Please Read Before Posting

Posting guidelines for Political Palace.

1. Use the Search Feature
At the top of the page, you will see a number of things to click on. One of them is the Search feature. When you want to make a new thread, please use it first. If there is already a thread about the topic you want to make, don't. This is to cut down on the number of duplicate threads, which will be closed.

New threads about a subject can be created if the thread's last reply is three months old or more.

2. Don't bump old threads
Since you have been given clearence to make new threads on a subject if the thread discussing it has been dead for three months, don't revive threads that old or older. There is some leeway in this, especially concerning post quality. There's nothing quite like, and nothing aggrivating in quite the same way, seeing a thread from over a year ago being brought back to life with a one-word post.

3. Stay reasonably on topic
This forum is about debate, and over the course of a debate the topic can drift; that's to be expected. However, there are limits. If a thread is discussing Wal-Mart, for instance, we do not want you to enlighten us about what a horrible person George W. Bush is, complete with a list of the 42 men to hold the office of President of the United States ranked from best to worst.

4. Don't troll, flame or spam
Basic forum rules there, but worth mentioning anyway. Just as topics can drift, tempers can also flare. However, don't come in here and start flaming without provocation.

Similarly, make any posts you make contribute something to the debate at hand; that's a big part of what spam is or not. If you can make a relevant point with only one sentence, then by all means, post that one sentence and don't worry about dressing it up with lots of extra words. If you need those extra words, don't just post one sentence.

4a. When making a thread, make a worthwhile opening post.
This goes along with the don't spam criterion. When you make a thread, make sure your opening post is well-written and clear. Including a news article or something similar is good, but not required. If you don't, be sure to fully and explain your position and what you want to discuss in the thread. Something like this is not what we're looking for.

5. Don't rant
If you want to make a thread about how something sucks and expound on that point, a simple guideline: don't. It is for things like that that you have a Chocojournal, and can use it to express your feelings about the current situation without cluttering up the forum page with it.

6. Don't member moderate
We have moderators. It's their job to tell troublemakers to knock it off, not yours.

7. No homosexual marriage threads. Ever.
Pretty self-explanatory. We've had plenty of gay marriage threads in past board iterations, and they've all ended badly. We'd like to avoid things like this in the future.

8. Use common sense
If you know you shouldn't do something, then don't do it.

Follow these rules and we'll get along just fine.

Jam it back in, in the dark.