Just a reminder to those posting here...

This board does NOT accept HTML posting and has it's own code for a whole range of things.

In the event of wanting to post a hyperlink (web address) to the board, please use the blue "http://" button in the "iB Code Buttons" section of the Posting screen. It will allow you to fill in the URL and a name (or the URL again if you so desire) and automatically convert it to iB Board Code.

There are also buttons for Quoting, Images, Italics, Bold etc.

If you need help about the board, there is a Help button at the top of the screen which covers most of the general topics that might arise.

Thanks.

Lilith

Another thing...

1. It would help if you actually read the Board before posting. In many cases some of the topics may have already have been discussed and have threads you can add on to instead of starting a new one about the same topic again.

2. Take a moment to look around the Board and see what is an appropriate place for your post to go. We have sections dedicated to music, print (books/magazines), regional stuff, promotional stuff etc. etc.

Lilith

Would you mind if regular posters added their opinions? If you do, I'd understood if you deleted this.

1.) One or two flames per post is enough, any more and the thread will be bumped up until a moderator can save us all, and no one wants that.

2.) While reading older threads, make sure you get all of the 'tacked' threads under your belt, especially, in my opinion, 'Goth 101'.

3.) Use the damn Search button!

4.) Just beacause you are allowed to post, doesn't mean you have to.

That last rule also pertains to smilies.

Perhaps you should have mentioned about using the edit button since it's there for a reason?

Mes

Right, sorry. (: I guess that it just needed emphasis? Haha...

I just thought I'd dredge this up so it gets near the top of the recent posts for those who only use the "new posts" button.

It may just be me, but I've noticed a lot of noob's posting as of late that have apparently failed to read any of the rules for posting that is pinned at the top of the goth.net page.

That would be my one major pointer for posting if you wish to have a healthy and lengthy forum existence.


~spider, who welcome's the crop of spring chicken's with a caution flag

I have yet another "tip for posting" to add to the list.

Use proper punctuation and be case-sensitive!

I am noticing a growing trend among the newcomers of the lack of a proper capitol letter at the beginning of each sentence, as well as a total disregard for proper punctuation. Not only does this make your posts harder to read than they should be (and take into account that English is a second language for many of our members), but it also makes you look lazy.


Remeber, the hell-hounds of written language are anxiously awaiting in the wings.

~spidey, who seems to be fond of this particular thread

Would it be plausible for posting penalties to occur (more so than just the napalm and pips)?

My thought is the noobs trial period would be extended to include a rules violation reset. Example: A noob regurgiates an old topic without adding anything new (should this ever happen). Their number of posts before creating a topic gets reset to zero or a higher number. Or is this to complex and more work than it is worth (granted our 16" guns remain stunningly - in appearence, too - effective)?

Maybe the posting count should be raised a bit more before new members can post new topics? Ten seems quite a small amount and maybe new members would exercise more common sense with posting if they can't create new topics so soon and have to spend more time reading other threads in the meantime to get an idea of how the forum works? There will always be idiots who'll post stupid and/or redundant topics regardless of the posting tariff but it might stop a number of those who are wanting to post serious topics but aren't familiar with the rules yet.

Maybe there should be a separate pinned thread dedicated to teaching newbies how to use the search button. We still seem to get a lot of people posting new topics on things that have already been discussed and say they've already searched for it. Maybe provide a few tips on how to effectively search. I find a lot of the time when you type in a search term it doesn't always come up with the topics made regarding that subject but if you alter your search terms slightly and look at related names or similar things you start finding a lot of stuff, I find the more vague the topic area the greater the variety of search terms you need to use, this is particularly true of the Gothic board where subjects can come up as anything and as any title but be so similar. Maybe also mention how the different drop down bars work and stuff because I think some people get confused by that too.

I agree, too. I think that is quite a good idea, the trouble I find though, and probably the mods notice this too, is that some new members tend to skip past the pinned topics at the top and sometimes just go to 'New Posts'. We have had so many pinned topics before that either attract unwanted attention (instead of just reading it) or, if it's locked to prevent stupid comments for example, it gets forgotten about or just skipped all together.

Regardless, I still think it's a good idea.




~Hell's Angel~

There seems to be a post about that here.

:b

I didn't see it! :p

Proves my point that pinned topics don't always get noticed though.




~Hell's Angel~

I forgot about that one. There used to be loads of pinned topics that at one point last year got merged into one big one so I got used to the idea that all the boards had the same pinned topics and didn't see a search one on any of the boards I was looking at when I made the topic so I just thought there wasn't one at this point or that it'd been merged with something else. Well if people are still ignoring that then they deserve to get a spanking for messing up by not searching. ;P Especially those who post a topic that is a clone of the topic that is right at the top of the board (like the case of two Corpse Bride threads last month) - that's just laziness. Still though there could be added some of the points I brought up about search terms because I think some people just think typing in one word and leaving at that is good enough and it rarely is. I find when I search for stuff I have to use at least two or three terms until I find all the relevent threads.

To my knowledge, resetting a member's post count/member level has to be done manually by an administrator. Overall, the 10-post waiting period is sufficient. For members who intend to be productive and follow the rules, the forced pause allows them to discover the dynamic of the forums that can't be expressed in the simple exposition of the rules. Those who rush through their initial 10 posts with nonsense and idiocy likely had no intention of becoming productive members in the first place. In those cases, it is far less work to simply warn and pip them into either the desired pattern of behavior or banishment than it is to continually reset their member level and end up warning/pipping them anyway.



Edited By scarlettdraelynkhar on 1140135618