Forum:Forum and Poll Rules Updates

So I recently mentioned how the Forum Rules are terribly out of date in the Manual of Style Forum and since that hasn't gotten a response I thought I would just make a forum about the forum rules. Besides the odd tones that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of our rules pages, it currently lists the inactive Mugiwara Franky as the Admin to contact in case of trouble. The rules don't address what we should do with miscategorized posts, such as non-spoilers in the spoilers section, music questions in the anime section, etc... There are some smaller edits I'd like to make too, but there's no talk page for the Rules, because they are currently a forum page. (Is that something that could/should be corrected?)

If anyone has any brand new rules they'd like to add, that would be sweet too. Personally, in my rage against unsigned posts, I'd love to see posts where the creator doesn't sign be deleted or something similar right off the bat. Just something to increase awareness of signing posts, which would call for something fairly drastic like I proposed, because we already tell people to sign their posts in like 5 different places.

Anyways, if people actually read the forum rules, I'm sure they'll find a bunch more things to change, considering they haven't been substantially edited in over two years... 01:29, August 15, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, they should be moved to something like One Piece Encyclopedia:Forum Rules. As for the rules themselves, I don't really care.

Does anyone else even care? Can I just go and edit the damn thing already? Some other things I thought of that need to be addressed in the forum rules are:

Poll Rules, including: What times zone polls offcially end, guidelines on poll option phrasing, rules against voting tamerping/fraud/bribery in chat/talk pages, etc., and possibly some rules to attempt to make sure people have actually read the forum and are at least somewhat informed on the topic. Really anything we can think of to make the polls more legitimate and less of a joke.

A rule that allows for the immediate deltion of forums created with no content other than the topic.

Something to deal with Repeat Forum Topics.

A clear description of what each forum category is for, and what it is NOT for. Ex: Spoiler Discussions are for spoilers, not fan theories. Anime is for discusions regarding the anime specifically, not fan theories or music questions. And a clear descirption of what is considered a "Site Problem" or "Wikia Appearance" etc.

And can someone actually move the page so it is no longer a forum?

When we're done with the forum rules, we should also try and take steps to make sure IPs actually read them before posting. Like adjusting where/how it fits on the forum table, and making the "Forum rules  Important! " have the important in more noticable red text, and having the "important" on one line, and the "forum rules" on another, allowing for larger font sizes for both. And maybe we can add a reminder to read the forum rules to everyone who makes a new one? I don't know if that's actually possible, but we do have reminders for signatures.... 16:00, August 18, 2012 (UTC)

Should there be a rule that Forums in the Anime category should be free of spoilers from the manga? 16:37, August 23, 2012 (UTC)

Draft Discussion
Ok, I have written a comprehensive draft of new/updated rules here

I added many of the ideas I proposed above, and folded them in with some of the old rules as well. The only thing I didn't add to my draft but would still like to be in the final version was the sections on how to Organize Forums, which I did not want to copy/paste because I frankly don't understand the code and didn't want to screw anything up. I do believe that those sections should be on the bottom of the page after it is merged with the draft, as I think the rules of forums are more important than the organization. I mostly absorbed the old rules and re-formatted and re-wrote them in order to make a more cohesive and easier to understand format. Any information or section of the current rules that I left out, I left out because I feel they are not required/do not belong in the forum rules section. Examples of this are "...Images" section (obsolete info), the "Role of an Admin" section (obsolete and not necessary for forumrules). I left out the "You and the rest of the Wiki" section because I feel as though the new rules reflect the idea of democratic changes well enough that this section is not needed. Plus, it sounds pretty preachy, and makes little/no sense to new editors, who are one of the main reasons why I am re-writting these rules in the first place. Some rules, (like those on ban forums) are old pre-existing rules that I did not create personally, and I just compiled in my draft after consulting with others. I would appreciate it if I was not blamed personally for creating them if you do not like them.

As far as where we go from here, I suggest a discussion of the draft and some changes will be made by the community, and eventually there will be a vote on the draft. If certain small sections or rules prove especially controversial, then we can vote on those sections individually, or even in new forums if those are changes to older rules. 20:24, August 30, 2012 (UTC)

Bump! 23:33, September 4, 2012 (UTC)

Bump? 03:41, September 8, 2012 (UTC)

Bump.... v.v 22:17, September 10, 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I just added some things to it. I added a piece in the forum categorization about the new category "Site Changes". I also added a bit to the "Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk" section, urging people not make arguments personal and dredge up bad feelings.

And as helpful as the bumps are, the only way this conversation will really start is if someone actually responds and starts it. I've said all that I can say. I can't start a conversation by talking to myself... One person who's not me needs to respond to this if they actually want some things to change. 16:57, September 11, 2012 (UTC)

"Forum creators must have enough content to start a discussion. If any forum is created without any content other than a topic, it will be deleted." I think this can be more defined as you must write at least a paragraph or two.

"Do not incorrectly categorize forums. Forums that are incorrectly categorized will be deleted not moved." I think you should also notify the user who opened the forum that it got deleted.

"Images that are unrelated to the discussion are not allowed." I think images that are uploaded to Photobucket and posted here by posting the link should be forbidden too. If you want to show the image, post it in a link like this. If you want to post a meme joking about the discussion, then you shouldn't post a link like that, because you need a new sense of humor.

Other than those, I have nothing else to say about the others. So enforce them. 04:15, September 25, 2012 (UTC)

My thoughts:

'' Do not incorrectly categorize forums. Forums that are incorrectly categorized will be deleted not moved. - Tell them to move it and if they don't delete it within a few hours. ''

'' Forums that have been unedited for a long period of time become archived, and the discussion is considered closed. Users are strongly discouraged from editing archived forums. Users are not fully prohibited from reopening archived forums, but again, it is strongly discouraged.- This is good, but I'd also like to propose that we put a set time of like 3-6 months before a forum can be reopened, so we aren't reopening forums the day after they close. ''

I agree with everything else. Galaxy9000 (talk) 15:49, September 29, 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure about how I feel about images in forums, but I feel this needs discussion. Thanks for bringing it up, Nada.

As far as minimum content, I don't think there should actually be a restriction. This goes hand-in-hand with the blog rules forum, and I think a minimum content restriction should exist in blogs, but forums should be the way around it. short forums can become good discussions because users tend to have longer responses than those in blogs, and they are almost always serious responses. Forums are a more round-table discussion, while blogs are more like a speech with comments at the end. The only exception should be forums with only titles, because nobody should be allowed to create a blank page.

Most of these rules are actually written more for the Fan-based forums and not the Site-based ones. I think rules as far as deletion for the Site ones should be a bit more fair. But if someone posts a fan theory in the Spoilers section, I don't see why we should notify them. They wouldn't know how to move it anyways, because they are most likely new users. If someone miscategorizes a site forum, then someone will just move it for them.

And as far as archived forums, that rule doesn't quite work the way it's been written. Again, it's mostly for the fan-based forums. If a site problem is still a site problem, and it's just been archived because nobody's responded, why should they be forbidden from reopening it? But if someone just wants to re-poll on the same issue because they are unhappy with the result and think the other one should win, that should be forbidden. How about a rule like "For issues that have been settled with a poll, there is a time period of 3 months where the issue cannot be polled or discussed again without a substantial change taking place."? 16:32, September 29, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, that's fine. Galaxy9000 (talk) 16:35, September 29, 2012 (UTC)

I want the rule about having to make our custom signature into a template removed. Why? Because it's a pain in the *** to make a template jut for the sig EVERYTIME I go to another wiki so won't show up. Frankly, it's frustrating for me every time I post on another wiki, realize I didn't make the template, and then I have to do it. People don't edit on just one wiki, they can edit on multiple wikis. What happen if they post something on a talk or a forum? They are forced to make a template. While it's easy to do it, it's still frustrating for people. 03:10, October 1, 2012 (UTC)

Well.. it depends on the complexity of the sig. Mine's about 13 lines long in source code (I'm horrible at optimizing) so that would be kinda annoying to scroll through every time. Yours is nine lines, so same thing.

If cross-wiki compatibility is the issue, take a look at this blog post by Levi, it explains how to change your preferences so that a default signature is used if you post on a wiki that doesn't have the template. 03:40, October 1, 2012 (UTC)