I'd like to start out by saying that I wanted to make this because I saw a few other guides, and noticed that we didn't have one for new users.
I also noticed that a lot of new users aren't being able to use the site at it's 100% potential, due to them not being fully educated on how to use it.
Soooo here's my guide for a new user! :D
Okay, so for starters when you're new to the site you need to go ahead and hit 2 things you should definitely read.
http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/rules
I bet you never would have guessed! The rules!
This will be some basic instructions on how the site works, actually reading them instead of skimming over them is also a good idea.
Next up
http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/meta/7120/might-suggest-question-etiquette-the-subgroups-pokemondb
This will help you a lot with questions you might want to ask.
And you don't want to ask questions that are easily looked up or have already been asked, for the " This is a REALLY good point so I'm repeating it " aspect of it all.
Now you notice that I haven't covered answers yet, right?
Well to be blunt, unless you've already came into the site with a lot of knowledge of the game ( This doesn't mean " I have a LV 84 Stoutland, I MUST know a lot about pokemanz! " ) you'll most likely want to be asking questions ( good ones ) and observing how other users answer your questions, to get a feel for things.
Now after doing this, you'll have hopefully reached the 80 point mark in the Pokebase, and whatever the numbers are for RMT and Meta, and you'll notice that you can vote. ( And flag eventually, or maybe at the same time. )
That's when this question comes into play.
http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/meta/7370/flags-vs-down-votes
Now you probably won't be down-voting much, unless you're just really harsh. Although I would definitely like to quote Pokemaster on what to down-vote.
" Vote down if the answer is incorrect. (Side note: on the RMT section only vote down answers if they're really bad, because some answers may not be great but still not technically wrong.) " - Flags vs Down-votes
And flagging is for posts that are against the rules.
Pointless down-voting and flagging will normally get you banned.
" If you see an interesting question, vote it up. If you see a good and correct answer, vote it up. Answers with the most votes will appear at the top of the list so that anyone coming to the page will see the right answer straight away! " - Rules
That pretty much sums up up-voting for you. I would also wouldn't recommend begging others for their vote in the chat room, a lot of people were being annoyed by that when I first got here.
And after getting settled in a while, you may feel ready to start answering things on a regular basis. Awesome.
Reading this
" If someone else has already answered the question correctly there is no need to add another answer, unless you can add a lot more information. You can vote up the existing answer to "agree" with it.
As with questions, please write in normal sentences, not in text-speak or shorthand. If you find information from other web sites, do not copy-paste huge chunks. You could quote a few sentences but it's better to write it yourself in a way that answers the question directly. Also, don't just post a link as an answer with nothing else. Answer the question then maybe add a link to the page for "more information". " - Rules
Will make your answers a heck of a lot better.
And then you're off! You may be using the Chat to settle into the community and you're answering and asking questions while following the rules! :D
