Posts 1-12 apply to the NBC forum as a whole. Posts 13-21 are F.A.Q.'s specifically for The Office.

Registering and Logging in to the Message Board

Registration and Logging in is now done through myNBC. You will use your e-mail address and password to sign on. When registering for the first time, please make sure you select a screen name that you are happy with.

Message Board Administrators are no longer able to change screen names and all requests must go through NBC Tech Support, which due to other commitments, must prioritize screen name changes very low on the list.

If you can't remember the e-mail you used to register, click the Forgot E-mail link and enter your user login name and password. If you're still having troubles logging in, you may post as a Guest in this thread.

If you need an idea for a good Office-themed screen name, check out this thread.

What is myNBC?

myNBC is NBC's social networking site. Create a profile, add friends, join groups (coming soon!), and participate in various games and challenges this fall.

"My Controls"

Once you are signed on to the board, a link called "My Controls" appears at the top of the page. Clicking it takes you to your Control Panel.

Please note that due to the integration of the Message Board database with myNBC, the following controls are no longer available:

• Edit Profile Information (this includes Custom Member Title - the text under your avatar that is normally editable after you reach 500 posts)
• Change Personal Photo (but this can be done through your profile - see post #4 below)
• Change Display Name (this option has never been available)
• Email Settings (now done through myNBC)
  
• Board Settings
• Change Email Address (now done through myNBC)
• Change Password (now done through myNBC)

If you click any of these links, you will be taken to the Account Settings tab of your myNBC profile. Please note that this page is not asking you to re-register or sign in. It is where you change the settings for your myNBC profile.

What about all the settings I can no longer get to?

NBC is planning to make all of the Message Board settings previously available under the links listed above in your myNBC profile. However, as of the date of this message, there is no estimated date for implementing this.

Personalizing Your "Appearance" on the Forum:
Through My Controls

The following settings can be edited from My Controls:

Edit Personal Portal Information

There are 3 separate sections:

• Personal Statement: If you have a personal statement to make, type it in here.
• Notifcation options for New Comments, and New Friends: If you want to be notified via PM or e-mail that someone has left a comment in your profile, or someone has added you as a friend, here is where you can set your notification method on (e-mail, or PM) or off.
• Moderation options for New Comments, and New Friends: If you want to be able to approve (allow or deny) new comments in your profile, and/or approve (allow or deny) other users from adding you as their friend, here is where you set your preference.

Edit Avatar Settings

An avatar is the picture that appears to the left of all your posts. You have the option of selecting from a limited non-Office-themed Base Gallery, or you can specify something more personal.

If the image you want to use is on your computer (recommended), click the Browse button and navigate to the picture and follow the instructions. Or, you can enter a URL if the image you want is located somewhere on the internet. Note that unless the image is located on a site that you have control over, the location may change, thereby making your avatar disappear, which is why uploading an image from your computer is recommended.

The maximum allowed size for avatars is 100x100 pixels.

If you are looking to create your own avatar, check out The Screen Capture Discussion Thread for links to some extra awesome galleries of screen captures from the show.

Board Settings

You can manage settings related to how the board is displayed/operates from this page. You can choose your timezone and various view options here, such as which text editor you would like to use and whether or not to display images in posts/signatures.

I uploaded a new avatar, but the old one is still showing. What happened?

In the event that you upload an avatar and it is NOT appearing, click the Refresh button on your browser (or press the F5 key on your keyboard) from the Edit Avatar Settings page after clicking the Update Avatar button. This solves the problem in 99.9% of the cases.

Signature

You can type a signature line that will appear under all your posts. Be sure to click the Update My Signature button when done. You may also include a picture in your signature. The picture must be located somewhere on the internet (uploads are not allowed).

In addition, to eliminate vertical scrolling and minimize horizontal scrolling, we have instituted a signature policy that requires that no signature graphics exceed the maximum dimensions (in pixels) of: 460 x 200 (width x height). Signature images which do not adhere to these guidelines may be edited by a forum Administrator.

To insert an image, click the button at the top of the signature editor and paste the url of the image into the box. Note that signatures cannot exceed a set number of characters - this includes the characters in the address of any images used.

Signature graphics, Image re-sizing

If you need help with resizing graphics for use as a signature, please see this guide over at the 9th Wonders board. (Thanks idallia!)

I changed my signature, but the old one is still showing. What happened?

As with avatars, sometimes you need to click the Refresh button on your browser (or press the F5 key on your keyboard) after you update your signature.

I can't edit my Custom Member Title - what's up with that?

The Custom Member Title, or the text that appears under your avatar, is normally available to all those who have reached 500 posts. Note that the settings that allow you to edit this title are currently unavailable. (See the previous post for a list of all settings that are not available.) If you PM an Admin and ask very nicely, they can edit it for you.

What are all the Forum Ranks and what is the post count that corresponds with each?

Before 500 (and after 500 if you chose not to edit it), the Member Title that appears under your avatar will read as follows for the following milestones:

Rank / Post Count
Newbie / 0
Member / 50
Advanced Member / 500
Full Member / 1000
Premium Member / 5000
Superior Member / 10000

Personalizing Your "Appearance" on the Forum:
Through Viewing Your Profile

The second way to update your personal profile is by viewing your own personal profile page.

To see your own profile, click your name at the top of any forum page where it says Logged in as: Your name ( Log Out)

Under Personal Info, you can set the following information:

• Gender (Gender Not Set, Set as Male, Set as Female)
• Location
• Birthday (note that this might be "pushed" from myNBC - we're not entirely certain that edits made from the profile page will "stick" at this point in time)

You can add or edit your Instant Messaging contact info under the Contact Information section.

In the middle section of your Profile screen are several blue tabs: Topics, Posts, Comments, Friends, and Settings.

To access your Profile Settings, click on the Settings button. From here, you can set a:

• Personal photo
• Personal statement
• Your website URL
• Notification options
• Moderation options

See post #3 for details about the notification and moderation options.

If you are under 18, we ask that you please NOT post your full name or location. It's for your own safety. In fact, everyone should be careful about the amount of personal information they make available online.

The options in the last section can ONLY be accessed by viewing your profile settings:

• Show x Sidebar Last Visitors
• Show x Sidebar Comments
• Show x Sidebar Friends

The default value of "x" is 5, however it can be changed to 3, 5, or 10. This number is the number of Last Visitors, Comments, or Friends that will display whenever someone comes to your Profile to read it.

Don't forget to click Save Settings if you make any changes.

Other Settings Under My Controls

Manage Friends List: You can approve pending friend requests from here (if you have set your profile up to require approval) as well as view and manage your existing friends from this page.

Clicking the "Manage your friends list" link will launch a new window. Click the Friends List tab to see a list of all your friends. From this list, you can further specify whether you want to View All, or just view those friends who are Online or Offline.

Manage Ignored Users: You may view, add and remove ignored users from this page.

When you add a user to your ignore list, any posts they make will be masked until you specify that you wish to read them. You may not be able to ignore users if they are in a member group which doesn't allow them to be added (for example, nbcskampy is a Root Admin, which is why we also call her She Who Must Not Be Ignored).

Subscriptions

To subscribe to a forum, so that you are notified of new topics, select the Forum Options drop-down at the upper right of the list of topics, then select "Subscribe to this forum."

To subscribe to a topic, so that you are notified of new posts, select the Options drop-down at the upper right of the topic page, then select "Track this Topic."

Whether subscribing to a forum or a topic, you can then select one of the following options:

• No Email Notification: This option will not send out any email notification but will retain the topic or forum in your subscriptions panel.
• Delayed Emailed Notification: This option will send out a notification if a new topic or reply has been made and you're not active on the board.
• Immediate Email Notification: This option will send out a notification immediately after a new topic or reply has been made regardless of your activity.
• Daily Email Digest: This option will send out a daily digest showing all new replies or topics for that day
• Weekly Email Digest: This option will send out a weekly digest showing all new replies or topics for that week

Viewing New Activity in Topics or Forums You've Subscribed To

Under the My Controls link, there are two Subscription options:

• View Topics: View topics that you have subscribed to here, or change the way you are notified for each topic. You can also remove topic subscriptions from here.
• View Forums: View forums that you have subscribed to, or change the way you are notified for each forum. You can also remove forum subscriptions from here.

Messenger

All forum members have access to the Personal Messaging (PM) system. You can display your messenger by clicking the My Controls, then Inbox or the x New Messages links at the top of the screen.

Similar to most e-mail programs, you have the folders Inbox, Sent Items, and Saved (Unsent) PMs. You can create new folders for your PM's using the Edit Storage Folders link.

There are two ways to send someone a PM - either by clicking the Compose New Message link from within the messenger, or clicking their name next to a post, then Send Message. The Send Message link also appears in the Member Profiles.

When composing a message, you have the following options:

• Add a copy of this message to my sent items folder - saves a copy to the Sent Items folder.
• Track this message? - you'll be able to view whether or not the recipient has received the message by clicking the Message Tracker link. Note that tracking messages also allows you to Delete messages that have not yet been read by the recipient.
• Save (Send Later) - saves a copy to the Saved (Unsent) PMs folder.

There are three other options in the Messenger:

• Empty PM Folders: CAUTION: this permanently deletes the contents of your PM folders. THERE IS NO UNDO.
• PM Block List: Allows you to add members to block from sending you a PM.
• Archive Messages: Allows you to archive your folders. The archived messages will be compiled into a single file and emailed to your address as an attachment of your choice.

Note that the Archive Messages feature is useful should your folders reach 100% capacity. If your folders are full, you will not be allowed to receive additional PM's until you have removed some of the messages.

What if I need to forward PMs to a Moderator or Administrator?

Hopefully, you won't receive any harassing messages, but if so, you can click the Reply button as if replying to the Sender. Simply change the Recipient's name to your Moderator or Administrator of choice. Ensure that the drop-down says "Other" (it will have the Sender's name if that person is saved in your Address Book). You can then type your message and send it.

Other Tools

View New Posts

Clicking the View New Posts link in the board header at the top of the page will display all unread posts since your last visit. Note that this will display ALL new posts in ALL forums/sub-forums for ALL shows.

My Assistant

The 'My Assistant' feature can be accessed by clicking the link of the same name in the board header. This tool provides quick links to many important areas on the board, as well as quick access to common features.

My Assistant has four seperate feature tabs:

• Information - this tabs offers links to the overall and daily Top Ten posters, as well as your last ten posts on the board. You can also click to view the Moderation Team.
• New Posts - will show you a link to any new posts made since your last visit, and how long ago they were posted.
• Search - using this, you can search the forum basically the same way the standard search function works. This box will show you the number of results, and allow you to click to view them
• Recent PMs - on this tab, you can view your 5 most recent PMs and when they were received.

The My Assistant is also used when a new PM arrives. If you have selected to be notified when a new PM is received, the My Assistant box will appear on your screen displaying your new PM.

Reading

To go to the first post in a topic, simply click the topic name in the list of topics.

However, if you only want to read the posts that are new since the last time you were in the topic, you can click the box to the left of the topic name (), or the "Last post by:" link in the Last Action Column.

Help! Why are the posts in a topic appearing as a list of links?!

Somehow, you've managed to change the display mode to Outline. To change it back, click the Options drop-down at the top of the topic page, then under Display Modes, select Standard.

What do the stars next to a topic name mean?

You have the ability to rate topics in the forum. To cast your vote, click the Rating drop-down at the top of the topic page and then click the number of stars you think it deserves. The number of stars is an average of all votes cast.

Searching

Please search for a topic before starting a new thread. In season 3 we had about 20 new topics entitled "Where's Andy?" while he was at anger management training. People not using Search nearly made some of us need an anger management session or two...

Here are some searching tips...

Quick Search - you can do a quick search within a subforum or topic by entering your search term in the box that reads "Enter Keywords" at the bottom left of the page and then click the Search Forum/Search Topic button. However, this type of search does not have many options, so it might not be as useful as an Advanced Search.

Advanced Search - Click the Search link at the top of the screen. You can type your keyword(s) and even specify who posted it.

If you want to search all of The Office subforums, make sure The Office is selected in the list of forums. Otherwise, the search will only be performed in the subforum you were in when you clicked the Search link.

You have the option of selecting how far back to search and how to order the results.

You can also select whether to search the entire thread or just the titles.

And finally, you can display the results as a list of topics or individual posts.

When using the forum's search feature, all words must be 3 letters or more. Try to think of the most uncommon word you can remember from a post and search on that.

Note, too, that even though the search screen says "keyword" it always does a search based on a phrase, thus if you enter the same words in a search but in different order, you can get different results -- see this post.
eg. search The Office for:

dwight bobblehead = many threads
bobblehead dwight = 4 threads

If that doesn't work, try Google!

1. Click Google Advanced Search
2. Type your search terms
3. In Domain put boards.nbc.com
4. Click Search

Displaying Topics or Posts Made by a Particular Member

You can click a Member's name next to a post or under "Options" their Profile and select one of the following options:

• Find Member's Posts
• Find Member's Topics

Happy searching!

Posting

Using Reply and Quote Buttons

If you want to post a "general" reply to a thread, without addressing a specific point someone else has made, use the button. It can be found at the very top or very bottom of each page (when viewing a thread).

If you want to reply to someone's specific post, use the button. This will automatically quote the person's post to whom you are responding to. Please edit the quoted text to ensure you are leaving only the section you want to respond to. No one wants to re-read a long post just so you can make a one sentence comment about it.

If there are several different posts within a thread that you want to respond to, this is where the button comes in. Click this button for each post you want to respond to. Then, click .

Note: There is a maximum of 10 quotes you can make per post.

Editing Your Posts

Note that there is a 10 minute limit to making edits to your own posts. This is because some posters on some forums are misusing their editing privileges to go back and add in objectionable content that was removed by a Moderator. If there is something that truly requires editing after this 10 minute window, like a broken link, please PM a Moderator, requesting them to edit your post.

About the Report! button

On occasion, the moderators receive a reported post, but it turns out someone has simply accidently hit the button instead of the button.

If you've had a post "disappear" it may be because it was never posted in the first place!

The Report button should be used to:

• Report spam (Do not post/respond to spam threads!)
• Report a troll (Do not feed a troll by giving them any attention!)
• Report a spoiler outside the spoiler and speculation sub-forums
• Report flaming or other personal attacks
• Report anything else that violates the forum rules

Images and Links within a Post

To have a few words in your post link to another topic or website, highlight the text you want to be a hyperlink, then click the button and paste the URL.

To include an image in your post, click the button and paste the image's URL.

Note that when a HUGE image has been posted, a Moderator may replace the [img] tag with a url tag out of respect for other members' time and bandwidth.

BB Code

For a full listing of available BB Code, go to the BB Code Help page.

The most commonly asked question is how to use spoiler bars:

= This is sample text

How to post a poll

When you post a poll, the poll title can be left blank. It is optional.

The important setting in a poll is whether or not you want to allow people to choose multiple poll answers or only one answer out of the options listed.

If you want people to choose only one of the options, then Multiple choice question? should not be checked.

If you want to allow people to choose multiple options, then Multiple choice question? should be checked.

Warning: If you attempt to update your poll after people have voted, the votes already cast may change to zero, and the people that already voted will not be able to vote again.

Where did my post go?

If you cannot find a post you made, a Moderator probably either merged it into an existing thread on the same topic or moved it to another sub-forum, where it is more appropriate.

If you find a post has "gone missing", you can click your name in any post you've made (or or under "Options" in your Profile), and choose "Find Member's Posts." (This works for yourself or anyone's name you click on.)

Cool Forum Features

Navigating from a Topic Back to its Sub-forum

While reading a topic, you can jump back to the topic's sub-forum by clicking the Sub-forum link at the bottom of the list of posts, for example at the bottom of this screen:

« Next Oldest · The Conference Room · Next Newest »

Navigating from a Topic Back to its Sub-forum or a Parent Forum

You can jump up one or more levels in the forum by using the Breadcrumb links at the top of the page. For example, at the top of this page, you'll see that your current location is:

NBC > Primetime > The Office > Administration > The Conference Room > F.A.Q.

You can jump to any level of the forum hierarchy by clicking the corresponding link.

Navigating to a Show's Forum

At the bottom right of each page, you'll see the "Forum Jump" drop-down list with a Go button next to it. Click the drop-down to navigate to another show's forum, or all the way up to the main NBC page.

----------

The rest of the drop down boxes on each forum page let you choose exactly how the threads in the forum are displayed. You can mix and match the options of your choice:

The second drop down box lets you pick the order in which the threads are listed.

• Order: Last Post is the default option.
• Order: Last Post - order the threads by the last posting time
• Order: Last Poster - order the threads by the name of the last poster in a thread
• Order: Topic Title - order the threads by topic title
• Order: Topic Starter - order the threads by the name of the topic starter
• Order: Topic Started - order the threads by the original posting date
• Order: Attachments - order the threads which have attachments
• Order: Replies - order the threads by the number of replies
• Order: Views - order the threads by the number of views

The third drop down box has two options for sorting:

• Z-A (descending order)
• A-Z (ascending order)

The fourth drop down box is the option to show threads from a certain period of time. The default view in most forums is From: 60 days which means threads older that 60 days are not listed.

• From: Today
• From: 5 days
• From: 7 days
  ...
• From: 60 days
• From: 90 days
• Show All

The last drop down box is a Topic Filter.

• Topics: All
• Topics: Open <-- If you hate to see locked or moved threads in the topic list, this is the option for you!
• Topics: Hot
• Topics: Polls
• Topics: Locked
• Topics: Moved
• Topics: I Started <-- Use this to find all the threads you started in this forum
• Topics: I Replied <-- Use this to find all the threads you've replied in this forum

If you want to make your preferences permanent:

1. Mark the box "Remember these options."
2. Click Go.

Live Chat?

This link will open a window where you can see if anyone else from the Office board is in Gabbly Chat.

This chat is not provided by NBC and can be quite temperamental. If you have issues with it, check out the Chat With Other Message Board Users thread.

Office Forum Organization

Here's a description of the subforums we've set up. Please create new threads in the most appropriate category.

Administration
This is the section for all official info about the show and the forum: official info about DVD release dates, episode schedules, official contests, awards nominations and any other press that's pertinent to the show, and questions and suggestions about the forum.

The Scuttlebutt
The place for on topic discussion about the show, characters, and actors. The main forum is the place for all general discussion on the show - here you'll find commentary on seasons as a whole, all couples threads (including the PD and JP threads), all articles and media appearances by the cast, crew, producers, writers, etc., and threads about the cast and crew in other projects.

• The Staff Directory - a place to talk about the characters.

Episode Discussions
Official episode discussion threads can be found here as well as YOUR ideas for future episodes!


The Paper Convention
This is the section to discuss all media created by NBC - blogs, newsletters, contests, props seen on the show, as well as any (un)official fan get togethers.

Random Acts of Fandom - fan-created art, literature, web sites, and other creations. Oh, and this is also the place to celebrate forum accomplishments (Dundies, 500+, Boardiversaries, etc.)

The Water Cooler
All spoiler information here. Don't look if you don't want to know!


Funtivities
All off topic threads live here.

• Office Olympics - All game threads

Office Forum Mods

The following users are mere defenders of The Office who graciously volunteer their time to make things run as smoothly as possible around here. None are NBC employees, nor are they compensated for their time.

If you have a question or need help, please direct it to one of the following people:

Forum Administrators
Officeholic
Officionada

Office User Moderators
Bailey08
bubblewrap
buymeacoke
Darth Schrute
Diapers
fancynewsammy
mixedberries
muffyduffy
PaxLux
scrantonbranch
VBARKLEY

Talking the Talk

Old Timers and Newbs alike rely on The Newbie Lingo Guide Thread for help with all the jargon and abbreviations around here.

Office Theme Song and Ringtone

The Office Theme song is by the band The Scrantones. You can get the MP3 for free on the Scrantones' myspace page

If you want to use the theme song as a ringtone on your cellphone, here are the instructions

And for all m'nerds out there, VietNamSounds posted these instructions for making your own ringtone.

See Songs Heard on The Office for a complete listing of all songs heard on the show. We try to keep this post up to date.

Official Cast Info

See this thread: Contact info For letters and such for info on the latest address info for the cast members. (No stalking, please!)

Rainn Wilson (Dwight) maintains his own blog Schrute-Space here on the NBC site. And Creed really does have a real blog - Creed Thoughts - that is updated regularly.

Monitor The Paper Convention sub-forum for updates to and discussion about cast-created content.

Several cast members have their own My Space pages. Jenna Fischer maintains links to all official cast members' My Space pages. Here are the ones that are active as of this posting date:

Pam/Jenna: http://www.myspace.com/pambeesley
Ryan/B.J.: http://www.myspace.com/bjnovak
Angela: http://www.myspace.com/accountinglady
Toby/Paul: http://profile.myspace.com/28720913
Kevin/Brian: http://www.myspace.com/kevinmalone
Meredith/Kate: http://www.myspace.com/kateflan
Creed: http://www.myspace.com/grassroots
Roy/David: http://www.myspace.com/roy_theoffice
Darryl/Craig: http://profile.myspace.com/40727230
Madge: http://www.myspace.com/madgeoffice
Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=58282097
John Sparano (The Former Prop Team Guy - Archive Only) http://www.myspace.com/johnsparano

JOHN KRASINSKI (Jim) does NOT have a My Space page. For his own sanity, I recommend that it stay that way!

What episode was that from? What was that exact quote?

For complete transcripts of all episodes, you can't beat officequotes.net - I am convinced Adam and his volunteers stay up all night on Thursday, busily transcribing each and every line.

If you can't find an episode searching by quote, ask in this thread: What episode is this from? I'm going crazy. One or more friendly forum members will have your answer for you in no time.

Viewing Episodes Online and Deleted Scenes

NBC streams full episodes of The Office at nbc.com here: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/episodes.shtml

Please do not ask for or post links to illegal viewing/downloading sites, as these posts will be edited and repeat offenders will be subject to suspension.

Deleted Scenes are typically posted starting the day after an episode airs. However, the Deleted Scenes are currently only available to users accessing the site from U.S. IP Addresses. This is due to legal copyright and distribution reasons. I am not a lawyer and I refuse to discuss whether or not you think this is fair.

As of the time of this post, NBC has terminated its contract with iTunes, effective at the end of 2007. We're not sure what this will mean, but you can read about and discuss the latest news in this thread.

If You Have Any Other Questions

Feel free to post Office-specific questions in The Conference Room (check to see that your question hasn't already been asked first!).

If you have technical issues, check out the Tech Support sub-forum. If you can't log in, you can post as a Guest (without re-registering) in the Message board or my.NBC.com Login issues? thread.

If you have questions about myNBC, ask those in the myNBC Community forum.

If you have any questions that you would like to ask discreetly, PM one of our friendly Moderators - we're here to help!