Regarding Logs

Log format is when events take place real time within the game, and they are narrated -- in other words, they are always written in third person perspective. The only time the term "I" should ever be used in a log is if the character is saying it while speaking. There are two ways to write logs: script style, and prose (or long) style. Beyond that, there are three ways for logs to take place: comment threads, IM logs, and mass logs.

Script style is written in the same way that plays are written: the actions are delineated by some sort of symbol (usually either ** or []), and the speaking part stands on its own. "*steps up to the door and knocks* Is anyone home?" is an example of script format. You can add more detail within the action symbols, but only there. Detail does not occur outside of the actions in a script format. A good example of script logging is here. Script logging is not in any way inferior to prose format, and a great many players prefer it over prose.

Prose style is written the same way you would write a story. All speaking parts take place within quotations, and no action symbols occur at all. This log between Rukia and Rikku is an example of prose logging. An advantage of prose style is that it allows you to describe more of what's happening and build up more of an atmosphere. However, prose can sometimes be difficult to write, and you have to pay more attention to your grammar and spelling than you would with script. You can switch between prose and script style in different logs, but you can not switch between them within the same log. Once you've started a log in one style, stick with it.

Comment threads - Comment threads are when a log, either in script or long format, takes place using the comments to an entry. This log between Yuuko and Sora is an example of this. When doing a log that involves three or more characters, it's usually best to always post a new comment with the "post a new comment" link, rather than the "reply to this" link. This isn't necessary, and a lot of people don't do it. But if you don't, and your log is really long, LJ starts turning all the comments into links, which can be a pain to have to keep clicking through. In the end, it's up to you.

IM logs - IM logs are when a log takes place on an instant messaging program, like AIM, MSN, or Yahoo!. It can take place in script or prose format, same as journal logs, and you take turns same as in journal format. When the log is finished, it's copied and pasted to a new post in the log community, with double spaces between the paragraphs. This log between Yuuko and Himawari is an example of AIM logging.

Mass logs - Mass logs are when a large number of players are participating in the same event, such as a party or a class. These logs are almost always complicated and confusing, because a bunch of people are usually trying to answer the same comment at the same time, and so you have two different things happening when they shouldn't be. There isn't any real way to fix this problem, so you're stuck just winging it.

It's a bit easier for turns to work properly if a mass log takes place in a chat room rather than a journal thread, but then OOC talk and IC talk in the chat usually gets mixed up. Journal threads, by comparison, are neater, but you often get the problem of comments getting stacked into links (as mentioned above), and then the page starts taking forever to load and can even start to crash people's computers. (Some very large threads, in communities like campfuckudie, have actually caused Livejournal to crash.) Because of this, it's best to "break" threads in a mass log every now and then, by replying back to the main post instead of a person's comment. Another way to avoid comment stacking is by dividing up areas for the same log into different posts, so that if a character moves from one area to another they have to switch to a different post. An example of this is the paintball event.

Mass logs are one of the few instances where prose and script format may occur in the same log.

Strikes - Strikes are made by using the html tag <s></s>. In log format, strikes are always used in actions and descriptions, never speech. Strikeouts in a log are often used to indicate something that's sort of "tongue in cheek", so to speak, or perhaps something sarcastic or off-topic. Since a log is always in third-person perspective, a "strikes unreadable" note is never needed.

Pre-log setup - When initiating a log with another player, it's usually best to give the other person some indication that it's going to happen, and maybe even discuss what will occur within the log beforehand. Just suddenly starting a log where your character runs into another player's character, without letting the other player know first, is usually considered rude. Also, if the second player doesn't know that you wish to log with them, they might not even notice that you've started a log that you expect them to be in.

An exception to this is an open log, which is a log that invites any players who want to to jump in. This log posted by Axel is an open log. Most logs are at least partially open, which means that if the characters are, say, wandering around the school grounds, another character can jump into the log by bumping into them. It is still usually courteous to ask the players in the log before doing this. By contrast, a closed log is one where the players want no other characters to come into the log for whatever reason, or where the characters involved are in some sort of closed setting (like a dorm room) where another character would not be likely to interrupt them without an invitation. Closed logs can also be logs that are finished, so no more comments are being taken. Closed logs are usually indicated by writing "closed log" in the subject line, or by taking place in an isolated situation. Open logs are usually indicated by writing "open" in the subject line, or writing something like "whoever's around" or "whoever drops by" next to the "Who:" indicator on the post.

Emoticons - I'm sure most of you know what emoticons are! If not, I'm probably confusing you every time I do something like this: >_>;; Emoticons do not take place in most log formats. They sometimes take place in script format logs, but only within the action marks, and usually as a joke.

Relativity - Logs may not always take place at the actual time that the event is taking place in the game, usually because players have difficulty getting on at specific times. Because of this, you might wind up writing a log that actually took place two weeks ago in game time (these are called "backlogs"). This is fine--just make sure to specify this in the "When:" indicator in the log post. Sometimes a specific day isn't even needed; players usually say something like "just after the conversation with Yuuko", or "during the snowfall", or they put a link to a thread or a comment as reference. This is also acceptable.

Keep in mind, though, that backlogs can be tricky: if your character is writing a journal entry that takes place today in game time, but you're writing a log with them that happened yesterday in game time, they might need to mention something about a log that hasn't been finished yet. You can get around that problem by discussing what will happen in a log with the other player before you write the log itself.

Tags - Tags are a LiveJournal option that allows you to help organize your journal entries. You can choose whether or not to use them on your character's personal journal, but they are always used in the log community for the sake of easy searching. Tags can be set when you first make a post by writing them in the box that says "Tags:" (just above your mood selector) before posting. Commas separate each tag; for example, writing "christmas party, Yuuko" as tags will set the tags "christmas party" and "yuuko", respectively. You can edit tags on an existing post by clicking the little icon of a pencil and a blue box that says "tag", between the "edit entry" and "track this" icons.

Once tags have been set for an entry, they will show up on links at the top (or bottom) of a post. Clicking on a tag will bring up every post ever made that has that same tag. So if you click the "axel" tag in mu_log, you'll get a list of every thread that Axel participated in.

You are only allowed to set character names and event names as tags. The reason for this is that LJ only allows each community a thousand different tags. This may sound like a lot, but once you get a lot of characters on the comm, you run out of them really quickly.