Hi there, new member! Welcome to the Hamster Hideout Forum. 
Here, we ask and answer questions, exchange tips tricks, and information, share adorable hamster photos/videos, and just about anything else you can think of regarding hamsters! We (Miss Hamster and HamsterHarmony) have created this thread to hopefully help you have a better understanding on how the forum works by sharing helpful links and information. Note: To visit certain pages, we have added the link to certain word/phrase, so all you do is click on them to take you directly to that specific page. (The words/phrases should be highlighted in blue and underlined!) 
To begin, it may be a good idea to check out the three important links of the HH Forum Rules and Guidelines, HH FAQ and HH Forum Equitte.
We have made a simpler, shorter version of the rules found in the spoiler below.
Rules & Guidelines
We decided to include the rules, even though it’s easily accessible through multiple parts of the forum. Might as well include them here, so you can better understand Hamster Hideout (and in case you weren’t sure where they were)
The following rules were posted by dusty and written by Taxonomist, along with edits from the moderator team.
[Section 1 - BASIC RULES]
1.1) Be kind, friendly, and respectful to others - The Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated. This applies to seasoned members as much as it does to new members! Avoid "jumping on" members about mistakes. Always be positive and encouraging, and make use of smileys. Your goal should be to teach, not to chastise or scold. Read all replies to a topic before answering a topic to ensure you are clear about the context. You are encouraged to "Like" a reply you agree with to show your support. Do not "form a tag-team" with other members to put pressure on another member whom you do not agree with. Let's create an environment that is conducive to learning and sharing knowledge.
1.2) Keep it family friendly - Hamster Hideout is a forum that caters to all ages. We have plenty of adult members, but there are also younger children here as well. As such, everything on the forum should be G-rated. Foul language, crude words, or words that even insinuate swearing are not permitted, as it has no place in polite conversation. There's no real reason to discuss adult topics such as sex or drug use on a hamster care forum. It is acceptable to use anatomical terms when discussing hamster anatomy.
1.3) Do not discuss religion or politics - In-depth discussions of these topics often lead to arguments and hurt feelings. This is a forum about hamster care; there's absolutely no need to get into theological debates or political rants.
1.4) One account per person - Do not make multiple accounts. If you're having a problem with your account and need to create a new one, contact a moderator so that s/he can delete one of the accounts afterwards.
1.5) Do not use other peoples' creations in your signature or avatar without their permission - This includes pictures and artwork. If you do have a person's permission to post their creation, always give credit!
[Section 2 - SAFETY RULES]
2.1) Keep your password private - Do not give out your password to anyone, including friends, family, forum members and moderators. This is for your safety!
2.2) Do not post personal information - Members under 18 years old are not permitted to post pictures of themselves, pictures of friends or family, pictures of the outside of their house, last names, phone numbers, addresses, or school names. This is to protect the privacy of our underage users. Members over the age of 18 are also encouraged to guard their personal information.
[Section 3 - POSTING RULES]
3.1) Do not post in all-caps - Posting in all-caps is the Internet equivalent of shouting, and is considered rude.
3.2) Use proper English spelling and grammar to the best of your ability - Not all members speak English as a first language. It can be very hard for non-native English speakers to understand posts that have poor spelling or grammar, or make use of nonstandard forms of communication (Singlish, net speak, etc.).
3.3) Post topics in the appropriate sub-forum - We have several different sub-forums for different topics. Posting in the correct sub-forum ensures that your post will be seen and answered quickly. Proper categorization of posts also helps to keep the forum clean and organized.
3.4) Keep on topic - Do not "derail" threads with irrelevant chatter or personal conversations. Take personal conversations to PM, and keep silly / fun posts in the Wacky Forum.
3.5) Provide sources and give credit - When posting content from another website, please provide a link to the actual page. This is to acknowledge the original owner or creator of the content.
3.6) Do not double-post - That is, do not make multiple replies in a row. Instead, simply use the "Edit" button found in the bottom, right hand corner of the post.
3.7) Do not post redundant "informational" topics - To avoid clutter in the forum, members should not post informational topics that cover material found elsewhere in the forum. The moderators reserve the right to lock or delete unnecessary informational posts.
3.8) Do not post links to photos or videos depicting animal cruelty. Any links will be removed.
[Section 4 - MISCELLANEOUS RULES]
4.1) Breeding policy - Hamster Hideout does not encourage deliberate breeding of hamsters. Do not make threads asking how to breed your hamsters. If you breed hamsters intentionally, do not talk about it or ask questions about it here. Any threads discussing intentional breeding will be locked. If your hamster becomes pregnant under unintended circumstances, you may ask for advice on caring for the mother and babies here.
4.2) Buying / selling hamsters - Buying and selling of hamsters is strictly forbidden. The adoption sections are only for free adoptions.
4.3) Statuses - Statuses should be limited to a maximum of 2 per 24-hour period. This rule does not go by calendar days, but by a period of 24 hours from the first status posted. Do not use the status bar to chat as it is considered a community resource. Remember that every time you post a status, it bumps someone else's status off. Because of this, it is considered very rude to post many statuses over and over again.
4.4) Advertisements - Any advertisement of for-profit products or services is not allowed. Spamming the status bar, PM function, or forum in general to advertise is not allowed. It is okay to have a link to your Youtube account, blog, or any other not-for-profit website in your signature or on your profile.
4.5) Signatures and Banners - Signatures and banners should be kept fairly small, without an excess of images, to be considerate of those on small screens and other devices. As a general guideline, your signature should be no longer than the distance between the blue bar that contains your username and the bottom of your mood indicator. If your signature is considerably larger than this, please re-size it.
4.6) YouTube Policy - All YouTube-related talk should be kept to the YouTube subforum only. Do not use the status bar, forum, or PM function to advertise or talk about YouTube channel or videos. Keep all YouTube-related talk positive--do not use any part of the forum as a rant board for YouTube drama.
4.7) Messaging - Please do not private message your general hamster care questions to moderators or members. Questions like these should be posted on the forum so others can have access to sharing and reading information.
Acknowledgements: This easy-to-understand forum rules and guidelines has been graciously put together by Taxonomist and approved with edits by the moderator team.
Hey! Me again. The following rules have also been created by either dusty or wiffy in different posts. We just wanted to include them so that all the rules are in one place.
RULES:
Restriction on giving out personal info: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/8163-new-rule-restriction-on-giving-of-personal-info/
Accounts and Topic Closure Requests: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/92667-accounts-and-topics-closure-requests/
YouTube Promotion Guidelines: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/101683-guidelines-on-promotion-of-youtube-links-on-hh-forum/
Character Restriction in names: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/85443-character-restrictions-in-names/
Informational Topics: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/79702-guidelines-on-creation-of-informational-topics/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have never been a member of a forum before, you probably aren’t too sure on how to work your way round or use the forum in general. We thought it would be a great idea to share a few hints and tips along with links on the basics of the forum for you to grasp to make your experience in the Hamster Hideout community a whole lot easier. 
Here is a list of the basic aspects of the forum which we will teach you how to use:
- How to upload a photo
- How to quote a post by another member
- How to upload a profile picture
- How to edit your profile
- How to create a topic
- How to write a status
“How do I upload a photo?”
Uploading a photo can be tricky to work out for yourself and many members certainly had trouble doing so. It is actually quite simple! To begin, you are required to join a photo uploading site such as Photobucket and Flickr (Note: For the younger members, remember to ask your parents/guardians for their permission before signing up on any website like these). Now you can follow the link below which will give you detailed steps on how to upload your photos.
http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/73777-photo-uploading-in-depth-tutorial/
(Credit to AnthonysAnimals101)
Besides your own photos, you also have the choice of uploading photos from the internet. Again, there is a detailed thread on how to do so, thanks to our helpful members around the forum!
http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/5025-tutorial-posting-pictures-from-internet/
(Credit to purplelotus)
Awesome, now you know how to upload your very own pictures to the forum. You can share pictures in the ‘Gallery@HH Forum’ subforum 
“What is quoting and how do I do it?”
Quoting a post is simply replying to another member’s comment. You can do this by clicking the button ‘quote’ at the bottom right hand corner on the post left by another member. They should then receive a notification saying, ‘(username) has quoted a post you have made’. Easy! The ‘multi quote’ option is so you can simply quote many people at the same time.
“How do I upload a profile picture/avatar?”
If you haven’t noticed already, you have the choice to have a small icon to represent yourself. This makes it easier for people to recognize the user. It is very quick and simple to upload a profile picture. Follow the steps and pictures below if you intend to do so.
1. First, simply click on your name on the top right hand corner of the screen. From here, click on ‘My profile.’
2. When clicking on your profile, you should see a button saying ‘Edit my profile’ situated at the top of your profile above your status bar.
3. In the link reading ‘Profile settings’ (which should appear when the page first loads) you will find a ‘Change my photo…’ option. Simply click on this.
4. This option screen should appear. You can either upload from your photo library or from a photo website. Please be aware that some images may be too big, so be sure to resize them if so. You even have the option to crop the photo after uploading
There are certain rules when uploading photos, so please ensure that they stay within these guidelines. 
“How can I edit my profile?”
Editing your profile can take a lot of time and effort, but it is totally worth it! You can add information about yourself including pets and hobbies, as well as cute gifs and pictures to share. The steps and pictures below will show you how to do so
1. Similar to changing your profile picture, Click on ‘Your profile’.
2. ‘Edit my profile’ …
3. You can then edit your ‘About me’ page which people can view as soon as they click on your profile. Write about yourself, pets and even include pictures! Remember to keep information that you post suitable. You can change many things about your profile on this screen.
“How do I create a topic?”
If you have any queries or you are simply sharing things with the forum, you can create a topic.
1. To do so, start off by finding the correct sub form e.g. ‘Ham-Ha! I’m New!’ or ‘Supplies and Accessories’, this will contribute to the organisation of the forum and users will find it easier to find your specific category of question.
2. When choosing your sub forum, you can simply click on the ‘Start a new topic’.
3. Which will take you to the following screen…
Here you can label your topic with a title, so people sort of know what it is about. You can also add tags making it easier to find in the search bar, located at the top right corner of the screen. You have lots of choices now! Change the font, size, colour of your text, add photos and links, change the arrangement too! It’s like working on a Microsoft word document You can also have the choice to enable your signature (The screen which appears below every post you make) and if you would like to enable emotions. You can also follow the topic so you are notified if someone replies to it.
Remember to search any similar questions you have before asking them to reduce clogging up the forum. Why not introduce yourself in the ‘Ham-Ha! I’m New!’ sub forum? 
“How can I update my status”
1. Updating your status is very easy, look at the image below and see for yourself!
You can only write statuses when you reach 50 posts, but do not write spam posts in order to reach this many as this can clog up the forum! You may also be reported. You can write as many status’ as you want throughout the day, but please do not spam the status bar, as it is not fair to other users because their status will be moved off the feed, thank you. We also advise not to advertise youtube links or videos in your status, and stick to linking videos in the 'Youtube' subsection.
Remember that you can send and receive messages, as well as notifications. These are displayed at the top right of the bar.
Congratulations, now you know the basics of the forum!
From past experience, we understand how difficult it is to find your way around the forum in your first couple of visits on hamster hideout. It is very important you understand the different sub-forums provided, so that if you have an important question, it is posted in the correct section so your question/query is more likely to be answered as soon as possible J That is why we have provided a small guide to the forum and what each sub-forum is about. Have fun exploring!
SITE/FORUM ADMINISTRATION:
News & Announcements: This is where you can stay up-to-date on the latest happenings on HH. It’s view and reply only, as dusty is the only one who can post topics here.
Feedback & Support: Post all questions regarding the forum here, along with any improvement suggestions and related. Please read the FAQ, rules and guidelines, and etiquette before posting to see if your question has already been answered.
Test & Validating Zone: WHEEEEE!!! Testing Bloop bleep blee blah… You can test out different functions and emoticons here. Posting here doesn’t add to your post count.
HAMSTER CARE:
Ailments & Injuries: Is your hamster looking under the weather? You can get advice here. This is not a replacement for getting an expert opinion from the vet, but if it’s an emergency or if you are unable to see the vet, this is a great place to post.
Behavior & Personality. Handling & Taming: Don’t know how to tame? Is your hamster acting strange? Topics like those belong here.
Hamster Pregnancy Care: Although HH doesn’t support breeding, we can help you out if your hamsters accidentally had babies, so you can give the mom and pups the right care they need.
Supplies and Accessories: Questions/discussion about anything you put into a hamster's cage.
- Tips, How-To, and DIY: Fun homemade hamster items and tips you can use for your hamster.
The Different Species: Syrians, Winter Whites, Roborovskis, Chinese, and Russian Campbells talk go here.
Food & Nutrition: Looking to make your hamster a gourmet diet? Discussions and questions galore!
General Care & Health: Anything about the care or well being of your hamster that doesn’t fit in any of the other categories, most likely falls under general care and health.
HAMSTER HIDEOUT NETWORK:
Ham-Ha! I’m New!: This is where you can introduce yourself and your pets, plus ask questions you might have about how the forum works (you can also post these questions in the Feedback & Support section if you prefer).
Hamster Hideout Cafe: A place to hang out and communicate with other members.
- Members' Blogs: A subforum only available to members (people who don’t have an account cannot view the blogs). It’s a great way for people to get to know you and a lot of fun to write!
- Happy Birthday!: You can wish fellow members a happy birthday and write/comment a nice post.
- Contest: Super fun!! Some examples of contests that are held are Hamster Of The Months, music contests, and even cooking/baking contests!
GALLERY:
Gallery@HH Forum: Show your awesome hamster photos here. You can also introduce a new hamster and of course post lots of pictures!
Hamster Art Gallery: Drawing, photo editing, and artsy hamster things. A very great way to get inspired by others’ creativity.
Hamster Toys Gallery: Want to show everyone your latest hamster haul? This is the place to do it!
Hamster Videos: It’s so fun to watch adorable hamsters in action.
- YouTube Talk: Please keep all YouTube video links limited to this subforum. You can give/receive advice about YouTube, and share your channel here!
HAMSTER FUN:
Hamster Debate: You can ask questions about which hamster species is your favorite, what wheel members like best, etc. Kind of like voting! Except without politics.
Hamster Tales: ‘Once upon a time, there was a hamster who lived in a far-away kingdom…’ Share your stories and be a hamster author here!
Wacky Board: Posts are not counted, because you are free to let out all your sillies here.
WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD?
Worldwide Hamster News: Extra, extra. Read all about it. Stay up-to-date with newly released hamster products and news!
HAMSTER HIDEOUT SINGAPORE:
Hamster Adoptions (Free - Singapore only): Free hamster adoptions only for Singaporean members.
Supplies & Accessories (Buy/Sell - Singapore only): Buy and sell unused/unwanted hamster stuff. For Singaporean members only.
Bulk Orders (Singapore only): AWESOMENESS! A 5000 pound bag of CareFresh for meee? Haha, maybe not that big, but you can get bulk orders of hamster things for Singaporean members only.
HAMSTER HIDEOUT WORLDWIDE CLASSIFIEDS (MEMBERS ONLY):
Rescue Centres & Shelters: Spread awareness of an animal shelter you want to support, or hear about it from other members.
Hamster Adoptions (Free - Worldwide): No buying or selling - the hamsters must be free for adoption! (posts not counted)
Supplies & Accessories (Buy/Sell - Worldwide): Buy and sell hamster goodies to/from any member in the world!
MEMORY LANE:
Rainbow Bridge: Remember the pets who’ve brightened our days and made us smile.
Phew, that was a lot to read, but it will make your experience on the forum a whole lot easier! If you are a first time hamster owner, you will find the following spoiler very helpful. We have picked out basic hamster care we like to follow on the forum, along with a link with hamster care in a lot more detail
BASIC HAMSTER CARE
- The recommended bare minimum for a cage size is 360 square inches, but bigger is better
- We do not support breeding
- Softwood bedding (cedar and pine), cotton wool, and scented bedding are NOT safe for hamsters
- Room temperature should be 68°F to 72°F
- When bringing your hamster home for the first time, give your hamster at least 3 days to adapt to his/her surroundings
- Use a bottle instead of a bowl, and make sure it is either 4, 6, or 8 ounces.
- NEVER use a mesh or wire wheel, as these are very dangerous and can cause bumblefoot
CAGE NECESSITIES:
- Bedding
- food bowl (preferably ceramic)
- water bottle
- hideout
- chew toys
- appropriately sized wheel
- Toys/stimulation
For more in-depth hamster basics, click HERE
Now, a little bit about our moderators. There are friendly members of the forum who are here to make sure everything is running orderly, that we’re all safe, and of course are here to help! You will occasionally see them around the forum Here is a list of the current mods:
Meet the moderators:
Please remember that our mods have lives too! They do not have all the time in the world for the forum, which is why it is recommended to ask questions among the forum before asking a mod, unless you are in a desperate situation. Thanks!
There are many different types of members on the forum, you are most likely to be a ‘Member’, likewise to most people! But don’t forget others have different important roles which keep our forum up and running. A list of the different members can be found below.
Admin Team
Global Moderating Team
Moderator Team
Ambassador Team
Designer Team
Writer Team
Mod-In-Training Team
Member
Validating Member
Still unsure as to what their roles are? No worries! A detailed description of each type of member is displayed below
Programmer - The programmer of HHF is dusty. He founded and created this forum from scratch, and can change anything about it. He frequently checks up on the Feedback & Support to see if members have any special requests, improvement suggestions, yada yada.
Moderator Team - The general role of a moderator is to keep the forum running smoothly. They have special moderating “powers” which consist of removing/editing posts and topics, banning members, locking/deleting status updates, etc.
Advisor team - An advisor usually sticks to a specific section of the forum, such as Ailments & Injuries, and know a lot about that subject. Very helpful people!
Moderator-in-training Team - New mods who are still getting used to their roles.
Member - Yay! Members! We are all people who signed up for an account, verified with our email, and started enjoying HH.
Validating Member - This just means you haven’t verified with your email yet.
RETIRED GROUPS:
Admin Team - Just like a manager of a store! Think of the administrator as the moderators’ “boss” (but in a good way). There are no active administrators at the moment, wiffy used to be one but now she is part of the off-duty crew.
Global Moderating Team - This is basically a fancy term for moderators who can moderate in all parts of the forum. Currently, all the moderators would be considered “Global Mods”, so there is no need for this special title right now.
Ambassador Team - The welcome committee! They are friendly spirits and reply to new members’ posts on the “Ham-Ha! I’m New!” section of the forum and help out with questions the newer members might have. Today, a lot of members already reply to newbies’ posts, creating a friendly environment.
Design team - Very artistic and creative! They design different aspects of the forum, hence the title.
Writer team - They are the “authors” of the forum's official blog posts.
What are ranks…? “There are also special member titles not related to post counts that are given out to deserving members from time to time. Reminder: Please do not spam the forum to increase your post count. Members who do that will have their post count reset to 0.” Quote by dusty from FAQ.
Quote
What are the member ranks available and how many posts do I need to achieve each rank?
No. of Posts Rank
0 Baby Hamster
50 Rookie Hamster
100 Junior Hamster
250 Adult Hamster
500 Veteran Hamster
1000 Hamster Clone
2000 Ultimate Hamster Clone
3000 Full-fledged Hamster
4000 onwards Secret Career Track
HH Vocab List!
There are many new and exciting terms to learn when you first join a forum, so we thought it would be nice to give you some helpful definitions that you will see commonly.
Thread/Topic - A new discussion
Status Update - Allows members to discuss their thoughts, important information, and basically anything they wish!
PM - Personal Message; the little open envelope thingy to the very left of your username (the top right corner of the screen)
Reply - Posting something in response to a topic
OP - Original Poster; the person who posts a specific topic
IMO - In my opinion
Participate!
As active members of the forum, we understand that it is important to participate in the forum to help those in need. However, HH gets even better! As well as helping fellow friends around the forum, HH is packed with lots of fun activities you can participate in, from talking about your strong interests with others, down to entering contests monthly. Take your pick!
We strongly encourage you to make a post in the "Ham-Ha! I’m new!" section of the forum. It helps us get to know you better and other members can answer any questions you might have,
Along with that, you can introduce your hamster(s) in the Member’s Hamsters thread.
The Wacky Board is a super fun place to talk about random stuff, play games, and be wacky!
And lastly, if you change your name, signature, or profile pictures, it would be beneficial to post in the particular threads created for these purposes.
Other useful links are listed below, so it’s totally worth checking them out!
A guide to responsible pet ownership: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/97939-a-guide-to-responsible-pet-ownership/
Member’s Hamsters: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/56836-members-hamsters/
Forum Etiquette: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/forum-50/announcement-16-hh-forum-etiquette/
FAQ: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/forum-50/announcement-15-hh-faq/
Rules & Guidelines: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/forum-50/announcement-14-hh-forum-rules-and-guidelines/
Post here if you changed your name: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/6629-post-here-if-you-just-changed-your-name/
Post here if you changed your siggy/avatar: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/5480-post-here-if-you-just-changed-your-siggy-or-avatar/
How to post pictures from internet: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/5025-tutorial-posting-pictures-from-internet/
How to post pictures from a photo uploading site: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/73777-photo-uploading-in-depth-tutorial/
Restriction on giving out personal info: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/8163-new-rule-restriction-on-giving-of-personal-info/
Accounts and Topic Closure Requests: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/92667-accounts-and-topics-closure-requests/
No YouTube links in status bar: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/91670-no-promotion-of-youtube-links-in-status-bar/
Character Restriction in names: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/85443-character-restrictions-in-names/
Informational Topics: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/79702-guidelines-on-creation-of-informational-topics/
Post here if you changed your name: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/6629-post-here-if-you-just-changed-your-name/
Post here if you changed your siggy/avatar: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/5480-post-here-if-you-just-changed-your-siggy-or-avatar/
Thanks for reading!
Have you made it this far? Give yourself a pat on the back! We hope this thread has helped you in better understanding the HH Forum. See you around!
Edited by ~MissHamster~, 20 February 2016 - 09:25 PM.
Haha that's what I thought when making it, ahh well, guess we learn the harder way 
