There are many threads out there filled with useless spam...
It seems people tend to get lazy with their replies or are just posting to lvl up.
Guess people don't read the rules...

Here are the guidelines i follow:
1) Posts should stay on topic with the main idea of the thread.
If a post is about lets say a certain anime then your post should be related to that anime in some way. Going off topic is quite common in the threads especially those in the spam lounge. Just because theres a spam lounge doesn't mean you can abuse it...

2) Posts should be creative and have some difference among previous posts.
If your going to say basically the same thing as someone else...is there really a point? At least you should quote that person and say something like "i agree with...but i also think"
I know it is tedious to go through like a thread with 20pgs or more but if a thread has llike 3 pages only, you can take some time to read the previous posts. No one wants to read the same thing over and over again, it just becomes useless infomation after a while.
I can understand overlapping post but thats why you should always read the previous post twice, once before you post and once after to make sure its still the same.

3) Posts shouldn't be hurtful to others or damaging to the community.
As the old saying goes "if you don't have something nice to say don't say it at all"
Flaming and pointlessly criticizing someone or this community isn't helpful to anyone.
Theres always a polite way to say something, and plus...chances are flaming will get you banned so don't do it.
EDIT: i forgot to mention watching your language also.
There are many young members here and members that want to keep this site clean.
There is no need to use offensive language to prove a point, get a thesaurus if you can't
find a different word to use.

4) Double, triple, etc. posting should be reported.
Most of the time this happens accidently and isn't too harmful to anyone or anything.
Just remember if you do it, report it so it can be deleted. No one likes a thread full of repeated posts that just take up space.

5) Editing old posts...yes or no?
Editing old posts is a good and bad idea...it may save up space but much of the time it may be overlooked. I think that if your posts isn't among the last 5 replies...don't bother editing...many people don't bother to look at old posts more than once shamefully. Its a good idea to mention that you edit your post too and make it clear with "EDIT" in your post.

EDIT:
6) Very short and long posts
First of all, single word posts are not allowed at all. A thread will be closed if it is filled with mainly one word posts and people are continuing to use only one word posts.
If all you have to say is a few words then most likely your post will not have much meaning.
If your in a game that requires you only need one word, then there are ways to say more while still sticking to the rules of the game.
As for long posts...im sure many people see it as a hassle to read, especially since the font here isn't quite large.
It is a good idea to separate a long post into shorter paragraphs instead of one big clump as to make it easier for the readers to read.
Starting a new sentence on a different line instead of just continuing on the same line would be a good idea too. (such as i am doing right now)
Im sure the reason people posts long replies is because they have something quite meaningful to say so you shouldn't overlook a post just because its very long.
But you should try and avoid posting something thats 10 replies long...im sure theres a way to condense that into something smaller.

ok thats all i have to say for now...if you have anything to contribute feel free to
but i just wanted to get this off my chest since it was becoming more troublesome recently..

I like your post Chopz. Way nicer and more informative than the Posting and You flash message. <--- Yours is much nicer said than this one too. ...It is a bit mean about it.

If any noobs visit the flash link, know the attitude of the author isn't our (or at least "my") attitude here.

Hehehe~ there's tuts for just about everything around here now. (this is a good thing, of course~<3) But the tragedy is that.. really, it's just common sense.

Anyways, good job, Chopz! Top tips.

thanks buckie...it is sad though that it is common sense....so many senseless members

lol chopper, I hope I am not included in your category of senseless members. Since my posts seem to run on and out of place sometimes. The sad thing is that sometimes people tend to not to read or fully understand my point, so they just repeat my point back to me without knowing my intention. I guess it is harder to practice common sense when people are sharing their opinions in a thread on controversy issue, because they are bound to overlap each other's point. People usually don't do diligence in reading the posts in a thread before they post. It is a common plague in most forums, so I don't know if your point will go to deaf's ear or not.

snif snif... i guess i'm not a good thread poster after all... but, at least there's worse than me...
and you should have added that posts should actually say something... you know, something else than : "......." and "biuhshfsjkh" as spammers do so often ^^

oh, an about number 3), i hope you don't take my teasing you as hurtful Choptz, coz that's not my intention ^^

Quote by Mordinlol chopper, I hope I am not included in your category of senseless
members. Since my posts seem to run on and out of place sometimes.
The sad thing is that sometimes people tend to not to read or fully
understand my point, so they just repeat my point back to me without
knowing my intention. I guess it is harder to practice common sense
when people are sharing their opinions in a thread on controversy
issue, because they are bound to overlap each other's point. People
usually don't do diligence in reading the posts in a thread before they
post. It is a common plague in most forums, so I don't know if your
point will go to deaf's ear or not.

don't worry about it if you like violate one of those guidelines...i know i violate a few myself but im trying to do better....anyways many of your posts are thought provoking so keep up the good work ^_^

Quote by Ayamaelsnif snif... i guess i'm not a good thread poster after all... but,
at least there's worse than me... and you should have added that posts
should actually say something... you know, something else than :
"......." and "biuhshfsjkh" as spammers do so often ^^

hehe your a goood poster...well at least i haven't seen you do anything bad yet...hehe i do use "..." a lot but i do posts stuff with it

Quote by Ayamael oh, an about
number 3), i hope you don't take my teasing you as hurtful Choptz, coz
that's not my intention ^^

haha your the nicest teaser then...not slapping me = kindness in my book

LOL HA HA HA HA
very funny joke chopz *drop on the ground and point at chop* HA HA HA
You are killing me here chopz
Are right chop whoes guidelines are this
Please tell the truth I don't think my body could handel this from you
Anyway back to the quetion I don't really follow any guidelines

they're my guidelines you fool....you especially imfamous in my book for going off topic alot...you dork...you do it more than me or cel haha maybe you could learn something from those guidelines

ROFL - Why did I not realize this earlier?

Now what I like about these kinds of threads in the complaints area is that you can actually point out flaws within our overall community members within the system and pretty much get away with almost anything you say here.

Necessarily because:

1. Most people won't read this section and don't even care.
2. New members and low-leveled members leech all the time. They don't give a hoot about anything, and lack the cranial capacity of intelligence a few of us members obviously do have. No offense, really. They just turn a blind eye on things. Heck knows what they do around forums like this one. lol - Anyways.

So while mentioning a few things about how the forum works, I'll totally have to emphasize on Point Number 2 of Chopstickz statement.

Quote by ChopstickzThere are many threads out there filled with useless spam...
It seems people tend to get lazy with their replies or are just posting
to lvl up.
Guess people don't read the rules...
Here are the guidelines i follow:
2) Posts should be creative and have some difference among previous
posts.
If your going to say basically the same thing as someone else...is
there really a point? At least you should quote that person and say
something like "i agree with...but i also think" I know it is tedious
to go through like a thread with 20pgs or more but if a thread has
llike 3 pages only, you can take some time to read the previous posts.
No one wants to read the same thing over and over again, it just
becomes useless infomation after a while. I can understand overlapping
post but thats why you should always read the previous post twice, once
before you post and once after to make sure its still the same.

Pretty likely. Well done, and many members fail to see that point from all levels alike.

1. Where oh where have I not seen examples of this often? What I hate is when people even repeat the same ideas from the previous post above.

Hence - "Yup, I agree." is not a real post, it should be considered useless spam. Some forums are like that and they don't quite get the picture. Threads that lack diversity tends to cut the conversations really short.

That's what I used to like about Games in the Spam Lounge back then. They were fun to play because you can say something new everytime without even having to break the rules. You follow the basic guidelines of how its being played, and its all game, really.

Add at least something to the mix. Would you feel it funny if all the posts above you were clones of the original comment and opinion? Heck no. lol - But you can't avoid it every single time. The best part is to try to keep your comments open, not narrow-minded here.

2. One-Word Posts

What is going on? Okay, some people actually do get away with one word posts and it gets quite saddening, really. Therefore, in my suggestion, if someone would be so kind as actually putting a 64-character limit on even forum posts, we wouldn't have to mess with such spam, really. lol - Two words, and even three words to me are considered spam. They are just short, concise answers that tend to look bad by itself. Problem is, putting a character limit discourages forum abusers and make them leech even more as their primary incentive. And so, I only believe that one-word posts are considered the extreme spam in this case, really. lol - Aside from the Spam Lounge, no other category should have these kinds of things. Funny how people get away with it. That's my comment here.

Haha - what else can I say and get away with from the majority of the public?

lol

Quote by Chopstickz3) Posts shouldn't be hurtful to others or damaging to the
community.
As the old saying goes "if you don't have something nice to say don't
say it at all" Flaming and pointlessly criticizing someone or this
community isn't helpful to anyone. Theres always a polite way to say
something, and plus...chances are flaming will get you banned so don't
do it.

Might I also add that swearing will not be tolerated. I'm a person who never liked swearing in the first place. If it was seen on my forum, I'd either edit it out, put a mark of warning to the user, or just toss out a flaming comment all at once. There's a fine line when politely or constructively making one's point. Be humble and don't abuse your rights to speak by offending others of extreme nature. That's all I have to say here.

Quote by Chopstickz4) Double, triple, etc. posting should be reported.
Most of the time this happens accidently and isn't too harmful to
anyone or anything. Just remember if you do it, report it so it can be
deleted. No one likes a thread full of repeated posts that just take up
space.

Seen it happen all the time. But do members care at all? Unfortunately no. **Shrugs** Lag kicks in, so its not an uncommon thing, really. But they should be deleted, which is true in a sense. Unless you are in an idol gallery forum - now that's just plain fun. lol

Quote by Chopstickz5) Editing old posts...yes or no?
Editing old posts is a good and bad idea...it may save up space but
much of the time it may be overlooked. I think that if your posts isn't
among the last 5 replies...don't bother editing...many people don't
bother to look at old posts more than once shamefully. Its a good idea
to mention that you edit your post too and make it clear with
"EDIT" in your post.
ok thats all i have to say for now...if you have anything to contribute
feel free to but i just wanted to get this off my chest since it was
becoming more troublesome recently..

Quite often. **Raises her hand** Looking over your post and re-reading is a hassle of time though, but if you make a clear mistake when re-reading your post, if you do, you should re-edit it so that your message becomes more clear and the sorts. I'm one of the only very experienced forum members who use this tool excessively with one hand. Others fail to re-edit their post when necessarily. Good thing? Yes, when done properly.

And that's all I have to say for this sort of matter.

But as usual, long posts like this one tends to drive people away, so I like to have to say something with hardly any argument involved - besides, what I speak of is quite true in a sense.

After all, spammers will keep spamming.
I made my complaints about this and said my peace. I may not be perfect in this case here, but being pretty much the highest level member out there - I believe - who still constantly posts in this forum in a sensible, non-spammish way, I admit that more people should follow these guidelines as stated above.

By the way, years ago, I was just like them. Everyone was once a rookie in the forum world, and these things don't seem to happen quite often. Now look at me - forum posting perfection extraordinaire. lol

These things take time to develop and get used to. Just develop these skills naturally through experience and you'll do well.

Ahh - the long posts I make still continue onwards. I just noticed how long this post was. My posts should equal ten posts here. lol - Didn't spend too much time on this thing either. And so ends this chapter.

Quote by CelessaMight I also add that swearing will not be tolerated. I'm a person who never liked swearing in the first place. If it was seen on my forum, I'd either edit it out, put a mark of warning to the user, or just toss out a flaming comment all at once. There's a fine line when politely or constructively making one's point. Be humble and don't abuse your rights to speak by offending others of extreme nature. That's all I have to say here.

oh yea i forgot about that....

Quote by CelessaAhh - the long posts I make still continue onwards. I just noticed how long this post was. My posts should equal ten posts here.

haha time for guideline number 6 then...ill throw in something about single word posts too

well i have to thank you Cel for actually reading and replying, you gave lots of great input
and plus...when you posts somewhere usally hordes of ppl soon come following after...hopefully they will say something useful too

Thanks for making Minitokyo a cleaner and safer community with this thread.