[wp-forums] Profanity in Usernames

[it's EMG]

Understood.

And I like the idea of the link at the top or something, too, with a brief
message that lets registrants know there ARE guidelines to follow.

The idea about sending a copy to the email and/or offering people a chance
to see the rules is more about making sure people know what the rules are
and don't have an excuse for not adhering to them (and making another fuss
in the forums as a result) rather than actual...

An analogy:

Insurance (for us!) versus actual 'Here are the rules - read them or die!'
sort of mentality.

Maybe I'm the only one but it bugs me that people sort of pass off the
'inaccessibility' of website guidelines (meaning, they are simply posted in
the forums and not made prominent) as legitimate reasons to 'not know any
better' and behave poorly.

Also, how many newbies to the forum do you think sign up for the forum and
then spend time to check out the guidelines on their own without any
prompting before they post?

I can't tell you how many times I've been 'congratulated' by various forum
admins and mods for 'reading the guidelines before posting'; apparently
people not reading guidelines unless it's waved in front of their faces and
then complaining about it later is a commonplace.

Just my two coins worth, though for sure!

~ EMG

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Mark / t31os <wp-t31os at ntlworld.com> wrote:

> I'd not go so far as to add forum rules or guidelines onto the registration
> process(good idea though, keep em coming), perhaps a link at the top of the
> form would be a good alternative though, maybe with a brief message..
>
> ----
> Before participating in the forums please be sure to review the <link>forum
> rules and guidelines</link>.
> ----
>
> I think if users were to be presented with anything more than a few lines
> of text to review(during registration), that in haste they are likely to
> skip reading, and get registered as quickly as possible (if they need help,
> they'll just want to get registered as quickly as they can).
>
> One idea could be to have a singular document that covers both forum rules
> and forum entiquette. If you wanted to describe that in a more simple
> manner, it could be translated into "What you can do" and "What you cannot
> do".. (such a page wouldn't be desribed that way though - i'm sure someone
> cringed when they read that).
>
> It just seems we have a jumble of information floating around, one piece
> here, one piece there, and maybe we're needlessly having to bookmark or tag
> important information because there's no central location to find it. While
> *it is not a crucial element of using the forums*, it could be made much
> simpler with a little consolidation of data.
>
> There is already alot of good information on both the forums and in the
> codex, and if we were to start bringing all this information into a central
> location, even if it took a year to see change, in the long run i believe it
> would serve the community. Exactly how such a task would be tackled isn't
> something i've thought much about, but given time i'm sure between us we
> could chuck ideas around and find a solution.
>
> For now though, i do believe the forum rules could do with a little fine
> tuning, and maybe a few minor additions.
>
> In regard to registration guidelines - on reflection i don't think the
> rules would currently act as a suitable place for such information,
> "Registration" and "Forum behaviour" are really two seperate things, and as
> things stand with the rules, it wouldn't seem appropriate to add
> registration guidelines into the rules (yes i'm changing my mind - i do that
> alot).
>
> Just ideas/thoughts, and i have lots..
>
> I always think quicker then i type, so if anything above seems to wander
> away from itself it's because i'm not the worlds best proof reader.. ;)
>
> Anyone agree, disagree ... have some ideas of your own to add?
>
> And Thank You!.. to everyone that contributed to the discussion today, it
> makes a nice change to discuss something on the list other then bozos and
> spam.. :)
> ... and silly things like me forgetting i disabled Javascript.. :(
>
>
> Mark / t31os
>
>
> it's EMG wrote:
>
>> Definitely +1 to all things just discussed above.
>>
>> If a list of 'guidelines' DO end up being written, might I suggest that
>> all
>> new users be shown the guidelines upon registering and be emailed a copy
>> of
>> said guidelines as part of their account registration process?
>>
>> Additionally, maybe we need a perpetual forum 'Announcement' or
>> sticky-type
>> post at the main forum page and on every forum page that lists said
>> guidelines.  Sort of how other message boards post their announcements?
>> Though I don't know if for some people it might seem a bit excessive?
>>
>> Just a thought.
>>
>> And I'm game for a discussion on amending forum guidelines for sure.
>>
>> ~ EMG
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 9:30 AM, Mark / t31os <wp-t31os at ntlworld.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> I suppose this comes back round to whether the forums rules are prominent
>>> enough for new members to notice, a concern that's been on my mind for a
>>> little while now.
>>>
>>> Perhaps we can move on though and discuss potential amendments to the
>>> forum
>>> rules, covering domain and user names and maybe general registration
>>> guidelines. I'm not suggesting we go ahead and start making changes, but
>>> simply start discussion on what changes we can agree need to be made.
>>>
>>> I'll have a little thinking session and put together some ideas.
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> S Bollinger wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> the posted forum rules say this
>>>> "*G:* Staying Work Safe
>>>> Some people will be helping here from work or a computer which is not
>>>> their own. Other people may not wish to view sites which have content
>>>> which
>>>> has questionable or adult material. If your site could cause offence,
>>>> you
>>>> must mark your links as *NSFW* (Not Safe For Work). Additionally please
>>>> do
>>>> not link to your site in your profile - someone inadvertantly clicking
>>>> your
>>>> link could be offended.
>>>> You will still get any help you need, but we can't have people getting
>>>> into trouble when they are trying to help.
>>>> Any links not so marked will be altered by Mods or removed at their
>>>> discretion."
>>>>
>>>> you can email if you want, but I will delete usernames and links like
>>>> this
>>>> on sight as a matter of being work safe. I've seen too many folks get in
>>>> trouble over this crap.
>>>> If he wants to give a link to his site in a post, something like
>>>> noiserock.com (put the F word in front of that url)
>>>> would work for me.
>>>> Sam
>>>>
>>>> Mark / t31os wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Yes indeed, that's the one.
>>>>>
>>>>> +1 to updating the rules to cover acceptable usernames.
>>>>> +1 to updating the codex page Michael linked to in his reply
>>>>> +1 to Mel's suggestion for placing the rules on the registration page
>>>>>
>>>>> Has anyone contacted the user to mention the issue with the registered
>>>>> name.
>>>>> When i checked the users posts(this morning) i couldn't find any reason
>>>>> to bozo based on posted content (i did only quickly skim), my concerns
>>>>> were
>>>>> mainly in relation to the username(additionally the domain could be
>>>>> seen as
>>>>> being just as profane).
>>>>>
>>>>> Should we inform the user, so he/she is given an opportunity to
>>>>> re-register under different credentials.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mark
>>>>>
>>>>> mrmist wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> In message <4B979C42.7000003 at ntlworld.com>, Mark / t31os <
>>>>>> wp-t31os at ntlworld.com> writes
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As the title says..
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Do we alloy profanity in usernames? (It seems like a no-brainer
>>>>>>> question, but i want to put the question out all the same).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Is this referring to http://wordpress.org/support/profile/5859605 ?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I feel that we should be blocking, but I also feel that the forum
>>>>>> rules
>>>>>> G: Staying Work Safe
>>>>>> Needs a slight edit to mention unacceptable usernames as well as site
>>>>>> links.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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