The Rules

Secret Santa, Elfings and maybe some other stuff
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Lucy Took
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The Rules

Post by Lucy Took » Thu Dec 01, 2016 5:37 am

It's that time again! Time for Secret Santa!
And this is your place to find all you need to know about it- how it works, what the schedule is, and who's in charge of what.

Q: What is Secret Santa?
A: It's a fun time we have each Christmas season when we get to give gifts to our friends, anonymously, through the Father Christmas and Elf accounts.

Q: How does it work?
A: Simple. Just let us know you want to join in in the sign up thread, and then post your wishlist to Father Christmas in the "Dear Father Christmas" thread. After sign ups are over, Tooky and Tenny will take the list of those who wish to participate and assign each person another member on the list to whom they will give gifts. All giving is done anonymously through using the Father Christmas account. (we'll PM y'all the password for the account when the giving threads are opened)
Each day, for the open period, you will have the opportunity to get on and give the person you are assigned something they asked for in their letter to Father Christmas, or something they didn't ask for but you thought they would like. You will also have the opportunity to give to other members, not just your assigned one, by using the Elf account.
After the days of giving are over, there will be a revealing thread where you finally get to tell who you were Father Christmas and/or Elf to. We might even have a thread allowing you to discuss your suspicions of who your Secret Santa or Elf is during the days of giving, but no telling until the revealing thread is open! You don't want to spoil the fun, now, do you?

Q: What kind of things can I ask for/give?
A: Just about anything, as long as it can translate over the computer and complies to all TLC rules. The most popular sort of gifts to give are pictures, sig/avvy sets, youtube videos, web pages, computer wallpapers, poems, games, recipes, fanfics, etc. Your wishlist can even just be a list of things you are interested in, movies or books you like, your favorite musicians and bands- anything to give your SS ideas for something you would like. If you need to, check out the wishlists of others. Looking at the lists of those who have participated in years before can give you plenty of ideas of things to ask for. Anything that shows you care, nothing you had to pay for though, even if I'd love it if someone got me Spotify Premium ;) Seriously though. No money involved. Period.

Q: Can I give to anyone I want?
A: No. And yes! When you log into the Father Christmas account, you can only give to the person you were assigned, but, when you're logged into the Elf account, you can give to anyone you want- even if they didn't sign up for the fun. You never know who might check out the threads.

Q: How long do I have to sign up and post my wishlist?
A: Sign up starts Nov. 30th, and the last day to sign up is Dec. 7th. On Dec. 8th will receive the name of your “victim”

Q: When does giving start, and how long will it go/when is the last day of giving?
A: The first day of giving, for both accounts, is Dec. 8th. Normally we only go 12 days for SS, but I know we live busy lives so I'm making the last day of giving Jan. 5th this year since it's the "Last Day of Christmas"

Q: Do I have to give every day?
A: No, you do not have to give every day, though we're asking for you to give at least 12 days out of the month, or about every other day with some leeway because it's Christmas and we all have a RL. Giving in the Elf thread is at will, you can give in there multiple times a day, or never at all.

Q: Do I have to be completely anonymous in my giving?
A: Yep, it's all part of the game. That anonymity not only means keeping your screen name a secret, but also that you don't give anything that might give away any personal information. Safety at all times.

Q: Do all link, fanfic, original works, and graphics rules apply to SS as well as the regular site and forum rules?
A: Absolutely. However I know we have some older members and there is some legit good T rated fanfiction out there so if you want to give something that's not 100% kosher according to TLC's strict family friendly rules AND you know the person that you're giving to really well you're free to run those links by Lucy Took.

Q: I'm a Knight or higher in rank, so I don't need to have any sort of links approved, right?
A: No, we're actually going to need you to PM those links to Tooky, Tenny or another mod. Due to the anonymity of the event, we will need all links of any sort needing to be posted by any member to first be pre-approved and tagged with an approval statement so we know those members of non-Senior rank are not avoiding the rules. (Notes to my helpers. No you do not have to actually watch through every YouTube video or read every fanfic a Knight sends you. I just want you to be aware of who put what links up)

Q: Who can I go to, to get my links approved?
A: Lucy Took or Tenethia are your best bets since we're running the show. Ariel.of.Narnia is also a good option since she's on fairly often. always narnian and Ajnos are also cleared to approve if you see them around.

Q: Can I post items from deviantArt.com?
A: Not directly. dA is not an approved site, but if you want to give something from there, there is a way. Simply save the item to your computer, then upload it to imgur or if it's small upload it as an attachment to get an approvable link for giving.
Reminder for dA links and other pictures you post: You have to credit the artist! At the very least, mention what their screen name is, and even warnings if necessary. We can get into trouble if we post copyrighted pictures and do not credit the artist! Please, don’t forget!

Q: If I have a graphic or picture to give that is big enough to need to be a link, how do I give the link anonymously?
A: Imgur lets you upload pictures and graphics to get links for them without creating an account, and the links are completely anonymous. That's the site we recommend most. Hotlinking is really bad form (Lets be honest it's way less of a problem now than it used to be. I bet some of you whippersnappers don't even remember what hotlinking is. Lion's Mane I'm old. Just if you find a picture on a personal/non-profit site download it to your computer and then reupload it with a link to where you got it from and/or credit the artist.) FaceBook and Pinterest will also let you upload stuff and the links normally don't have information coded in them. You could even make a private Pin board and upload to that.

If you found a page on an artist's personal website it's best to just link directly to the page that the artwork is on. If the artist has other questionable stuff leave a warning, but if it's not on the page of the artwork you want to share then share the whole page, it's just proper to give credit where credit is due.

Warning! Imgur can have some nasty stuff, so while we endorse using it for graphics links, we do not suggest rooting around the site for stuff. You never know what you might find, and not in a good way.

Q: I want to give my person a graphics set, but I don't know how to make one! Is there anywhere I can get some help?
A: The internet is a wonderful place full of tutorials and...OK, making sets isn't everyone's cup of tea. Head over to the graphics forums, see who's an active maker and ask them nicely if they'll help you out. I (Tooky) would normally be of service but my Photoshop is currently out of commission and GIMP is not something I feel like using regularly. (On that note if you get sets that look like they were made in Adobe Illustrator....just remember, Tooky's Photoshop is currently out of commission)


Reminders!!!


- Please do not sign in as invisible with the Father Christmas and Elf accounts. Many people want to use these, and often at the same time. If people can't tell when someone is using the accounts and when they're not, it causes problems.

- Only log into the accounts with the purpose of posting in their appropriate threads. These are privilege accounts, and accounts used by many people, and should not be used longer than necessary nor for what their purpose is. If you want to read new posts throughout the forum, you should be reading them logged in under your own name. Likewise, you should also make sure you log out of either account immediately after you finish your giving.

- If you want to add an avatar or signature to the Father Christmas or Elf accounts....it either has to be Christmasy or punny. And run by Tooky.

- Please do not PM link approval requests (or anything else) under the Father Christmas and Elf accounts. Everyone logged in as Father Christmas or an Elf can read the PM and you might not know which PM is for you and which is for the next person in disguise. So please, PM under your REAL SCREEN NAME so that this confusion doesn't happen! Making sure you use your real screen name also allows we Admins and Mods to be able to know who we need to talk with if any concerns come up.

- Remember to keep each thread to its specific purpose. There should be no comments or conversations in the sign up, wish list, or giving threads. There will be a separate thread for discussing who you think you or someone else’s SS is, but no giving anything away until the reveal thread is up at the end of the event. There will also be a thread for thanking your SS and Elves, but remember not to reply to the thanks there…you can do that later after you reveal.


Any more questions, feel free to ask!

Have fun!!!
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Benisse
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Re: The Rules

Post by Benisse » Thu Dec 01, 2016 7:10 am

Thank you for getting this going, Tookie. I can't believe December is upon us!!
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Ariel.of.Narnia
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Re: The Rules

Post by Ariel.of.Narnia » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:16 am

(Psst, if you need set-making help, Ariel is also available. And her Photoshop is operational. ;) )
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jesusgirl4ever
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Re: The Rules

Post by jesusgirl4ever » Sun Dec 04, 2016 7:18 pm

(Jaygee is also available [with PicMonkey], but Ariel's stuff would look better. Definitely. ;) )
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