Agnostic.com

Q: What is Agnostic.com all about?

A: Agnostic.com is place where wisdom is shared and people meet. We've set up the website to be a community that caters to all types of people. We also realize that some are looking to meet others for dating so we let members contact each other. Read more in the tutorial and "About Us" pages.

Q: How can I contact the people running this website?

A: The easiest way is to use the contact form

Q: How can I help promote Agnostic.com?

A: Hey, we're so happy you asked. You did ask, right? We, and more importantly, other members here, would really appreciate that you tell others about this site. The more people we can reach with the message that non-believers are everywhere the better. For an extra bonus, if you use the links here we can show you who signs up and give you some points!

Q: How do you avoid scammers and fake accounts like seen in other dating or community websites?

A: Many dating sites, like Match.com, are filled with fake accounts setup by scammers to try to get your contact information. We hope to reduce the chances of this by requiring members to reach at least Level 2 before they can contact others. We also review some of the initial messages and look for suspicious activity.

Q: How are the levels determined?

A: Please refer to the Level page for details on how levels are determined. The points/level system is just a way to help us reward active members by giving more access and perks to members as they increase their level.

Q: What should I do if I see someone being disrespectful to a member or individual instead of ideas?

A: Please go to the member's profile page and click the "flag" icon. We will take appropriate steps. For our policies, click here. If a member is being annoying, you can also just block them by clicking the “ Block” link on their profile page or entering their name here. If you do that, you won’t see any of their posts and they won’t see yours. To unblock someone, click on the "gear" icon at the top of the page and then click the "Blocked" tab. You should be able to get to their profile page from there and can click "Unblock" link.

Q: How can I tag someone in a post, comment, or reply to a comment?

For posts, you can put their username below the post as an "invite". We will send them a notification to check it out. For comments and replies, Just put a ‘@‘ symbol in front of their username (e.g., @username) and we will make a link to their profile and send them a notice if they have it turned on.

Q: How can I make a link to another post?

Just put ‘q:number’ in your posts where ‘number’ is what you see in the URL (e.g., to link to https://agnostic.com/discussion/123/blah-blah-blah you, put q:123).

Q: What are hash tags?

Hashtags are just keywords, without spaces, for your posts and are shown with a preceeding '#', ‘#hashtag’, hashtags can be one or more words such as (#love, #ChristopherHitchens ). We use hashtags to categorize and link to posts. You can see a list of tags here. Depending on your level, you can add tags to other people's posts if helpful.

Q: How can I make a link to a hash tag?

Just put ‘#hashtag’ in your posts and we'll link to the tag page.

Q: What does it mean to "Follow" a member?

When you follow a member by clicking "Follow Posts" on their profile page, you'll get notified whenever they make a public post depending on your Account Settings.

Q: How do groups work?

Groups are a way to interact with people who share a specific interest or location. Posts and events made inside a group only show up to the group members which encourages longer-term discussions. Members who are level 4+ are able to create up to four groups. That member is called the "Host" and can optionally add other members as moderators. The host and moderators have the ability to limit which members can join the group and block those who they deem disruptive. If the host becomes inactive (e.g., leaves), the group is granted to the most active member automatically. Alternatively, the host can give the group to any member. If a member joins a group, the most recently active host or moderator is credited for that member (i.e., for points).

Q: How do group chatrooms work?

The originator or moderator of a group can schedule a group chatroom that can be accessed by any member of the group. When a chatroom is open, you'll see a yellow button the group page. For now, members who are Level 3+ can send messages in the chatroom. Since the chatroom is live, we rely on the members in the chatroom to keep conversations civil. If you click the message bubble, you can see more info about the message such as the time it was sent. You can also click a "mute" link there to hide further messages by that user for that chat session. If several members do so, then it automatically flags the reported member. You can find groups that have chatrooms here.

Q: For questions, links, and posts, you can invite specific members to comment as you make the post.

For posts, you can put their username below the post as an "invite". We will send them a notification to check it out. For comments and replies, Just put a ‘@‘ symbol in front of their username (e.g., @username) and we will make a link to their profile and send them a notice if they have it turned on.

Q: How are "Top Contributors" and "New Contributors" determined?

A: "Top Contributors" shown on the main page are determined by a combination of recent activity and the feedback from members about the post, comments and replies. The list is just a way to highlight members who are both thoughtful and prolific. The "New Contributors" list shows members who have registered in the last 30 days.

Q: Why do some questions only show up on member's profile?

A: We only pick new questions that have universal appeal to show up in the main list of topics. We admit that it might be a little random as it's so subjective. Sometimes we make a mistake so if you think so, resubmit your questions. Thanks!

Q: How can I adjust which emails and alerts I get (e.g., turn off emails when someone replies to my post)?

A: Go to your settings page (the gear icon) and click on the "Settings" tab. There you can change your preferences.

Q: Why do some of my notifications say "Content Deleted"?

A: Sometimes we notify members of new posts/comments/replies/etc and then the author or we remove the content. Instead of deleting your notification, we just show "Content Deleted". We do this so members won't wonder where the notification alert went.

Q: How can I edit or delete my posts?

Since members are commenting on your posts, we limit how much time you have edit a post. If there are no comments, you can edit a post for 4 weeks. Once there are comments, the amount of time given to edit a post grows by your member level (Level: 1-4 can edit for 6 * level hours, Level: 5-7 up to 5 days. Level 8+ up to 2 weeks). The issue with deleting posts is that other members comment on them and the post becomes "shared" among those commenters. If we delete the post, then others won't be able to see their comments. Members can always make their posts "anonymous". This just gives the post to the username currently named “Anonymous” so that the discussion can live on. For members who turn off their account, we recycle topics that are general in nature (e.g., no personal reference). However, if there is a post of yours that you really want deleted, let us know and we can make exceptions.

Q: How can I hide or delete my account?

A: You can pause your account (hide your profile from others) by clicking on the "Pause Account" button here. You can also delete your account there. If you do, please let us know why so we can improve the community. As far as your posts, for the ones that other members have commented on, we archive them to the anonymous "Member" if (and only if) they are generic in nature. This way, the other members can continue to have their comments.

Q: How can I make formatted text in my posts and comments?

A: We've implemented a few formatting options for text. Here are some of the basic ones:

Type
# H1
## H2
### H3
#### H4
##### H5
###### H6
Makes

H1

H2

H3

H4

H5
H6
Type
* Candy.
* Gum.
* Booze.
Makes
  • Candy.
  • Gum.
  • Booze.
Type
***

Makes

Begin each line with 4 spaces for courier font. Note: it will put the text in a gray box.
Makes
this is a
way to
line up text

Put a single * around words make those words italics (e.g,. *some text* makes some text)

Put a double ** around words make those words bold (e.g,. **some text** makes some text)


You can surround text with [poem]this is some text[/poem] to put a box around the text:

this is some text

Q: Which smilies can I use?

:-) :) :-D :D :-O :O :-P :P ;-) ;) :-( :( 8o| :-@ 8-) :(( :-S :S :-$ :$ :-| :| :-* :* :-# :# (H) (party) +o( (Y) (N) (X) (Z) (L) (U) (K) (P) (G) (%) (F) (W) (D) (B) (C) (^) (pi) (||) (@) (sn) (bah) (tu) (dog) :-[ ({) (}) (pl) (I) (ip) (mn) (*) (R) (#) (li) (st) (um) (co) (mp) (T) (E) (ap) (au) (~) (O) (so) (ci) (yn) (h5) (xx) (mo)
We also support more fancy emoji for desktop users - you can copy/paste them using [emojicopy.com]. There are also are add-ons for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.