A Usenet newsgroup in which dragons, friends of dragons, fans of dragons, dragon role-players, or anyone else can chat comfortably without fear of being flamed for their beliefs/likes. Topics can cover anything; they do not have to be dragon-related. The newsgroup is text-only, as many newsreaders do not support images or HTML.

Alfandran culture and traditions

<p>Newcomers: All newcomers who like dragons are welcome. It is traditional for newcomers to be welcomed with warm greetings and gifts of food.
<br>Food fights: Some people like to participate, others prefer to watch, either way food fights are generally liked.
<br>Trolls: Internet trolls (people who post messages, usually to multiple unrelated or superficially related newsgroups, with the intent of causing an argument) are generally ignored, or if a reply is posted it is usually posted to only the one newsgroup rather than all of the original post's groups.
<br>Dragon-slayers/gods/etc: People who post as dragon slayers, gods, etc., are never liked and will probably be ignored.

Names

The newsgroup has far too many names for any one person to remember. Some of the more commonly used names are:
<p>Here (the H is capitalized; "here" with a lower-case h often refers to the poster's real location)
<br>Tpommmnito [The Place of Many Many Many/Marvelous Names Including This One]
<br>the Place of So Many Names it's Almost Impossible to Memorize Them All
<br>xgrmpflmprxyzzz
<br>AFD (or variations thereof)
<br>the Dominance of Dragons (short: the Dominance)
<br>the Wang Toodle of Dragons
<br>Alfandra
<br>Alfandria (can also refer to the Alfandria MUCK)
<br>the Edge of the Map (old maps were sometimes marked "Here there be dragons")
<br>...and many, many others

How to connect to the newsgroup

using Google

1) go to www.google.com
<br>2) click the "sign in" link in the upper righthand corner (skip to step 4 if already signed in)
<br>3) If you don't have an account, click the "create an account" link and follow the given instructions. If you do have an account, log in now
<br>4) click on the "groups" link
<br>5) In the "Find groups" search field, type in alt.fan.dragons
<br>6) Ignoring the group description, click on the alt.fan.dragons link (should be the first result)
<br>7) (optional) click on "Subscribe to this group", confirm your email address and settings, and click the "subscribe" button
<br>You're ready to post!

using Thunderbird

1) download Thunderbird from www.getthunderbird.com and install it
<br>2) Click on either Edit or Tools (depending on your operating system), then Account Settings.
<br>3) Click "Add Account"
<br>4) Select "Newsgroup account", then Next
<br>5) Put in your name and email address (it's required; if you don't want to give out your real one then fake it), then click Next.
<br>6) Put in the address of your newsgroup server (your ISP probably offers one, or else you can use a free server) and click Next
<br>7) Put in whatever account name you want, it doesn't matter.
<br>8) Click Next, and then Finish, and then OK.
<br>9) Right-click on the new account (over on the left) and choose Subscribe.
<br>10) If asked, input your username and password.
<br>11) Wait for the list of newsgroups to finish downloading (may take a long time), then find alt.fan.dragons and check the corresponding Subscribe checkbox.

using other newsreaders

Exact steps vary by newsreader. Basically you connect to a news server (your ISP probably provides one, otherwise see below), put in a name and email address (real or fake), and (if asked) put in a username and password.

list of working free servers

1) see http://freenews.maxbaud.net/newspage.html?posting=1

See also

<p> Alfandra Maps - (alternate site)
<br> All About Alfandra
<br> OR Alfandria OR Altfandra OR Altfandria Google Search: Alfandra OR Alfandria OR Altfandra OR Altfandria
<br> AltFanDragons.org
<br> Dragonfire.org