Smogon Simple Questions & Suggestions Thread

Welcome to Smogon, the premier competitive battling Pokemon website! If you're new to the forums or competitive battling in general and looking for help on how things work around here, feel free to ask any questions you have in this thread.

Please keep in mind that this is not an introduction thread, so do include relevant queries in your posts. You're more than welcome to ask questions regarding competitive battling, our forums in general, or how to get involved in a particular section of the website, and we'll be happy to help you out or direct you to the appropriate resource.

We'll do our best to answer every question in this thread, but if your question relates to a specific part of the forums, you'll likely get a much quicker answer there. For your convenience, here are links to the Simple Questions & Answers threads in Smogon's various forums:

If your question pertains to any of these areas, please use the forum-specific SQSAs.

There are also several other threads in the Information & Resources forum which might contain the information you're looking for:
  • Introduction to Smogon - Provides an introduction to the website and information regarding our various resources and contribution opportunities.
  • Global Forum Rules - You know what these are; you should read them.
  • Competitive Battling FAQ - A basic introduction to competitive battling. If you're completely new to the competitive aspect of Pokemon, then this thread will give you a solid foundation to build from.
  • Tiering FAQ - A useful introductory resource to Smogon's tiering processes.
  • Badge FAQ - A rundown of Smogon's contribution/staff-based awards for contribution: badges. Also, their Badge Leaders.
  • Smogon Staff & Promotions - Contains a list of all staff members and the section of the site they moderate.
  • Smogon Discord Server Directory - All of Smogon's Discord servers are here, ranging from OverUsed to Circus Maximus!
If your question is related to base stats, moves or abilities, it'd be a good idea to check out the SWSH research thread or the Past Generations research thread depending on the game.

Here is a short list of very frequently asked questions that you can consult before asking your own question, as the answer you're looking for may already be here.
Q: Can we delete inactive accounts with 0 posts?
A:
We're not deleting inactive accounts because chances are an older user could return and want their account back. The most that'll probably be done is name changes if a user is desperate for the name. But in general a purge is very unlikely in the near future.

Q: What is an alert?
A:
Alerts are notifications that you receive in the dropdown in the top right corner of the forum index. You get an alert if you've posted in a thread and there are new replies, you've been tagged by someone in a post, you're watching a forum and there are new threads, you're watching a thread and there are new replies, if you receive a "Like" on a post, if someone follows you, and if you receive a visitor message on your profile. Furthermore, if you don't want to receive alerts for any or all of these things, you can toggle your preferences in the Control Panel.

Q: What are followers and how do you get them?
A:
Followers are a very minor quirk of the forum system that Smogon uses. Following someone is simply a way of seeing whether or not they are online more easily, as they appear on the index underneath the "Staff Online Now" list. Furthermore, you can use the news feed to see what the people you follow are doing around the forum, from when they change their avatar to what post they just "Liked". You don't gain or lose anything from having a lot of followers or following other people, but it can be a fun way to connect with other users and keep up with your friends on Smogon.

Q: Why do only some staff appear on the "Staff Online Now" list?
A:
The "Staff Online Now" list exclusively shows Super Moderators and Administrators. Furthermore, some staff members have their online visibility private, and they will not show up on the "Staff Online Now" list if that is the case.

Q: What is hyperlinking and how do you do it?
A:
Hyperlinking text or images means that you are assigning a URL to said text or image so that it redirects you to the URL when you click it. To hyperlink something, wrap URL tags around the text or image, like so:
[URL=URL HERE.com]text you want to hyperlink[/URL]
Alternatively, you can highlight the text or image, click the chain icon in the post format toolbar, and paste your link in the text box. This will automatically embed the link the selected content.

Q: How do you tag someone in a post?
A:
You can tag users by putting an "@" before their username, e.g.
@Username123 . In order to link to someone's profile, you can also use the member ID found at the end of the profile URL and place it between the following tags:
[USER=MEMBER ID HERE]Username[/USER]

So to link Quite Quiet's profile, it would look like the following:

[USER=196780]Quite Quiet[/USER]

However, unlike tags, this does not send them a notification.

Q: How do you get a name/ profile details change?
A:
You may post in this thread, and wait for a staff member to go through it.

Q: How do you post an image?
A:
If you have a URL ending in a valid file extension (.png, .jpeg, .gif, etc.), you can paste it within [IMG][/IMG] tags. This will embed an image in your post. Alternatively, you can click the portrait icon in the post toolbar and paste your link there, which automatically embeds your image in a post.

Q: How do you change your avatar?
A:
Click on your username in the top right corner of the index and hover over your current avatar in the dropdown menu. If you click the "Edit" button in the pop-up, you can upload an image from your computer to Smogon. You can also click on your avatar directly if you are viewing your own profile. Furthermore, if you have a Gravatar account, you can simply input your email and activate your Gravatar on Smogon.

Q: How do you private message someone?
A:
On Smogon, "private messages" are just known as conversations, and you can start them with multiple people at once! To do so, hover over the "Inbox" button in the top right corner of the index and click "Start a new conversation". In the new window, type your participants in the first box; if you have more than one person you want to send a private message to, separate their usernames with a comma (,). In the next box, you can choose a title for the conversation. In the last box, just type your message, then click "Start a Conversation" and your PM will be sent.

Q: What is a "CT"?
A:
"CT" is an abbreviation for "custom title", the term the Smogon forum uses to identify the text underneath a member's username and avatar in their postbit. Regular members don't have the ability to edit their CT, but after becoming a badgeholder (a member that's been awarded a badge for their on-site contributions), a member can freely edit their CT. There are some cases in which non-badgeholders have a CT, such as if a member gets a username change and the CT is "formerly [their old username]", or if they have Nitro Boosted the official Smogon Discord server.

Q: How do you post a YouTube video?
A:
To post a video, all you have to do is take the part of a YouTube URL after the "v=" and put it in [media=youtube][/media] tags. For example, to post this video, you should take what's at the end (1yw1Tgj9-VU) and place it between the aforementioned tags, like so: [media=youtube]1yw1Tgj9-VU[/media]. You can also use the media section of the post format toolbar.

Q: How do you use hide tags?
A:
Hide tags, or "spoiler tags", as they're referred to on other boards, are exactly what they sound like: a hidden message. These hidden messages will appear with an orange background a gray text box which will either say "Show Hide" or "Example (open)". The code to create this box is [HIDE][/HIDE] or [HIDE=Example][/HIDE] alternatively. If left without an equal sign, the box's title will simply be Hide. The example area is where to put your hide tag's title; for example, a tag for all Gen 1 Pokemon would be [HIDE=Gen 1][/HIDE].

Q: How do you quote a post?
A:
Clicking on 'Reply' (located on the bottom right of someone's post) will automatically quote the post for you. [quote] Message [/quote] will also quote the post, but it won't tag the user of the post. You can click "Reply" on multiple posts to respond to more than one quote at once. You can also highlight parts of a user's message and click on the "Reply" tag that shows up to only quote specific portions.

Q: What is a VM?
A:
VM is a "Visitor Message" and is the equivalent to posting on somebody's wall for Facebook, or any social media along those lines. This is where easy interactions and communication will occur. Every user has a page for VMs, but privacy settings can be set to turn this ability off. To do exactly this, click on your name in the top right corner of the forum index, then click on "Privacy" and adjust the setting next to "Allow users to post messages on your profile page". Simply clicking on a user's name will pull up this page and where it says "Write a message" is where the post will go when this privacy setting is not activated.

Q: What are badges and what do they do?
A:
Badges are rewarded to users that contribute to the site. Having a badge allows you to have a larger filesize avatar and access to a discussion board for contributors to the community. More information about badges and how to earn them can be found here. A list of all of Smogon's badgeholders can be found here.

Q: What are trophy points?
A:
Trophy points are part of Xenforo, the forum software Smogon uses. There is currently no use for them.

Q: Where can I find damage calculations?
A:
You can find the most recently updated damage calculator here.

Q: Where can I trade Pokemon?
A:
The primary place on Smogon to find others to trade Pokemon with would be the Wi-Fi section, as there's tons of shops there to choose from, and quick/minor trade can be posted in this thread. If you want live interaction with other traders/breeders, you can check out the Wi-Fi room on Pokemon Showdown! Remember, hacking is strictly frowned upon on Smogon and most places promoting otherwise legitimate trade practices. Have some integrity.

Q: How do I see past Smogon bans/suspect tests?
A:
There is a listing of threads that contain past suspect tests in the Blind Voting forum, but there's no currently existing compendium of suspect tests or bans for most tiers in generations prior to Generation 8, but a full list of tiering decisions made this generation can be found here.


If you can't find the answer you're looking for above, then we encourage you to use this thread!
_______________________

If you spot an error on one of the site pages (such as a Pokemon being listed in the wrong tier in the Strategydex), post here.
_______________________
How can I change my pokemons tera type?
 

Kalalokki

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris an Artistis a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Pokemon Researcheris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris an Administrator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Sprite Leader
It only sorts by generation, not tierlist
Pick a generation first, then search for the tier you're looking for. Alternatively you go to the teambuilder on Pokemon Showdown and just pick a generation there and look at the list.
 

chimp

Go Bananas
is an official Team Rateris a Contributor to Smogonis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnus
My notifications are really wonky. I watch threads but sometimes stop getting notifications for them. I have the OU Metagame Discussion thread watched, for example, but sometimes this site does not give me notifications at all, even though I know for a fact I am clicking on the notifications and reading the entire thread. This is particularly annoying with some threads like the Analysis Reservations, where it's really time sensitive to know when posts happen.

Meanwhile, some subforums or threads still give me notifications even when I hardly check them. I still get notifications for nearly every RMT that is posted even though I haven't clicked on one in ages.

At this point several threads I've watched could've had posts in them and I'd have no idea. Any clue whats going on?
 
I'm not sure if its just me but for like the past month i feel like ive been getting a crazy amount of crits i just had a turn were all 3 of the mons that used an attacking move all got crits im not useing and crit + anything either so thats not it, it was happening before this gen came out too
 
" You have insufficient privileges to reply here. "
How do I gain these privileges? I am trying to respond to the "Identity of national dex" post as an Avid National dex UU player, but I cannot. How can I gain these privileges to ensure my voice is heard?
 
"Please note that in order to limit spam and joke requests, this form is restricted to users with at least 25 posts on the forums."
So... I just have to keep posting here and then I'll eventually be allowed to access the forum?
I get limiting who can MAKE threads, but limiting who can reply to threads by... how many replies they have kinda seems counter-intuitive?
Like, I've had this account since 2016, but forgot about it because I couldn't figure out why I wasn't allowed to respond to anything. The only reason I remembered it was when I tried to make a new account because I found the replies in the NatDex Identity thread Alarming, Especially from a consul member who does not seem to understand why the format exists since they are in favor of proposal A, which would remove pokemon from the format who's entire purpose is "You can use all the pokemon".

Like I get Anti-spam as a concept, but this kinda just encourages me to spam what few threads I CAN access to be allowed to access the thread I ACTUALLY want to respond to?

Like, I don't like doing this, but as far as I can tell, doing this is the only way I can be allowed to contribute?
And why 25? That's such an arbitrary number.

I Don't WANT to unnecessarily add 20 extra posts to this forum when 5 is all I needed, but I quite literally cannot do anything else to be able to contribute under the current rules.
This Anti-spam rule doesn't just encourage spam, it seems to FORCE it.

I'm trying to space these out so if there's some other way that just wasn't made aware to me to rack up these posts, I can, but considering I'm trying to respond to a thread about a rules change that would quite literally destroy my favorite format, And to criticize calling it a "Pet" format because it's actually both underdeveloped and (unintentionally) suppressed by the Showdown client, I'm kinda left with no other options here.
But I'm also afraid doing this will get me banned because I'm literally spamming the forum, but only because of the rule made to limit spam.
 

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