Rules of Conduct++

[dreamon]

There are "rules of conduct" and there are "rules of conduct plus plus": the former are required for everyone, the latter are what the old-timers follow to make the discussions convenient, useful, and fun for all. While some of these rules could be obvious, others are the result of a convention arrived at gradually, just like Chinese grammar. Such rules have several mutually exclusive alternatives, all of which seem reasonable to a newbie. For example: in a certain thread I posted a comment which, while (I believe) closely related to the topic, is not a response to the root post nor to any previous post in that thread. Moreover, my post is of "wrong Chinese level" (a beginner-level post in an at least upper-intermediate thread). I did not feel particularly guilty because I extended the thread and expanded its scope without changing the topic, and I did it pretty late in the thread. But perhaps I did something that old-timers or advanced learners found inconvenient. If someone did it to me, at this point I would only feel proud that my thread is being extended, but that's why I am a newbie. Also, in some cases fewer threads is desirable, i.e. one should not start a thread if there already exists a closely related thread. So, back to the question: are there any unwritten "rules of conduct plus plus" that you would like to share?

BTW, on some forums, threads can grow like trees, nonlinearly. In which case a thread can spawn sub-threads, subsub-threads etc. Is this possible (or planned) on this site?

[roddy]

There's this, but they're quite long. And I don't think they're actually linked to from anywhere obvious at the moment.

If I was starting from scratch I might consider threaded discussions, but I'm not going to try and implement it at this point.

[Daan]

That page does not seem to be publicly accessible, Roddy. I get an error message stating:

[#10342] We could not determine which forum this topic is in.

[roddy]

I really am the worst admin ever. Should be accessible now . . .

[Daan]

Yes, whatever our Supreme Leader has done seems to have fixed it. I kind of liked that error message, though ;)

dreamon, I don't think we have a lot of unwritten rules here, but if you want to get acquainted with the ones that do exist, I think the best approach is to contribute often. Your posts may be moved every now and then but that's just how things work around here, and moving posts is generally not intended to discourage discussion, but merely to ensure that it's as easy as possible for someone interested in your post to find and read it

[roddy]

Supreme Leader你个头

[jbradfor]

@dreamon, if I'm reading this correctly, you started a whole new thread to whine about the fact that one of your posts got moved on an internet forum?

It happens all the time. It happens to me a lot. [i'm probably one of the worst ones here for going off-topic. I think I have one of my posts moved every month or two.]

It's no big deal. No one is mad at you or thinks poorly of you because of that. Just keep posting, and if Roddy moves your post, say "thank you".

[renzhe]

I think that he was just wondering what the accepted custom was on this particular forum, so he can follow it in the future.

I wouldn't worry about it. Threads sometimes go off-topic, and are split into other threads in order to make it easier to make sense of the thread later, and to concentrate information in one place. As long as you're not constantly disrupting discussion, there's no big deal.

[jbradfor]

Oh, OK. In that case the rules are whatever Roddy (and the other admins) feel like at the moment

I don't mean that as an insult to the admins, but rather that determining what is and what isn't off-topic is pretty subjective. I honestly believe that some of the time it depends on the mood of the admins whether a post gets moved.

So dreamon, keep posting. And if your post gets moved, don't worry. Only if your posts get moved a lot should you start to worry. [i don't worry. Maybe Roddy wishes I worried more....]

[dreamon]

jbradfor> @dreamon, if I'm reading this correctly, you started a whole new thread to whine about the fact that one of your posts got moved on an internet forum?

First rule of conduct plus-plus: don't start new threads in order to whine about something, nor about something that might be so interpreted Oops, that's too broad in scope, because whining about the hardness of Chinese is allowed But there are only two options - posting a new thread or hijacking an old one...

I just wanted to see if there are unwritten rules such as "beginners don't enter upper-level threads" or "a new post in any thread must be a reply to a prior post in that same thread". Because indeed, suppose there were 100 beginners for each advanced learner; then the beginners could overwhelm all threads and make a serious upper-level discussion impossible.

[renzhe]

I just wanted to see if there are unwritten rules such as "beginners don't enter upper-level threads"

That would be an absolutely terrible rule.

The whole "beginner" and "upper-level" stuff is a new addition which is meant to help you put posts into perspective when you're new to the forum, nothing else.

[skylee]

The whole "beginner" and "upper-level" stuff is a new addition which is meant to help you put posts into perspective when you're new to the forum, nothing else.

What are these "beginner" and "upper-level" stuff ?

[renzhe]

I think that he's referring to the Chinese level below your avatar, which every user can edit for themselves. It doesn't give you special powers or anything, nor does it prevent people from posting in threads.

[doraemon]

Are there any restrictions on thread bumping? Not that I'm going to do it or anything, but it's funny how I've never seen a post by an admin here which reads something like "Please don't bump old threads". I haven't seen any locked threads either.

[gougou]

There are several closed posts, most often the result of there being a better thread for the topic (in which case you'll normally find a link to the discussion) or the discussion having turned pointless or even insulting.

There are no rules against bumping - quite on the contrary, if you make the effort to look through what has been posted already rather than just opening a new thread, that's very appreciated. (Having said that, in some cases it does make more sense to open a new thread, e.g. when the old thread had gotten off-topic already)

[doraemon]

There are no rules against bumping - quite on the contrary, if you make the effort to look through what has been posted already rather than just opening a new thread, that's very appreciated.

Oh, OK. Cool! I usually like to visit older threads to confirm whether my question's been answered already, but they're usually not that old (say 1 or 2 years old). Unless of course they're pinned.

[roddy]

It's not a problem if you're actually adding something. If you're just saying 'ha ha, interesting' in topics last active in 2005 we might ask you to desist.

I honestly believe that some of the time it depends on the mood of the admins whether a post gets moved.

Not sure about mood (but then I would say that), however if I'm busy, if the posts are all mixed up and need sorted out, if it's a topic that perhaps I'd actually rather we didn't have a separate discussion about - then yes, stuff won't get moved. And it's entirely possible that I might just not see it, I don't read everything on here.

[realmayo]

I don't read everything on here.

First Father Christmas, then that little girl singing in the Olympics, and finally this, another myth shattered .. I just don't know what to think about the world anymore.

[jbradfor]

@realmayo, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Chinese characters aren't actually little pictures....