Bitcoin Forum

A while ago I asked theymos if we could implement a welcome/introductory message that is shown to all Newbies when they sign up which will include all the info they need to get started. He agreed, so I suggest we brainstorm what that should include. Ideally I think the initial message should be as concise as possible with only the most important rules being listed, but contain further links to more in depth guides and FAQs so they can do their own further research. Throwing too much info at newbies is probably overkill so let's try keep it as short and as sweet as we can.

Here's what I've got so far:

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Welcome to Bitcointalk. Before you start posting please take a short while to read through this guide. Due to anti-spam measures you will have to wait six minutes between your posts (and this includes logging in) so please use this time wisely to familiarise yourself with the rules. Additionally, to bypass some of these limits you can consider buying a Copper Membership here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=credit;promote). A full list of forum rules can be found here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0), but the most important ones are listed below and breaking them will likely lead to an immediate ban:

Do not post referral links.
Do not plagiarise content or copy and paste another user's posts. Any content that is not your own should be properly quoted and a link provided to the original source.
Do not offer to sell anything illegal or such things as hacked/shared accounts.
Do not beg for money whether for personal reasons or a supposed charity.

Before posting in a sub board please take the time to read the sticky/pinned threads at the top of them as answers to the most frequently asked questions can be found there along with other helpful guides, but here are some that may interest you:

A guide for Newbies can be found here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1689727.0).
A guide on how to earn bitcoins and join signature campaigns and bounties can be found here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1629118.0).
A guide on how forum ranks, activity and merit work can be found here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2766177.0).

Please note: Bitcointalk is an English speaking only board and if you struggle with English or aren't fluent then you should stick to your local language sub board which can be found here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php#5).

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I'm up for this being completely re-written or adding more things in depth but I think it should be as short as possible so people actually get the gist of the most important things and can spend additional time reading into the finer details as well. As long as all the info can be found when you sign up then there should be no excuses for breaking the rules or all the same newbie threads asking how do I join a bounty or what is or how do I get merit etc etc.

Please suggest anything you think should be included.

Merit has become such a big issue, that it might be worth including a suggestion that one shouldn't beg for merit.

That info is already included in the merit/rank FAQ but I suppose it could be added, but I'd prefer to keep it to only the most important things. Most new users won't have any idea about what merit even is until they've either read about it in the FAQ/rules or been here a bit and realised they either haven't got or aren't getting any. Then the begging comes in but if they'd've read the guide then they would know not to do this.

"Before starting a new thread, Always use the "Search" feature. On most ocassion you will find plenty of threads on the same subject, But if you find none. You can create a new thread."

I believe a message like this should be mentioned too. Too many members don't use the search feature and create duplicate useless threads.

Nice glad to see something might come out for this.

I don't care if it's my [tips] (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4667594.msg42124427#msg42124427) , but something covering multiposts, and trimmed quotes would be nice.

Also any way to make a one or 2 question quiz to verify they look at the message.. Like write 3rd word in second sentance. It won't prove they read it but if there account is locked until they fill in the answer they will have to open the message.

I suggest, instead of welcome message, a warning message with link to the main rules and the local rules of the section if there are any,  to appear before every post untill the user reaches jr. member.

Often people have no time to read the whole list with rules in the beginning, when they register, that's why it will be better to have a direct access to the link with the rules the first two weeks.

is it possible to put a message informing the official website of this forum is bitcointalk.org. or whatever the message is basically a message that can prevent phishing.

My suggestion:

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Warning: Bitcoin transactions are designed to be permanent. Scams happen, and are not moderated on this forum. Be very careful who you trust.

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Will this be sent to a new account instantly? That's what happens when I open a new Gmail account, I think it sends me even 3 emails at once. And that's not the first thing I'm going to read when I've created a new account.
My suggestion would be to either send it in parts, or send the same message again as a reminder once the user has made a few posts.

READ AND UNDERSTAND THE RULES
Plagiarism offenses will be banned.
Scams are not moderated, trade at your own risk
Paypal is not safe for BTC trades
Read about and understand Merit

Of course, we all know less than 10% of "new" users will read or try to understand the workings of this forum.

Maybe, and that certainly is a problem, but the search function here is shit though. Barely works or brings up what you want half of the time. People also tend to search and then necrobump threads as well with their issue when ideally it might have been better in another or a new thread completely. Damned if they do damned if they don't.


Again, that's in the forum rules. Trying to keep it as short as possible, but that info is there and is their responsibility to make sure they've read them. Multiposting isn't a huge issue either.


Maybe something like this could be a good idea, but theymos would have to implement that. It could even add as another barrier to protect against bots. Maybe there could be a set of random simple questions that they have to answer where the info can either be found in the welcome message or the rules. Could be multiple choice with a drop down menu for example:

How many accounts are you allowed to have here:

One
Two
Ten
About tree fiddy
As many as you like

Are referral links permitted:

Yes
No
Only in certain boards

Maybe we can have one to weed out social justice warriors and special snowflakes:

How many genders are there:

Two
Three (including attack helicopters)
24
There is no such thing as gender as gender is a social construct
I'm offended that you're even asking

;D



I've suggested something like this in the community generated suggestions, and they should be sub board specific. Ie in before posting in Bitcoin Discussion: DONT POST TOPICS ABOUT THE PRICE OF BITCOIN OR YOU WILL DIE BY THE HAND OF SATOSHI, YOU CRYPTOPLEB. THEY BELONG IN SPECULATION. Or something  :D.


Well that's up to theymos but it should either be displayed as soon as they've successfully signed up or linked to it in a sticky somewhere. Would prefer it being shown as they sign up because most won't bother reading it but it could also be sticked and they're just forced to read it. Could also get sent to their email and/or pop up in their messages as well. Plenty of options.

Perhaps since the number one problem on the forum is spam, we should emphasized on what we consider as spam, and how that is one of the top reasons for being nuked or banned. Spam has multiple forms on this forum, but the major shape it takes is probably that of posting low quality posts that are not given some real thought, and that end up being skinny superficial one or two liners.

Again, possibly, but that's all in the other guides and rules etc. Might be too long to explain the intricacies of what is and isn't considered spam or not. Also, it's all well and good saying "no spam or low quality posts" but 80% of the forum should be nuked if that's the case. Bitcoin Discussion is probably 80% generic bullshit one/two liners churned out as fast as they possibly can over their multiple accounts. The bots and account farming going on in there is embarrassing and it's blatant to see for anyone who spends a couple of minutes reading a spam thread in there. Accounts registered with similar usernames posting one after the other in the exact same format are rife and nothing is done about it. The ones who aren't as stupid and more difficulty to spot will dwarf the ones we know about as well.

I have read the OP but maybe i did miss it, if yes then forgive me in advance, but there is one thing i would like to suggest. I think it is a good idea if you include this kind of message to the newbie welcome message


Well, i am not good with the words, but the point is to point them out to the Local Board since not all of us are native english speaker and members might come from any country. Thanks.

::) Maybe actually read what is written first before pointlessly suggesting things?

You might want to consider including the permanent or temporary label for each of the mentioned cases (to eliminate/reduce the possibility of them creating threads for "perma" cases).

[Guide] Bitcointalk account security (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4920096.0) (the other linked guide, covers only a small portion of it).

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I like these (perhaps once a week until they reach a rank of Jr.).

It's already there.

Woops, already responded by hilarious.


I think introducing Jet Cash Fit to Talk is also great. It can be written alongside hilarious post above. Something like this:


Seems like I keep mistyping 'hilarious' name.

Jesus! What did we do to deserve this Damnation!


Agreed! The search function should be replaced by Google search IMO. It performs way better than the default one.

There should be some information about joining bounties. Like "We don't have any problem with people joining the forum only for the sake of bounties but if we come across posts/content that violates any of our rules we may ban such accounts without explanation".

A lot of bounty hunters think bounties are a privilege and it's okay to spam the forum with unsubstantial content.

This should be the opening message for the newly created account lol.  ;D
I think that 80-90% of newly created account are only alt account used for farming bounties.

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Anyway I'd suggest that the opening message should contain links to informative guide as well as rules. And should also include a warning that CRYPTO HAS ALOT OF SCAMMER/HACKER they should protect themselves at all time.

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So true, +1 to the suggestion that it should be replaced by google. Because there are a lot of threads and words now in the database thus the default search system is not working accurately.

I think the OP could do with being paraphrased a bit if we want people to read it.

If we have a bullet point list of the unofficial official rules (pinned to the top of meta), that would be very helpful (especially since, then we can't have people saying "please mods I didn't know there were any rules here").

Like Jet Cash said,
You could put something like "in order to rank up here you need merit and activity, if you beg for merit, you risk your account being unusable and you (personally) being banned from this forum. Activity can only be increased by 14 every 14 days (refreshes every other Tuesday). If you are banned from this forum, your ban is personal and you may not use your account/make another account in the time that you're banned unless it is to appeal your ban in meta."

It is better to be welcome messages "one/section" instead of one long message.
There are many purposes for joining this forum, so it is imperative that those messages appear when the user visits the section for the first time.

The first welcome message should be general, contain essential rules, a link to read that rules, tips to protect your account, and general questions.
The rest of the sections contain messages addressed.

It would be good if someone made an explanatory video.

I guess it would be good with the long text if the join the first time!
Also, it will be good they have to click on a " OK I have Read it"  button so no one can say they haven't read it or known!

The only question that remain here is how we can get an answer from theymos or at least some reaction. I know he likes to troll/surprise people as he stated this a few times before but those are serious things, related to the future of the forum and the well-being of all the members no matter how good or bad they/we are, those a community-related questions and need some clearance.

Warning: Everything is a scam until proven otherwise by YOU..
Proceed at your own risk..

That sounds a bit confusing, perhaps this would be more accurate:

Main discussion boards on Bitcointalk are English-only and if you struggle...


Yes, some variation of the above needs to be there.

The welcome message should also be available as a permanent link somewhere so that we could yell at noobs for not reading helpfully point new users to it in case they missed it.

Well i missed that part, it is my mistake and thanks for pointing it out, but from this incident, i guess there will be a chance that newbie will not read all the newbie welcome message especially if they are only here for making money. Making it shorter or give some colors to the letters like "red" for important point maybe something we can consider, but this is solely my opinion.


The idea of "Making money from this forum is not moderated by the forum" is excellent because if you only stated "Everything....." it will make the forum looks like a place that hosting scammer only.

May I suggest to start with a historical quote? Including the quote-tags, name and date:
The "new" would work again for the new forum software.

Most likely nobody is going to read it if it's too long, like those Terms & Conditions.
In any case i think is better for it to be short and a condensate of the most important things which are needed for a newcomer to survive in here.

Here's what I think about explaining what language can a person use.

First, Bitcointalk main language is "ENGLISH" in most boards.
Second, You can use another language in "LOCAL BOARDS" located HERE.

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About the interval between posts, I won't consider 6 mins though and I think the account might be ban (i hope not).

I think it needs to be emphasised that failure to adhere to the rules in which you mentioned will result in a permanent ban, maybe in a big bold font such as this

 WARNING: FAILURE TO ADHERE TO THE RULES WILL RESULT IN A PERMANENT BAN!

Or if you fancy a little more bold approach...


DO NOT SPAM MOTHERF*CKERS!!!

 :)

to give examples of your advice better like this so it doesn't headache when reading it.

Do not offer any service that is illegal or meant to cheat systems.

The wording can probably be improved.  This would include things such as offering DDOS attacks, offering to bump posts, offering to like posts, etc.
Anything that can be used to bypass a website's reputation or ranking system.

I thing the word Illegal is too wide and maybe need a specific detail and further explanation on the Illegal things. There are different set of laws too based on the country or region, for example weed, in some country it is Illegal and some country ban it. I suggest that there is an official thread to explain it and just put the link in the newbie welcome message.

Yeah, you're probably right. Will change it later.



I'll probably sticky it in bitcoin discussion or something, but ideally I think it should be both sticked and either directly linked to on sign-up or ideally shown as soon as they sign up.


I'm not sure what half of you're even trying to say here, but the bits I think I do seem to have already been addressed or included.


Like you? Did you even read the op?


It is already condense, but again, I don't think you actually even bothered to read what I wrote.


Illegal in your jurisdiction or that of the United States then. We don't need a thread discussing what it and what isn't legal in everyone's possible location.


It really can't get any shorter than it already is and I'm not about to add colours just for the idiots with short attention spans or are in too much of a rush to start spamming. If people don't read it because it's not in red or abbreviated leetspeak then that's their fault. The info is there and they've been suggested to read it and if they don't then they can't cry when you lose your account to your own ignorance.

Agreed.

I'd like to suggest that many noobs who struggle with English might not understand what "plagiarism" means.  I think that line should be dumbed-down to make sure there are no misunderstandings.  The message should make it explicit that you may not copy and paste content from anywhere, whether it's off-site or someone else's post on BCT unless the material is properly cited.  Since we've had such a huge problem with plagiarism and with Meta being jammed with ban appeals because of it, I think the warning should be crystal clear.

LOL.  It did say that.  Forgive me, I just woke up and have not yet drunk coffee. 

Doesn't it already do this? Besides, there's already 'copy and paste' in there as well. I'm not going to dumb things down any more than they need to be and it's not my problem if somebody doesn't understand something. Will we then accept the excuse that "I didn't understand the rules" or "too many big words - no comprende". As many people already say, people should know it's never ok to copy someone else's content regardless of whether they know what plagiarism means or not, but the info is there.  This is all about giving the info to people as soon as they sign up so there's no excuses for not being aware but not understanding the rules because of terminology isn't going to be an excuse that flies. If you don't speak English or understand a word then translate it or read the rules of your local board which this will likely be translated to and stickied there also (translations could also be linked to in the op). If they don't understand something then they should either google it or ask somebody else like anyone with a brain cell would do.

wow! this is interesting, spamming and posting unconstructed post will reduce drastically with the help of this guide lines but it should be made compulsory to read because 90% will skip it without going through the welcome notice. Thanks

OP, that's a good list you have there, will be good for now, IMHO.

My suggestion would be to add something that would catch the eye of the reader (some flashy text, red text, increased font size etc.) to avoid having this list ignored in the same way people normally look over the TOS of any software application.

Just my 2 cents  :)

How about just an image:

https://i.imgflip.com/2g9qvv.jpg

And/or perhaps it should also be sound-tracked by some obnoxiously loud filthy dubstep as well that autoplays as soon as you successfully sign up to really get their attention? Perhaps we could create a dubstep track with the hook or lyrics of the song just being "READ THE RULES" over and over? 50 Merit to anyone who creates this.

Alternatively, an image of a half-naked woman could be displayed, and if you look closely READ THE RULES could be edited across her boobs? I'm sure that would get their attention. 10 merits for this.

Seriously, we don't need to have everything in caps and bright colours to get their attention. If they don't read it then that's their problem. People generally don't read terms and conditions because they're often overly long and in undecipherable legal spiel. This is short and sweet for those exact same reasons. Before they even sign up or as soon as they successfully create an account here a warning to read the rules could be displayed, but there's really no excuses for not reading it other than your own foolishness

The offer of 50 merit for the dubstep track with the hook still stands and 10 for the boobs (make sure she's not actually naked or topless though and don't put it in image tags. Also mark it as NSFW).

Wait! is bitcointalk NSFW?


I could have hired someone to do this but I don't trust you anymore, I still haven't received my 7 sMerits.  ::)

If you put a naked/half-naked or even boobs to make people read the rules no one will ever read them, most of them gonna be bashing the candle and after that no one will remember to read the rules..
Better use some scary shit that can shake them really hard and BOO! READ THE F.king RULES can appear.
I bet they gonna remember it quite for long...


I know :)

I know you're a funny guy and I understand your points but if you really care about this, you need to come up with something that will make people read it   ;)

As I've seen here, a lot of people only read the title of a thread and not even bother reading the whole post. Do you really think they will bother with some message after they register?  ::)

Be careful tossing around large merit amounts, someone may indeed take you up on this offer or even worse, accuse you of sending them to your alts and abusing the merit system ;D

Half-naked, but not topless? Isn't that the wrong half if you want people to pay attention to the boobs? ;D

It's a joke.


All I care about is the info being there. I don't actually care whether they read it or not as they'll be banned, but that will then be their own fault. Would we accept the excuse, well I did read the rules but it wasn't in red so I didn't take notice. No. We're not here to babysit idiots or let them off on technicalities for those that don't read. The rules should be displayed and they have the option to read them or not. Anything else is irrelevant and I don't care about any excuses or what ifs.


Cleavage is all you need. Men are simple creatures.

Cleavage doesn't mean much if it's the bottom half that's naked. ;)

I think I can solve this very hard puzzle. Bottom half is naked but only the top half is in the picture.

Lmfao!!! if posts like these popping up, I will go Merit-rupt soon!!!


I now know why you missed my post :'(

Just saw this post below. Maybe theymos can hire this woman to do an introduction video:


Or alia.  :D

Include this link on how to post and the basics of this forum: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=help

A lot of people don't notice it, it has a lot of useful info in it.

I think she will definitely "spark" some interest for people to read the rules now :D

Going back to the problem at hand, I'm curious on what will the final page look like and whether theymos will implement it or not.  ;D

Not only it will make newbies read or watch the welcome message, i bet it will make more traffic to this site, and I could say this is the best idea in this thread ever, thanks for your hard work hillariousandco, lol. To increase the effectiveness, she can make an interactive service called "BitcoinTalk 101" that teach newbies on how to be a good members in this forum.


This is Theymos' comment on newbie welcome message idea

I think this might be the solution to all of our problems on Bitcointalk. Theymos did suggest he's looking to offload more responsibilities on to others. Seems like she has the perfect resume :D

I'm really getting curious who the hell is this alia?
Is she some kinda talent of some dildo commercials? :D

The long story short.
It was a short romance (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2965530.msg30459490#msg30459490) between alia (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1764044) and nullius (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=976210) a few months ago. She was selling private online sessions for crypto but at the end it turned out that alia is actually alt account of the scammer favours (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=974658) and nullius was quite disappointed, I guess that's why he left took a brake off the forum.
The story was quite entertaining and much more complex but hope this is enough for you info.

You can use https://fakeproof.xenot.pro/# to create this (http://i63.tinypic.com/16achtt.jpg) (NSFW if you have very sensitive colleagues).
But as much as I like it, it will give the wrong idea about this forum :P

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Alia started like this: Bored, horny and naked... (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2837149.0)
And ended like this:

And now, I'm kinda like saying "WoW!", so that's why nullius has been gone for ages, being heartbroken to a certain scammer  :'( .
I'm far too late about this, as I've seen it, this happened last february and it's already been 5 mos I think. OMG! :D

Oh well, Thanks for the info mate.

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As for the OP, kindly excuse me for bringing this up :) I just want to know who the hell that "alia" was  :P

I was (still am) a newbie to the forum when I tried to search for certain topics and was so frustrated with the piss-poor results to the search function. The obvious search graphic with the magnifying glass icon and text box is so prominent and universally recognizable, while the hidden gem of a search feature is... well... hidden among the other tabs... I finally found a topic thread that directed me to that Google based search.

That distinction on its own would be a very helpful tip to newbies IMO. (It would have saved me a lot of time and frustration had I known).

Women with tattoos are defaced, IMO.  Why would you want to scribble all over something that's inherently beautiful?  This current TREND of women getting god-awful tattoos is beyond my comprehension, but I guarantee you these women are going to be regretting their decision to get them in about 10-15 years. 

Tattoos on women are skanky.  Already women are getting ridiculed for "tramp stamps" and "skank flank" tattoos.  History is not going to look on this kindly--guaranteed.  It's a little off topic, but I think it needs to be said.

IKR... Make a suggestion in the "community suggestions (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4893744.120)" thread. I believe it hasn't been requested yet. Also, here is a small tip for searching "better"

Use this code in Google. Should get you better results than the default one.

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@The Pharmacist

Can't agree with you more! 

Is this subtle enough? (Not topless)

[NSFW] https://imgur.com/a/HyOxnzh [NSFW]