorge, and, instead, you type in “Without a doubt, NAME is a big, mean, angry machine.” That will mean that, every time you post inside a realm, it will appear as:

Without a doubt, Jorge is a big, mean, angry machine.

The way in which the text appears (size, color, style, etc) can be changed by using regular HTML. HTML also changes how your puppet’s name appears, by using it around the word “NAME.” For instance, let’s suppose you type, “Without a doubt, NAME is a big, mean, angry machine.” Then, it will appear as:

Without a doubt, Jorge is a big, mean, angry machine.

Notice that the italics, “” was never closed. You don’t need to worry about HTML coding ‘leaking’ into your post if you don’t close your coding, as Ethereal Realms automatically closes any open tags. If the HTML used in the above example does not make any sense to you (HTML is anything that appeared within the < and > symbols above), then don’t worry. There are many very useful HTML crash courses available on the web. You do not need to know HTML to alter your title, though you can not change the color or style of your text without it. » Tagline The tagline appears below your puppet’s name. It shows up as italicized within parenthesis. Though you cannot use the NAME macro (which is what typing “NAME” to signify where your puppet’s name is called) in your tagline, you can use HTML. Submit: This, obviously, submits the data you have just added. Any changes you made will not be in effect until you have pushed submit. Refresh: If you decide that you do not like the changes you’ve made.. Delete them! The refresh button erases any changes you have made and restores the sections to how they had been the last time you submitted the data. [Back to Listing]: After you’ve made all the changes you want, click this link to return to the Puppet Manager. But remember that you must push submit for your changes to be saved. If you click “[Back to Listing]” without pushing “Submit,” then anything you did will be lost. » Cloning Now that you’ve created several handles and details for them all, you may realize that there’s some information you wish to have displayed on all of your puppets. Instead of having to go through and type in specific things for each and every puppet, you can click the “Clone” link on the Puppet Manager page. This will show you two lists, both of which display your active puppets. Use the list on the left to select the puppet whose information you wish to duplicate. Then, click on the puppet(s) in the list on the right which you would like to have the same information as the puppet you had clicked on the left. If you want more than one puppet to have the information cloned, then hold down the control (“ctrl”) button on the keyboard while clicking them. This will allow you to highlight more than one puppet at a time. After you’ve selected which puppet to be the source (the left list) and the target(s) (the right list), then decide which information you would like to transfer over. You can have only the title, only the tagline, or both transferred. When you’re ready, click the button that appears between the two lists that shows the “> >” symbol. Then, you’re done! Your puppet’s information has been cloned. Message Boards!
Each realm has its own messageboard, most of which are independent of Ethereal Realms. They have different formats with different rules. However, there are several system-wide forums, specifically set up so that you can further discuss and influence issues within Ethereal Realms. From the Portal, you can reach these system-wide messageboards by clicking on the “Community” button in the “Messaging” list. This will open a new window that will offer you a pull-down menu of the different system-wide forums available: » Bugs & Support Though Ethereal Realms works vigilantly to keep its coding up to date, sometimes there are errors. If you find a glitch in the system, or something else worthy of reporting, tell us! Post here so we can better help you. » Colors & Design The colors and design of Ethereal Realms is not entirely static and can be tweaked to better suit the needs and desires of its users. Have a suggestion? Bring it up! Perhaps your idea will make the community more appealing to all! » Features & Functionality If there is some service you would like to see Ethereal Realms offer, or if you have any other sort of suggestion, here is your place! » Realms & Storylines Whether you are interested in which new rooms are opening, would like to spark interest in your Private Roleplay, or just simply wish to discuss the different roleplaying options available throughout Ethereal Realms, this forum can help. Using the forums is fairly simple. If you would like to post a new message on a forum, click the “Post” button that appears at the of the page. If there is a specific post you would like to reply to, then click the “Reply” button that appears at the bottom of the specific post. New posts will appear at the of the page. A new reply will move the entire thread (the original post along with all of its replies) to the of the page. If you would like to search through the different threads available, you can sort through the posts by subject or time of posting. These options appear at the of the page. By clicking on one of them, the order and appearance of posts will change to match your inquiry. Realms!
There are four different types of rooms available on Ethereal Realms, all of which are used for roleplaying. » Public Realms
The public realms are, by far, the most populated and well-known. When you are at the Portal, public realms are the ones which appear in the “Select a Realm” list (the number by each name is the number of users currently in the realm). The appearance of public realms is completely up to the host of the realm. Some have drastically different designs, whereas some are almost identical to the standard. Public realms also are the only ones which appear on the Who’s On list. To enter a public realm, click on the room’s name from the list then push the “Enter” button that appears on the screen. Leave the “Private Realm” box empty. You can create your own public realm either by going through the process described in the “Hybrid Realm” section, or by making a $30 donation to Ethereal Realms. The donation will allow your realm to be public for two months, during which time you can try to get an average of 300 posts per night. If you can create such an average, then your realm remains public for free. However, if you cannot maintain the post count, then your realm drops back to private (for more information on donating, please go to The Donating Page). » Private Realms
A private realm is not, in any way, controlled by Ethereal Realms, as far as management is concerned – anyone can open their own private realm if they want. To create a private realm, all you must do is type in a name in the “Private Realm” box that appears on the Portal page. Then, when you push “Enter,” you will be taken to a standardized room. It will not show up on the system-wide Who’s On and you cannot make changes to its design. If you would like to invite others to your PR, you can do so simply by telling them the name you had written in the “Private Realm” box. Any time anyone types in that name, they will gain access to your private realm. » Hybrid Realms
A hybrid realm is, more or less, a mixture of a public and a private realm. A hybrid realm does not show up on system-wide Who’s On and is entered the same way as a private realm (by typing the hybrid realm’s name into the “Private Realm” box on the portal page). However, a hybrid realm has a specified host (someone who has the ability to moderate the room), and can have its design altered. Hybrid realms can be purchased for $10 a month or $100 a year (for more information on donating please visit The Donating Page). However, if a private realm has an average of at least 300 posts per night, then it can become a hybrid realm for free. If it still maintains that post count, then it can become a public realm (should its host choose to do so), and remains free. » Adult Realms
Adult realms are very similar to public realms, but with one main difference: adult realms are restricted solely to adults. This means that the content of the roleplays are more graphic and grotesque than can be allowed in rooms where minors can gain access. To gain access to an adult room, your age must be verified. To do this, you must make a one-time donation to Ethereal Realms of at least $2 through Paypal, since Paypal has an age-verification process. Then, after your donation has been processed and your age verified, you will be able to enter the adult realm as if it were a public realm. » The Communications Panel
Though the hosts of public, private, and adult realms can choose the options which are available in their realm, there are many standard options which are available everywhere. However, since some realms are different from others, those listed here will be the basic ones that are available within any standard, private realm. Please remember that each public, hybrid, and adult realm has the communications panel set up in a different way. Config: This stands for “configure.” By clicking on it, you will arrive at the Puppet Manager, discussed in great detail above. Ignore: Sometimes there are specific persons whose posts you do not want to see. If that is the case, you can put them in your “ignore box.” When you click the “Ignore” button, it will open a window in which you will see a list of all the puppets you currently have on ignore. To add a puppet to your ignore box, simply type the puppet in the box under the word “Ignore User” and push add. From that point on, anything posted under that puppet will not show up on your chatscreen. If you would like to remove a puppet from your ignore box, highlight the puppet and push the “delete” button. From then on, you will see anything posted under that puppet. Remember: if you put one puppet in your ignore box, it will not ignore anything posted under that user’s other puppets. Who’s On?: This is a list of every puppet that is currently in the room. Any puppet under which you post will show up on the Who’s On list. By clicking the “All Realms” button at the of the list, you can see Who’s On in each public realm. Private: If you would like to send a message to someone so that others cannot see, you can do so by sending them a private message. Click on the button that says “Private” on the communications panel. This will open a window which will give you a box in which to type your post, and several other options. You select the person you wish to send your message to by highlighting their puppet from the list provided. You can send a private message to more than one person by pushing the “control” button on your keyboard while highlighting the names. It will be sent to all of them at the same time. When you post your private message, it will appear in the room to you (and to the person you posted it to) as a regular message, but with a blue box surrounding it. No one can see your private messages, not even the administrators. Remember: You can only send private messages to people within the same realm as you. There is no cross-realm private messages. Dice Roll: Just about all roleplaying systems use dice, thus each room has a dice roller. Don’t worry, though, if you’ve never used dice before! Most rooms rarely use them, and they do not usually come into play in freeform roleplay. However, if you would like to use dice, then feel free to do so! Ethereal Realms boasts of a highly comprehensive dice roller with an incredible assortment of features! After you open up the dice roller’s window, You’ll be faced with an assortment of options: “Character Selection” allows you to choose which puppet your dice roll will show up under. “Send privately” gives you the ability to choose for your dice roll to be visible only to you – in case you do not want others to know what you roll. “Side” gives you a pull-down menu of the different dice available. For instance, choosing “2” would be like flipping a coin, whereas choosing “6” would be like rolling a standard six-sided die. “Rolls” asks you how many times you would like to roll the die. For instance, if you want to roll two six-sided dice, then you would type “2” in the “Rolls” box. “Lowest Dropped” gives you the option of dropping the lowest score from the rolls. For instance, if you type a “2” into the “Lowest dropped” box, and then have the system roll 7 four-sided dice, then the system will automatically roll 7 four-sided dice and also report which two were the lowest. When the roll was shown in the realm, it would look like: ROLL (7d4) 3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 4, 1 (17) Dropped 2 lowest: 1, 1 (15) “Highest Dropped” works the same way, though it drops the highest scores, and not the lowest. “Difficulty” allows you to set a specific number you must get higher than in order for your roll to succeed. For instance, suppose you’re rolling a twenty-sided die and you know you must get a six or higher for your roll to succeed, then type “6” into the “Difficulty” box. Then, if you succeed, the roll will turn out as: ROLL (1d20 Diff:6) 6 (6) Successful (1) If you are rolling more than one die, then it will tell you how many of the die-rolls were successful. “Botch” means that it counts the number of successes and failures you roll. If you roll more failures than the number you type into the “Botch” box, then your failure is far more serious. “Damage” is useful when you need to have something added to your roll. For instance, if you are rolling a twenty-sided die, and you know that you will automatically have 3 added to your roll, then type “3” into the box by the word “Damage.” Then it will look like: ROLL (1d20+3) 7 (10) The “7” is the actual number rolled, whereas the “10” is with the 3 added. If you would like the damage to be added to the actual roll, instead of only being added in the total, then click the box next to “Damage” so that a check appears in it. Then, the roll would look like: ROLL (1d20+3 Individual) 8 (8) Notice that you do not see what the actual roll was, only what the roll plus three is. So, the actual roll was 5, even though it is not mentioned. “Lower than” means that, if your roll’s total is higher than the number you type into the “Lower than” box, you fail. The “Roll Comments/Actions” allows you to write something which will be posted along with your roll. End Stream: If you are in streaming (see Vocabulary), then you will have the ability to click this box. If you click it, then push “post,” the stream in the upper window will end. This means that the button “refresh” will appear and you will have the option of either scrolling back or saving posts. If you are in a different type of chat, then this option will not be available. Puppet: the pull-down menu by the word “puppet” obviously is a list of the different puppets you currently have active. To select a puppet, pull down the menu and click on the puppet you would like. After you post, your puppet will automatically turn to the one you had last selected. Text Color, Text Font, and Text Size all work the same way. Location: Only public, hybrid, and adult realms have this feature. It is a pull-down menu in which all (or most) of the playable areas within a realm are listed. When you post, the name of the area you are in will be added to your post, so others can easily see where you are. The locations listed differ from realm to realm. Please see a room’s specific webpage to learn about their locations. Gate to Portal: This will return you to the portal, should you wish to switch realms. Boards: This will take you to the messageboards, should you wish to go there. Internal E-mail: This will take you to the Internal Messaging system. Zoom Box: The Zoom box gives you a greater area in which to type your posts. By pushing “Transfer text,” everything you have written in the zoom box will transfer to the regular posting box, so you can post it with ease. By pushing “Check spelling,” the spelling of anything you have written in the zoom box will be checked, and any words that do not agree with British English spelling will be listed at the bottom, with a list of possible choices. The Upper Window
All posts appear in the upper frame of your chatscreen. In streaming, the posts appear on their own. In Frames, you must push “refresh” to get new posts to appear. In Auto-Scroll, the posts appear on their own and instantly scroll down to the bottom. However, at certain intervals, every system requires that you refresh the upper frame. The “Refresh” button will appear on the screen, along with the “scroll back” option and the “save posts” option. Scroll back: If you would like to see the posts that had just been posted, use this option. Then, when you refresh, they will show up before any new posts. There are two different options for the Scroll back feature. The standard is a simple box which you can click. This will show you all posts that were posted within a certain timeframe. The other option is a box in which you can type the number of posts by which to scroll back. Each public, adult, and hybrid room decides which way it wants scroll back to work for itself. Save Posts: If you would like to have a record of the previous posts, click this option. Then, when you refresh the screen, an e-mail will be sent to you with an extract of all the posts in the room. You will need to have a program which will unzip the file. Such programs are available through webpages such as download.com. Glossary!
Realm: a room within Ethereal Realms. Each realm is independent of any other, as far as management, rules, genre, and style of roleplay. Puppet: a handle under which you post. Portal: the main gateway to the different realms. This is the main page you see, after you login. From it, you can edit your profile or your puppets, learn about the different realms, or enter one at your leisure. Frames: a type of chat system in which, every time you push the “refresh” button, the only posts that show are the ones that have been posted since you last pushed “refresh.” Streaming: a type of chat system in which the posts instantly load onto the page, without you having to push “refresh,” though the page will occasionally require you to refresh. No-frames: a type of chat system which is similar to Frames, except that the only way to refresh the page (thus receiving new posts) is by posting, yourself. Very rarely used. Auto-scroll: a type of chat system which is similar to Streaming, but that the upper-frame scrolls down automatically. Splash Page: the front page of a realm. After you go through the portal, to a realm, there is a page on which the room’s Who’s On is available, alone with some specifics on the realm. That’s the splash page. Room Rating: the level of violence/sexuality/cursing allowed within a specific room. The rating system is based on the minimum age of those allowed in. For instance, 14+ has some mildly offensive language, no sexual content, and mild violence, whereas 18+ allows for offensive language, some sexual content, and violence. This does not, however, mean that anything is allowed in 18+ realms. Every realm’s host chooses for him or herself what should be allowed and what should not. Please read a realm’s rules before making assumptions. Communications Panel: the lower frame in a chatting window. Though its layout changes from realm to realm to better illustrate the mood and genre of each realm, it has the same basic information. Tagline: Specifically, the tagline is text which is italicized and in parentheses next to the puppet. However, the term “tagline” is often used to describe any text that appears regularly around a puppet. Title: Specifically, the text which appears next to or surrounding the puppet within a tagline. Gummy: the small picture that appears next to a puppet’s name. These are usually black and white images, though there are some notable exceptions: Red Gummies are used by administration. Green Gummies (theatrical masks) are used by moderators. Blue Gummies (theatrical masks) are used by hosts. Other Gummies are used by contributors. You can get a Blue or Green Gummy (along with other perks such as image hosting and webpage space) by making a donation to Ethereal Realms.

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