Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the owner of this forum? WHiZZi is our wise and wonderful leader.

Heeeey, I can't open topics in [fill in the topic] when I'm logged in
Correct. You can only reply in topics when you have less than 10 posts but you can create a new topic in Newbie Zone. This is done to prevent topics in General Chat like 'Look, I'm new', this can be done in Newbie Zone in the correct topic.

I have a really great Al collectible/concert tickets that I'd like to sell/trade here, is there a topic for that? Nope. And there never will be. While there are several fans here that might be interested in your items, we don't allow selling/trading here. You might want to check out some of the other Weird Al groups that do allow trading/sales. Or try eBay. We hear this is a very popular way to buy and sell items online.


While we are talking about things you can't do on WOWAY, let's not post any personal information about Al, his family or co-workers. And by personal, we mean stuff that's not connected to his career or not readily available on Al's very own website. In your surfing you may indeed come across items that are of a more personal nature. But out of respect to Al and the band, let's not broadcast them on the open forum. If you're not sure, PM a mod and ask. If we think the information shouldn't be posted, we will edit it out.

Why can't I use images and links in my signature? The signature function is restricted to text only, no URLs and no graphics. That's just the way it is. You should be happy though. Up until October 31, 2004 no one, except a lucky few who had signatures in place when we switched to the new Invision software, got to have signatures. And even so, they were stuck with what they had. Now you're free to use up to 127 characters and change it whenever the mood strikes.

Can we have an Off Topic Forum? No. WHiZZi has said that there will never be an OT forum in the Free WOWAY. But don't despair, there are a few limited number of OT topics that have been allowed, please don't start any more, as they will be locked. Where are the OT topics, you ask?

The Big Absence Topic 4.0
The Big Age and Genre Topic
The Big Avatar Topic 6.0
The Big Introduction Topic 3.0
The Big Photo Topic 3.0
The Big Signature Topic 3.0
Getting to Know You...and You...and You
Obligatory Holiday/Birthday/Anniversary Topic 4.0
Posting Milestones 4.0
Your MySpace Page

So if I want to talk about my cat's apendectomy, I can't? You sure can, but only if Al performed the surgery. Otherwise, no.

I can't find a topic I started. If it was a topic that was likely to have been locked, look for it in the Trash Can (Darryl Hall's Career....it's a long story). Otherwise it might have been merged with an already existing topic. You can also go to your own profile and view all posts by that member (you.) That should take you right to it. If you still can't find it, Private Message one of the Mods for assistance.

I want to start a new topic, is that ok? We ask that you spend some time getting acquainted with the board before starting new topics. And before you start a new topic make sure you search first to make sure that you aren't making a duplicate topic. It's very likely that any topic you want to discuss already exists on the board somewhere.

I'm new here, remember? How do I do seach for topics? I'm glad you asked! There are a couple of ways to find out if the topic you want already exists:

1)Use the Search function. The search engine can be a tad temperamental, but we do have a topic that will teach you how to use the Search Engine.

2)We have a topic of frequently used topics. Clicking on the links will take you right to the topic you want if it's there. You might also want to check out this topic, which will direct you to some popular topics where you can discuss the best and worst of just about everything Al has done.

3)Familiarize yourself with the stickys on the top of each Forum as well. They contain a lot of helpful information on where to post, and important things you probably don't want to miss.

4)Still not sure? You can ask here. Mods or older members can help you figure out where to post.

I don't want to go to all that trouble. I just want to post my topic. Well, ok. If you must. But don't be surprised or offended if it gets locked. It isn't personal, please don't take it that way. And if you post too many topics that have to be locked or merged, your posting ability can and will be taken away.

Everyone has those cool picture thingies by their name. Can I get one of those? You sure can. We only have a few limits on what is allowed.

1)No pictures from weirdal.com unless you are the rightful owner. Don't think we'll recognize a pic? We will. We are rabidly obsessed fans. We KNOW pics from Al's website.

2)No pictures that belong to other members without their permission. If you do "borrow" a pic and we get a complaint, we do have the ability to take the picture down, and to take away your ability to use an avatar.

3)Your avatar can be of anything, just keep in mind that this is a family friendly forum, so keep it clean. We have some really nice avatars in our Avatar Gallery. They were made and donated by other forum members. Feel free to use them. If you'd like to contribute an avatar to the gallery, you can share that here.

4)If you are updating your avatar, you may have to CTRL F5 to be able to see the newest avie.

Please note that you can no longer link to avatars directly from other websites/photo-hosting sites. You may select an avatar from the Gallery, or upload one directly to WOWAY.

So how do I use them? Well, almost any question concerning how to use pictures in the forum can be answered by reading the Photo Tutorial. I spent over an hour working on it, so humor me and read it before you ask any photo related questions.

I was looking through old posts and found a really neat topic. Can I bump it? It depends. Before you do, ask yourself, "Is the topic still relevant?" If it's a topic about Al's name being mentioned in an old issue of some magazine, trust us: it's no longer relevant. Then ask yourself, "Do I have something meaningful to add to this conversation?" And before you ask, a lone smilie or a "Man, this topic is old!" isn't really going to get the conversation started again.

Eye reelie nead a speel chekker, cin wee git won ov thoze? No. The free version of Invision does not support a spell checker. You have a few options, though. 1) You can read your post before you post it, to check for errors. Or you can edit it afterwards. 2) You can download a spell checker for your toolbar. It only works on IE, sorry. 3) You can type your replies in your word processing program and then paste them into the reply box. 4) Ignore your poor spelling and grammar and hope that the rest of us will care enough to decipher your posts for ourselves. Option 4 seems to be the most popular. (Added 10/08/07)Firefox comes with a built in spell-checker. Does anyone use IE anymore?

Member 27 is Weird Al. Is it really him?? I see he's posted once on this forum. Where can I see that post???? In the early days of this forum, WHiZZi and Bermuda had the forsight to register Al as member 27. Yes, it's our boy. But as far as we know he's never actually used that account. The single post accredited to his account was an admin thing, so his account wouldn't be purged for inactivity.

Oh. So does Al ever read WOWAY? Yes. Yes, he does. Usually under the name "Guest." So next time you're online and see a gaggle of guests listed at the bottom of the page... you never know. One of them might just be our beloved Polka Meister.

Do the other band members know about this forum? Yes.

Can I write to any of them here? No. You can write to Al at Close Personal Friends Of Al. We don't know how you can write to the rest of the band.

I'm looking for a rare Al song....hook me up!

Hey that's not a question! :stern:

Anyhoo, Al doesn't like having his rare, early stuff available. And while a lot of it is readilly available, we'd really like to respect his wishes on this forum. Simply put, if you know how to use the internet, you don't need our help hearing stuff Al would rather you not hear, so don't bother asking, because we're not gonna tell you.

The same goes for live bootlegs. If Al ever changes his mind and says he's "taper friendly", we'll change our policy of removing bootleg links. Until then, Al has never officially commented on the situation, but he has mentioned he doesn't like it, and Bermuda has said they are NOT taper friendly.

Oh, and if you're looking for MP3s of released stuff :@*

What's with all the locked old topics that have been relaunched as (Topic name here) 2.0?

There's a number of explanations for that. The biggest being that moderators have difficulty moderating larger topics. The cosmetic reason is to simply identify the newer topics.

Yonkavickacheizzy.......ok, what the monkey is that?

Simple. You're on a Weird Al forum, learn to spell Yankovic or pay the consequences....well, at least be humiliated by our word filter. '

What's a WOWAY Lover, and how do I become one? It’s a top-secret elitist group that you can only be invited to join by private invitation or figuring out their secret secret handshake. :ph34r:

Nah, just kidding! Anybody can join! All you need to do is scroll to the top of any page and find this button and click on it and follow the directions from there. The donations you make help keep this Forum up and running, plus you get a really neat bonus for donating!




This post has been edited by the Dingo on August 12, 2008 05:14 am

This is still a work in progress, so bear with me.

I did some minor rewording on the FAQ. We are officially discouraging newbies from making new topics until they've been on the boards a while. I will be checking with WHiZZi to see if there's anyway we can restrict making new topics until the member has been around for a while.

WHiZZi: There is

I made some minor changes and additions.

Updated the signature question and fixed some links.

Dave

I added a bit about not posting personAL information on the forum...

I added a question on bumping old topics.

Added questions about 2.0 topics and Yonkavickacheizzy and updated links

Added long overdue MP3 question

Added a section on live bootlegs to the MP3 question.