This page is intended to introduce players on the Gladiator to the style and format the email posts take on, and to familiarize the crew with how to post this way as well.

1. Subject
2. On:...
3. Post Introduction
4. Actions
5. Dialog
6. Dialog with Actions
7. Communicator Dialog
8. Off:...
9. Signature

1. Subject
The subject line of each email post must contain each of the following items.
Ship Tag: [USS Gladiator] - This is added automatically by Yahoo!Groups and it is not necessary to add.
Mission Title: "Beginning of the End" - The title of each mission is the first item to add to the subject line of the email post. It must be the correct title for the current mission, and be in quotation marks (" ").
Post Number: Each post is numbered in succession, with the first post of the mission being post 1. If the post is a Joint Post (JP), between two or more persons, the post is assigned one number per participant. 

    (Ex. If Pitt, Lenares, and Torek do a JP, the post would be numbers 1, 2, 3.) 

The post number is separated from the mission title by a hyphen (-).
Character Name: Separated from the post number by another hyphen is the character name. This is where the last name of the character(s) participating in the post is placed. Only the last name is necessary.

A complete subject line:
    [USS Gladiator] "Beginning of the End" - 1 - Pitt

2. On:...
The On: begins each and every post. Unless an Off: is presented first (see 8. Off:...), the On: will be at the top of the post. An On: establishes where the post is taking place. 

    (Ex. On: Bridge; On: Space; On: Tribble Lair) 

The On: is also akin to a director yelling 'action'. It informs the reader that the following is In Character. 
Unless the action stays right with the character in the post, an On: is used to announce a new location as well, weather in the middle, near the end, or anywhere in the post. It is optional, but not necessary, if the action does follow the character.

3. Post Introduction
 Usually, the first item to follow the On: will be a short paragraph introducing the post. It will contain such things as a description of the setting, the characters present, and the actions currently going on. There is no real limit to this Introduction, as some posts may contain just this.

4. Actions
Any actions that were not included in the Introduction can now be added here. These would be such character specific actions such as 'Pitt picks up the phaser and stuns the drunken Klingon'. Actions can also be combined with dialog (see 6. Dialog with Actions).

5. Dialog
Dialog on the Gladiator is accomplished through a script style format. Each speaker is preceded by their name and a colon. All dialog then follows, enclosed in quotation marks. 

    (Ex. Pitt: "I think you've had enough to drink, Chancellor.")

6. Dialog with Actions
Actions and Dialog can be combined into one through two separate techniques, or a combination of both. 
New Sentence: An entire new sentence can be created outside of the quotation marks of the dialog. 

    (Ex. Pitt: "I think you've had enough, Chancellor." Pitt picks up the phaser and stuns the drunken Klingon.)

Same sentence, abbreviated: Through the use of stars (*), actions can be added right after the character name, but before the colon. 

(Ex. Pitt *picking up the phaser and stunning the drunken Klingon*: "I think you've had enough, Chancellor.")

Combination: A combination of both techniques is also possible. 

(Ex. Pitt *picking up the phaser*: "I think you've had enough, Chancellor." He stuns the drunken Klingon.) 

This tends to be the most common and understandable usage.

7. Communicator Dialog
Now, as in any Star Trek show or film, there comes a time when people use their communicators to talk. On the Gladiator, we use special symbols in the dialog to differentiate between who's voice is actually coming through the communicator. Using the equal sign (=) and the forward and back slashes (/)(\), we can make a rudimentary representation of the standard Starfleet comm badge. (=/\=). This symbol is placed to either side of the name of the person who's voice would be coming through the communicator. 

    (Ex. =/\=Pitt=/\=: "Pitt to the Gladiator, beam the Chancellor to sickbay.")

8. Off:...
An Off: functions in the exact opposite way that an On: does. It informs the reader that all In Character action ceases at this point, and that following text is Out Of Character from the writer. An Off: is a place to put in special details on the post that you want the reader to know, but your character wouldn't simply come out and say (or even think). It can be a place to invite a certain other player to post a follow-up, or to simply insert a witty line at the end of your post. Even if you say nothing afterwards, an Off: is absolutely necessary at the end of your post, as it is akin to a director shouting 'Cut!'. 

    (Ex. Off: The plot thickens. TBC (to be continued): Lenares?)

9. Signature
After any final Off: comments, here you place your signature. It is usually your rank, name, and position at least, though more detail is welcome. 

    (Ex. [OO] Rear Admiral Tlaloc Pitt
          Commanding Officer, Task Force 21 "Wolf Star Squadron"
          Commanding Officer, USS Gladiator - Task Force 21 Flagship
          NCC-74676-A
          Ninth Fleet
          Starfleet
          United Federation of Planets

          Obsidian Fleet Email: tpitt@obsidianfleet.net
          Task Force 21 Email: tf21@obsidianfleet.net
          Sim/Personal Email: BFTlalocPitt@aol.com
         AOLIM: OFTlalocPitt

         ======================
         "The universe is not only queerer than we imagine. It is queerer than we can imagine."


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