Some guidelines and rules about posting on the forum

[mouser]

This post will be update with forum guidelines and rules as they evolve.

Basic rules of the forum:

• Be respectful to everyone, even if they don't return the favor.
• Do not post any spam advertising.  If you want to tell us about a program or product that you personally are involved with, that's ok, as long as you disclose your relationship to the program/product and do not simply copy and paste some info being posted on other places.
• When including URLs, do not use URL shorteners; if you really want to use an affiliate link, state that you are doing so clearly and why.
• Don't link to external images.. instead, ATTACH the image to your post -- that way it won't get lost if the original site goes offline.
• Controversial topics of politics and religion should be avoided on the forum unless it is an issue directly impacting technology.

A few more guidelines:

• Avoid the use of colored / largefont text except in rare cases where you feel it is really needed -- colors and large fonts can be distracting.
• If you feel compelled to use a signature that is added to every post you make -- make it as minimally tall as possible to avoid creating a distraction.
• Try to choose good topic titles that will help others identify the contents of your post when searching.
• Avoid "flooding" the forum with a large number of posts all at once -- if you have several "news" or "technology" items to tell us about, consider combining them into one or two "news roundup" threads.
• Attached images should not be too large; 800x600 is a good limit unless there is a real reason to use larger

[TaoPhoenix]

Kinda Random, kinda late. Were we doing any of that?!

[Rover]

Someone asked for them.  There was a minor snit about using tinyurl in posts.

It's the right thing to do, they just hadn't be written yet. 

[Tinman57]

  Hey Mouser, what about using HUGE pictures or a post full of different smilies.  I don't know if smilies are limited with this forum software, but there really should be a limit if not.  Pictures shouldn't be larger than 800 X 600, even better 640 X 480.

[TaoPhoenix]

...

• Don't link to external images.. instead, ATTACH the image to your post -- that way it won't get lost if the original site goes offline.

It just occurred to me this guideline has interesting copyright implications!

[wraith808]

And also there are some places that don't want you to download and use the image, but rather link to it.  Is this a hard and fast rule mouser?  Or a preference?

[app103]

What he is really referring to more than anything else is uploading to image hosting sites and then inserting that into a post with the bbcode they give you. The image is here today and gone later on, leaving readers to wonder what the broken image once was.

Attached to the post and uploaded here, it's a whole lot less likely to disappear, and some screenshot that perhaps might actually be able to help someone troubleshoot a problem will still be here, even 3 years from now....and all the NANY mug photos will still be here, etc.

[mouser]

Is this a hard and fast rule mouser?

We really don't have hard and fast rules here.. everything is a bit squishy.

[40hz]

Is this a hard and fast rule mouser?

We really don't have hard and fast rules here.. everything is a bit squishy.

I prefer to think of it as "snuggley" myself. 

[mouser]

Pictures shouldn't be larger than 800 X 600,

added.

[tomos]

Okay, couple of suggestions:

in order to make things a little clearer for posters:
there needs to be a sticky "guidelines" thread similar to this one in both the Software and Living Room boards.

I'd separate out the biggees (politics/religion/financial-advice) from the minor/practical list.

• List one could be the biggees
• List two: the details, e.g. dont use shortened urls etc.

I note that the financial advice is not included in OP.

Maybe expand slightly on the political aspect - or maybe not? It seems pretty simple to me and the way you've phrased it is good: "topics of politics and religion should be avoided on the forum unless it is an issue directly impacting technology."
One problem is that, if there is a political issue "directly impacting technology" (or vice-versa), it's easy to slip into more 'pure' politics e.g. having a dig at a politician, or a political party - which could also be described as getting 'gratuitiously political' ;-) So maybe a comment about that too?