2 replies to this topic

[jkaris]

1. Read for a while before posting anything, to get a good feel of how the community interacts with one another. It also helps you to get familiar with the layout and different sections of the board.

2. Be nice. Disagreements are going to happen. But be civil about them. Whenever you are in a heated debate, remember to debate the ideas, NOT slander the person who espoused them.

3. One username. Period. If you are caught using duplicate names, you will be banned and your accounts deleted. Also, make sure your username isn't something profane like "snatchy twat", etc.

4. Post in the correct forums, and keep your posts as on topic as possible. Off topic posts may be deleted. Off topic threads will be moved.

5. Try to use good punctuation and spelling. No one is really anal retentive about typos and imperfect punctuation, but alot of posts like this:

i was wtcing kin and i saw it wuz reel coool !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

will make everyone think you are as dumb as a bag of rocks.

6. Respect the Moderators. While they are not the gods of this forum, they are here to help keep things in line, and as such, if they ask you to make a change to your profile or posting habits, do it. If you believe that they are abusing their powers, PM me and I will assess the situation.

7. Don't post garbage. Avoid post-padding responses. Unless you have something to add to a discussion don’t waste people’s time with short answer post. Think of each post as an essay question, rather then a multiple choice. There is no prize for having the most posts....

8. This board is and will always be PG-13 (well okay, maybe rated R sometimes) and do remember, before posting anything, ask yourself if it is appropriate for a 10 year old kid. No gratuitously sexual pictures of any kind will be allowed.

9. Look for the answer before you ask the question. The search feature, to the right, just under the main banner, works great.

10. If you personally threaten someone, you will be banned. No exceptions. So before you tell someone that you are going to meet up with them and kick their ass, you might want to think twice. Insults and arguments are allowed, threats are not.

Items will be added as needed.

[Tortle]

POLLS

1. Think about the preferences of the AKIA audience and if they would be interested in your poll. For example, "Kinnikuman", of course, would be a good subject for a poll. "Power Rangers", however, would not. Many board members are interested in "Kinnikuman", while few, if any, care about "Power Rangers".

2. Don't put a bajillion choices in your poll. Although the polls have a limit of 30 choices, you'll lose your audience quickly if they have to read a few dozen options. 10 choices or under is a good rule of thumb. Remember, you can always put "Other" as an option and ask the readers to detail their choice themselves.

3. Your poll should be thought-provoking and interesting, and evoke responses from the readers. The polls in the Junk Yard are good examples of what not to do.

Edited by jkaris, 25 May 2004 - 08:24 PM.

[Tortle]

IMAGES

The file size of an image in a post often causes problems if that size is unruly. Remember that not everyone on the board has a cable modem or DSL. Many of us have to access the boards via dial-up modems, which are comparitively quite slow. Please take this into account if you're linking to an image in your post and/or signature. A huge image size could bring the forum to a standstill for dial-up users.

For avatars, a file size of less than 15K is preferrable. The file size of a signature image should be less than 30K. And when linking directly to images in your posts, a file size of less than 100K is optimal.

To determine the size of a file, right-click on the image and select Properties at the bottom of the drop-down list. Animated GIFs are notoriously huge, so be wary of using them.

Edited by Tortle, 12 January 2004 - 11:31 AM.