Clearing up the Ranks!
"Why is this news post necessary?" I hear you cry. Sort of.
Well, it's necessary because the members of the Staff team have noticed some veering away from our intended voting procedures, as well as some confusion over who to contact in certain situations. We've also had a rather large influx of new members just recently, so it's probably a good idea to clue them in too.
What are the Neocodex Ranks?
Advanced Member: This rank is the one acquired when you purchase a membership to Neocodex. It grants several perks in our programs and forum tools, but does not signify anything other than a monetary contribution to the community.
Advanced perks:
- Advert free!
- Access to Abrosia's advanced functions, like decreasing time settings and shop selection
- Access to Item Database features, like the list generator
- Incredible data collection features in the exclusive Neologs
- Earlier access to each Mystery Picture answer
- Exclusive contests and giveaways
- Fast access to our Team Codex events and tactics
- Access to the RemoteControl for Abrosia... restock from your phone!
Advanced+ Member: This rank shows other members that you have been active enough to reach around 500 posts without spamming, and grants the same perks as a subscription, but for free! It may also be granted to members with under 500 posts in recognition of impressive contributions to the forum. It is awarded through a nomination system, whereby another Advanced+ (or higher) rank member notices your posts and puts up a thread in the nominations forum. All eligible members can then vote on that thread, and decide whether you deserve the rank. This is based solely on your lack of spam - you do not need to be a popular or particularly active member.
Private Member: This rank shows other members that you are an active and contributing member, who has added value to the site and shown dedication to being part of our community. There are monthly applications for members with over 1000 posts and a year of membership, which are voted on by private, retired and staff members. It grants access to a Private chat forum, and allows hidden post editing and member title access, as well as all Advanced perks. It also comes with access to our coveted Flight Rising Coliseum Bot and a fancy new customisable site skin 
Retired Member: This rank shows that you are a highly valued member of the community, having made great contributions over a lengthy period of time. There are no specific requirements to enter Retired, and progression is based on nominations by other Retired members. It grants access to all perks that we have on the site! Retired is often described as "cliquey", which may be true in some respects, but it is important to remember that it is nowhere near impossible to get into Retired. There are Retired members of many different attitudes and temperaments, and not getting along with some of them does not preclude a promotion.
(Lead) Moderator: A Moderator's job is to keep the forum tidy and pleasant. They will deal with rulebreaking, and have the power to assign warning points, suspend and ban members, edit all user-generated content, and close threads. They also have access to tools that let them do this job efficiently, including the report center, access to private messages, and our advanced IP tools. Moderators are appointed by the Adminstration at their discretion.
Administrator: An Administrator's job is to lead the staff and membership of the forum. They are in charge of dealing with the behind-the-scenes running of the forum - from the technical, like installing forum add-ons, to the personal, like dealing with staff complaints and suggestions. Their word is the final word, and they have absolute control of all aspects of the board. Fear them.
Programmer: The Neocodex Programmers develop all our proprietary software, from our Avlog to our Program Manager. This is a huge responsiblity, and a vast amount of work. They also have moderator powers to assist in certain situations that call for their expertise.
Contest Team: The Contest Team is in charge of the contest section of Neocodex - they run all the official contests (which Staff sometimes lend a hand with) and are responsible for distributing prizes. Members of the contest team are appointed by the Contest Leader at their discretion, and are usually chosen according to the activity of the member in hosting their own unofficial contests.
Who to contact in "emergencies"!
If your problem is with a post, message, user, or status, use the reporting function on those parts of the board. There is a link to make a report of every post, PM and userpage, which will allow any online staff to go directly to the issue and read your report information. This ensures your problem gets dealt with as soon as possible.
Remember that reporting should be used with discretion - staff do not need to be notified of typos, but they do need to be alerted to verbal abuse, spam, post errors and the like.
If your problem is with a piece of forum software, like the Item Database, @Waser Lave is your go-to guy. Fire him a PM with as much detail as you can manage, and he will look into it as soon as he is able.
If your problem is with forum permissions, make a topic in the Forum Help section. Feel free to report your own topic if you feel it needs urgent attention from staff.
If your problem is with our store and/or billing, you should create a support request in the Client Area. For urgent matters, you should send a PM to @Waser Lave. He will be able to help with most issues, and any that he cannot solve can be forwarded to @Hydrogen by PM or email at hydrogen@neocodex.us.
More fun shinies!
We've just added a schweet award for reaching ten awards!
Wait... no, this one:
And with that, I bid you farewell. Until next time, when we may or may not have groundbreaking new updates for you!
+rep
YOU'RE READING IT ALL WRONG! 
