Yesterday 10:45 AM GamingforGood: Nice way to start a weekend RT: EISil I'm loving the Panda GoodQuest! I saved 138 virtual pandas so far.
Yesterday 10:20 AM GamingforGood: Nicely done! RT: BrainyBirdEI<3 the new panda GQ. Really difficult at first, but now that I've gotten the hang of it it's great :)
Yesterday 09:01 AM GamingforGood: Read details about the Panda GoodQuest and see the results kids have done by GamingforGood: http://bit.ly/xVO7R
07-02-2009 08:16 AM GamingforGood: Help Endangered Pandas Through Online Game Play in Elf Island: www.elfisland. Registration is free!
07-02-2009 08:14 AM GamingforGood: Elf Island is challenging kids 2 rescue pandas that were injured and displaced by the 08 earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China.
Independence Day is our most important national holiday. It is a reminder of the morals and ethics on which our country was founded. We have some items to help you celebrate this "spark-tacular" holiday with us here on EIF. First, we have some interesting facts about the holiday, next some super signatures and awesome avatars, fun new vB items and some more patriotic smilies. We hope you enjoy them!
Independence Day 2009
Independence Day was declared a legal holiday all the way back on July 4, 1941. What? Less than 60 years ago? I thought America was over 200 years old! You’re right. It is. Independence Day observes the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. We just never got around to making it an “official” holiday until 1941.
The American flag is a symbol of our brave country. Quick! Without looking at a picture of a flag, what are the pieces of “Old Glory”?
Spoiler:
On June 14, 1777, Congress resolved: “The flag of the United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white on a blue field ...”
Today we have 7 red and 6 white stripes, a blue rectangle in the upper left corner, and 50 five-pointed white stars on that blue canton.
Now, do you know what those all the parts stand for? They weren’t just random.
Spoiler:
The stripes symbolize the 13 original colonies that made up the United States of America.
The stars represent today’s 50 states of the Union.
White signifies purity and innocence.
Red signifies hardiness and valor.
Blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.
Were you here on Memorial Day? You may remember some information about how to treat and fold the flag. That information is still good! Here’s the link.
Who is “Uncle Sam” anyway? The image of Uncle Sam is our national symbol. It represents the U.S. Government (U.S.—Uncle Sam, get it?). It was made popular popularized during the War of 1812 (his picture was printed on supply containers and he showed up political cartoons in the 1830s. Again Congress voted that he be our national symbol a little later…in 1961.
The Star-Spangled Banner became our national anthem on March 3, 1931. It was written as a poem by Francis Scott Key in 1814. Do you know the words? There are a LOT more than you may know.
Spoiler:
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In *** is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Signatures:
To add this to your signature copy code below. Then go under User CP, under edit signature paste in code and save:
As part of EIF's SUMMER BASH! we are holding our 2nd graphic contest. During the summer many people go to the beach and build sandcastles, so we thought it would be fun for you to make your very own sandcastle right here at Elf Island Fansite.
For this contest you will take one of the sandcastle images below and design it the way you want. Show your creativity and win a prize. (If you would like the print a sandcastle out to color it, then scan it back in to enter into the contest that is fine too.)
If you would like a blank castle with no words click HERE.
Contest Guidelines:
1. You MUST use one of the sandcastle sheets above.
2. Your sandcastle must follow ALL Elf Island Fansite's site rules located HERE.
3. You CANNOT resize any of the sandcastle images.
4. Please give your sandcastle a creative name (the name should be located somewhere on the sandcastle image).
5. ALL graphics, text, and other objects you wish to put on the sandcastle MUST fit inside the image above.
6. ALL sandcastle entries should be submitted to Poe by PM. (Click HERE to submit your image to Poe)
Deadlines & Prizes:
Your sandcastle should be finished and sent to Poe no later than Friday, July 17th, 2009, 11:59 EDT. Our staff team will narrow down the submissions to 5 entries that EVERYONE will then vote on. You will choose one grand prize winner (most votes) and two runners up (2nd and in 3rd place). All winners will also receive 5,000 credits to use in vBCommerce. ALL members that participate in this event will receive the Participant Pie award (or a point toward another star).
Grand Prize, Runner Up, Participant Awards
We hope you enjoy this event. When you were reading this post did you wonder, "How can I enter this?" or think, "I don't have any graphic talent." Don't worry! We want to see everything. Remember if you don't enter this contest we still have some other contests coming up that you can enter. (If you enter this contest you may also enter the others.)
We know you all have been patiently waiting and guessing about our BIG news, and lets just say... it's BIG! So without us even telling you what it is, how about we show you what the buzz is all about?
Elf Island Fansite has been chosen as Elf Island's top fan site of 2009! This recognition was announced today in Elf Island's July Newsletter and will be on display in game in the news section starting next week! We get to keep this prestigious title for one full year! Plus, as a special gift to you, EI has created this exclusive in-game item for your room. The item is for EIF members only, and will be available soon. We'll be posting instructions on how to claim your gift when it's time to hand them out.
Here is the exclusive EIF Member Banner for your room:
This is quite an honor indeed, and it is yours! It is because of you, our dedicated members and hard working staff, that Elf Island has recognized this very fansite. Anyone here knows that EIF is more than simply a collection of posts, it is a special community. Thank you for being the awesome group that you are. Keep playing EI, keep posting, and keep doing good!
Reminder:
Please remember to follow all Elf Island rules, which means you still may not talk about EIF when on the island. We earned our special honor by being good elves, following the rules and playing nice. Let's keep it up! If someone wants to know where you got your cool EIF banner, tell them to check out the Tide for more information, but please don't break EI's rules. Elf Island Fansite is not responsible for any bans you earn by not following the rules.
Celebrate with these awesome graphics!
Signatures:
To add this to your signature copy code below. Then go under User CP, under edit signature paste in code and save:
Spoiler:
PHP Code:
[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/2n7p7ut.png[/IMG]
To add this to your signature copy code below. Then go under User CP, under edit signature paste in code and save:
MORE Site Updates! Check out the other exciting news
System Updates-
While it might not be obvious to you guys, we've updated two systems on the site. The vBulletin software has now been upgraded to 3.8.3 - this update included updates to multiple security features on vBulletin to help keep you guys safe! The system we use for the homepage system, vBAdvanced, has now been updated to v3.2.0 - this update included more helpful functions to the Admin Control Panel as well as enabling it so members can move around blocks on the homepage. This feature has been enabled, just click the "Customize" link on the top right of the homepage.
NEW Elf Island Fansite Chat-
Some of you may have noticed that the past IRC Chat system we had no longer worked. Well now we've enabled a BRAND NEW customizable chat system! This system is called AddonChat. It enables us to change the layout, pictures, and colors as well as adding unacceptable words and keeping chat logs. Expect a lot of fun chat events over the summer including trivia, Q&A with EI/EIF staff, and other fun events. To help us out with this brand new feature we would like to welcome the following people as Chat Moderators! They are on the EIF staff team, however, will only have access to moderate/control the chat.
starwarzkid
monkeybug
Just click the "Chat" button on one of the GoodSkins, log in using your EIF information, and you're ready to chat! Make sure to follow all the normal site rules. This includes having links approved, discussion of an online world approved, etc. Additionally, we are asking the members to keep their font colors dark. Yellows, light pinks, greens, blues, and other colors are not acceptable. Bold is also reserved for EIF staff only.
Elf Island Fansite's SUMMER BASH!-
Next month is going to be an extremely fun month on Elf Island Fansite as we introduce our first full month theme: Summer Bash! This is going to be a month full of different fun events, activities, and contests. Get ready for a splashing good time! We'll be announcing further information about the Summer Bash next week. In the meantime, here's a sneak preview:
Elf Island Fansite Feature Recap
What does EIF have to offer?
We're sure there are going to be some new members landing on EIF soon so we want to take the time and recap some of the main features that Elf Island Fansite offers to all of its members.
Discussion
The main goal of the website is to discuss Elf Island. So here you are able to create different topics, post on other topics, create voting polls, share your opinion, show us your artwork, and much more! Just visit the Forums page and browse through a huge list of forums. Make sure that your discussion is relevant to the forum you are posting in.
vBCommerce
Did you know there is a virtual shop system? Yes there is! vBCommerce is a virtual shop system where you can spend your vbCredits. You're able to purchase multiple items from the EIF Market or you can gift them to friends! There are always new items coming and going, so make sure to watch the homepage for announcements. Now, you're probably wondering how you earn vbCredits, right? Just by doing things on the forum you will be earning vbCredits. Things such as: posting a thread, adding a poll to your thread, posting visitor messages, uploading attachments, celebrating your birthday, viewing posts, etc. Just make sure you're logged in and you're active!
Arcade
By clicking the Arcade link in the navigation bar (thats the purplish-blue bar) you'll be launched into our v3Arcade! In this arcade you'll find many 2D and 3D based flash games fit for any kind of gamer. While you play the arcade and earn high scores, you will be earning vbCredits to spend in vbCommerce. Also, if you make #1 on a highscore, a small trophy will be placed next to your username in all of your posts/threads! With this arcade system, you can even challenge your friends at the games. Just click a friend's username in a thread and click "Challenge in the Arcade".
iELF - Elf Island Fansite Radio
This is a fun feature...listen to some tunes while you browse the site! By clicking the "iELF" button on any GoodSkin, a popup radio will appear with folders of different music. New music is added just about every week, so keep an eye out for new tunes!
Social Networking
We've been keeping up with the social networking out there on the Internet. In doing so, we encourage everyone to follow EIFansite on Twitter. There are new tweets right when new Elf Island information is available. There might also be tweets about site updates on EIF. We also have a YouTube channel. We upload a bunch of different videos about Elf Island and tutorials for EIF to our channel, so make sure to subscribe!
The Elf Island Wiki
This is one of the best features available here on EIF. This is managed by dizzy and the rest of the staff team, and our members contribute too. Just by visiting the Forums page or www.elfislandwiki.com, you'll be able to find out just about any Elf Island information! Want to know when a specific item came out? When it retired? Just search for it! The wiki is updated whenever new information is available.
HOST-Groovy will be holding a Silent Auction on Independence Day weekend!
Visit Groovy’s room to view the goods that are up for auction and use the M button to make a bid with the word “Auction” as the subject line. Watch the “What’s Happening” feature to view the current high bid. At the end of an hour of bidding, the winners will receive their goods and a new round of bidding will open shortly after.
Several never before released goods will be available at the auction, and you can be one of the few to get your hands on them! And best of all, all proceeds will go to the scale of good.
Auction Schedule: (all times in eastern time)
Saturday, July 04
Round 1 5:00 – 6:00
Round 2 6:15 – 7:15
Round 3 7:30 – 8:30
Sunday, July 05
Round 1 1:00 – 2:00
Round 2 2:15 – 3:15
Round 3 3:30 – 4:30
Round 4 4:45 – 5:45
Round 5 6:00 – 7:00
Round 6 7:15 – 8:15
To visit Groovy’s room, use the Elves and Places Feature at the bottom right of the screen. The auction starts Saturday, but you can start viewing the items that we’ll be auctioning off starting Friday night.
Each player may only win one of each good and will not be allowed be place further bids on the same good.. Your Elf will not be given individual credit for these Scale of Good donations.
Elf Island Fansite - An Elf Island Community Board
Plus, as a special gift to you, EI has created this exclusive in-game item for your room. The item is for EIF members only, and will be available soon. We'll be posting instructions on how to claim your gift when it's time to hand them out. 
