Chit Chat & Polls Rules - including Poll of the Month Guidelines

Follow the Pokécommunity Rules.

Be especially careful to use the Search Function before making your poll, to make sure there isn't a thread with the same topic that's been active within the last 30 days.

Do your polls belong here?

CCP is only for polls that have no other home.

• Polls about Pokémon? Go to one of the many forums in Current Generation Pokémon Gaming (for all DS Pokémon games), General Pokémon Gaming Discussions (for general game mechanics and older games), and Alternative Pokémon Discussions (for Pokémon General, Pokémon Voting Polls, the manga, the anime, or the TCG), depending on your poll.
• Polls about books, TV, music, actors, celebrities and any other lovely cultural polls? Polls about anime, manga, or anything else Japanese? Go to General Entertainment.
  Polls about anything video games? Go to Video Games.
• Polls about computers, cell phones, mp3 players, or anything else involving technology? Go to Technology and the Internet .

Serious topics and debates go to Discussions & Debates.

About Quizzes and Surveys

Quizzes aren't allowed in CCP.

Surveys are also not allowed in CCP. For the interest of this rule, a survey is like a general About You thread or a twenty questions thread. Having a list of questions related to the same topic (see Question Threads in the next post for a better explanation) or a survey for school is allowed.

Poll Guidelines

Some rules to keep in mind when you're making a poll.

DO NOT POST:

• Anything easily accessible on your profile. This includes your age, gender, location, join date, post count, etc.
• Simple polls that require just a number as an answer. ("How many pairs of shoes do you own?") If there's worthwhile explanation behind that number, though, it's OK to post. (For example, "How many schools have you attended?", you can discuss all of your schools. As long as that's happening, it won't get closed.)
• Anything involving bodily functions. ("How many times do you fart in a day?" "What color are your toenails?") Quite frankly, it's too much information.
• Polls about specific members. ("Do you like sammi-san?") Also try to avoid polls that'd pick or choose a set amount of members. ("Your ten best friends from PC!") This doesn't mean you can't make threads about members at all, it's OK just as long as it's not hitting one of the above rules. ("Your role models on PC?" is just fine, as it allows for as many people as you like, and in general is a positive thread.) We don't want people's feelings to get hurt, so polls involving members should be as inclusive and positive as possible.

TRY TO REMEMBER:

• Expand your poll options as much as possible. "X or Y" polls usually can be tweaked a bit to allow for more possible answers. That way, there's more options for people to work with. ("Red or Blue?" into "Favorite Color?") Also, "Do you like X?" polls can usually be tweaked as well, especially if it just requires a simple yes or no answer. ("Do you like soda?" into "Favorite Drink?")
  Some threads might be fine as you imagine them, though; it all depends on what you're asking, so use your best judgment or ask me if you're unsure. (For example, "Do you like your country?" calls for much deeper discussion than "Do you like soda?" and doesn't need changing at all.)
• Include as many people as possible. Don't post a poll geared towards one geographic group (people from just one country, one state, one city), one gender, one set of members on PC (staff only or supporters only), ect. If it excludes too many people, it will be locked.
• In general, it's better to post polls that give thoughtful, multiple-sentence answers as opposed to something that elicits only a sentence at most. OVP can get spammy fast if polls get out of hand. If you can answer your thread in just one sentence or without any explanation at all, think about ways to improve it before posting.

Questions? Comments?

Send Shining Raichu or Dakota a PM! We'll answer as soon as we can.

Thank you for reading the rules! You are now officially awesome. :D<3



Special Thanks
To all the OVP mods that have ever edited or contributed the rules ever: The Fallen, Mr. Cat Dog, Chairman Kaga, Signomi probably did at one point, Patchisou Yutohru, and especially to Ausaudriel for providing the last draft, as well as sammi-san. Where would our rules be without you guys?

blah blah blah blah blah my turn >:)

Patchisou Yutohru, a previous CCP mod (then OVP), wrote a handy guide about the kinds of polls found in CCP, and quite frankly, I'd still like to keep it around.

Here is the post in its entirety. Enjoy!

Permitted Other Voting Poll Thread Types

​

There's a lot of confusion between that "mysterious gray area" between D&D and CCP - where the "lost socks and peanut-butter sandwiches" always seem to end up. To help reduce the amount of confusion, I thought it would be a good idea to bring over this post from Other Entertainment so you guys know what types of threads belong here and which threads belong over in Other Chat. So, below is a list of permitted thread types in CCP. If the thread you are looking to post belongs in Off-Topic Discussions, but does not fall into one of these categories, such as chat threads, discussion threads, debate threads, etc., please post them in Other Chat. Of course, if you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask.​

Question Threads

Question threads are obviously regarding questions. This goes without say. Typically, in Other Voting Polls, question threads are usually based on a specific topic with a various list regarding that topic. For example, if the main topic was school subjects, the poster may ask if you like school, what type of school you go to, your classes, your teachers, what time you get out of school, what time you start, etc. These are the main types of threads that are encouraged in Other Voting Polls. They're similar to Opinionated Threads, but offer more than just one simple question and your answer to it since they offer more than one question.​

Official Threads

This one is short, simple, and to the point. Anything that's pinned to the top of the forum, divided by the sticky divider, are official threads. These generally refer to informative threads, such as this. In Other Voting Polls, whether Poll of the Week is offered at the time, there may or may not be an "official" poll for Other Voting Polls for a week, or sometimes more. But apart from that, usually the only threads that are posted here are threads that deal with OVP directly.​

Poll Threads

This one is rather obvious, hints the name of the forum. Poll threads offer discussion based on a limited option of choices and a specific topic at hand. I don't think it needs much explanation.​

Conditional Threads

These types of threads are usually hypothetical situations the original poster puts all the readers and repliers in. They set up a scenario for you with conditions of replying and then you reply with whatever the final question is. It's very much like question threads, other than the spark of other questions that come out of it are gone. These are more of the creative, brain scratching threads that require actual thinking. Unfortunately, while these are usually the more interesting types of threads in OVP, these are also the more inactive threads.​

Opinionated Threads

These are what I call "Post and Go" threads. These should be considered poll threads... without the poll due to a wide variety of options available to choose. These threads include threads based on what your favorite of something is. An example of this type of thread would include threads asking what your favorite of something is, such as "What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" or "What type of architecture is your favorite and why?"​

Click to expand...

Poll of the Week Rules & Procedures

What Is Poll of the Month?

In short: we pick out a thread here in CCP to be, well, the Poll of the Month. Generally it's chosen for being a higher quality poll than the rest made in that time frame. It's a thread that sticks out from the crowd, one that'll make you think more than usual, or maybe it's just one that's more enjoyable to post in than others.

The idea of PotM is to reward high-quality polls, and we will do so by sticking your thread for the next month. There is also shiny emblem to be won! Everybody loves emblems. If they know what's good for them, anyway.

So, if you ever dreamed about having a sticky thread and/or having another emblem in your collection, this is the contest for you!

The Procedure

Threads made throughout the month in question are all eligible. Ie a poll made in June is eligible for the June PotM.

- The two CCP moderators will choose 8 threads for nominations and will be posted by the first day of the next month
- A poll will be posted, where members will pick which thread is best-suited for Poll of the Month.
- The poll will close one week from when it was opened, and the new Poll of the Month will be stickied!

Procedure is subject to change. :p

The Rules

• All threads made within the time frame will be automatically considered for PotM.
• There is no poll limit. Make threads to your heart's content!
• While there is no poll limit, only one thread made by a person can be a candidate.
• You cannot win PotM two months in a row. Any threads made in the voting period after your PotM will not be considered, but any made the period after that will be added again.
• Please don't vote for your own polls if one of yours is nominated. That's just tacky.
• Since the mods are nominating the weekly polls, any threads we make are automatically ineligible.
• If two threads or more threads are tied for Poll of the Week, the moderators will break the tie.
• IMPORTANT: Everyone must cast two votes during the voting period. If you vote for one or for three or more polls, any votes made by you will be null and void
• Rules may be added or edited if need be; one of the mods will inform you in the next voting post if any of the rules have been changed.

Previous Poll of the Month Winners:

Here is a directory to the previous PotM winners. Please be aware that these threads are all over month old, so please do not post in them. This is for viewing purposes, only.

• June 2013: What is the one quote you live by, if any? by Curious.
• July 2013: If you were were a mod... by AWsquared
• August 2013: Would You Date a Trans Person? by Psycho Yuffie

As always, feel free to send one of us a PM with any questions. Thanks for your time!

- Shining Raichu, & Dakota