fork oil level help

[^God^Air^]

Ok well I know how to do this except for a few things that has got me confused.
My manual does not tell me if any suspension compenents have to be removed in order to measure the oil level..
I take out the springs bottom out the forks and then took the measurement.. but I think the manual says to remove a this thing in the shock that creats the damping. if i remove that the oil level i have now drops alot..I dont quite get it.
can anyone clear it up?

[ont.freerider]

i dont like messin with suspension, MX suspension anyways, too many things to go wrong for a person doing it for the first time!

[^God^Air^]

only in the rear shock things can get hairy...
I like messing with everything..