Writing a welcome message

[RodeoX]

I like it. It is some kind of starting point for a new user willing to read a little.   

[xtraelv]

I don't think Plagiarism is something that needs to be pointed out as being something you can't do. First of all, this is something that people should know they shouldn't do, for a number of reasons, and I believe most people who do this know it is wrong, but do it anyway.

Well it shouldn't have to be but it really does need to be pointed out that this isn't acceptable and you can see that from the number of threads from people in Meta asking why they were banned and if they can get a second chance, so people should be made aware of the rules and the punishments for doing this so there's no excuses then.

Also, I don't think it is as big of a problem in terms in the number of people getting into trouble doing this. Sure there are very many instances of this happening, however I suspect this is done by a fairly small number of people with a very large number of sockpuppet accounts, and I suspect this is often done via some kind of automation/AI.

The only change that has been made is that they now require one merit or purchase a Copper Membership but when some of the worst offenders are making tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars from abusing bounties and campaigns they'll just purchase the merit or rank to bypass this. Merits can then easily and quickly be distributed between their alts and that's why I think we should require much more merit before you can start earning here, or at least make them buy a much more expensive Silver or Gold rank.

Are the abusers buying the Copper memberships and getting banned? Most of the new Copper memberships I have seen appear to be bounty managers.

You'd have more of an idea about that than me - being able to see how many coppers get banned - I'm asking out of curiosity.

[suchmoon]

Are the abusers buying the Copper memberships and getting banned? Most of the new Copper memberships I have seen appear to be bounty managers.

You'd have more of an idea about that than me - being able to see how many coppers get banned - I'm asking out of curiosity.

I don't know the numbers but I have reported plenty of Copper copy-pasters and they did get banned, e.g:

https://bpip.org/profilearchive.aspx?p=ibiznes

Try it, it's very therapeutic in a schadenfreude kind of way.

[Lafu]

schadenfreude

Didn't know you know german! Haha  nice yeah   

[TheBeardedBaby]

I still think that something like :

READ THE FU*KING STICKIES IN EACH SECTION![/b][/color]

should be enough as a welcome message.

[BitCoinDream]

As a member of the forum, you are surrounded by legends; phenomenal successes and catastrophic failures. The forum was created by Satoshi Nakamoto and saw the first exchange, the first altcoin, and the first ICO, but also catastrophic software flaws, massive thefts, and incredible scams. You too have an opportunity to become part of the forum's history: whether and in what way you do so is up to you.

Translated this message to Bengali and added in the OP of our thread - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=631891.0.

[xhomerx10]

I still think that something like :

READ THE FU*KING STICKIES IN EACH SECTION![/b][/color]

should be enough as a welcome message.

 I think they should also be referred to as pinned topics.  ESL members might not comprehend "stickies".

[Quickseller]

I don't think Plagiarism is something that needs to be pointed out as being something you can't do. First of all, this is something that people should know they shouldn't do, for a number of reasons, and I believe most people who do this know it is wrong, but do it anyway.

Well it shouldn't have to be but it really does need to be pointed out that this isn't acceptable and you can see that from the number of threads from people in Meta asking why they were banned and if they can get a second chance, so people should be made aware of the rules and the punishments for doing this so there's no excuses then.

I actually think there are a fairly small number of threads in meta disputing bans (due to plagiarism), especially when compared to when BadBear was banning people for 'low effort posts + paid signature' wholesale. I also have noticed that many of these threads are asking why they have been banned, and often someone will post evidence they were copy/past spamming, and I also note that I understand the ban message is something along the lines of "sorry hilariousetc you have been banned by a forum moderator" when they are permmabanned, and does not have a specific reason, so it is possibly these people don't know they were caught plagiarizing.

Also, I don't think it is as big of a problem in terms in the number of people getting into trouble doing this. Sure there are very many instances of this happening, however I suspect this is done by a fairly small number of people with a very large number of sockpuppet accounts, and I suspect this is often done via some kind of automation/AI.

Sadly I think you're very wrong. Copy and pasting and plagiarism is a huge problem and I'd say this sort of abuse is actually becoming endemic and almost commonplace now. Probably 50+ users a day are being banned for it and many multiples more will be getting away with it.

I don't dispute this is a problem in the forum, I am totally in agreement this is a major issue that needs to be addressed. I have previously advocated the administration scrub posts for copy/paste posts posted, and to scrub posts of a plagiarism database.

I do not dispute that 50+ accounts are banned for this every day, however this is accounts and not necessarily people. We certainly do not see 50+ threads of people questioning why they are banned, substantially lower than that. Also, refer back to when BadBear was banning sig spammers wholesale, there were periods of time when there were many threads opened every day by people banned. This is also a fairly new problem, and it went from absolutely not a problem to being an epidemic almost overnight.

I have also noticed that many people caught copy/past spamming are low rank accounts, which means people are not earning very much from these copy/paste spamming. Many accounts have been caught copy/paste spamming as newbies, which previously could earn very little from paid signatures.

I suspect that many of the copy/paste spammers are probably people we don't really want here regardless of their copy/past spamming. I suspect they are either bump spammers, are engaging in some kind of 'black hat' SEO (either positive, or negative -- I am not sure), or are otherwise trying to create a false sense of interest in projects.  

[hilariousetc]

I actually think there are a fairly small number of threads in meta disputing bans (due to plagiarism), especially when compared to when BadBear was banning people for 'low effort posts + paid signature' wholesale. I also have noticed that many of these threads are asking why they have been banned, and often someone will post evidence they were copy/past spamming, and I also note that I understand the ban message is something along the lines of "sorry hilariousetc you have been banned by a forum moderator" when they are permmabanned, and does not have a specific reason, so it is possibly these people don't know they were caught plagiarizing.

Probably 99% of people who are banned for copy and pasting won't create a thread in Meta about it. They'll either know what they were banned for and the rest just do it as a last ditch effort to try rescue their account from certain death (or they are genuinely oblivious to why they were banned (apparently a lot of people think copy and pasting is ok)).

I think a lot more people will probably just email the address provided and hope for the best, but I'm not even sure if it's being monitored at all (they're certainly aren't getting responded to) so they just languish in uncertainty. The message should probably be removed or edited, or someone should be assigned to monitor and reply to applicable mails. At the very least you could probably attach a message giving the most common reasons for bans so people can work it out. If nobody is ever going to monitor that email then it should just be removed completely.

I do not dispute that 50+ accounts are banned for this every day, however this is accounts and not necessarily people.

True, but also there are almost certainly many more people not being banned who are getting away with it. It's just the tip of the shitberg that we're seeing and sadly even those with numerous accounts getting banned will still likely be evading on the rest we missed as we are unlikely to get them all every time.

We certainly do not see 50+ threads of people questioning why they are banned, substantially lower than that.

Again, most will probably just follow the apparent 'procedure' and use the email provided. Meta will be a last ditch effort for them.

I have also noticed that many people caught copy/past spamming are low rank accounts, which means people are not earning very much from these copy/paste spamming. Many accounts have been caught copy/paste spamming as newbies, which previously could earn very little from paid signatures.

They earn little as a single unit, but when you've got hundreds of accounts claiming them the money soon starts to rack up. There have been some cases where farmers have had tens of thousands of dollars worth of tokens sent to an address, so there is a heck of a lot of money to be made from shitposting, especially in volume. When you've got ICO campaigns paying people for one liners or drivel or just copy and pasting this becomes very lucrative and also very easy money. Fire up a bot over hundreds of accounts and watch the money come in. You might have a dozen or even half banned but that's just an occupational hazard to a farmer these days.

I suspect that many of the copy/paste spammers are probably people we don't really want here regardless of their copy/past spamming. I suspect they are either bump spammers, are engaging in some kind of 'black hat' SEO (either positive, or negative -- I am not sure), or are otherwise trying to create a false sense of interest in projects.  

They're all people we don't want here in one way or another. If you come here just to post one liners to get paid or copy and paste then there's no reason they should be here. That's why the forum is in such a state. Probably 90% of these users who sign up here do so just because they've heard you can get paid good money here for doing very little. When you know little to nothing about bitcoin and can't speak English very well then this is just a recipe for disaster.

[sncc]

Common rule violations

These are the most common rule violations that newbies make. There are other rules than these.

• Plagiarism: If you copy some text from somewhere, then you should have a good reason for it, and you must link to the source. Doing otherwise is plagiarism. Changing a few words around doesn't matter. If we find that you plagiarized, then you absolutely will be permanently banned, even if we find it years after you did it.
• Multi-posting: Do not post twice in a row in a topic. Instead, edit your old post.
• Low-content posts: Do not post low-content garbage like "agreed!", "nice project!", etc. You can be banned for this, and it's also pointless if you want to increase your rank, since you will never get merit for such posts.

Friendly bump for visibility.  Many accounts post ban appeal in Meta and they often turn out to be banned by plagiarism and/or duplicating posts.  It would be good to emphasize in the welcome message that they are prohibited.

[manfredmann]

If this will be implemented then I hope to see a video about the forum on ranking mechanism, Merit system and how to rank up. This will encourage to avoid low quality post regarding on spamming for usually after registering one may consider on ranking up. So low quality post will be avoided and quality and constructive post will be likely to happen. Aside from that it could be better also to show copy and pasting post that will result to banning then introduce forum rules as reference fir more details on forum rules to be shown and should be part in the video.  Most are preferred with a video to learn and this one of the best way to welcome newbie.

I have seen this video in youtube and this is very informative regarding on bitcointalk forum https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ay4UL3sWtY

This is only a suggestion and please do take it seriously.

[cryptovigi]

Common rule violations

These are the most common rule violations that newbies make. There are other rules than these.

• Plagiarism: If you copy some text from somewhere, then you should have a good reason for it, and you must link to the source. Doing otherwise is plagiarism. Changing a few words around doesn't matter. If we find that you plagiarized, then you absolutely will be permanently banned, even if we find it years after you did it.
• Multi-posting: Do not post twice in a row in a topic. Instead, edit your old post.
• Low-content posts: Do not post low-content garbage like "agreed!", "nice project!", etc. You can be banned for this, and it's also pointless if you want to increase your rank, since you will never get merit for such posts.

Fully agreed with @sncc and other users - every week we have tens new "Why I got banned?" threads in Meta board... In my opinion the most important information for new users is what is strictly prohibited and results in being banned so this section should be moved up over the Forum rank one I would also suggest using red color this one time. As it was said many times most of people spend not more than 10 - 20 seconds reading such messages, so lets be sure that at least this one message will reach them.

[xtraelv]

Common rule violations

These are the most common rule violations that newbies make. There are other rules than these.

• Plagiarism: If you copy some text from somewhere, then you should have a good reason for it, and you must link to the source. Doing otherwise is plagiarism. Changing a few words around doesn't matter. If we find that you plagiarized, then you absolutely will be permanently banned, even if we find it years after you did it.
• Multi-posting: Do not post twice in a row in a topic. Instead, edit your old post.
• Low-content posts: Do not post low-content garbage like "agreed!", "nice project!", etc. You can be banned for this, and it's also pointless if you want to increase your rank, since you will never get merit for such posts.

Fully agreed with @sncc and other users - every week we have tens new "Why I got banned?" threads in Meta board... In my opinion the most important information for new users is what is strictly prohibited and results in being banned so this section should be moved up over the Forum rank one I would also suggest using red color this one time. As it was said many times most of people spend not more than 10 - 20 seconds reading such messages, so lets be sure that at least this one message will reach them.

I think with any deletion it would be really good to include the reason for the deletion. It could be as simple as including the text of the initial report or a tickbox system so it is clear why the person is banned or post was deleted. It will prevent recurrence of rule breaking by those that don't intent to break the rules.

Link to rules.

Permaban:
☐ Plagiarism / copy and paste without attribution
☐ Persistent Spam
☐ Ban evasion
☐ Exploiting forum code
☐ Banned multiple times previously - ignored warnings
☐ Other - comment ..............

Deletion / Short term ban
☐ Advertising / Spam not related to thread
☐ Off topic
☑ Low quality post
☐ Too many bumps, "updates" per 24 hours
☐ Trolling   
☐ Threatening behavior
☐ Begging
☐ Un-deleted old bump
☐ Referral link
☐ Link to illegal site
☐ NSFW images / No NSFW warning
☐ Duplicate posts
☐ Foreign language on English board
☐ Altcoin giveaway (not in bounty thread)
☐ Incorrect message board
☐ Multiple sales threads for same items
☐ Sale of illegal goods
☐ Consecutive posts in the same thread (by same account or alt accounts)
☐ Link shortner that requires viewing of advertisement
☐ Translation created by automated translation tool
☐ Other - comment ..............

[Steamtyme]

Just thought I'd bump this and see if there's been any progress on the welcome message. Started out solid with some good suggestions so I figured it was probably pretty close to being launched.

[dkbit98]

I would like to see this introduced in Bitcointalk forum.

Quiz/test knowledge messages can be used for:

- Registration  (to prevent bot/spam users asking them to read forum rules and basic Bitcoin faq, and then answer them)
- for Ranking Up  (extra way to rank up with answering quiz/test of knowledge)
- preventing users break forum rules (by educating them with quiz/test and rewarding with merit if they pass)

It can be useful for:

- educating users
- preventing spam/bots
- improving merit and ranking system
- improving Bitcointalk forum

[Rizzrack]

I would like to see this introduced in Bitcointalk forum.

Quiz/test knowledge messages can be used for:

- Registration  (to prevent bot/spam users asking them to read forum rules and basic Bitcoin faq, and then answer them)
- for Ranking Up  (extra way to rank up with answering quiz/test of knowledge)
- preventing users break forum rules (by educating them with quiz/test and rewarding with merit if they pass)

It can be useful for:

- educating users
- preventing spam/bots
- improving merit and ranking system
- improving Bitcointalk forum

This thought also passed my mind a while back tbh. It might help, tho I would assume it would only lead to a new service on the forum "pass quiz for you ! only $2 in BTC. GUARANTEED !!!" of "sell account with all quizzes passed with 10/10 " or "rank booster: will pass account rank quiz".
Tho your intentions are definitely honorable, might not have the full desired outcome.
Still up for debate tho

[Pmalek]

Quiz/test knowledge messages can be used for:

- Registration  (to prevent bot/spam users asking them to read forum rules and basic Bitcoin faq, and then answer them)

We have users on this forum who don't speak a word of English and we will probably have more in the future. With such an implementation you would be limiting Bitcointalk to only those who can understand English well enough to pass the test. 

[dkbit98]

Quiz/test knowledge messages can be used for:

- Registration  (to prevent bot/spam users asking them to read forum rules and basic Bitcoin faq, and then answer them)

We have users on this forum who don't speak a word of English and we will probably have more in the future. With such an implementation you would be limiting Bitcointalk to only those who can understand English well enough to pass the test.  

Google and other automatic translations works wonders nowadays.
And we (machine) would ask simple to understand/translate questions.
I also proposed in other topic to put more focus on growing other language sections Local boards.

I would like to see this introduced in Bitcointalk forum.

Quiz/test knowledge messages can be used for:

- Registration  (to prevent bot/spam users asking them to read forum rules and basic Bitcoin faq, and then answer them)
- for Ranking Up  (extra way to rank up with answering quiz/test of knowledge)
- preventing users break forum rules (by educating them with quiz/test and rewarding with merit if they pass)

It can be useful for:

- educating users
- preventing spam/bots
- improving merit and ranking system
- improving Bitcointalk forum

This thought also passed my mind a while back tbh. It might help, tho I would assume it would only lead to a new service on the forum "pass quiz for you ! only $2 in BTC. GUARANTEED !!!" of "sell account with all quizzes passed with 10/10 " or "rank booster: will pass account rank quiz".
Tho your intentions are definitely honorable, might not have the full desired outcome.
Still up for debate tho

Probably true... BUT we could add rule that restrict that service and ban users for cheating

[o_e_l_e_o]

Probably true... BUT we could add rule that restrict that service and ban users for cheating

That would be impossible to enforce. There's no way to tell if someone else is logging in to an account to complete these tasks. IPs tell you nothing useful due to VPNs or Tor. This could also be done by relaying the questions to the third party over a platform such as Telegram or Discord, so bypassing the account login altogether.

I wouldn't be against having to prove some basic bitcoin knowledge in addition to earning merit in order to rank up from newbie, but providing it as an alternate route to ranking up (i.e. bypassing merit) is too open to abuse.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

At some point in the past I believed quiz type floodgates may be useful at some (early) stage. I probably though so when the forum was thriving with spam (even after the Merit System was set in motion), but interesting as it may seem subjectively, objectively it seems:

- Easily cheatable: There can only be so many questions to a Quiz on a given topic. Even if you randomize the questions, eventually the will end-up in an external document or database (by crowd-reporting of the questions) and made accessible to all, defeating the purpose.

- The idea of a forum having mandatory quizzes taken at some point seems like an overkill. One thing is taking a quiz for fun, but another is having to do it at some stage/s as part of the procedure to participate in the forum.