Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ

[mprep]

Suggested a german translation here [1] and took the liberty to add words which make clear that not only a new account is not allowed but only the use of an existing different account.



[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=767079.msg9034497#msg9034497

Sorry, forgot about this thread for a while. Edited the rule a bit, thanks for the suggestion:

25. Ban evasion (using or creating accounts while one of your accounts is banned) is not allowed.[e]

[1715142715]

1715142715

[1715142715]

1715142715

[1715142715]

1715142715

[1715142715]

1715142715

[1715142715]

1715142715

[dserrano5]

Another suggestion: it's ok to post dox as long as it isn't off topic.

[mprep]

Another suggestion: it's ok to post dox as long as it isn't off topic.

Will add it to the FAQ later.

[mprep]

Forgot about the list, yet again . Updated one rule to clarify what it meant:

16. Do not have more than one active sales topic in the Currency exchange board. [3]

[Willisius]

Just to show off how anal I can be, here's a typo:

Q: What is the draft feature on these forums?
A: When you write a post or a PM and click preview, the post gets saved into the Draft page. Same as when you click post (even if an error that prevented the poat from being posted appeared such as "The last posting from your IP was less than 360 seconds ago."), send a PM or save an edited post.

[sifter]

Why isn't this stickied yet?

[hilariousandco]

Maybe because it's unofficial?

This is great. I think the list should be vetted by forum administration and stickied.

I think that's intentional there is no comprehensive rulebook.

Why so?

No "official" set of rules was ever published, because if rules are set in stone, then people will come up with clever ways to bypass them, and then complain when a moderator takes action. This is however a very good thread to read to find out in general what you can and can't do. I do believe it should be stickied, but kept as "unofficial"

I think Badbear said something similar to the bolded part before. Personally, if the list is here and available I think it should be stickied as I think it would be more helpful for users and staff than actually abused, though obviously some will try get around the rules, but the mods and admins still have the right to interpret the rules as they see fit.

[TECSHARE]

Maybe because it's unofficial?

This is great. I think the list should be vetted by forum administration and stickied.

I think that's intentional there is no comprehensive rulebook.

Why so?

No "official" set of rules was ever published, because if rules are set in stone, then people will come up with clever ways to bypass them, and then complain when a moderator takes action. This is however a very good thread to read to find out in general what you can and can't do. I do believe it should be stickied, but kept as "unofficial"

I think Badbear said something similar to the bolded part before. Personally, if the list is here and available I think it should be stickied as I think it would be more helpful for users and staff than actually abused, though obviously some will try get around the rules, but the mods and admins still have the right to interpret the rules as they see fit.

Yeah why tell people all the rules? It is better to punish them arbitrarily and keep everyone on their toes and fearful of repercussion. After all we wouldn't want you to be stuck in a situation where you might have to enforce written rules uniformly in a way everyone understands.

[hilariousandco]

I think that was stated because, for example, if the admins state making shitposts exclusively in off-topic is likely to get you banned people will then try avoid making shitposts in offtopic and do them in the alt coin sub or whatever etc. The rules aren't there to try purposely catch people out but to limit people bending the rules or attempting to bypass them and limit people from attempting to protest their innocence by trying to bring up technicalities because of "the rules".

[-ck]

I think this was adequately addressed with this in fact:

No "official" set of rules was ever published, because if rules are set in stone, then people will come up with clever ways to bypass them, and then complain when a moderator takes action.

This is so true it's scary. I think it's important to point out that it's even more important to stick to the "spirit" of the rule rather than to the letter of the rule. There will always be a roundabout way to interpret rules that make it such that you're sticking strictly to the letter of the rule, even if you're clearly crossing the boundary. To that end, the rules should also stipulate that someone trying to get around the rules by sticking to them on a literal level while clearly infringing on what the rule was intended to prevent, is also not allowed.

Added in Rule 23 with an example:

23. When deciding if a user has broken the rules, the staff have the right to follow their interpretation of the rules.[e]

23. This rule is meant to prevent from users exploiting possible loopholes in the rules or some interpretations that follow the literal meaning of the rule rather than the meaning of what it truly wanted to prevent.

[cyberpinoy]

I voted to stickie

However,

4. No referral code (ref link)

I am so mixed about this. As the absolutely most prominent site for bitcoins talk and chatter. We all understand a good portion of this industry (Outside of trading) is based on referrals. I find it both hard to accept and a blessing that this rule exists. I would say there should be a section for this, however it would also be useless. I think people should have the ability to post their referral link if posting about a site that works for them. Unfortunately the spamming cant be controlled. It is a real crap house of indifference when it comes to referral links.

Its sad the children have ruined this in the way they did. 

[hilariousandco]

I voted to stickie

However,

4. No referral code (ref link)

Its sad the children have ruined this in the way they did. 

You can post ref links but only if it's relevant to the thread. Ie if someone asks what is the best dicesite people can post their ref links for PrimeDice or whatever.

[shorena]

I voted to stickie

However,

4. No referral code (ref link)

Its sad the children have ruined this in the way they did. 

You can post ref links but only if it's relevant to the thread. Ie if someone asks what is the best dicesite people can post their ref links for PrimeDice or whatever.

Ref links can also go in the signature.

[mprep]

I voted to stickie

However,

4. No referral code (ref link)

I am so mixed about this. As the absolutely most prominent site for bitcoins talk and chatter. We all understand a good portion of this industry (Outside of trading) is based on referrals. I find it both hard to accept and a blessing that this rule exists. I would say there should be a section for this, however it would also be useless. I think people should have the ability to post their referral link if posting about a site that works for them. Unfortunately the spamming cant be controlled. It is a real crap house of indifference when it comes to referral links.

Its sad the children have ruined this in the way they did. 

The rule doesn't prohibit ref links, it prohibits ref link spam, as in posts dedicated to advertising a service, low quality threads dedicated to ref links, etc.

[TECSHARE]

I think that was stated because, for example, if the admins state making shitposts exclusively in off-topic is likely to get you banned people will then try avoid making shitposts in offtopic and do them in the alt coin sub or whatever etc. The rules aren't there to try purposely catch people out but to limit people bending the rules or attempting to bypass them and limit people from attempting to protest their innocence by trying to bring up technicalities because of "the rules".

Since the moderators are enforcing all of this them selves, what exactly is the problem if people make claims against mods? It is not like they have the power to make you follow your own rules or anything. It seems to me this is just a way to selectively enforce the rules.

[hilariousandco]

It doesn't really. People will still complain regardless, but one thing I've learned is that whatever we do - even when it is the best interests of the forum - someone will always complain when they don't like the outcome and there's always going to be at least one party that doesn't, so we can't win whatever happens. I don't believe we are selectively enforcing the rules or are any of the staff abusing their power to my knowledge and what was done was the right thing, but of course you will always disagree with that.

[TECSHARE]

It doesn't really. People will still complain regardless, but one thing I've learned is that whatever we do - even when it is the best interests of the forum - someone will always complain when they don't like the outcome and there's always going to be at least one party that doesn't, so we can't win whatever happens. I don't believe we are selectively enforcing the rules or are any of the staff abusing their power to my knowledge and what was done was the right thing, but of course you will always disagree with that.

So wait, this isn't about the rules being written down now for everyone to see, this is about me and my incident now? Must be convenient to take action against someone like me, then you can write off everything I say as just a reaction to some passed event and ignore what was actually said. After all, if it is in reaction to something obviously it is incoherent and not worth addressing unless to make a personal attack right?

I wonder what kind of governments have laws which are unwritten and must be constantly guessed about by the population.... doesn't sound like a very reliable place. Making the rules unwritten may make things A LOT easier for you, but if it makes no difference and some one will complain anyway, why is it you insist on subjecting everyone to unwritten, non uniform, unpredictable enforcement for rules they don't even know exist?

[MadZ]

Is rule 21 actually enforced? Very few people follow it, and the couple of times I have reported it, nothing seemed to be done. Is it worth reporting at all?

[Quickseller]

Is rule 21 actually enforced? Very few people follow it, and the couple of times I have reported it, nothing seemed to be done. Is it worth reporting at all?

I report old bumps as well and they seem to eventually get deleted. I don't think the lack of deleting a bump is going to be something that someone gets banned for though

[hilariousandco]

Is rule 21 actually enforced? Very few people follow it, and the couple of times I have reported it, nothing seemed to be done. Is it worth reporting at all?

Yes it is. I always report them and they're handled eventually and I handle the ones I can (made by newbies), but I think there's a lack of Global Moderators and Marketplace mods that can handle them, not to mention they're probably not a top priority and deleting posts, especially many, takes longer than dealing with other reports etc.