Suggestion: A way to make people actually read the Rules and/or FAQ

[Sydian]

Someone could easily open another tab and do something else or get up from the computer to do something else while the time goes by.

 

[Kura]

I once joined a forum where hidden within the rules there was a secret answer to a question at signup. It was something like "What's (the forum's name)'s favourite cookies? (read the rules to find the answer.)"

And in the rules like there was a line or so of text where it was all "During signup, there is a question called (^^^ that one) and to sign up the answer is "better slogan" (or whatever it was for that site.)"

IMO it made sure I did read the rules even if I only skimmed them to speed up the registration process LOL.. >_>

Anyways I am sure we can make more basic-condensed rules for it, and then direct them later to read the rules more in depth regarding signatures.. add like a *I hereby agree to read the rules in further depth once my username is registered.


Something like that, I don't know..




Another suggestion is also to have an emblem for reading the rules, maybe? Like they can PM a staff member some secret words written somewhere in the rules (like a line of text 3/4 near the bottom) and they're awarded an emblem for it?

 

[Chikara]

While I've always thought that kind of thing was a good idea, it's easy enough to cheat the system. If someone wasn't going to read the rules to being with, they're still not going to read them just because they have to have the rules thread open for whatever amount of time.

It tracks the fact that the page is open, not that the page is actually the tab/window being looked at.

 

[Logiedan]

I once joined a forum where hidden within the rules there was a secret answer to a question at signup. It was something like "What's (the forum's name)'s favourite cookies? (read the rules to find the answer.)"

And in the rules like there was a line or so of text where it was all "During signup, there is a question called (^^^ that one) and to sign up the answer is "better slogan" (or whatever it was for that site.)"

Another suggestion is also to have an emblem for reading the rules, maybe? Like they can PM a staff member some secret words written somewhere in the rules (like a line of text 3/4 near the bottom) and they're awarded an emblem for it?

I've seen this around other forums as well, but instead of a question it would be a line or word. Someone would have to include the word/line in their introductory post so that they are confirmed that they had read the rules. Although people might catch on and bypass this by "ctrl + F" or some other way, but this made me read the rules.

I'm not too keen on the emblem idea.. >:

 

[Kura]

I've seen this around other forums as well, but instead of a question it would be a line or word. Someone would have to include the word/line in their introductory post so that they are confirmed that they had read the rules. Although people might catch on and bypass this by "ctrl + F" or some other way, but this made me read the rules.

I'm not too keen on the emblem idea.. >:

That's why if it was part of registration it'd be a better idea.

Yeah I know what you mean by the emblem thing and it being hard to handle TBH.. but either way I thought it'd be something that was an incentive to read the rules, ya know?
It'd get hectic but if people were PMed it, then it won't be seen around the forums, right?

They can't bypass the ctrl + F if you write something wittier like "the word you are looking for is _____ to the third question at registration" and obviously those words would be scattered also in the rules.. then at least it could be skimmed.


Other than that, like I said.. condensed rules would help; for example:

1) No pornography/ NSFW content
2) No swearing/ flaming/ censor bypassing (use child-friendly behaviour)
3) Post relevant topics in the appropriate section/ thread (if you are not sure PM a moderator)
4) Posts have a 4 word rule, and signatures have limits, too (see here)
5) Read each section's rules before posting!

Have fun, be friendly, and enjoy the community; and remember, breaking the above rules will have consequences.

Have another question? Post and read any more FAQs "here" and PM staff (link to forum leaders) for any other concerns. Don't forget to read the full rules and check out our announcements section!



Pretty short. People hate tldrs nowadays but at least they know the basics instead of saying "screw this" and just pressing join.

 

[Kikyochanx]

I joined another Pokemon website (not at all like PC, mind you) and you had to go through a whole entire quiz on the forum rules, site rules, and etc. The questions basically asked were like,"How big can a user's signature be?","What is one thing we disallow on [board name here]?", etc, etc..

It was basically MAKING you have to read the rules, and to answer questions about them. I know it'd be too much and time consuming, but if they don't pass the first time then they have to do it again (or so that was the case on that site)

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

I've seen other forums where they have a hidden link on the rules page during sign up and if you clicked on I agree to follow the rules it would tell you go read them again since they hidden a message in there to tell you where the hidden link was that took you to the next step of the registration.

 

[moments.]

I honestly think reading the rules is a matter of interest to the user them self, rather than to the community. If they don't read the rules, they are going to get infracted, or banned. If they are willing to take the risk, that is completely up to them. All it really does is cause a bit of annoyance for moderators to lock / move threads, or maybe annoying for certain members.

Things more serious like posting pornography or the like, if they are honestly going to have the intention to post those things in the first place, I doubt reading that it is against the rules will stop them.

Yes it would be idyllic if every member read the rules and followed them, but honestly, even with a system like this, you cannot, by any measure, guarantee that all members will follow all the rules.

 

[Nick]

It isn't a big deal to me if someone read the rules or not. I mean, I reeeeeaaally don't care if someone read the rules or not. It's ultimately up to them whether they want to read them, and being forced to read something isn't much of an incentive to read anything. I'm sure most forum-goers don't really need to go read the rules anyway, considering the fact that most of our rules are found on other forums in one way or another, they're kind of second nature to follow and you do it without thinking about it. In fact, I didn't actually read the rules until a few months after I was active.

How many people actually bother to read the terms of service when they register somewhere or buy something online from a store? I know I don't. If I'm required to scroll to the bottom before submitting the forum, I'll scroll to the bottom without even glancing at the text in it and waiting for the submit button to light up so I can go ahead and finish something. I think the same thing would happen here.

I'm not shooting the idea down. I do like the idea because it would weed out a lot of bots. But for the purpose of rule-breakers, I just don't really care. They'll get an infraction and give the staff more to do. When you're staff and don't have that much to do, those moments can be very exciting sometimes! In a I'm so bored here I have nothing to do omg kind of way.