HASA How-to August 2014

Keeping track of stories you read and really like is easy. Find out how to save them to your favorites and update the bookmark after you've read another chapter.

How do I...

...save a story to my favorites and update the bookmark?

Of course you can just bookmark a story in your browser, but there are also two ways to bookmark a story on HASA itself: Save to Favorites and AddThis.

AddThis is available to all readers, and lets you print a story, bookmark the page, email the URL, or link it to a service such as Facebook, Twitter etc.

On every story list and every Reader Toolbox, you will see a bright orange button with a plus sign on it. This is the AddThis button. How it works:

1. Hover your mouse over the button.
2. A pop-up window appears with various options (print, bookmark, send to..., etc.).
3. Click on the option you want.

Save to Favorites is available when you are logged in, and saves the story to your Library on HASA. This means you can get your story list no matter what computer you are on because it is part of the site, not bookmarked on a particular computer. Your Favorites list is available on every page of the site in a drop-down list at the right hand end of the site header.

To save to favorites:

1. Go to the Stories section of HASA.
2. Click on either the overview or any chapter of the story you want to add.
3. In the Reader Toolbox that appears at the top and the foot of these pages, click the button that says "Add Story".
4. The page refreshes and the story is added to your list.
5. If you are on the Overview, the first chapter is bookmarked. If you are on a specific chapter, that chapter is bookmarked.

For multi-chapter stories that you have already Saved to Favorites, you can update your bookmark to set it to a new chapter by using the Set Bookmark button in the Toolbox in the chapter you are reading.

And that's all there is to it!

HASA How-to - July 2014

How do I...

...save a story to my favorites and update the bookmark?

Of course you can just bookmark a story in your browser, but there are also two ways to bookmark a story on HASA itself: Save to Favorites and AddThis.

AddThis is available to all readers, and lets you print a story, bookmark the page, email the URL, or link it to a service such as Facebook, Twitter etc.

On every story list and every Reader Toolbox, you will see a bright orange button with a plus sign on it. This is the AddThis button. How it works:

1. Hover your mouse over the button.
2. A pop-up window appears with various options (print, bookmark, send to..., etc.).
3. Click on the option you want.

Save to Favorites is available when you are logged in, and saves the story to your Library on HASA. This means you can get your story list no matter what computer you are on because it is part of the site, not bookmarked on a particular computer. Your Favorites list is available on every page of the site in a drop-down list at the right hand end of the site header.

To save to favorites:

1. Go to the Stories section of HASA.
2. Click on either the overview or any chapter of the story you want to add.
3. In the Reader Toolbox that appears at the top and the foot of these pages, click the button that says "Add Story".
4. The page refreshes and the story is added to your list.
5. If you are on the Overview, the first chapter is bookmarked. If you are on a specific chapter, that chapter is bookmarked.

For multi-chapter stories that you have already Saved to Favorites, you can update your bookmark to set it to a new chapter by using the Set Bookmark button in the Toolbox in the chapter you are reading.

And that's all there is to it!

HASA How-tos: June 2014

How do I...

... use the Forums?

In this How-to you will learn how to join a forum, how post to one and how to create one.

What are the Forums?

A forum is a group of discussion threads. The threads in a forum are organized around something - an author, a story, a topic, an event, etc. Here HASA members can discuss, debate, critique, or just hang out. Some forums are also available to the general public for reading.

There are seven forums at HASA:

• Challenges
• Members
• Resources
• Reviews
• Stories
• Workshop
• General

Some forums are started by admins, but many more belong to individual members, for example authors who want to have a place to discuss their stories.

Closed Forums

Closed forums are only accessible to people who have been authorized by the creator of the forum. A forum may be closed for several reasons: for instance, an author may use a closed forum to discuss a story she's writing with her beta(s), or it could be about an adult story or discuss mature themes.

Read-only Forums

Read-only forums allow anyone to read a topic without being able to post. For instance, most of the site announcements are posted in read-only forums; only site admins can post to these.

How to join a Forum

1. Click on the forum you would like to participate in. If it is an open discussion, you will see 'You are not a participant in this discussion,' followed by a 'Sign Me Up!' link in the "Participation" box in the navigation column.

1. If you click on a forum that is closed, you will see the message 'We're sorry, this is a closed discussion'. If you want to take part in the discussion, click the 'Request Forum entry' button. An email will be sent to the discussion owner who may give or deny access, and you will receive confirmation of the result by email. Be patient; it may take a while for the forum owner to get the email and respond.

3. For an open forum, simply click on 'Sign Me Up.'
4. You will now see 'You are a full participant in this discussion.' You can now read or post at any time.

How to post in a Forum

1. For any forum you wish to participate in, either by reading or posting, you must first join the forum as described above.
2. Click on the forum you want to post in. If you are not already a participant, click on 'Sign me up!'
3. Find the thread that you would like to post to and click on it.
4. If you find a post you would like to reply to, click the 'Reply to Post' button in the message information box.
5. Type your response into the message form. Don't forget to spell check!
6. Click 'Post Reply.'
7. Now, look over your post. If you want to change anything, click on the 'Edit Message' button in the message information box, and edit the post as you like.

How to start a new topic in a Forum

1. Go to the forum you are interested in. If you have already joined the discussion, you will see a button 'Add a New Topic Thread' in the Participation box in the navigation column.
2. Click the button.
3. Type in the subject for the topic. This is what will appear in the topic list when that forum is opened.

Make it clear what the topic is about. Starting a topic in Jane Doe's forum called 'About your story' might be fine now when Jane only has one story; when she has eight it will be confusing.

How to create a Forum

Anyone, whether you are a writer or a reader, can create one or more forums. Obviously, you can start a forum to discuss your stories, but there are many interesting forums here on a wide range of topics related to writing. The busiest forums tend to be in the Resources Forums because that's where people go to look for help with research and to picking each others' brains on obscure Tolkien facts.

The key to getting a forum going is post a lot in that discussion yourself. Forums that look active attract more activity. If no one posts a reply to you right away, post something new - a new chapter, a new idea, a note about something you saw and thought was interesting, etc.

Also, post in other forums - that's how other members get to know you. If you like someone's stories, that person may have similar interests and may like yours, and the conversation may interest them in your forum or your stories. If it is a general interest forum, just be sure you are posting something pertinent to the topic. If you are posting in someone's story forum, you should be there to talk about her stories, not advertise your own. It is considered poor manners to "hijack" threads to try to draw people to your own forum.

If you want feedback on a story, make it easy for those who might want to comment. You can do this by:

• Linking your story to your forum
• Asking specific questions in your forum introduction, the first message of your topic thread, or at the beginning or end of your story.

It is always easier to give a specific rather than general comment. Answering 'What did you think of it?' is much harder than 'Did Gandalf's motivations make sense?' or 'Is the Rohan scene too choppy?'

Now, how to create your forum:

1. Locate an "Add Forum" link or button. These are located:
• In the main Forums navigation drop down menu
• In the top title bar on a Conference list of forums (See example in the Stories Forums . Please note, you have to be logged in.)
• On the main "My Forums" page.
2. Click the link or button.
3. You will see the Add a Forum form.
4. Type in the forum name; short names are preferred and display better. There is a 50 character maximum for titles.
5. If this forum is in the Stories Forums, you might choose to title it by your name: 'Name - Stories,' by the name of the story itself or whatever descriptive name you want to use. If it is in Members, you can also use your name 'Name's Discussion,' or choose another title that you like.
   
   Keep in mind that if you title a story discussion by the name of one story, you may need to add another discussion or change the name of the existing one when you post other stories. It's easiest to use a general name for your discussion, and post a list of stories in the introduction (and edit that when you add a story).
6. Choose which conferences you want the forum to appear in. Available conferences are:
• Members
• Stories
• Challenges
• Resources
• Workshop (Note: you can only add to this conference when you are a member of a workshop)
7. Write your introduction. This serves the same function that a summary does for a story; it is a way to tell members what's inside, and interest them in entering. It can be as simple as 'This is a place to discuss my stories,' or as long and detailed as you like. If it is very long, it will mean that readers have to scroll repeatedly to get to the threads, which some may find annoying.
8. Choose whether you want other members to be able to link their stories to your forum, or whether only you may link to the forum.
9. Decide whether you want to receive emails when there is a new post in your forum. You can always change your mind later. We recommend saying "Yes".
10. Select whether your forum is for general or adult audiences. Please clearly mark forums or posts that contain mature content.
11. Select who may participate in your forum. Unless you have a reason (such as discussing a story in beta, or a discussion on adult topics) to keep people out, you should choose "Open to all HASA Members, General Public may read." You can always change it later.
12. Click "Add Forum".

If there is more you want to learn more about how the forums work, you can find the answer in the Forums FAQ

Have fun!

HASA How-to May 2014

How do I...

... add a link to the URL Library?

What is the URL Library?

The URL Library is a collection of web page links, organized by general categories, covering both Tolkien's works and other topics of general interest to HASA members. All members are invited to share interesting links.

These may include Tolkien-related sites, but also sites that you have found useful in researching a topic for a story; for instance, sites on pre-modern weaponry, architecture, navigation, astronomy, farming, ...

How do I add a link to the URL Library?

1. Be sure you are logged in - only members can contribute links.
2. Go to the URL Library in Resources.
3. Find the "URL Categories" box in the navigation column.
4. In the box below the form will be a link to add a URL.
5. In the URL form, fill in:
   * the URL address (be sure to add the http:// part!)
   * the web page name
   * the URL category for the site
   * a brief summary of under 250 characters, including spaces (please include warnings for any Adult content).
6. Click on the "Add URL" button.

Your URL will be added in draft status and the Resource Manager will be notified there is a URL waiting for review.

Have fun!

HASA How-to April 2014: password security

As you no doubt have read, a major vulnerability in SSL (the secure channel used for HTTPS) has been detected recently, affecting many web sites.
We are pleased to confirm that HASA was NOT affected by this vulnerability.

However, this is a good time to review your password security. Good password security practices include:

• Using a password manager, such as for instance LastPass
• Change passwords every six months to a year
• Never reuse passwords
• Make sure passwords are at least 10 characters in length, include upper and lower case letters, have numbers and (if the site allows it) use non-alphanumeric characters.

At the very least:

• Do NOT use your Facebook password on other sites. You can use an integrated login (if you are told "Log in with your Facebook account") because the other site is handing the information back to Facebook, no storing it locally, but don't reuse that password anywhere. Change it at least very six months - set a reminder on your calendar.
• Use different passwords for each financial site you use (your bank, PayPal, credit card site, etc.)
• Password protect your phone!
• Let XKCD show you how to construct a super-secure password that is easy to remember

Safe browsing!

HASA How-tos - March 2014

How do I...

...add an item to the Research Cabinet?

The quickest way to get started with the Research Cabinet is to add a few items to it. It's as easy as finding an item to add and clicking a button!

1. Log in to HASA.
2. Go to the Resources section of the site.
3. Browse for a Research Library item you would like to add to your cabinet. The items you can add are:
   a. Timeline Events
   b. Character Bios
   c. Places
   d. Things
   e. Full Text Searches (Note - you have to save a search before you can add it to your Cabinet)
4. Once you have found the Library item you want to add to you Research Cabinet, look for the right-hand menu box labeled "Research Cabinet".
5. In the Research Cabinet box, click the "Add this [item] to research cabinet".
6. The page refreshes and the item is added to your cabinet.

At this point, you can leave the item loose in the Cabinet, add it to a Notebook, and/or create a Research Note to go with it; and we will look at how to do that in the next few months. The great thing about the research cabinet is that you can organise your information so that it makes sense to you.

HASA How-to - Resources pt. I

This week we take a look at HASA’s Resources section.

How do I...

...find my way in Resources?

Obviously, the Resources area provides resources to writers, but it is also a great place to look around in for a non-author who is looking for information about characters or places.

The core of Resources is the Research Library, which contains many facts and citations from the Ardaverse. There are detailed articles on people, places, things and the events that tie them together. There is also a URL library linking to sites of interest to the JRRT fandom. There are research articles and critical essays written by our members, and a discussion forum on wide ranging topics.

The Reference Library

The Reference Library is designed to gather the facts about various subjects in one easily searchable area. It currently consists of Character Biographies, Events, Places, and Things. Each entry is referenced to a quote in Tolkien, so the member may refer to the original source. Members who are authors can link their stories to any of the Research Library entries.

Character Biographies

All the listed characters have simple fact sheets, containing very basic information such as date of birth and death when known, close relatives, and physical description.

For some characters the fact sheets are a starting point, in contrast to some of the minor characters where the fact sheets contain everything that is known. A number of fact sheets are associated with essays that are more detailed, and which may contain speculation supported by references.

Timeline Events

You can look up Timeline events alphabetically, by event type, by era and by date range. They are presented in chronological order, and are cross-referenced to other research library entries.

If you want to know exactly who did what, when, where and how, timeline events can probably provide the answer.

Places

Places contains information on locations mentioned by Tolkien, whether in the text or on the maps he drew. Our goal is detailed information on the complete list of places, with accompanying references.

Things

The Things section contains detailed information on various objects, from the physical such as ships or weapons, to songs, to constructs such as the White Council.  

The URL Library

The URL Library is a collection of web page links, organized by general categories, covering both Tolkien's works and other topics of general interest to HASA members. Members are encouraged to submit interesting links.

Research Articles and Critical Essays

These are non-fiction works about a particular subject useful to fanfic writers or to anyone who wants to know more about a subject. Current articles and essays range from personality traits of horses to in-depth character studies to geopolitics. Any subject involving Tolkien's writing, fanfic, or life in Middle-earth or the West is fair game.

Who writes Research Articles and Critical Essays?

HASA members write them. Many authors have done research in preparation for a story and then contribute their knowledge in the form of an article or Reference Library entry. There are several articles posted and HASA is always eager to expand the section. If you write a research article or a critical essay, please link it into Resources by going to the Articles & Essays pages.

What kind of searches can I do?

A-Z Index - This part of the site provides alphabetical lists of all the Research Library entries. Each kind of research item (People, Places, Things, Events) also has alphabetical listings.

Full text search - This takes a little more practice. This search can do complex Boolean free text search of the contents of all the research library entries.

Each library entry type has a search available to sort, slice and dice on its main categories for quick filtering of entries.

What is the Resources Forum?

This is the gathering place for the Resources geeks and anyone who wants to pick their brains.

You can discuss just about anything to do with Tolkien's works, what life might have been like in Middle-earth, or the intricacies of writing about it. Geography, character speculation, daily life, grammar, economics... You think it up, someone will probably want to discuss it.

Many discussions start as research questions. This is the place to ask questions, and bring your expertise to answer others. This is also a place to discuss the nuts and bolts of writing, beta reading, and associated issues.

HASA How-to

How do I...

... use Challenges? (pt. 2)

In this How-to you will learn how to create and enter a Challenge.

What is a Challenge?

Challenges are ideas for fics that people have presented to the group at large. Any HASA member can create a Challenge. This prospective Challenge must get a minimum of three people who say they will try to write a story for it. These are called 'pledges.' If at least three pledges are obtained, then the idea becomes a Challenge.

How to create a Challenge

Start by registering the Challenge:

1. In the Prospective Challenges forum, create a new topic to discuss your challenge idea. Use the forum to create interest and identify those who are willing to write in response to your challenge. If you can find enough people to agree to write for your challenge, e-mail the Challenge Manager with the text of the Challenge, its duration, and request that it be posted in HASA's Challenge section.
2. Once the Challenge is accepted, the Challenges Manager will enter the Challenge into the database and keep a check on its progress. The originator of the Challenge may upon occasion be asked to clarify his or her prompt or some aspect of the prompt.
3. Challenges that fail to acquire the three-response minimum by the closing date will be moved to the Nuzgûl Hutch for others to freely use.
4. If you would like your idea to go directly to the Hutch, there is a The Hutch: Home of the HASA Nuzgûl forum in which you may put it. The Challenges Manager will enter it into the database as soon as possible.

How to enter a Challenge

1. Go to Open Challenges, and find one you would like to enter. There are a variety of Challenges available to offer the widest participation for authors of all tastes, talents, and experience level.
2. Once you have found the Challenge you are interested in, read the description and check the requirements: closing date, and in some cases, word limit. Even if the Challenge is closed, remember that you may still write for it as a Nuzgûl or Oliphaunt.
3. Just below the description of the Challenge, look for the "Enter this Challenge!" box. If you don't see it, check to see if you are logged in.
4. In the box you will see a drop-down menu with all of your stories that are eligible to be entered in the Challenge, plus a Challenge Placeholder.
5. Select the story you want to enter or else the placeholder.
6. Click "Enter".

You are now entered in a Challenge!

If you have entered a Challenge and have a Placeholder that you want to replace with a real story, this is what to do:

1. Be sure you are logged in.
2. Select "My Challenges" from the Challenges main navigation menu.
3. On the My Challenges page, locate the challenge and the placeholder.
4. Click "Edit Entry".
5. The page will refresh and you will see a drop-down menu with all of your eligible stories.
6. Select the story you want to have in the Challenge.
7. Click "Edit".
8. Your entry is updated.

A story may be entered in as many Challenges as are appropriate for it. It may only be entered once in a particular Challenge.

Have fun!

HASA How-to

How do I...

... use Challenges (pt. 1)?

In this How-to you will learn what some words that are used in the Challenges section mean.

First, a brief description of the Challenges section. This is where the various Challenges issued by HASA members over the years are kept, and it contains several things:

1. The text descriptions of all Challenges (Open Challenges, Closed Challenges)
2. Any stories that have been written in response to the Challenge
3. A way for authors to add more entries to an open Challenge
4. An archive of closed Challenges (those whose time limit has run out)
5. The Nuzgûl Hutch
6. The Oliphaunt Pen
7. Category and Keyword searches
8. A link to the Challenge Forums

What is a Challenge?

Challenges are ideas for fics that people have presented to the group at large. Any HASA member can create a Challenge. This prospective Challenge must get a minimum of three people who say they will try to write a story for it. These are called 'pledges.' If at least three pledges are obtained, then the idea becomes a Challenge.

Most Challenges start life as Nuzgûl.

What is a Nuzgûl?

Nuzgûl are what many fandoms call 'plot bunnies.' They are ideas for writing a fic and they look sweet and harmless until they sink their long fangs into you and refuse to let go. If three people post stories for a Nuzgûl, it becomes a Challenge.

The name 'nuzgûl' comes from The Official Fan-fiction University of Middle-earth (OFUM), written by Miss Cam, in which of Middle-earth terms produce new creatures. Among them were the Nuzgûl. HASA has been overrun with them ever since, a plague or a blessing, depending on your viewpoint. Beware the bite of the undead plotbunny.

What is the Nuzgûl Hutch?

The Hutch is where you can drop off or pick up Nuzgûl. Any Challenge that doesn't find three stories before its deadline will live in the Hutch until five stories are attached to it. When there are three stories, the Nuzgûl becomes a Challenge.

After an author writes the story inspired by the Nuzgûl, the creature is said to be "defanged." Be warned, however, they do occasionally bite twice.

What is an Oliphaunt?

I stump round and round
Never lie on the ground
Not even to die
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.

An Oliphaunt is a Challenge that is 'too big to die'. When a Challenge with at least three stories attached passes its closing date, it is honorably retired. If authors still wish to write stories for that Challenge, an Oliphaunt is created from the original Challenge. It lumbers along, picking up more stories as it goes. Not all Challenges become Oliphaunts because not all continue to attract stories.

What is the Oliphaunt Pen?

The home of the Oliphaunt, where old, successful Challenges go. Members may continue to adopt Oliphaunts and write stories for them which will be associated with the Oliphaunt but not shown with the original Challenge. The Oliphaunt is so named because after getting all those entries as a Challenge, it just keeps lumbering on. Feel free to root around in the Oliphaunt pen for some great story ideas.

What is a Placeholder?

A placeholder is an entry indicating that the author intends to write a story for a Challenge, but has not yet written the story.

To enter a placeholder, simply click "accept" on the Challenge of your choice, and use the drop-down menu to select "Challenge Placeholder," the first choice in the story drop-down list. In your "My Stuff" section, you will see a placeholder for the Challenge. You may later edit this entry from "My Stuff" when you have a story, or you may drop it if you decide not to continue in the Challenge.

What is a Prompt?

A prompt is the Challenge description, the starting point for any entry into the Challenge.

The purpose of the description is to prompt authors to enter and write a story for the Challenge. Well written prompts tell what the Challenge is for, how it came about and what the author needs to do to participate.

Have fun!

HASA How-to September 2013

How do I...

... update My Stuff?

In this How-to you will learn what My Stuff is and some of what you can use it for.

What is My Stuff for?

As the name says, it is where you will find your own stuff. Here you can manage your profile, add and update stories, see reviews, send alerts, and other activities.

How does this area work?

When you sign up as a member on HASA, you automatically get a My Stuff section. You have to be logged in to see your information. You use My Profile to manage the information in your profile.

There are other areas in My Stuff, such as My Stories and all of the related activities. My Stories is where you create and manage your stories. You may add as many stories as you like to the database. In the reviews section, authors who submit stories for review and members who perform reviews can see the reviews given and received.

There are the promotional tools, all gathered in the My Readers section. The links to Forums, Playlists, Workshops and Challenges all go to pages where you can take care of things in those areas.

Now, though, we will only look at how to update your profile and customize the pods in the main and righthand columns

How do I update my member profile?

1. Log in.
2. Click on "My Profile" in the main navigation drop down menu.
3. On the main My Profile page, you will see all of your profile information displayed in boxes. In the main column are member info and personal web links. On the right you find login info, author name, whether or not you're a reviewer, and your beta reading info.
4. Click the "Edit" button on any box to update that part of your profile.

You can give as little or as much information as you're comfortable with; for instance, while there is an option to display nationality or where you live, this isn't obligatory.

How do I customize My Stuff?

The My Stuff home page comes with a set of pods that you can add to and arrange on your My Stuff home page.

1. Log in.
2. Go to My Stuff home.
3. Click on the "Customize Page" link in the navigation column on the right.
4. You now see a page where you can select one or more pods for the main column and the side column of the My Stuff home page. Detailed instructions for adding the pods are on the page.
5. After you add pods, you can set an order to them.
6. Return to the home page and do final adjustments for how many records to show in each pod.

Have fun!

HASA How-to August 2013

How do I...

... use favorites, recommendations and comments?

In last month's How-to we looked at the various kinds of stories and how to find a specific story. This month looks at how to work with favorites, how to recommend a story and how to comment.

Favorites and bookmarks

Once you have found a story (see last month's How-to), there are several ways to bookmark it. As a HASA member you can save a story to Favorites. If you do this, you can always find it again when you're logged in.

Members - Save to Favorites

This stores the story in your own Library on HASA. The story is then always available anywhere in the site from the story favorites drop-down menu at the right hand end of the site header. To save to favorites:

1. Go to the Stories section of HASA
2. Click on either the overview or any chapter of the story you want to add
3. In the Reader Toolbox that appears at the top and the foot of these pages, click the button that says "Add Story"
4. The page refreshes and the story is added to your list.
5. If you are on the Overview, the first chapter is bookmarked. If you are on a specific chapter, that chapter is bookmarked.
6. When reading a long story, you can update your bookmark and set it to a new chapter by clicking on the "Set Bookmark" button in the Toolbox.

Members and Public - AddThis Button

On every story list and in every Reader Toolbox, there is a bright orange button with a plus sign on it. This is the AddThis service's button. To use the button:

1. Hover your mouse over the button
2. A pop-up window appears, with different commands and social networking sites
3. You can send the page to the printer, bookmark the page, send the URL to an email address or link it to one of the services, such as Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.
4. Click on the desired button
5. If you use IE or Firefox, there are browser plug-ins that work directly with the AddThis button.

You can also just bookmark a story in your regular browser Favorites list.

If you have a lot of favorites, they display in the reverse order of when you added them. If you have a lot of stories, you may want to set them in a specific order to help keep track which one you are currently reading.

1. Mouse over the "Stories" button in the top navigation bar.
2. In the drop-down menu, select "My Library". (Note, if the menu does not drop down for you, click on the main Stories button. On the Stories home page, click on "Manage My Library" from the My Library menu.)
3. On the home page of My Library, you will see the list of all your bookmarked favorites.
4. Use the ordinal number form in the left hand column of the stories table to set a new order.
5. Click "Reorder List" to update.

How to recommend a story

If you enjoyed a story, you can let others know why you liked it.

1. Go to the story overview page or a chapter page and click on "Recommend" in the Reader Toolbox.
2. When you see the recommendation form, choose one or more reasons from the list in the box (hold down the CTRL key to select more than one), then click "Add" below the box.
3. The reasons you chose will be displayed below the story summary. You name as a recommender will appear and people can click your name to see what other stories you have recommended.

Other ways to recommend a story are:

• Write a comment. Authors love comments!
• Create a playlist and explain in detailed introduction just what is so awesome about this story.
• Post in the author's forum. If the author has a forum, sign up and add a new thread to say what you like about the story. Get a discussion going!

How to post a comment

Authors love comments and they are so easy to do! You must be logged in to post comments. HASA does not permit anonymous commenting.

• From the story overview page, look in the sidebar navigation for a box that says "Talk to [author's name]". You'll see the comment form in that box. Comments made from the over view page are always tagged as "General Overview" comments.
• From each story chapter, look in the sidebar navigation for a box that says "Talk to [author's name]". You'll see the comment form in that box. Comments made from a chapter page are always tagged as belonging to that chapter.
• From the Comments page, the comments box appears at the top of the comments for that story. On the comments page, the comment will be tagged with whatever chapter's comments you are viewing.
• If a story does not yet have comments, the first comment must be made from the story, not the Comments page.
• If a chapter does not yet have comments, the first comment must be made from the chapter, not the Comments page.

Have fun reading and exploring!

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

HASA how-to July 2013

This month's HASA How-to takes a closer look at stories at HASA.

How do I...

... find something to read?

In this How-to you will learn a bit more about the various kinds of stories at HASA and how to find a story if you’re looking for something specific (a character, a time period, a location etc.).

How to find all stories

There are three kinds of stories at HASA: General and Reviewed status stories are available to all site visitors, and you have to be logged in to read Beta status stories.

Reviewed: These are the stories that have been evaluated by the reviewers' pool and have been judged as excellent stories by the majority of the reviewers.

General: This is a catch-all category. If a story is not Beta and it is not Reviewed, but the author wants it available for others to read, it will be in General.

Beta: These are works in progress by HASA members that the author doesn't yet want the general public to read. Remember: you can only see these when you are logged in, although Beta stories that are entered in Challenges or linked in Playlists can also be read by the general public.

How to find a specific story

There are a number of ways to locate stories on HASA:

Story Sort Bar: The most popular way is to use the story sort bar at the top of every HASA page. Create a custom search by selecting an author, era, genre, character and/or status. The stories are sorted by most recently updated.

Recommended: You can look up stories that have been recommended by HASA members over the years. This is useful if you are looking for a particular kind of story, for instance a gap-filler that deals with family dynamics, or a story that combines humor and economics as a topic.

Keyword Search: Most story pages have a Keyword search form in the side navigation column. This form searches the titles and summaries of stories, but not the story text. Here are some tips for an effective keyword search:

• Each line may contain one or more search words.
• Do not use commas - use spaces to separate terms.
• Separate lines are used as an OR search.
• Words in the same line are used as an AND search.
• Partial words will also be searched; for example, "owyn" will find both "Eowyn" and "Éowyn."
• If you are unsure about spelling, use only part of the word.

How to save a search

Often, you want to read a set of stories that have similar characteristics, such as all having a particular character, all by the same author, all poetry or romances, etc. You also want to know when there is something new or updated with that kind of story. If you bookmark a single story or author, or create a playlist, you can track existing stories, but you may not know when they have been updated. You won't know about new stories. What do you do?

You create a saved search.

1. Set up a sort filter using the drop down menus in the story sort bar.
2. Click Go.
3. On the search result page, you will see a form "Save Search to Your Library".
4. Type a unique name into text box.
5. Click "Save".
6. The page refreshes and your search is added to the Saved Searches list.

To get to your saved search:

1. Click on the "Stories" button in the top navigation menu.
2. When you get to the Stories home page, look in the navigation sidebar for "My Library".
3. In My Library, click on the link that says "Saved Searches".
4. Your searches appear in alphabetical order in the sidebar menu, ordered alphabetically and stamped with a date when it was created.
5. Click a search name to rerun the search.

Have fun reading and exploring!

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

HASA How-to June 2013

How do I...

... review a story?

This month we look at reviews – what are they, and how can you review a story?

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone. If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check out a story?

Or, if you are a writer, take the plunge and submit a story for review; and when you do, remember: Put one in, take one out.

By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do for the other authors who have a story in review what you'd like other reviewers to do for you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read.

Daunted by the idea of reviewing? Don't worry; at its simplest reviewing comes down to asking yourself: 'Would I recommend this story to someone?' Then, whether the answer is 'yes' or 'no', you can make a choice from the capsule reasons to clarify your decision. If you want to, you can add a few more words to convey what you (dis)liked about the story, but just the capsule reason is perfectly fine as well.

And remember: even if you think you're too critical or not critical enough: your review is only one of nine, and all points of view are welcome. Not every reviewer has to review every story and in the end it does all level out to a balanced judgement.

What are reviews?

A story at HASA can be put up for review by its author. This means that the story will then be read by nine anonymous reviewers, who are also HASA members.

Each reviewer individually submit an opinion on whether the story is an outstanding work of Tolkien fanfiction. If the story is approved by five or more reviewers, it is marked "Reviewed" and is flagged with a blue star. It also is featured for a week to two weeks on the home page of HASA.

In previous times, a story was not allowed into the public archive at all unless it passed through review. As time went by the decision was made to open the site for general posting by HASA members (hence the "General" status of most stories), but to keep the reviews as a challenge to excellence.

Why do we have reviews?

To challenge fanfic authors to do their best and reward them when they achieve that goal.

Who can review?

Anyone who has been a member of HASA for 30 days is eligible to be, and strongly encouraged to become, a reviewer. When you have been a member for 30 days, a link will appear on the HASA home page, on your My Profile page, and the main Review page. Simply click the button and your reviewer status is activated.

The waiting period exists to be sure members understand how serious this is. You are being asked to pass judgment on another person's work. Decisions should not be frivolous - either in accepting or declining a story. A waiting period is imposed to prevent someone from joining the list merely to vote a friend or a particular story into the archive, or to decline a particular story.

The system also is complex because it is intended to be double-blind - you do not know the author of the story you are reading, and the author and other reviewers do not know who is reviewing the story. This is to encourage people to submit stories, and to make people comfortable that they are free to vote as they please in the reviews. Only the Review Admin and the Site Manager are ever allowed to see this data put together in one place.

How do I review a story?

Before you can review, you must be an active reviewer. Check your status by going to the main Reviews page. If you are not yet a reviewer, follow the on-line instructions to activate your status. All members are encouraged to be reviewers.

1. Once you are active, look at the stories under review. (It may happen that there are no stories in review at the moment; then simply try again in a few days.)
2. Click on a story link to see a story overview. If the summary appeals to you, read at least some of the story to see if you have an opinion on it, or if it is a type of story you like.
3. When you find a story that interests you, press the 'Checkout story for review' button. You are now a reviewer for the story.
4. Read the story and come to a decision - Do you think this is an excellent story? Would you recommend this story to a friend?
5. You cannot review any other stories until you have completed the review for this one.
6. When you have made your decision, go back to your review page and pick from the drop down list. Pick 'Approve' or 'Decline' to mark your decision.
7. Pick a capsule reason that best illustrates your decision for approving or rejecting the story. It does not have to be the only reason for your decision. Simply pick the capsule that fits your reasoning best. If your decision was wrong, you can still change it at this point.
8. You may give additional comments. Please be aware that if you leave a comment, your review is NOT anonymous.
9. Once you have finished, press the 'Decision' button and you can then review another story.
10. Authors may contact reviewers and ask for clarifications of the review decisions. However, no reviewer is under any obligation to reply to an author. That is strictly optional.

What are the review criteria?

Every reviewer is encouraged to read the story before checking it out for review. This way you can review stories where your decision is clear, and avoid the types of stories you personally just don't like. Should you check out a story and then discover that you cannot or don't want to complete the review, a reviewer can return a story to the reviewing pool without accepting or declining. When you are in the 'Reviews' section simply click on the title of the story and you will see the "Return Story" button located to the right of the "Select a decision" button. Click it and you will be automatically removed as a reviewer of the story.

After you have read the story, you will have to select a 'capsule comment' that gives a standardized, primary reason to either approve or decline a story. There are no gradations for the decision, only 'approve' or 'decline'. However, a declined story can always be revised and resubmitted. It is even possible to tell an author to "please consider revising the story".

The reviews process is not a beta-reading or an editing process. However, constructive, considered and considerate criticism, and comments that contain explanations and suggestions for improvement are important for the second aim of our reviews process: to inspire the authors to keep writing and to improve their writing skills. Therefore it is not only important what you say in a critique, but also how you say it. Even if you don't think that this particular story belongs in the public archive, it is not the aim of our reviews process to discourage the author.

Remember that it is not a competition. There is no limit on adding new high-quality stories. Try to be consistent in your evaluation, so that you have the same standards in mind for each story you review.

Most of all it is important to accept a story because of what it does right, and not simply because there is nothing wrong or because it doesn't violate criteria.

Mostly, though, exercise your judgment. If the story grabs you and keeps your attention, you've got something good on your hands. If you find yourself skipping lines and paragraphs just to get to the end, it's probably not a keeper.

What happens after I make a decision?

• Your decision is recorded by the system
• You can check out another story for review
• The story waits until it gains 9 decisions and then is processed by the review admins

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know! 

HASA How-to May 2013

How do I...

... post my stories?

This month we look at how to post your stories at HASA.

How to post your story at HASA

Every HASA member can post as many stories as she likes to the site.

First, check you're logged in. Then go to My Stuff and select My Stories. Choose Add New Story.

The next thing you have to do is create a story overview. In the story overview you put in the title, a summary, and some details like characters and the type of story it is.

Now you can add chapters to your story.

Please be sure to read the onscreen instructions (on the right hand side of the page) the first few times you create stories, or if you run into problems. They will help you avoid the most common errors.

When you're done, press Edit Story (at the bottom of the form).

You are returned to your story list. Now find the story you just added and directly select 'add chapter' in the story list. You can also click on the title of the story and add your chapter(s) from the Story Overview.

Once you're in the chapter dialogue, enter a title for your chapter under Chapter Title, and paste in your chapter text in the Chapter Text window (mind to use the 'paste from Word' option if you are pasting from Word).

Take a minute to read the notes about the editor toolbar on the right – there are useful hints there.

Select a chapter status: private or public

Private means your chapter won't be visible. Your default choice should be Public, unless you have specific reason to keep a chapter out of view for the time being.

Now 'add chapter'. You will now see what your chapter looks like. You can make edits if you need to ('edit this chapter'). Other options are 'add chapter', 'convert line breaks' (look at last month's how-to; however this is only relevant if you are editing an older story), copy chapter and 'return to story overview'.

Select 'return to story overview'. Now comes an important step in making sure your story can be read: Set chapter numbers. Your chapters do not appear to readers if the chapter number is '0'.

Select your chapter number. If you have more chapters listed already, select Reorder List.

Now you can add another chapter(s) if you like.

Done?

Check if all your chapters are set to public and have a number greater than '0'.

Done!

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please log in and let us know!

HASA How-to - April 2013

How do I...

...set up a workshop?

While HASA has Beta status for works in progress, sometimes you need to show stories to a smaller set of readers before you unleash them on the general public. Or maybe you and a few others jointly write stories and need a place where you can all work at the same time. The Workshop is where you make this happen. It offers a private area where several members can work together on stories. This is in contrast to the My Stuff/My Stories area where you can only work on your own stories and no one else can get in there. It's also a way to avoid sending around email attachments and wondering if everyone can read the file format. For answers to general questions, be sure to check out the Workshop FAQ.

1. Be sure you are logged in.
2. Go to the Workshop section
3. Look at the top of the right hand menu area for the button "Add a New Workshop".
4. Click the button.
5. When you see the form, enter a name for your shop. If you are working on a story, using the story name is a good idea. You can also use your own name or your writing group's name.
6. Add a brief description in the text box.  If you need some inspiration for names or descriptions, check out the Site owned workshops here.
7. Click the "Add" button.
8. The system creates your workshop and shows you the shop home page. By default, the shop is set to Private, meaning only you and invited members can see it.

Now you have to add some members to your shop, so you can work together.

1. Go to the home page of the shop if you aren't already there.
2. In the navigation column, locate the "Shop Info" section.
3. In that section, click on the "Edit Members" button.
4. You should now see the Manage Members page.
5. Scroll down the page until your see a multi-select box. It will display all the names of all active HASA members in alphabetical order.
6. Click on the name of the member you wish to add.
7. To select more than one person, hold down the CTRL key while you click.
8. When your list is complete, click "Add Members to Workshop".

OK, so you have a workshop, you have members and now you need a story (or two or three)!

1. Go to the home page of the shop if you aren't already there.
2. Scroll down the main shop page until you can see the Stories section.
3. Click the button "Add Stories to Workshop".
4. On the Add Story page you have three options:
   a. Add an existing story directly - pick a story from a drop-down list and click "Select". The story is linked into the shop.
   b. Clone an existing story - pick a story from a drop-down list and click "Select". The system makes a copy of that story including all of its chapters and adds it to the shop.
   c. Create a new story - Click the "Create New Story" button. You'll go to a standard story form. Fill it out and click "Add". This creates a new, empty story for you to work with.

You're set! You can now work in the shop just like you work in your my Stories section of My Stuff, except that as many people as necessary can work there, not just you.

HASA How-to March 2013

How do I...

... create a Playlist and put stories in it?

Playlists are lists of HASA stories put together by authors and readers, just as music lovers put together lists of their favorite songs.

Examples:

• Stories in a series put in reading order.
• A collection of similarly themed stories, such as Hobbit romance or critical essays on Men.
• A reader's "favorites" list, complete with explanations of why the reader likes them.
• A collection of stories by multiple authors.

There are three types of playlists, each featuring a slightly different set of perspectives.

The first type, Reader Lists, is for readers to put together collections of stories that you like, for whatever reason, in the order you like, and by as many authors as you like. Put together a reading tour of HASA!

You can add playlists as follows.

If you do not yet have any playlists, you can make one first:

1. Go to the Playlists section.
2. If the Main Menu is not open, click the header to unfold the menu.
3. From the menu, click on "My Playlists", and choose "Playlists I share" from the righthand column.
4. You will now see a form for creating a list.
   Type in a title. It cannot be more than 50 characters, including spaces. Make the title distinctive. Do not use double quote marks!
   Type in a description of the list. Use key words like your screen name, characters featured in the stories, and so on. Each one of these words is searchable. Click "Add new playlist".
5. The playlist is created and you end up on the "Playlists I have created" page. You are now ready to add stories.

Or, when you are in Stories (and this works both for creating a new list and adding a story to a playlist you made earlier):

1. While you are reading a story you like, click on the "Add to Playlist" button in the Readers Toolbox located at the top and bottom of every chapter page.
2. If you do not have any playlists at all, you will immediately see a form like the one described above. Follow those instructions to create a playlist.
3. If you already have playlists, you will see a drop-down list of your Reader playlists, plus a link to "Create new Playlist."
4. Once you have either created or selected a playlist, you will be prompted to add the story to the list.
5. Provide a brief explanation of why you are adding the story to the list and click "Add".
6. The screen refreshes and you can see the story in the list. It is added at position "0". You must set the story to a number other than "0" for it to show on your list.
7. Use the small ordinal drop-down boxes to put the story in position.
8. Click "Reorder List" to update the order.

NOTE: When a playlist is created, it is set to Inactive. This is because when it is created, it doesn't have stories in it. After you add stories to it, you must set the playlist to Active to allow others to read it.

---

The second type of list is the Author List. If you write multiple stories that should be read in a particular order, or if you have different sets of stories (these are my Dwarf stories, these are my Hobbit stories, etc.) you can group them together. The only limit here is that any story included in the list must be Beta, General, or Reviewed status.

Creating an author playlist is also a great way to promote your own works. The most recently updated playlist appears on the home page of HASA, which is a good way to bring a set of stories to the notice of readers.

1. Go to the Playlists section.
2. If the Main Menu is folded up, click the heading to unfold it.
3. Choose "Playlists I Write" from the menu.
4. On that page, if you do not have an author playlists yet, you will be prompted to create one.
5. Enter a title and a brief description of the playlist, such as "This is my Legolas AU series set in chronological order."
6. Click "Add".
7. When your list is first created, it is set to Inactive. This allows you to put your list together before releasing it to the public. You must set your list to Active to make it viewable.

Now that your list is created, you can add your stories to it.

1. Navigate to My Playlists-->Playlists I Write in the Playlists section of HASA
2. You will now see the list of all Author Playlists you have created. If you don't have a playlist yet, you'll be prompted to create one.
3. Click "Update List" to add stories.
4. The screen will refresh and you will now see all of your Beta, General and Reviewed status stories in a drop down list.
5. Select the story you want to add from the drop-down list and click "Select".
6. Provide a brief explanation for the story. Use keywords that readers might use for searching, such as characters names or story genre. Take time to say something that will spark curiosity about your story and make a reader want to click. If you are putting together a thematic series, put that in.
7. Click "Add".
8. The story and reason are added to the list.
9. Be sure to set the order of the list after adding a new story. Use the order drop-down numbers to do this. The stories that are left set to "0" will not show up in the playlist.

After you have added a story, you will need to reset the overall playlist to Active status.

1. Click the "Edit Playlist" button in the top table.
2. The playlist will open in a form.
3. Make changes to the description if desired and change the status from Inactive to Active.
4. Click "Edit Playlist".

---

Workshop Lists. These are the most specialized. These are lists of stories by authors who belong to a particular workshop. If a group of authors is conducting a writing exercise, they could gather the stories in a playlist. Or if the authors are jointly writing stories, they can compose the joint works in a workshop, then put the stories into a playlist with commentary about writing them.

Adding stories to a Workshop List works the same way as described for the other two types of playlist. The only other thing you need to keep in mind here is that only stories that are in a Workshop can be added.

Have fun!

HASA How-to February 2013

How do I...

...save a story to my favorites and update the bookmark?

Of course you can just bookmark a story in your browser, but there are also two ways to bookmark a story on HASA itself: Save to Favorites and AddThis.

AddThis is available to all readers, and lets you print a story, bookmark the page, email the URL, or link it to a service such as Facebook, Twitter etc.

On every story list and every Reader Toolbox, you will see a bright orange button with a plus sign on it. This is the AddThis button. How it works:

1. Hover your mouse over the button.
2. A pop-up window appears with various options (print, bookmark, send to..., etc.).
3. Click on the option you want.

Save to Favorites is available when you are logged in, and saves the story to your Library on HASA. This means you can get your story list no matter what computer you are on because it is part of the site, not bookmarked on a particular computer. Your Favorites list is available on every page of the site in a drop-down list at the right hand end of the site header.

To save to favorites:

1. Go to the Stories section of HASA.
2. Click on either the overview or any chapter of the story you want to add.
3. In the Reader Toolbox that appears at the top and the foot of these pages, click the button that says "Add Story".
4. The page refreshes and the story is added to your list.
5. If you are on the Overview, the first chapter is bookmarked. If you are on a specific chapter, that chapter is bookmarked.

For multi-chapter stories that you have already Saved to Favorites, you can update your bookmark to set it to a new chapter by using the Set Bookmark button in the Toolbox in the chapter you are reading.

And that's all there is to it!

HASA How-to November 2012

Last month I asked for topics for the how-to, and on LJ Juno asked for a current overview of HASA volunteers, so here it is. To keep it simple, I've only listed the main volunteer(s) for each section, not the backups (who are usually the same people in a different order):

Site owner/Tech support all sections/Members
Anglachel

Site News/About
Nath, Julie

Challenges
Jay of Lasgalen, Linaewen

Birthday Challenges: Imhiriel

Reviews
Jay of Lasgalen

Stories
Nath

Resources
Elena Tiriel, Jay of Lasgalen, Linaewen, Nath

Forums/Comments
Nath

Workshops/Playlists/Polls don't currently need enough attention to have a main volunteer beyond Tech Support.

So, that's HASA. Remains for me to thank my fellow volunteers for their - usually unseen - effort, and hopefully I haven't forgotten any people or sections…

*-* Nath *-*

HASA How-to October 2012

How do I...

...?

As people may have noticed, the HASA How-to is a monthly repeating news item at HASA, LJ, our Yahoo mail group and our blog. It is intended to highlight or explain aspects of the site, though not as a rule as an answer to an individual question, although a question may result in a specific topic being featured in a How-to.

Usually, I select the How-to topic by looking at what was featured in the previous months and either continuing a certain theme, or by picking something that hasn't had any attention for some time – over the years, items re-occur, with revisions where needed.

So, if there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, don't hesitate, and let us know!

And now for something completely different: if your birthday is in October, don't forget to put in a request for a drabble here!

HASA News - How-tos September 2012

How do I...

... use the Forums?

In this How-to you will learn how to join a forum, how post to one and how to create one.

What are the Forums?

A forum is a group of discussion threads. The threads in a forum are organized around something - an author, a story, a topic, an event, etc. Here HASA members can discuss, debate, critique, or just hang out. Some forums are also available to the general public for reading.

There are seven forums at HASA:

• Challenges
• Members
• Resources
• Reviews
• Stories
• Workshop
• General

Some forums are started by admins, but many more belong to individual members, for example authors who want to have a place to discuss their stories.

Closed Forums

Closed forums are only accessible to people who have been authorized by the creator of the forum. A forum may be closed for several reasons: for instance, an author may use a closed forum to discuss a story she's writing with her beta(s), or it could be about an adult story or discuss mature themes.

Read-only Forums

Read-only forums allow anyone to read a topic without being able to post. For instance, most of the site announcements are posted in read-only forums; only site admins can post to these.

How to join a Forum

1. Click on the forum you would like to participate in. If it is an open discussion, you will see 'You are not a participant in this discussion,' followed by a 'Sign Me Up!' link in the "Participation" box in the navigation column.

1. If you click on a forum that is closed, you will see the message 'We're sorry, this is a closed discussion'. If you want to take part in the discussion, click the 'Request Forum entry' button. An email will be sent to the discussion owner who may give or deny access, and you will receive confirmation of the result by email. Be patient; it may take a while for the forum owner to get the email and respond.

3. For an open forum, simply click on 'Sign Me Up.'
4. You will now see 'You are a full participant in this discussion.' You can now read or post at any time.

How to post in a Forum

1. For any forum you wish to participate in, either by reading or posting, you must first join the forum as described above.
2. Click on the forum you want to post in. If you are not already a participant, click on 'Sign me up!'
3. Find the thread that you would like to post to and click on it.
4. If you find a post you would like to reply to, click the 'Reply to Post' button in the message information box.
5. Type your response into the message form. Don't forget to spell check!
6. Click 'Post Reply.'
7. Now, look over your post. If you want to change anything, click on the 'Edit Message' button in the message information box, and edit the post as you like.

How to start a new topic in a Forum

1. Go to the forum you are interested in. If you have already joined the discussion, you will see a button 'Add a New Topic Thread' in the Participation box in the navigation column.
2. Click the button.
3. Type in the subject for the topic. This is what will appear in the topic list when that forum is opened.

Make it clear what the topic is about. Starting a topic in Jane Doe's forum called 'About your story' might be fine now when Jane only has one story; when she has eight it will be confusing.

How to create a Forum

Anyone, whether you are a writer or a reader, can create one or more forums. Obviously, you can start a forum to discuss your stories, but there are many interesting forums here on a wide range of topics related to writing. The busiest forums tend to be in the Resources Forums because that's where people go to look for help with research and to picking each others' brains on obscure Tolkien facts.

The key to getting a forum going is post a lot in that discussion yourself. Forums that look active attract more activity. If no one posts a reply to you right away, post something new - a new chapter, a new idea, a note about something you saw and thought was interesting, etc.

Also, post in other forums - that's how other members get to know you. If you like someone's stories, that person may have similar interests and may like yours, and the conversation may interest them in your forum or your stories. If it is a general interest forum, just be sure you are posting something pertinent to the topic. If you are posting in someone's story forum, you should be there to talk about her stories, not advertise your own. It is considered poor manners to "hijack" threads to try to draw people to your own forum.

If you want feedback on a story, make it easy for those who might want to comment. You can do this by:

• Linking your story to your forum
• Asking specific questions in your forum introduction, the first message of your topic thread, or at the beginning or end of your story.

It is always easier to give a specific rather than general comment. Answering 'What did you think of it?' is much harder than 'Did Gandalf's motivations make sense?' or 'Is the Rohan scene too choppy?'

Now, how to create your forum:

1. Locate an "Add Forum" link or button. These are located:
• In the main Forums navigation drop down menu
• In the top title bar on a Conference list of forums (See example in the Stories Forums . Please note, you have to be logged in.)
• On the main "My Forums" page.
2. Click the link or button.
3. You will see the Add a Forum form.
4. Type in the forum name; short names are preferred and display better. There is a 50 character maximum for titles.
5. If this forum is in the Stories Forums, you might choose to title it by your name: 'Name - Stories,' by the name of the story itself or whatever descriptive name you want to use. If it is in Members, you can also use your name 'Name's Discussion,' or choose another title that you like.
   
   Keep in mind that if you title a story discussion by the name of one story, you may need to add another discussion or change the name of the existing one when you post other stories. It's easiest to use a general name for your discussion, and post a list of stories in the introduction (and edit that when you add a story).
6. Choose which conferences you want the forum to appear in. Available conferences are:
• Members
• Stories
• Challenges
• Resources
• Workshop (Note: you can only add to this conference when you are a member of a workshop)
7. Write your introduction. This serves the same function that a summary does for a story; it is a way to tell members what's inside, and interest them in entering. It can be as simple as 'This is a place to discuss my stories,' or as long and detailed as you like. If it is very long, it will mean that readers have to scroll repeatedly to get to the threads, which some may find annoying.
8. Choose whether you want other members to be able to link their stories to your forum, or whether only you may link to the forum.
9. Decide whether you want to receive emails when there is a new post in your forum. You can always change your mind later. We recommend saying "Yes".
10. Select whether your forum is for general or adult audiences. Please clearly mark forums or posts that contain mature content.
11. Select who may participate in your forum. Unless you have a reason (such as discussing a story in beta, or a discussion on adult topics) to keep people out, you should choose "Open to all HASA Members, General Public may read." You can always change it later.
12. Click "Add Forum".

If there is more you want to learn more about how the forums work, you can find the answer in the Forums FAQ

Have fun!

And if there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, tell us and we'll try to answer your question!