What is Karma and how do I get it?
Karma is the numerical representation of your board status. Accounts level 10 and higher earn Karma at a rate of one per day that the account is logged in, as long as the account has at least one active post on the message boards. If the account is not used to log in within a 24-hour period or has no messages actively posted on the boards, then no Karma is gained for that day.

Karma is lost when an account is used to post messages that are in violation of the TOS; 3 Karma for a "Notification", and 10 Karma for a "Warning". Once Karma is lost, it's lost forever, and will not be restored except in very rare circumstances.

As your Karma increases, so does your board level, which grants additional privileges and features on the boards.

Can I transfer my Karma to another account?
No. Karma is tied to one account, and cannot be transferred. Only Seeds are transferrable once you reach level 15.

What are the board levels?
-4: Closed: Account closed by user. Closed accounts cannot be re-opened under any circumstances.
-3: Pending Closure: Account marked to be closed by user. Account will be closed in 48 hours, and after that can never be restored under any circumstances.
-2: Banned: User has been banned from posting messages for one or more Terms of Service violations.
-1: Suspended: User's posting privileges have been suspended for one or more Terms of Service violations, pending review by an Administrator.
0: Inactive: User has not yet activated their account using a valid email address.
2: User Suspended: User has had account security compromised and has suspended account to prevent abuse.
3: Purgatory: Account suspended indefinitely by an elite moderator or an administrator. May post one message per hour.
5: Warned: User on "parole" for one or more major terms of service violations. May post two messages per hour, restored after 48-72 hours.
10: Provisional: Account has just been activated. Upgraded to Rookie at the next karma update. May post one message per minute.
11: Rookie: User has less than 10 Karma. Can now delete own messages and close topics. May post two messages per minute.
15: New User: Awarded to users with at least 10 Karma. Can now mark messages for moderation, suggest messages, close your account, and start factions. May post three messages per minute.
20: Regular User: Awarded to users with at least 25 Karma. Can now view own posting history and use meta-moderation. No posting restrictions.
21: Veteran: Awarded to users with at least 50 Karma. Can now use message/topic search, edit own messages, and use the Seeds Shop.
22: Legend: Awarded to users with at least 100 Karma. Can now use the Seeds Bank.
23: Elite: Awarded to users with at least 200 Karma.
24: Icon: Awarded to users with at least 325 Karma.
25: Idol: Awarded to users with at least 500 Karma.
26: Super Idol: Awarded to users with at least 700 Karma.
27: Deity: Awarded to users with at least 1000 Karma.
28: Mikeaspike: Get to cutting, bitch.
30: Special/V. I. P: Awarded to users who have done something special or important for the boards, such as reporting major glitches or exploits or helping add new features.
40: Moderator: User has been selected to uphold the Terms of Service of the message boards after sending in an application. Can take action on all marked messages and use all other basic moderator abilities.
47: Veteran Moderator: Moderator who has been upgraded for being very active. May now send system notifications, take action on suggested messages, and edit others' messages.
55: Elite Moderator: Veteran Moderator who has been upgraded for being very active. May now purgatory offending users, sticky topics, and handle appealed moderations, among other things.
60: Administrator: Administrators can review and ban suspended users, as well as control all other aspects of the boards.

What are Seeds?
Seeds are sort of the currency of YA RLY Lite. They can be used to purchase additional board features, a full list is found by clicking the "Seeds Shop" link on your user information page.

How do I earn Seeds?
You receive 5 Seeds each day you post at least one message on the boards.

What is the Seeds Bank?
The bank lets you earn 3% interest on your deposited Seeds each day you post at the boards. Seeds interest is added to the banked Seeds total itself. You can first access the bank at level 22 and you need 200 Seeds to open an account.

How do I give or receive Seeds?
Once you have reached level 22, the option to transfer Seeds is on the Seeds Bank screen. The user that will be receiving the transfer must be at level 10 or higher.

When should I deposit Seeds to earn the most interest?
A few things to remember about the Seeds bank:

• you do not receive any interest on days in which you make a deposit or withdrawal;
• Interest is rounded up to the nearest whole number.

This implies that the best (and only) time to deposit Seeds is when it puts your total over the next hundred mark. For example, 201-300 earns 9 Seeds in interest, 301-400 earns 12 Seeds, etc, so deposit Seeds to reach these new levels. This will usually occur every 15 days or so, depending on how much interest you are earning. Since you don't get interest on the days you deposit, adding Seeds to the bank anymore frequently ends up costing you Seeds in lost interest. Adding them less frequently means you miss out on additional interest.

How do Seeds bonuses work?
Occasionally, the administrator of the boards will give a Seeds bonus. This bonus does not apply to your banked Seeds, so you should withdraw all of your Seeds from the bank if a bonus is coming.

What are Points?
Points are a way of rewarding users for posting. Every time you post on the boards, you gain a specific amount of points. Each post brings in 5 points, and once you reach 200 points, you are awarded 10 Seeds. Every day, at the daily purge, your total points decreases by 50, so you'll have to be an active users if you want to gain a lot of Seeds. Please note that posting numerous messages for the sole purpose of gaining points is sorely looked down upon and can result in severe moderation.

How does the moderation system work?
Any user level 15 or higher can mark messages that violate the TOS for moderation. By clicking on the "Message Detail" link right above each message, you'll be taken to a new screen that allows you to report the violation to the moderation staff. The moderators then will review the message, and if they find that it does indeed violate the TOS, it will be deleted.

How does the suggestion system work?
The suggestion system, just like the moderation system, is used to report messages to the moderation staff for review. Where suggesting a message differs from marking a message, rather than trying to get a message removed from the boards, you are trying to get a user either rewarded or docked Seeds for posting a certain message. A moderator will review your suggestion and act appropriately on the suggested message.

How can I change my signature and other settings?
You can go to your User Information page simply by clicking on your username in the topmost bar of each board, topic, or message listing. From there, you can adjust your settings and make changes to your signature or quote.

Why doesn't my quote show up when I post messages?
The quote is shown only on your user information page, and does not appear in your posts. Your signature is the text that is appended to any message you post.

What HTML tags can I use in my posts?
You can use the standard HTML bold and italic tags by default. <b> marks the beginning of bold text, </b> ends it. <i> marks the beginning of italic text, </i> ends it.

In addition, you can also use spoiler tags to generate spoiler code. Example: <spoiler=(subject here; parentheses not mandatory)> marks the beginning of spoiler code and defines the subject of the spoiler. </spoiler> ends the spoiler.

Finally, you can also use the following tags to translate text either to or from Randomized text:

• <encode> </encode>: Used to translate normal text into Randomized text via the YA RLY Lite Random Text Library.
• <decode> </decode>: Used to translate Randomized text into normal text via the YA RLY Lite Random Text Library.

Additional HTML tags can be be bought from the Seeds Shop.

How do I delete my own message or topic?
Once your account is level 11 or higher, you can click on the "Message Detail" link for your own message and use the deletion option there. You cannot delete any topic that contains more than your own first post, nor can you delete the message that was used to create the topic.

How do I close my own topic?
If nobody has posted in your topic for 20 minutes, you can close it. Simply click on the "Message Detail" link for your first message in the topic and use the close option there.

How can I become a moderator?
You can't.

Seriously, new moderators are only chosen a few times a year, and the minimum requirements for applying are very steep. Even so, many apply, but only a few are selected. If you seriously want to be a moderator, you'll need to be an active, TOS-following board user with at least 30 karma to even be considered. Pestering the current moderators or administrators to become a moderator essentially guarantees that you won't be selected.

Who are the current moderators?
The current moderators are billyB2004, Endless Paradise, Ferox, Ghostman, Mikeaspike4, nerr, PhoenixShadow, Sirbular, and Timestalker.

Why are some topics on topic lists shaded in a darker color than other topics?
Topics that are shaded in darker colors are topics that have either been unread or have at least one new unread message. Once you read an unread topic, it will be marked as read in the database, giving it a lighter shade of color to let you know that it has been read.

How come that guy was able to post in a closed topic? I thought that no additional messages could be posted!
For the most part, the notice you receive when reading a topic is true; topics that are closed can receive no additional messages - from regular users. Moderators and administrators, however, have the ability to post in closed topics, so if you witness a user posting in one, they are obviously a staff member.

How can I change my username?
You can't. Usernames are permanent. If you want a new username, you will need to create a new account.