 | Mac GUI Suburbs Basic Info |  |
General Guidelines
- Everything inside Mac GUI City Suburbs must comply with Mac GUI's TOS!
Things that are disallowed by Mac GUI's TOS are not allowed in the Suburbs just as they're not allowed in the rest of Mac GUI City.
- Report things to the Suburb Owner and Aldermen first!
In the Suburbs, the Suburb Owner and their Aldermen are charged with keeping order in their suburb. Most violations should be reported to and dealt with by them. Mac GUI City Moderators are usually only needed in the case of Owners or Suburb Aldermen not acting to keep suburb members in line or being the ones who are breaking the rules themselves.
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What is a Suburb?
A Mac GUI City Suburb is basically just a privately-run area of Mac GUI. In the main site, the administrators and moderators of Mac GUI City are in charge of setting rules and enforcing them. In Suburbs, it's the responsibility of the Suburb Owner and his appointed Aldermen to make the rules and enforce them, as long as they don't break the Mac GUI City Terms of Service.
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How do I get a Suburb?
A Suburb costs 500 @pples to own. Just go to the Town Square, click on Suburbs and then click the 'Create Suburb' link.
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What are entry fees and suburb account?
Whether or not to charge an entry fee is up to the sole discretion of the Suburb Owner. Entry fees charged on joining a suburb are added to the Suburb Account. Members of the Suburb (including the Owner and Aldermen) can also donate activity to the suburb. Everyone should be aware that there is absolutely no way to access the Suburb Account to remove them, or refund them. The Suburb Account is used to purchase additional features and add-ons for the Suburb.
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Suburb Types?
- Public
Public suburbs can be seen and posted in by anyone. Only members can be banned from a suburb, so it's not possible to keep a user out of a public suburb if they are not a member.
- Private
Private Suburbs can be seen by the public, but only members can participate in them.
- Hidden
Hidden Suburbs are completely invisible to those who are not members. Please note though, that this doesn't make it okay to break Mac GUI's TOS inside a hidden suburb.
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| Mac GUI Suburbs Moderation & Reporting | |
What happens when there is content in my suburb that breaks TOS?
The Suburb Owner alone is responsible for his suburb's content. If your suburb is hosting material that violates the Mac GUI City TOS, it would be advantageous to remove it as soon as possible, or risk having your Suburb deactivated.
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I am having a conflict with the suburb owner or aldermen. Can I have a Mac GUI City moderator help me out?
No, Mac GUI City moderators are not responsible for suburbs. It is up to the suburb management how they want to handle internal conflicts. The sole exception is if the suburb aldermen or owner are violating Mac GUI's TOS.
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The Owner/Aldermen are abusing their power; what do I do?
Suburb Owners and Aldermen can do whatever they want as long as they don't break the TOS, including banning you for no reason. Do not report a suburb unless there is a TOS violation that the suburb refuses to take care of themselves.
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Where do topics and posts go when deleted?
They go to to a hidden forum which the Mac GUI City administrators alone have access to.
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| Joining & Membership | |
How do I join a suburb?
There are two ways to join a suburb. If a suburb accepts join requests, then you can simply find a suburb you want to join and click on the Join link. If you do this, you might want to read first the Suburb's home page or take a look in their forum and see if they have membership requirements that you'd need to meet in order to be accepted. The other way to join a suburb is to be invited by the Suburb Owner. If you receive an invitation, just follow the instructions given in the PM.
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How many suburbs may I join?
There is no limit.
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How do I find Suburbs to join?
We suggest using the search feature in the Suburb start page and searching by both category and keyword for best results. Check the FAQ section below on categories for a better understanding of what type of suburbs you're likely to find in each category. You can also see what suburbs other users are members of by clicking on the link in their profile, or click the links to related suburbs categories found near the top of the page in most main forums. Try asking your friends what suburbs they belong to.
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I want to leave a suburb
If you decide you no longer wish to partake in a suburb, simply navigate to the suburb's home page and click the 'Leave Suburb' link, which is in the same place as the Join link was.
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I can't remember all the suburbs I've joined! Is there a list?
Yes. Go to the main Suburb start page and click 'My Suburbs'. This page will list all suburbs you are a member of or owner of.
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| Ownership & Advertising | |
How many suburbs can I own?
There is no limit.
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How many members can my suburbs host?
There is no limit.
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How long will my suburb stay active?
The day your suburb closes is the day Mac GUI City closes, unless your suburb is deactivated for TOS violations.
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How can I get more members?
Advertise your suburb in the Suburbs discussion forum. Put a link in your signature. Send out invites to interesting people. Make sure you have an appropriate category and that you have relevant keywords in your title and description so users can find it easily during a search.
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Can I transfer ownership?
Yes, the Owner or Co-owner may do this via the Suburb CP -> Settings page.
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Can I sell my suburb?
Yes, but there is no managed system for this. The seller and the buyer must come to an agreement and the seller must then follow the procedure for transferring ownership once the terms have been met.
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The Owner or Co-Owner has double-crossed me!
Sorry, but there's nothing that we can do if one user decides to take over the Suburb. Although it's not very nice, it is still not against the rules for an Owner or Co-Owner to boot the other. Next time make sure you pick someone you can trust.
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The owner of my suburb got banned or left Mac GUI City, but there is no Co-Owner. Can an administrator change ownership of the suburb?
Sorry, but there's nothing that we can do if a user is ever unable to manage the Suburb. Next time make sure you plan ahead.
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I don't want my suburb to show up on any list!
Make sure you check the option for 'Hide from Registry'.
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| Costs, Fees & Funds | |
Why the cost to create a suburb?
Owning a suburb is a big responsibility and a privilege. By requiring 500 @pples to create your own suburb we can assure that you have the experience and responsibility to own a suburb. Also, by putting @500 on the line, we can assure that you will be careful to follow the rules.
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What is the fee?
Some suburbs may charge a sum to get in. This amount is stored in the Suburb Account and cannot be removed for personal use. This is a one-time expense, unless you leave a suburb and then decide later to rejoin.
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I want a refund!
Sorry, no refunds. The costs/fees for buying a suburb and joining one are both non-refundable. If you really don't want your Suburb anymore, you could try putting it up for sale.
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Where do the donations go to?
The donation and entry fees both go to the Suburb's Bank Account. This account may be used by the Owner or Co-Owner to buy additional add-ons or extra features for the suburb.
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| Suburban Council | |
Who are the council?
The Owner, Co-Owner, and Aldermen of an individual suburb are known collectively as the Suburb Council.
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What can an Alderman do?
Suburb aldermen can delete posts, delete topics, post stickies, post announcements, edit posts, lock/unlock topics, and moderate the gallery (if there is one).
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What can the Owner do?
The owner can do everything aldermen can do in addition to being able to edit the suburb settings, edit the front page of the suburb, promote users, transfer suburb ownership, accept join requests to the suburb, and ban users from the suburb.
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What can the Co-Owner do?
The co-owner can do everything the owner may do. Make sure your co-owner is someone you can trust.
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Why can the co-owner transfer ownership?
There may be cases where suburbs lost their owners to bannings or because they left Mac GUI City. Having a Co-Owner that can change ownership ensures that the suburb can live on. You don't need to have a Co-Owner, but its a good way to ensure you'll never get stuck without an Owner.
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| Suburb Banners | |
What is a banner and how do I get one?
A banner is an image that helps distinguish your suburb from other suburbs. First you'll need to get an image and make sure it is somewhere on the web such as the Gallery or your Web Disk, then enter it its URL into the Suburb Settings page.
Be aware that like other images you use on Mac GUI City, it's best to use something original that was created for this purpose, and never link to an image off of someone else's website. Make sure the image you use is one that you have hosted somewhere yourself.
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What size should the banner be?
The Suburb banner display size is 200 pixels wide by 40 pixels tall. You can make your banner larger than this, and it will still display, but the excess pixels will be cropped.
To set the url for your suburb banner:
Go to the Suburb CP page, and click the link that says 'Settings' then look for the field labeled: 'Suburb Banner:' and input the url to your image. Note: Do not use the [img] tags when inputting your image url into this field! Just enter the plain url. Example: http://www.username.macgui.com/banner.jpg
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