Scratch

Hello, welcome to my guide on how to be a good Forumer. Here you will learn what you should do and what you should not do.

Here are the things you should do:

Respect the people you're talking to, and try not to offend them. Some people are easily ticked off, and you do not want to anger a fellow community member.

Use good spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. This makes it easier to understand what you are trying to say, and it makes you look more professional. If you are not sure how to spell a word, check on Google. Make sure you use the correct word, such as using "you're" instead of "your", as they have different meanings. Also, don't use over-complex words to sound professional; it does just the opposite.

When posting, try to contribute to the conversation. Just saying "yeah" is sometimes okay, but it's always better to post more info. Here is an example of a post that contributes to the conversation:

Example_user wrote:

Yes, I agree, it would be nice if this is implemented, but then there's the problem that people will most probably post _meow_ spam. This makes it harder for the moderators. I don't really support this.

And, here's a bad example:

Example_user wrote:

Nah.

Make sure that your BBCode works. Click the preview button and inspect your post. If you typed it in the quick post box, copy it and click the "Post a reply" link. Then, paste it into the post box, and voila.

Always carefully read the first post. Read through it again and again until you understand it, as posting things that aren't relevant to the first post can be very annoying.


Now, for the things you should not do:


- Never spam. This counts for comments too.
- Never claim that you are better than somebody else. This counts for comments too.
- Never disrespect somebody. This counts for comments too.
- Never be mean. This counts for comments too.
- Never post meaningless posts.
- Try not to drift off topic too far. If this happens, find an official topic for it, or create your own.
- Never break the community guidelines.
- Never misquote somebody.
- Never twist somebody else's words to make it sound rude or mean.
- Never post a fake signature. Put up an actual signature.

Necroposting

Have you ever been blamed for "necroposting"? Necroposting is when a Scratcher (esp. New Scratcher) posts on a topic older than 2 months that is no longer relevant to the community. It is frowned upon, so avoid it. You're safe as long as it's still relevant, although you might get a few false accusations.

Blockspam

Blockspam is when you post random [scratchblocks] that aren't relevant to the topic. If you want to test out the [scratchblocks] feature, test it out here.

Remember, the report button is your friend. If you find anything that you think needs a moderator's attention, flag it. Try not to respond, as this is known as "Feeding the Trolls". Trolls are people that go around being mean, looking for a response from other Scratchers. It's best to not respond; just flag it.

The posts you should flag:

- Anything offensive and/or mean.
- Anything containing a bad word.
- Anything that contains anything inappropriate; not suitable for all ages.
- Anything that has a link to an inappropriate or commercial website.
- Anything that might be spam.
- Anything that is suddenly completely off topic.

Here are some other things you should flag:

Report the first posts of topics in the wrong forum, and say "Move to [correct forum]" in the reason box.

Report posts that are completely off-topic and need a new, separate topic. Put "Make new topic in [correct forum], please" in the reason box.

Scratch on!

Last edited by SciTecCf (2012-07-21 07:03:56)