Adrienne's Hogwarts Frequently Asked Questions

Adrienne's Hogwarts
Frequently Asked Questions

I made this page 'cause I'm a bit tired of people sending the same old questions to me in e-mails... now I can just send them the url to this page! I can spend more time accomplishing stuff and less answering e-mails!

I've actually been asked every one of these questions. --"

-AH-
How do I join AH?
How do I get a vault?
How do I earn House Points/Galleons?
How do I buy items?
How do I know how much I've earned?
How do you randomly select the winners of the contests and Chance Games?
How do I change my password/e-mail address?
Can I sign up to be a Prefect?
When will you give us the exams?
Why are joins only accepted on weekends?
[Operations that are taking a long time]
Why do you only update on weekends?
How long can I be inactive before getting kicked out?
I'm not on the status page!
Why did you delete me off the Notifylist?

-Quidditch-
Can I sign up for the Quidditch team?
How do I get on my house's team?
How do I play Quidditch at AH?

-Chatting/Posting-
How do I post on the Wazzup Board?
Can I post as someone else or 'anonymous' on the board?
What do you consider 'advertising' on the board?
What are the rules when chatting?
Is HTML allowed on the Wazzup Board?

-Me-
Can I help you run the site?
Why is your blog called DoaSO?
What do you do other than Hogwarts?
Are you going to shut down AH anytime soon?
Do you run any other sites?
Do you want to go to the Yule Ball chat with me?
Can I be your penpal?
Can I instant message you?

-Other People-
How do I make a website?
Can you link to me?
Can you help me run my Hogwarts?
Can you help me design my Hogwarts?
Can I make images for your site?
Can I use competition entries for homework on my own site?
How do I get [a domain]? Are they free?
Can I use some of the pictures in the 'shops' for my own Hogwarts?

-Amusement-
I don't like your site.
[Stalker questions]
[Some idiot wanting to join]
[Some disturbed person annoying me]
[Some mixed up person wondering about Galleons/House Points]

-Misc.-
What is fan fiction?
Will you host my fan fiction?

1) How do I make a website?
This is the number one question I've gotten from people. I've probably gotten e-mails asking this exact question more than 200 times. I've made a whole 'nother page to explain this 'un.

2) How do I get a vault?
You get a vault automatically when you buy items.

3) How do I earn House Points?
By doing homework, entering competitions, participating in polls, buying items with HP attached... all sorts of stuff.

4) How do I earn Galleons?
By doing trivia, entering contests, and entering competitions. Many people get many Galleons this way. Selling items also gives you half of the item's worth back.

5) How do I buy items?
Copy the tag (the bit of information attached to each one) into an e-mail to that shop's store manager (SM). The SM will bulk all the orders he/she gets after a few days, send them to me, and I'll [eventually] get them added to your vault.

6) How do I know how much money I have/HP I've earned?
Check the Status page. Members are listed alphabetically.

7) How do you randomly select the winners of the contests and Chance Games?
I assign each possibility a range of numbers (which is scaled by how much chance they have of winning... if you enter the contests more often, you have a higher range, thus having more of a chance to win), and use a random number generator to decide.

8) Can I help you run the site?
Well, there are two answers to this one. If you are a new member, no. I don't trust easily, sorry. If you are an older member who I know I can trust, I may grant you that responsibility. The jobs I usually have people do is just managing things like shops and trivia grading; I'm the only one with access to Hogwarts' uploading software.

9) Can I sign up for the Quidditch team?
No.

10) How do I get on my house's Quidditch team?
You must be an active member who has earned a lot of HP and posts on the Wazzup Board a lot. If other students (and I) know who you are, you have a higher chance of getting drafted for the team.

11) How do you play Quidditch on AH?
There is a whole page explaining this here.

12) Can you link to me?
Only if (A) you link to me first and keep the link there; (B) your site contains no racist, homophobic, and generally not-PG-rated material; and (C) you are an active member.

13) Can you help me run my Hogwarts?
What do you think I am, a robot? I'm busy with just one Hogwarts, thankyouverymuch.

14) Can you help me design my Hogwarts?
No.

15) Can I make images for the site?
At this time, no, you can't. I don't have very much space left for images.

16) I don't like your site. [Insert ranting here]
So? Why do you think I care? I happen to like my site, but, hey, I'm probably a bit biased.

17) Can I use the competition entries for homework assignments on my own Hogwarts?
Not at this time, no. If you'd like material for your homework, ask your students to write reports to make a school textbook! Then you'll have something to display on your site, and an extra homework assignment thought up!

18) What is fan fiction?
Fan fiction is fictional writing written with the characters or elements of another fictional story. For example, Harry Potter fan fiction contains the characters or Hogwarts or the ministry, etc., or all of them, but the writer expands on a spot without many details or continues something uncontinued.

19) How do I join?
Read this before doing the following steps:

Go to main page of AH.
In the navigation, look under info to the "join" with a green star.
Next to the link or text should be a/some dates in parenthesis.
If one of these is today, you can join (Click on the join link).

20) Why is your blog called DoaSO?
It's an abbreviation for Diary of a Shy One.

21) I noticed you have a .com (otherwise known as a domain). How do I get one? Are they free?
I pay for my domain name (Adriennewolter.com). You can buy names for fairly cheap prices with or without webspace included; if you already have a site you can use a redirect domain name - there are free ones out there, one of which is findable here.

22) Where do you live? What do you look like? Do you have a pic? Can I have your address? Do you want to go out sometime?
Uh. Not telling, not telling, not for you, not telling, and no.

23) You say you have a life. What do you do other than Hogwarts?
Well. Uh. School, homework, read, chat, sing, draw, write, IM people, blog, karate... I have very many not-so-varied interests.

24) Are you going to shut down AH anytime soon?
AH will end after Y4 ends in September, 2004.

25) Can I use some of the pictures in the shops for my own Hogwarts?
No. I drew almost every one of them (that's hundreds, by the way) and it took me half a year to do. You may not take them.

26) How do I post on the Wazzup Board?
You need to have 100 House Points to get the password, then you need to get the password, sign into it, and just post. Make sure you post under your screen name.

27) Can I post as someone else or 'anonymous' on the board?
No.

28) What do you consider advertising on the board?
Links to other sites, always, unless you get my permission first. I do not allow ANY links to other Potter sites or sites that are not appropriate for all audiences, but sometimes I do allow links to blogs/web journals if you ask for my permission first. Links to pages on AH are acceptable, also, as it's not really advertising. You may NOT ask others to help you build/maintain a Hogwarts; not only is it blatant advertising, it's RUDE to post that on any Hogwarts-themed board.

29) What are the rules in the chat room?
Pretty much the same as the above. No swearing. No giving out your password, real name, phone number, address, etc. either. I am not responsible for anything done there.

30) Will you host my fan fiction?
No.

31) How do I change my e-mail address/password?
Go to the forgotten password page.

32) Can I sign up to be a Prefect?
No.

33) When will you give us the exams?
When I want to. Check the schedule.

34) How come joins are only accepted on weekends?
Think about it. I am a middle schooler who gets a lot of homework, has a cello to practice, parts for choir to practice, needs to attend school for 8 hours a weekday, needs to eat and sleep, and has a few close friends who I like to talk to once in a while. I get about 6-19 joins a day each weekend. If I allowed it all week, I'd be too overworked.

35) I can only get on the computer one day a week, and it's not a Saturday or Sunday! How do I join?
(The person who asked me this sent it on a Saturday.) If you can't get on that often, why do you want to join a Hogwarts? They're time-consuming, and I'm sure you have much better things to do with your time.

36) You're crazy! You need help! You are stupid!
Glad to hear it. Next!

37) Do you run any other sites along with Hogwarts?
Yeapers. I run ¡Adriennewolter.com! and DoaSO, two sites that get updated very often. The first one is my personal site, and the latter is my blog, where I ramble and rant on about anything and almost everything. I also do image and organization work for CyberNiche Software.

38) I ordered something weeks ago and it's not in my vault! OR I joined weeks ago and you never accepted me! OR I did homework/trivia weeks ago and never got anything!
(A) The SM might've never gotten it. Or you sent it to the wrong address. Or you're exaggerating. Or the SM hasn't sent it yet.
(B) I might've deleted you because you joined on the wrong day of the week (I do check time zones if you tell me your country, though), or deleted you because you answered one of the yes/no questions in a way that makes me dislike you (example: "Will you follow the rules?" if you answer no, yer outta there!). Or your e-mail bounced. Or I might not have gotten to you yet. Joins take time. I try to do them every other weekend but I (*gasp*) have a life.
(C) See A. You also might just be stupid and answered everything wrong. *Coughs and grins*

39) Is HTML allowed on the Wazzup Board?
Yes.

40) Do you want to go to the Yule Ball/End-of-Summer Ball chat with me?
Ehhh... no thanks.

41) I have a whole load of money in my vault! Did you mess up? Did I win the competition?
If your entry is accepted into the competition, you do get a whole mess of Galleons and HP.

42) Why do you only update on weekends?
I don't just update on weekends, but I don't have much time for anything big on weekdays. I have school to attend, y'know.

43) How long can I be inactive before you kick me out?
Three months.

44) I'm not on the status page but I did join a while ago! What happened?
Well, if you joined a 'while ago', you might've been kicked first for inactivity. I can't e-mail anyone inactive telling them, or I'd not have time for Hogwarts and I'd get a billion and three bounced e-mails to deal with.

45) Why did you delete me off the Notifylist?
If you did not join with your registered Hogwarts e-mail, I don't know who you are, so I'm not keeping you on it.

46) Can I be your penpal?
Eh. No. Sorry.

47) Can I instant message you? What's your screen name?
I'm fogbutton on AIM, catsncritters@msn.com on MSN (can't check my e-mail there though), and catsncritters on YIM. IM me if you really want to, but keep in mind I'm busy, and I don't really need new 'friends' at the moment, I'm content with the several that I have right now.