General Information & Rules

What can I say? It doesn't fit above, put it here. Also the location of board rules/info.
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Xonen
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General Information & Rules

Post by Xonen »

Welcome to the board. In this thread, you will find important information on how the board works and the rules you're expected to follow here. Below is a table of contents, with links you can click on to instantly access the different sections. Enjoy your stay on the CBB!

INFORMATION
- Welcome & Introduction
- The House Rules
- Breaking the Rules
- Forum News
- Forum Ranks and Banners
- A Note on Citing Sources
- Posting Images
- If you are unable to register or access your account

HOW DO I...
- Change my username?
- Edit/Delete/Move/Merge A Post or Thread?

FORUM SPECIFIC GUIDELINES
- Conlangs
- Beginners' Corner
- Teach & Share
- Translations
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sangi39
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General Information & Rules - READ BEFORE POSTING

Post by sangi39 »

Welcome to the CBB!

This is a forum for those interested in constructed languages, worlds, cultures and so on, as well as for those with a general interest in languages and linguistics. Despite looking heavy on the language part, this forum welcomes discussions about, say, concultures just as much as it does for conlangs!

When it comes to experience there is much diversity. Some members are professional linguists and/or very experienced at conlanging, while some might hardly know how to get started. It's important to know that regardless of prior experience, everyone is welcome here.

This thread should be your first stop for information if you have any questions about forum operations. Should you not find what you're looking for here feel free to ask the community, a moderator or the admin.

The board administrator is Aevas and the vice administrator is Ossicone. They can both be recognized by their golden usernames.
There are four moderators - Xonen, Trailsend, Dormouse559 and sangi39. They can all be recognized by their green usernames.

Our job is mainly to keep this place running without problems, clean up messes, and to help with any problems that might occur. Feel free to PM any of us with any issues that might occur!

Also note that this forum is not a democracy - the final word is always ours.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
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sangi39
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General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

The House Rules

In order to ensure that everyone feels comfortable on this board, we ask you to behave according to the following set of rules.

1. First and foremost: Be Civil.

That is, no insults, name-calling, personal attacks or other forms of flaming, under any circumstances. If you disagree with someone, criticize what they're saying, without getting into how they're saying it or who they are. In other words, no ad hominem arguments, and keep criticism constructive and to the point.

This applies especially when talking to newbies; we have no minimum level of linguistic knowledge required to join the board, so no rudely dismissive comments to that effect. We were all new once, so don't be a jerk to someone just because you happened to get a head start.

To help with the above, try to avoid talking at or past each other or posting while angry. If it feels like you're beginning to become agitated or irate, give yourself a moment, an hour or a day to collect your thoughts before posting again. Similarly, if the discussion doesn't seem to be progressing, with users talking in circles, give each other some time and see if the thread can move forward later on. The thread should still be there when you get back.



2. No trolling/flamebait

As a general rule, do not post things that you know are going to offend, annoy or otherwise provoke other people. Sometimes there may be a good reason that justifies posting something provocative, but don't go out of your way to be inflammatory. Explain your position and be prepared to defend it.

Note that this includes controversial or extraordinary claims and opinions. Repeatedly posting these without providing evidence and proper argumentation to back them up will be considered trolling.



3. Tread lightly around sensitive subjects

Expanding on from the above, please keep in mind that some topics can very quickly result in hostility and flamewars if users treat them the wrong way. This includes topics revolving around religion, politics, and identity.

As a board dealing with both conlanging and conworlding, we certainly cannot ban these topics outright, since they play a pivotal role in developing a more fleshed out culture, but please try to stick to what's actually being said in such threads and stick to the facts, avoiding value judgements. Especially if you happen to hold negative views on someone else's religion (or lack of religion), ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, neurotype, mental health or physical health situation, or anything of this sort, then try to keep those opinions to yourself (whether talking to or about an individual or a group). Large portions of the internet have, over the years, shown that these sorts of discussions, as mentioned previously, tend to lead to heated arguments and flamewars rather than healthy debate and conversation.

Again, while we tolerate constructive criticism and factual debate, what we not tolerate for very long are ad hominem attacks, bullying of individuals or groups, either on-board or off-board, from any side.



4. Don't put words in other people's mouths. Or thoughts in their heads

Occasional misunderstandings are inevitable in all human communication, and especially on the internet - but you can reduce the chances of them happening by trying to stick to responding to what people have actually said. Don't make further extrapolations on what someone "really" means or why they're saying what they are, not to mention broader generalizations on what kind of person they are. It's extremely rude and, at least unless you have a degree in psychology, very likely to go wrong. And by the way, this includes extrapolations made based on things like someone's gender, religion, ethnicity, etc. Finally, don't assume that what somebody adds to their conworld reflects what they actually believe, think or feel.



5. No spamming/flooding.

Occasional jokes or otherwise more or less pointless posts and even threads (preferably in the Everything Else forum unless there's a good reason to post them somewhere else) are fine, but try not to let them get in the way of actual discussion. Don't make posts just for the sake of making posts. And especially, don't create threads just for the sake of creating threads; a large number of frivolous threads has a nasty cluttering effect on a forum and makes it harder for people to spot the more interesting ones. This includes the creation of "game" threads which involve posting or changing a single word or less. And even if you have important things to say, combining as much stuff into one thread as possible is usually better than posting several new threads in the same forum at once.

In addition, with the exception of posting book recommendations or links to websites on topics related to languages, linguistics, conlangs and conworlds, commercial advertisements of any kind don't belong here.



6. Do not lie

Most importantly, don't post information you know to be false to play a practical joke on the newbies, don't pretend to be someone you aren't, and, no matter what you do, never take credit for other people's work.

For emphasis, sock-puppeting with multiple accounts is strictly forbidden and may result in the banning of both or all accounts.



7. Do not misuse rank

It is under no circumstances permitted to misuse rank images, the beginners' mentors banner or the admin-tags. Doing so will be penalized on sight.



Addendum 1: Forum Specific Guidelines

In addition to these general rules, some forums also have their own forum-specific guidelines (found in a sticky topic at the top of each forum that does). Be sure to familiarize yourself with those as well.


Addendum 2: A Note on Signatures

By and large, the same rules apply to your signature as to everything else you post here. Most importantly, it is no more appropriate to post controversial opinions or wage a personal vendetta against another board member via the signature than it would be in a normal forum post. (If anything, it's less so; after all, your signature by default gets attached to each of your posts instead of just one.)

Also, if you post a link to an external site in your signature, please make sure the linked content isn't in direct conflict with our rules, either. Specifically, linking to a commercial site counts as spam, and linking to one promoting controversial political/religious/whatever ideologies or containing other provocative material may count as trolling.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
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sangi39
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General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

Breaking the Rules

What to do if someone breaks the rules?

1. If it's a mild case, you might try ignoring it at first. Someone might just have been having a bad day, or the whole thing could be a misunderstanding, or something.

2. In the case of more blatant and/or repeated offenses, the first thing to do is to tell the offender that they're violating the house rules, and perhaps give them a link to this thread. But don't be a jerk about it yourself; "he started it" is not an excuse for breaking the rules on this board.

Also, don't take this to mean that you should jump on someone and start quoting the rules every time you think you've perceived some slight transgression. That kind of behavior is itself disrupting, and likely to do more harm than good. You can use some common sense here; if there is no actual conflict taking place yet, then it might be best not to create one by beating people over the head with the rulebook. If you're unsure, you can always PM the admin or one of the mods.

3. You can also PM the admin or a moderator if neither of the above appears to be working, or if you just don't feel like confronting the offender directly.


What to do if you're accused of breaking a rule?

1. Whatever it is you're doing, stop. Failure to do this may, especially if the offense you're accused of is serious enough, result in first a formal warning and then, if that's not enough, a temporary or permanent ban.

2. Do not lash out against whoever's accusing you. Even if you think the accusation is unfair, you're not going to help your situation with whining, counterattacks or (passive-)aggressive complaints about other people. You're allowed to defend yourself, of course, but please try to explain your view on the situation as calmly, politely, and thoroughly as you can. Otherwise, you may risk making things worse.

This also goes for immediately accusing someone else of something you were just doing yourself. This can very easily end up looking insincere and quite possibly like an attempt at getting back at your accuser. In cases of blatant hypocrisy, you're allowed to point it out, but don't try to pretend that you're now actually offended by something you were just doing yourself.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
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sangi39
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Location: North Yorkshire, UK

General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

Forum Ranks & Banners

Immediately below your username, you will see your rank, and, once you made your first post, also your rank banner. Currently, there are 2 types of ranks:

Default Ranks

These ranks are based on postcount, and update automatically. Below are the ranks and the amount of posts required to get them:
Spoiler:
Unique Ranks


The unique ranks are ranks that are not earned, but offered by the board administration. They are ranks that the normal member cannot obtain or ask for. Currently there are unique ranks for the administrator, moderators, and MVPs.

However, the ranks are not a matter of life and death. A higher rank will not earn you any special prestige here, they exist mostly to spice things up, so don't start posting just for the sake of increasing your post count.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
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sangi39
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Location: North Yorkshire, UK

General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

How Do I Change My Username?

If you want to change your username for whatever reason, PM the admin, Aevas, saying what you'd like your username to be changed to. Please do not do this frivolously though as the admin will not pleased having to change usernames to suit your fancy.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
sangi39
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Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

On Citing Sources

In general, you do not need to cite sources for everything you write on the CBB. This is a fairly informal board; your posts do not need to meet the academic standards of a scientific article.

However, if you happen to have an (online) source that provides additional information on a topic and you can easily link to it, then you are of course free - and even encouraged - to do so. Strongly encouraged in the case of less well-known facts and/or when making a point that you think other people could reasonably ask additional verification for anyway.

Speaking of which, asking another person to cite sources for something they've posted is allowed. Use some common sense here, though: If you don't actually have any real reason to doubt what they're saying, or if you can find a valid source yourself with less than two minutes of googling, then it's probably best not to even bother asking.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
sangi39
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Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

How Do I Edit/Delete/Move/Merge A Post or Thread?
  • You can edit your post at any time by clicking on the <image needs inserting> button in the lower right hand corner of the post. This is useful for fixing any typos or formatting issues.
  • You can delete your post so long as no one has posted after you. This can be done by clicking the <image needs inserting> button in the lower right hand corner of the post. Once a post is deleted it cannot be brought back!
    If someone has posted after you and you still want to delete a post, you will have to ask a moderator to delete it for you.
  • You cannot move or merge posts or threads.
    If you would like a post or thread moved, you will have to ask a moderator to delete it for you.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
sangi39
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Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

General Information & Rules

Post by sangi39 »

Posting Images

You can embed an image hosted elsewhere on the internet into your post by placing its url inside image tags, like so:

Code: Select all

[img]http://www.example.com/image.jpg[/img]
Obviously, basic netiquette applies: If the image 1) contains stuff that's potentially disturbing or NSFW (nudity, violence, graphic depictions of injuries or disease, etc.), 2) is simply too large to comfortably view on mobile devices, or 3) whatever, please hide it inside spoiler tags (or use a normal link rather than the image tags) and place a warning above it. E.g.

Code: Select all

Warning: Image potentially NSFW.

[spoiler][img]http://www.example.com/sexy_exposed_ankle.jpg[/img][/spoiler]
Explicitly pornographic or gory pictures don't really belong on this board at all, though. We hear there are plenty of other websites for those.
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
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Aevas
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Re: General Information & Rules

Post by Aevas »

If you are unable to register or access your account

If you are unable to register a new account or unable to log in to your existing account, you can contact the admin to sort it out by mailing admin at the forum's domain name. If you have an existing account that you cannot access, do not register a new account without attempting to get it back first.
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