[wp-forums] B-Coded user

Sun Jul 29 01:09:43 UTC 2012

> Would it be silly to require they pass a little 5-item multiple-choice
> quiz before they could sign up?
>
That is not a bad idea at all. Another possibility could be a redirection,
upon registration, to the Forum Welcome Codex article.

I agree with the verdict that most people don't even bother with the Codex
(be it forum guidelines or How To articles), and some of them even get
offended when you point them to one. I think I would actually add this one
as a #4 on Paul's list.

About #1, I've noticed that some people are very aware of the "no support
for premium code" policy and post on the forums anyway with lengthy
descriptions or code chunks so as not to have to share a link to their
sites (where premium plugins or themes can be spotted right away in the
source code). Has anyone else noticed this?

On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 8:18 PM, Andrea Rennick <andrea at ronandandrea.com>wrote:

> Actually, the existing docs are sometimes hard to find. Yes, even sticky
> posts. :P
>
> A few links on the "New topic screen" perhaps?
>
> We can hope at least at SOME point people will start reading if we keep
> gently and persistently pointing it out.
>
> The thing that turns of new contributors the most is letting the attitudes
> happen. That's the thing I hear the most, and while even in the best forums
> it still happens, there's still loads we can do to tamp it down when it
> starts.
>
> :)
>
> On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 8:04 PM, Paul Kaiser <paul.kaiser at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Moving away from the Andrea situation, but staying on topic of policies:
> >
> > It would be neat if there was a way we could be more sure folks even
> > read the policies first, though.
> > Top 3 things I see in the forums:
> > 1. Asking for help on premium themes / plugins (and pushing the issue
> > and acting bruised when rebuffed.)
> > 2. Pasting code without backquotes or pastebin
> > 3. Bumping posts
> >
> > If I tell folks nicely about pastebin, they usually go ahead, and even
> > apologize.
> > ETC... folks just don't read the policies.
> >
> > Would it be silly to require they pass a little 5-item multiple-choice
> > quiz before they could sign up?
> > Paul
> >
> > On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 5:55 PM, Joni Mueller <joni at jonimueller.com>
> > wrote:
> > > I have always loved CMS Made Simple's policies. They aren't as tolerant
> > as you guys are, far from it. I particularly like their "How Not To Ask
> For
> > Help" section here. Maybe you can add some of these "gentle suggestions"
> to
> > the forum "rules" section?  :)
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2661&sid=c560395d9814b029a4a87b2ec6017062
> > >
> > > Joni Mueller
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > >
> > >
> > > On Jul 28, 2012, at 5:40 PM, "Francisco de Azevedo" <
> > frandeazevedo at gmail.com<mailto:frandeazevedo at gmail.com>> wrote:
> > >
> > > Yeah, I guess it is a little overkill and it might alienate users more
> > than
> > > anything else.
> > > My concern had more to do with contributors / users ratio: it is
> already
> > > low enough as it is to allow people to discourage contributors with
> their
> > > attitude.
> > > But I guess there is little one could do about this, other than keep
> > > politely requesting that people abide by the Forum Rules.
> > > Enjoy your weekend, everyone.
> > > Cheers!
> > >
> > > Marv
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 5:26 PM, Andrea Rennick <
> andrea at ronandandrea.com
> > <mailto:andrea at ronandandrea.com>>wrote:
> > >
> > > What Jan said. :)
> > >
> > > a.
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 1:25 PM, Jan Dembowski <jan at dembowski.net
> > <mailto:jan at dembowski.net>> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 12:08 PM, Francisco de Azevedo
> > > <frandeazevedo at gmail.com<mailto:frandeazevedo at gmail.com>> wrote:
> > >
> > > Do you mean a list if usernames, as a public shaming?
> > >
> > > Yeah, something like that, a hall of shame of sorts. It doesn't
> > > necessarily
> > > have to be tied to the bozo list actually.
> > >
> > > While that may be (temporarily) satisfying, I think that'd be counter
> > > productive. People misbehave sometimes and we've all sent out
> > > communications that later on we thought "WHOA. What was I on that
> > > day??"
> > >
> > > Everyone should get at least one second chance, preferably many. ;)
> > >
> > > The b-code just puts them in the timeout room. It doesn't block or ban
> > > them, it just means a moderator has to approve their post before other
> > > people can see it.
> > >
> > > If they fly straight then they'll get to play with the other kids
> > > unsupervised. If they don't, then any new offending posts will/can be
> > > deleted and they stay in the timeout room longer.
> > >
> > > Having a public shame list won't encourage people to behave and would
> > > possibly just start more fights. We wouldn't want that.
> > >
> > > I mean really, WordPress has got a cool community and we want to
> > > encourage people to play nicely using pleasant means.
> > >
> > > Jan Dembowski
> > >
> > > PS. That doesn't mean I'm opposed to banning outright repeat
> > > offenders, there are limits after all. But that's a last resort IMHO.
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > wp-forums mailing list
> > > wp-forums at lists.automattic.com<mailto:wp-forums at lists.automattic.com>
> > > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > --
> > > Andrea Rennick, http://wpebooks.com and http://ronandandrea.com
> > > Co-author of WordPress All-In-One For Dummies http://rml.me/aio
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > wp-forums mailing list
> > > wp-forums at lists.automattic.com<mailto:wp-forums at lists.automattic.com>
> > > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > wp-forums mailing list
> > > wp-forums at lists.automattic.com<mailto:wp-forums at lists.automattic.com>
> > > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > wp-forums mailing list
> > > wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
> > > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
> > _______________________________________________
> > wp-forums mailing list
> > wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
> > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
> >
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Andrea Rennick, http://wpebooks.com and http://ronandandrea.com
> Co-author of WordPress All-In-One For Dummies http://rml.me/aio
> _______________________________________________
> wp-forums mailing list
> wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
>