A letter to my fellow Smoothians

[June Bug]

First let me say something and make it very clear:
Chicken Smoothie is a forum, a forum is not a chat room. Therefore, chatting is considered spam and you will get threads locked by chatting off topic.

Now that that's out, I also want to say that I know it's difficult to resist the urge to talk about your 'super awesome kitchen sponge' or how 'OMG cute!' your neighbor's lawn chair is, but you must resist. If you need to chat, make a chat room on Xat and put the link into the first post of your thread. As simple as that.
I hate seeing good threads locked because of a few who can't seem to tell the difference between chat room and forum as I'm sure many of you are. To those of you with a lot of frequent chatters in your thread I suggest making a chat and enforcing it's use.

In addition General Chat and Chicken Smoothie Chat topics do not actually mean chat. So if you open a 'chat' in one of these forums, it will be locked.

Also, let me clarify what is and isn't spam.

Spam:
~One or two words
this includes quoting a post and only typing one word as a response under it and smilies
~Anything not pertaining to the subject of the thread
not the subject you want to talk about. Also includes random sentences or comments that have a keyword stuck in to make it seem as though you're on topic
~Saying hello or hi
Announcing your arrival (or departure) is unnecessary. When you post a response, everyone will know that you are, in fact, there. There is no need for an announcement
~Advertising for other threads or sites
yes, you may link to something you found if it's relevant, but linking to a tile company site on a thread about window glass without it being a relevant addition to conversation is spam
~Adding you two cents even after multiple people have said the same exact thing
this should speak for itself. Why spam up a topic with the same statement five or ten times? there is a reason that the system alerts you to a recently made post when you hit 'submit'. Edit your response so that you aren't just repeating the same information or don't post
~Double posting
If you have something to add and you where the last to post, edit your last post. there is no need for a person to post twice in a row. The only exception to this would be to bump a topic.
~Bumping too frequently
You should only bump a topic that is no longer on the first page. There is no point to bumping a topic that people can still easily see.
~Bookmark Posts
We have a bookmark button at the bottom of each and every thread, so posting 'bookmark' is pretty useless

Not spam:
~Anything longer than a few words that add additional insight or opinion to the conversation and that stays on topic
even if you just want to agree with something that was said, when you quote and say 'this' add your reasons.

If you have anything to add to this, let me know and I'll put it up.
Feel free to ask questions as well

also, a stamp! Made by the very thoughtful Libertas

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[BrightPink]

That's true.
I belong to some "WL help" threads and it's really annoying when they post "Hi!" or "Bye!" or somebody posts a good pet they got by trade/from the Pound and people quote adding " " and that's all.

I want to talk about what I'm looking for etc., not to say "hello" to anyone who comes...

I see that someone posted and when I open it they just say "Hi, <somebody>!"

After few weeks I start not to visit the thread because I know I will only find hellos and spam there...

[June Bug]

I see that too much too. Usually, I'll report spammy posts. If there aren't too many a mod will usually just come in and delete all the spam and post a warning to stay on topic. Sadly, though, sometimes there's just too much chatter and it gets locked. I've gotten tired of seeing it happen which is why I wrote this. I also dislike seeing people assume that because 'no spam' isn't in the thread rules, it's okay :C Those threads tend to get locked more quickly

[Saluna]

Thanks for this. ^^

Isn't it also considered spam when you're trying to read what others think of the May pets and there's random converstaions about who-knows-what, and then it says "back on topic... (insert may pets discussion here)."

Even if you do put something relevant about the thread, having a mini conversation with other players seems spammish to me. Just my opinion.

Good topic Kamaliah.

Edit: I'm not naming names because honestly, I don't know exactly who has been doing this. Sorry if I offend someone.

[June Bug]

yes, random conversations are considered spam, but they're usually tolerated if they aren't too long or have some relevance. When they spiral out of control and take up a big chunk of the thread, it's an issue

[dasniu]

Thank you. ILU SO MUCH NAO

[legoless]

~Adding you two cents even after multiple people have said the same exact thing
this should speak for itself. Why spam up a topic with the same statement five or ten times? there is a reason that the system alerts you to a recently made post when you hit 'submit'. Edit your response accordingly or don't post

I like this list, except for that part. Anytime someone posts an answer before I hit sumbit, I still feel I should add my response after going to the trouble of writing it. Obviously only when I have something unique to say that the other person left out, though. Maybe you could edit your post to reflect that, if you agree.

[Shai]

This is a great list, Kamaliah. I myself didn't know that saying 'hi' was classed as spamming, until I was told off by Lady for it I think that many people will find this list helpful, especially hose who do not know what is spam and what isn't. Although something I was wondering, can you post 'hi' in your post, as long as the rest of the post remains on topic?

[June Bug]

~Adding you two cents even after multiple people have said the same exact thing
this should speak for itself. Why spam up a topic with the same statement five or ten times? there is a reason that the system alerts you to a recently made post when you hit 'submit'. Edit your response accordingly or don't post

I like this list, except for that part. Anytime someone posts an answer before I hit sumbit, I still feel I should add my response after going to the trouble of writing it. Obviously only when I have something unique to say that the other person left out, though. Maybe you could edit your post to reflect that, if you agree.

If you have something new to add it's fine, but anything that has already been said should be edited out to avoid redundancy.

double post is a no-no, so edit
(also, that reminds me~)

This is a great list, Kamaliah. I myself didn't know that saying 'hi' was classed as spamming, until I was told off by Lady for it I think that many people will find this list helpful, especially hose who do not know what is spam and what isn't. Although something I was wondering, can you post 'hi' in your post, as long as the rest of the post remains on topic?

yes, you may, but just a greeting is spam. As long as the rest of the post has relevant information, it's fine

[June Bug]

bump, this needs to be seen as much as possible