First things first: In order to play most games on IWON you will need a computer capable of running Sun Microsystems java & the Adobe flash player; and some of the games will require the Adobe shockwave player as well. Following are my best links to download those required pieces of software, which you probably should download anew if yours are older. The second link covers both of the two Adobe players. There is also an alternative to the standard Internet Explorer - Mozilla Firefox - which offers significant advantages. (It is the ONLY browser I currently use, because it is FASTER than IE; offers stupendously better blocking control, not only for "pop-ups" but also for all those silly movies and other ads that would add dozens of precious seconds to each change of window on IWON. ) I even find fewer crashes on Firefox, although other users may find IE to be more stable. Mileage may vary. The last of this set of links leads to FREE Firefox and FREE Adblock Plus.
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http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
Once all these are installed, the games should run pretty well, and you are ready to begin exploring and using IWON as shown in the following tasks.
Second Things: If you are joining FROM an organization, such as Diabetic Connect, be sure to state that on the team page when you join !!! There may be friends and colleagues already on the team who can help you, become IWON friends with you, even just gossip with you. But unless both of you always use the same screen-name on all sites, you will not know each other unless you identify your organization when you join that team. (See #4 below if you have forgotten to leave this message on the team page, to discover how to get back there later when you remember & regret.)
Regular Basics:
1. Find your profile page. It is listed in the IWON toolbar at the top of whichever IWON page you are using now. That page is critical to you, for at the bottom is the current message queue. Anyone who wants to tell you something, or ask you something, will use that queue, unless they happen to run into you in chat on a game. Read those messages, delete afterward if it is private or offensive, or leave undisturbed - the newer ones go to the top, so keeping the older is not a problem; it might even allow you to look back and see who said, or get a player name (which will allow you to visit their profile page - item 2 - to leave a reply to something you didn't answer earlier.) IWON will store about 1000 messages for you, newest always on top. At the bottom of the stack of visible messages, on the right corner of that box, is the link to "view all". Only 3 messages are usually displayed, but the rest can be easily viewed by clicking that phrase. If there are enough messages to require more than one page to display them, page navigation will appear when the link is clicked.
IWON has now introduced a floating personal data bar at the top of any IWON page: that bar includes some links to things you might need to do (spend your coins, identify games to which you have access at your level (some are locked until a certain number of lifetime coins are earned)) identification of what level you have attained on the new level system, based on lifetime coins you have earned; and messages pending.
Note that the little "messages pending" link near the top of your IWON home page or profile page, is not exactly "messages": it is related - but still very different. That opens the profile page, if you are not already there, and pops up a dialogue with different tabs for different types of messages. There are Friend Requests there; Team Challenges (invitations to join the inviter's team - often accompanied by a REAL message posted at the bottom of your profile page); My Challenges (challenges issued to you by other players, to beat a specific score on the named game); and Other Notifications, which I have been unable to identify. To the left edge of the pop-up, are some other navigation links, to allow you to edit various properties of your profile page. At least some of the time, the "messages pending" link will change color when an invitation or a challenge is entered to you, so that you will spot it and respond.
There is still no notification of actual messages, still hidden at the bottom of the profile page. You must check those by going to the profile page, and then to the bottom of that page. (Easy way for me, is to click the mouse anywhere on the blank spots of the page, then hit the "end" key. That jumps me directly to the end. The "home" key then takes me back to the top when I wish to go. Annoying when you make the trip, to find none, but probably better than missing something that might be urgent because you forgot to look. For me, I invite so many people to "click my name (or avatar) and post a message on my profile page" that the trip is necessary several times per day. You may find once to be sufficient.
2. Visit another player's profile page. Do this just to see what is there.
A) In game chats, click the name in the list of players at the top of the chat box. That will open a pop-up box with some details of the player involved. In the darker bar below the avatar of the player is a link to "View Profile". Click that and the profile of the player selected will replace your own profile on the page you have open. Or, HOLD DOWN YOUR SHIFT KEY and that player profile will open as a new page. Look around, maybe leave a note for them. If you wish to leave messages on the profile page of other players, it is wise to let them know in game chats, if you can. The sad fact is, that at least 55% of IWON players do not know they have a message queue, nor if they suspect there is one, where to find it. (The 55% is an early December 2008 number, but likely remains fairly constant as experienced players drift away, and new IWONers supplant them.)
Other options from the player list of the game chat include "Mute" - someone who is being annoying to you can be "muted"; and "add to friends" - if you meet someone in chat whom you wish to talk to more often or more privately, that link will invite them to become your friend. They must accept (if they feel the same), and then you will have each others' avatars available to click to directly from your own profile page, in your Friends. [ Max friends is 500, including all outstanding invitations. ]
B) You can go to another player's profile page by clicking the player-name under their avatar on messages left for you. That is handy when you need to answer their message. I also simply save old messages, in case I later need to follow up something with that player. That also helps me remember (I'm getting old) who said what, when, and find what I may have said in reply - if they also save messages.
C) You can go to another player's profile page from the team page - the feed notifications, the messages posted to the team page, and the founder - the name in any of those is a link to the player's profile page; plus the members of the team Top 16 scorers for the month (the avatars at the bottom of the team page) - only the avatar icons are linked . Beneath the Top 16 is an option to "view all members". That opens the pictorals of all the members of the team, with navigation at the top of the section; the members are listed alpha-numerically by player name; but only the avatar icons are the links here. (While you are snooping at the bottom of the team page, check out the bottom edge of the stack of messages - right edge - and note the "view all" there. That link opens navigation to go back through earlier team messages, each offering a link to the author of the message. )
3. Invite a friend. This is a little strange, but you cannot directly add friends. Instead, you must invite them to be friends. At the top of their profile page, over toward the right side, down just even with the left-side player name, are the titles "My Profile", and "Add This Friend". To issue the invitation, click "Add This Friend". That is not exactly what happens: instead, that player receives an invitation to be your friend, which may be accepted, or ignored by that player. If the invitation is accepted, then after a short while, their avatar will appear on your profile page, just above the "My Notes" near the bottom of the page. Similarly, YOUR avatar will appear on THEIR profile page in that area. The avatars and the names with them, are links to the profile page of that player - just click them, and you jump to that profile page. That makes easier the problematic ability to reach an acquaintance to leave a message. If you do leave a message, that player does not even need to find you in "Friends", because on the message are displayed both your avatar (NOT unique) and your IWON player name (unique to you). Thus the message contains a means of accessing your profile to supply a response.
4. If you are a player for a Charity Team, you should see the name of your team in the Team Challenge banner in the middle of your IWON Profile page; and near the bottom, left edge of your IWON home page. That name is a link. You may click it to visit the team page. And, it works with the shift key as well, so that both pages can be open at the same time. Visit your team page not less than every other day. That is one of the most important parts of being on a team. Winning coins for the team is OK, but there are many other things to contribute. Leave a message from time to time, just cheerleading for the team. Congratulate someone on a proud accomplishment for the team. Brag a little about what you did. Offer suggestions. Offer complaints, about the team, about IWON in general, about specific games that seem to you to do you wrong. Someone may have an answer that relieves your problem; or an explanation that your suggestion is/is-not, a great idea, because. You will have already seen the team page at the time you joined the team - please leave a message there at that time, to introduce yourself, and let the other players know you are one of them. If you are joining from an outside organization, forum, or community, that should also be included in your introduction, for you may have many colleagues already on the team who will want to welcome you and help you.
Spend a moment to find out how that team communicates other than the team page - a team email account, a blog, a forum, all team members live in one house, or whatever. Then get into that communications network.
No matter what the other means of communications - they are important, but this is essential: Visit your team page not less than every other day!
5. If you are NOT a player on a charity team - why not? It is free! You still get all the coins you earn, you still get every prize you win, you just play! It is helpful! This is your chance to contribute to a cause that you love! This is your chance to provide your choice of charity a check that is far larger than most of us can write - and you get another chance next month, too!
Even if you contribute a check to your favorite cause every month, this is a chance to do even more. It is easy! If you were to wish to join Tigers Against Diabetes, just as an example, there is a link at the right side of this page that will take you to the Tigers Team Page - where you would see a big "Join Now" button to enroll in the team. Similarly, if you are looking for the National Charity Division diabetes team, there is a link there for "IWON American Diabetes Association Team Page". If diabetes is not the cause you wish to support, there is another link there, to the "Team Challenge." That page open up more than 800 causes of two types: the National Charity group, on the left, and the Community or Member Created group on the right.
Whatever your cause, there is sure to be a team playing for it. BUT - be sure to go to the team page first, to read the mission statement! The name of the team is a pointer, but only in the text of that team page can you find out whether this is the team for you. Then read some of the team messages to see what sort of things are discussed there.
Check out as many teams as you need, to be sure that you join the team you want to help - then JOIN! If you later change your mind, it is also easy to leave the team, or to join another team. Your coins earned while a member are still yours, although the team with which you earned them continues to get to count those; but your very next coins earned after changing teams accrue to the monthly total for that new team as well as to your personal account.
6. Guard your words in game chats. I have a terrible problem ignoring false or malicious statements - I just cannot - and so, I run my "mouth" right back. That is not a good thing. Wisdom tells me I should simply mute the offender (click the player's name in the list of players, and a small box pops up, with an option to mute player). Sometimes, I do. I try to remain truthful, despite my anger, but can be provoked into the use of angry words - thus far, always toward only the offender, and restricted to "liar", "lying", "lies".
Never, never, derogate or demean a competing team, nor, if you can, even the liar present from that team. And if you find yourself engaged despite your best attempts to avoid a conflict, then be adult enough to say "enough!", and leave the chat. (Options, at the top of the chatbox, opens to show "Close Chat" as the last listed option. Oh, and please remind me whenever you run into me in chat, to be careful what *I* say.
Also, always question the wisdom of publishing your primary email address, or other elements of your identity, on IWON. If you set up a throw-away account to register for IWON, that might be a better choice to give out in chats, or to Team members. EVERYTHING typed anywhere on IWON is public domain, and therefore the fact that you type it on a known friend's profile page does NOT prevent it from coming back to haunt you. Some "persons" on IWON may even run scripts to filter huge numbers of messages for email addresses. If you give out your real name, even as I have done, do so with care. Be certain that you have protected your financial information from the summing of separated pieces of information that may be gleaned from your IP address, your real name, your email address, and any other crumbs you may drop accidentally.
7. If you play for Tigers Against Diabetes - or even if you play for our competition - visit this blog from time to time. No State secrets here - just a gasbag venting, at worst; and perhaps some new information for you to use, at best. There are many other articles here, so check a few after finishing this one, or after you decide this is too basic for you. The titles of those other articles may be a better means of finding the ones that you need, than the dates. The dates are often actual, but also often "forged", as is the date for this very piece, to push them to chosen spots in the once-consecutive newest-first blog sequence.
Please leave comments - this is not my personal rant, but more a chance to share longer statements than are possible in the game chats or on the team pages. Although there may be plenty of personal rant here from time to time, the best use of the blog is for YOU to tell us what YOU think. Beneath each article is "Comments". Just click that, and use it to read what others have said; then tell us what YOU think! You have no limit on length, but please, keep that clean if you can. I will read it sooner or later, and my delicate "ear" will lead me to delete any which I view as attacks on other teams or players, or excessively bleepable. Everyone is welcome to comment - again, no passwords, no armed thugs at the door.
8. Check out some of the other articles here which are intended to be useful to all:
Help? HELP! Do you need help with IWON help? Are you up for an adventure?
http://tigersagainstdiabetes.blogspot.com/2009/01/iwon-help-requests.html
Coin count problems? CURE for coin count problems
http://tigersagainstdiabetes.blogspot.com/2009/01/coin-counts.html
Tigers only:
New Chat/Forum
http://tigersagainstdiabetes.blogspot.com/2009/01/tigers-new-chat-forum.html
9. Members of Tigers Against Diabetes may also become authors here. Simply post that statement of desire as a comment - probably to any article, but best to this first one. Include a few details: email address, and playername. It may take a day - I have not done that yet - but I will include you as an author, with full rights to compose, title, post, and edit your own piece.
One final piece of advice: always remember that games are supposed to be fun! The object is for you to have fun. If you find yourself being pushed to do more or differently for other purposes, even to help your cause succeed in the Team Challenge, step back and evaluate carefully. Remember how to have fun. Decide how the additional or different behavior affects your ability to have fun. Then do what you need to do to enjoy your play.
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