Below are some of the common questions that people ask when they first come to perplexus. If the answer to your question is not here, feel free to mosey on over to the forums and ask someone there...

Are there any rules to this site? There are few rules to follow on perplexus, and a few guidelines. The main rule is - be nice to others and try to contribute to a good all-around experience for solving interesting puzzles. This means no offensive posts in the comments or forums (there can be kids reading this site, so please watch your tongue). We also ask that you refrain from posting problems on the forums, since that upsets the overall structure of the site. Finally, don't go giving away your solution in the subject line of a comment, or in a forum - a lot of the visitors want to solve that puzzle on their own, thank you very much. Over the site's history, some common-sense traditions have come to take place, which other site members will point out to you should you mistakenly go wrong. Just use your common sense and you'll do fine. Ooh! Ooh! I know the solution - how do I post it? Click on the "Post a comment" link. You must be logged on (Registration is easy and free.) If you are reading the latest puzzle on the home page, you will have to click its name to go to the puzzle's own page first. When posting a solution, make sure to not give it away in the subject line of your post. Remember however, that this is not a contest. You get no points for answering correctly or first, nor does it count towards any sort of rank. So there is no real need to post your solution if it has already been posted a few times. The satisfaction of knowing you solved the puzzle ought to be a sufficient reward. I submitted the right solution, but the problem still says "No Solution". What gives? Most puzzles have an "official" solution, usually submitted by the person who submitted the puzzle. It is revealed a day or two later than the puzzle itself. It could also be that the original submitter did not include an "official" solution, in which case it will generally be copied from one someone submitted. How do I submit my own problem? To submit a problem go here. Note that you cannot post a problem if you are a Novice on the site. (Don't worry though - if you are active on the site, posting comments and rating problems you should be promoted to Student within a couple of days.) How do I add a graphic to my problem? Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. You can try and supply an illustration to your problem using textual diagrams (like so: A ----> B). If your problem really requires an image it will need to be uploaded by site management - you can contact levik or one of the Scholars for help. Images must be in JPG or GIF format, and shouldn't be more than 450 pixels wide to stay consistent with the site. Much more information is available in this forum post courtesy of Brianjn What are these user ranks? Users on perplexus are ranked according to their contributions to the site Higher ranks typically get more influence over problems that get posted. The ranks are: Novice, Student, Apprentice, Journeyman and Scholar. There is also a Director but that rank is reserved for levik who created and runs this site. (More information on each rank is available here) How do I format problems I submit? Lines seem to run together... You can use some basic HTML code when submitting problems to perplexus: Use <br> to go to the next line, or <p> to skip a line. I submitted a problem. When will it be posted on the site? Submitted problems go to our queue of waiting problems, where they await their turn to be voted on by Journeymen. They can vote Tumbs Up (TU) which adds a point, or Thumbs Down (TD) which subtracts a point. A problem needs 3 points to be posted. Problems with -3 points will be deleted. Because of the large number of problems in the queue (check the stats page for actual number), it can take as long as two months between a problem is submitted and when it shows up on the site. How often are new problems posted? Why? We try to post two new problems every weekday (one in the morning and one around lunch time), and one new problem every day on weekends. This is because the majority of people visiting this site do so from work, and do not have the ability, time or desire to do so on their days off. The reason to have a limit at all is because we want to ensure that every new problem gets its fair share of "eyeballs" - that is that it gets a valid chance to be seen by all the regular visitors that that there is opportunity for discussion to spring up around it. I don't want my solution to be visible right away. Can I submit it later? You will notice that none of the problems posted on perplexus initially have their solutions visible. This is because the solution stays hidden for the first few days that the problem is hidden, even if the author of the problem submits it right away. Problems with submitted solutions are given preference in voting, so we encourage you to submit your solution right away. My problem will get TDed and deleted. Can I change it for another problem? Major changes to a problem when it has been seen in the queue is generally frowned upon, but changing a problem that is going to get TDed for a whole different one is not allowed entirely. Why is everyone ignoring me in the chatterbox? Chatterbox is not really the same as IM or real-time chat. People are not notified of new messages, and the messages don't show up at all until you go to a different page. In other words, they are not immediately obvious. If you need real help, your best bet is the forums. What's with all the pops? Perplexus costs money to run. Money comes from advertising. Unfortunately we can't remove the ads completely. However, if you find them really annoying, why not donate $10, and we'll make sure you don't see any pop-ups for an entire year, as long as you are logged in! (When donating, make sure to include your perplexus user name and login so that we can properly credit you). Allow a day or two for this to be activated... Once your donation goes through, you will see how long your exemption will last by going to your User Info page. I don't mind regular pops, but some of these ads are really intrusive! While we need to recoup costs, we realize that sometimes these popups go too far. Unfortunately, we do not get to approve each one individually, since we deal with networks that run the ads. Even so, we believe that ads should not advertise inappropriate material, open multiple windows, or install things on your computer. If you encounter such an ad, kindly report it, and we will attempt to make sure it is eliminated. To help us deal with it in the most effective way, submit a request describing the ad you were served, its effects, and the ad debug info at the very bottom of the page (It's the line that says "Last Ad: ... This Ad: ..."). Rest assured that we take each such report very seriously and follow up with the offending networks, severing our relationship if neccessary.