Apologies for being so late with the August changes, and not getting anything else done until the end of October.

* FAQ #14 - Tango and I attempted to better explain what scripting was allowed in entries and what wasn't allowed.
* FAQ #375 - Explains the Popular Entries section of the homepage.
* FAQ #105 - Carrie re-wrote the introductory Abuse FAQ to be more accessible.
* FAQ #379 - The Russian FAQs haven't been changed to reflect our merging of OpenID and other identity account FAQs. When we un-hid FAQ #318 so that Russian Support could continue to use it, something happened to make the entire FAQ disappear. It was then re-created as FAQ #379. For the time being, we're going to have to live with two FAQs with near-identical titles in the FAQ listing.
* FAQ #232 - Rewritten to more generically refer to identity accounts.
* FAQ #231 - Changed from "OpenID commenting" to "Commenting without an LJ account". Explicitly includes information about anonymous commenting.
* FAQ #75 - Information about LJ spoiler added. Now needs to have cut expansion added.
* FAQ #283 - Clarified how to find the ext_number for an identity account.
* FAQ #184 - Removed information about auto-transcription and Ogg Vorbis.

And the big change:
* FAQ #395 - A new FAQ that's meant to act as an introduction and guide to all the specific spam FAQs.

Also, I created an example entry with all of the Like buttons (except give and repost). If you don't mind, clicking on one or two of those buttons would help illustrate how they work when I get to that FAQ later this week.

So, yes, another of these posts where someone's leaving Support. Guess that's the theme for this week?

I don't think I could sum up all the ways in which Support has affected my life, so I'm not going to try. Instead, I'll blow some rust off an old habit and leave you all with a song.

Well, the last days are the hardest days
When there's less than one week more
Tying up all your loose ends
With one foot out the door

Let's go through my stocks
I'm throwing in the trash
Whoa-oh, what I want to do-o
Is clear my cache

No more traceroutes, my friends
No more polite advice
No more wiki password calls
(Resets to be be precise)

Shall we say goodbye?
I'm giving it a try
Woo-ooh, what I want to do-o
Is not to cry

Goddamn, well I declare
Have you seen the like?
Tech support by volunteers
Proud to serve for seven years

Come read Uncle John's post
As he says goodbye
Got some things to sing about
One last filk before I fly

I said farewell to crow, canoe
And every other bot
And all that request scraping code
(I won't miss that a lot)

Ain't no time to hate,
Barely time to wait
Whoa-oh, what I want to know
Where does the time go?

Got to say one last goodbye
To every one of you
I got me one last post
And this is what I'll do

Thank you for the years
And all the boos and chears
Whoa-oh, what I want to know
Is where we'll all go

Come read Uncle John's post
In lj_support
I'll miss you all, good luck to you
I hope my song did not fall short

Come read Uncle John's post
As he says goodbye
Had some things to sing about
One last filk before I fly

I've read a few of these types of entries over the years, but for some reason I never really thought much about when my time would come, and what I would say to you all when it did. So I'm just going to say it: I'm leaving Support.

( This entry is the final destination in a wonderful journey for meCollapse )

Volunteering in Support has been hugely positive for me. I've learned any amount of useful technical information, honed my writing and teaching skills, and boosted my confidence. But the most precious treasure I'll take away with me is the wonderful friendships I've found here. Those alone would have made this time worthwhile - and without them, nothing could have. You all rock ♥ Even though I'm in New Zealand, far away from most of you in person and in timezone, the community that we sustained through IRC and LiveJournal communities made me feel every bit as close to you as anyone I know in my offline world. Be strong, rock on :)

Bah! I've tried to write this a gazillion times and it ended up sounding so sappy. So I'll be short and to the point! Life demands I quit LiveJournal Support. I loved it, wish I could continue, but it's not possible. I want to thank a ton of people, but I'm afraid I'll forget half of them. So thanks to everyone that has helped me out in any way or form. And most importantly, many thanks to all those awesome friends I now have out there, thanks to Support.

This must be the shortest goodbye message ever, but I don't want to become all sentimental. So bye and thanks for all the good times, spr0t. I shall certainly miss you. Take care of my canoe, please!

Puppies and love,
Zoi

I'm going to start doing these monthly now, to minimize spamming your friends lists.

* FAQ #98 - Better explains userpic image restrictions and specifically calls out animated GIF errors.
* FAQ #313 - Explains both new and old-style reposting, gives examples. Still waiting to hear about better or alternative names.
* FAQ #186 - Explains differences between different site schemes, links to screenshots and previews.
* FAQ #50 - Rewritten to cover both wanting to hide from and promote to external search engines. Explains how different settings affect search engine findability.
* FAQ #301 - Re-organized features to follow same order as in hover menu, included screenshots.
* FAQ #283 - Rewritten to apply to all identity accounts.
* FAQ #318 - Merged into #283 and hidden.
* FAQ #314 - Rewritten for all identity accounts.
* FAQ #160 - Updated for current supported browsers.

FAQ #313 has been updated to address both styles of reposting. For the time being we're calling them new-style and original-style reposting until better names have been determined. The FAQ includes links to a couple of example entries in exampleusername so users can see what the feature looks like for real.

FAQ 372 has been added for community email. It's roughly translated from the Russian.

FAQ 286 (What are Cyrillic Services?) has been updated into a new format. Not only does it tell you how to join Cyrillic services, but it lists some of the major features and differences, in descending order of their usefulness to the non-Russian audience.

I want to take this format into other categories as well, to act as a short introduction or primer before sending newbies off into the meatier FAQs. There's still a lot of pending changes to get through, but after that I'd like to do another primer FAQ for either comments or userpics (or possibly on how to deal with spam and spammers.)

FAQs 262 and 288 have been updated. The major change to 262 was the table-ization of the who sees what section, along with some minor shuffling of the other information. In 288 I moved the link to the downgrade page up to the top of the FAQ, cleaned up the list of feature changes, and separated and clarified what would affect communities and what only affected personal journals. As always, input on the changes is welcomed and appreciated.

Edit: Added the effect of a paid account on advertising to 131.

I had dabbled in Support, off and on, as early as 2003 (for the invite codes, y'all), but five years ago today I committed myself to trying it again, fully and well. I even read the Support Guide! It was during a period of great upheaval for me, and in Support, I found the sense of confidence, accomplishment, and belonging that was sorely missing from the rest of my life. I will never forget the warmth, kindness, and generosity with which all of you welcomed me into this community -- this family. Seven months later, I was an Entries admin.

Today, I am stepping down. It's been a long time since I've kept that old commitment, of doing this fully and well, and it is time for me to own the truth that my time here has run its course. But I want you to know that I have never lost the respect, affection, and love I have for LiveJournal Support and for those of you who keep it going. And if anyone reading this thinks you may like to give this thing a chance, I believe that it can and will change your life for the better, if you let it.

Five years ago, when I started this journey, I never imagined that it would take me across the country three times; that I would be able to meet friends when I traveled to Florida, DC, and Chicago; that as far away as Greece and Australia were people who I would someday hold dear; that there would be imagined worlds called Tyria and Ur in which I would make real memories. And there is no way, really, to sum up what this experience has been for me or what it has meant for me. I was privileged enough to lead two categories, Entries and ScrapBook, to work alongside some of the best people anywhere as co-admins (legomymalfoy, constantia, and norinel; mayerman and daydreamer; tinyjo and elyssa; and senza and trixieleitz) and as a manager (coffeechica, who advocates fiercely and tirelessly for all of us). I started a campaign against the Rich Text Editor. I wrote two found language poems using material from Support requests. I added stock answers until stock answers became cool. One year, mayerman came to my apartment on his birthday, and I gave him a hot pink boa to match this photoshopped one.

I still remember the first time I realized that I could be online and affect, even orchestrate, the goings-on at a meetup hundreds of miles away. And probably nothing again will ever quite resemble spending two days writing a choose-your-own-adventure story with right; or coordinating more than a dozen people in a game of IRC Werewolf; or that one time I was really tipsy and IRC talked me into posting a profanity-laden limerick in privchange. Oops?

Sometimes you meet a moment when you know that what you've done has brought you to a place in life where you were meant to be. Support has given me that moment again and again. I experienced it while braving the crushing crowds of Barack Obama's historic inauguration with boredinsomniac by my side; and again when marta gathered together a crowd of admins and Abuse Prevention Team members in the backyard of a Las Vegas mansion, turned to me, and handed me a cthulpus tshirt I'd forgotten helping to design; and again when I moved through my small town life carrying the secret loveliness of coffeechica's fading henna patterns on my palms; and again when I paused with hammond and the_kitty_kat and my boyfriend and two other cars of people among the otherworldly red hills of the Valley of Fire to watch and wait while a desert tortoise crossed the road.

Those of you who read my LJ know that I've been on a fitness journey for the last ten months. Growing up, I was always that overweight, unathletic kid in gym class, lagging far behind the pack, barely able to walk the five laps around the track during our annual mile run. Last Thanksgiving, I ran a mile for the first time in my life, and last month, I ran my first 5k. This week, I signed up for my first 10k, in the fall, and I plan to spend part of my summer training for it and daydreaming of even longer races, for now confined to Someday. I say all of this to let you know that while my run in LJ Support is at an end, another one has begun for me.

And I know it goes without saying, but Support, you and I, we will never be strangers.

♥,
Connie

I updated all the Scrapbook FAQs this weekend to reflect new Scrapbook. I also hid #256 and #276 as they no longer applied to new Scrapbook. Please take a moment to look over the FAQs, share your thoughts, let me know if there's anything that was missed, etc... Thanks!