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

[nullius]

Thank you, mprep.  Bottom line up front:

I might try to work the "you can only incentivize posting in a Games and Rounds topic" into the rules at some point, but I'm not sure whether I should do so and if I should, how to do so properly because each rule added bloats the thread to the point where it becomes useless for the average casual user (the audience this thread was aimed at in the first place).

I do understand the struggle to keep your unofficial rules list readable; for otherwise, its purpose would be defeated.  Accordingly, I did not try to push my previous suggestion about PMs; you were quite right that at least, people should heed the warning they see every time they see a PM.  Here, however, I suggest that there is a significant problem that can be better addressed by measures including a succinct user-educational note in the rules list, as well as mod reports (as you have been discussing with Lauda) and publicly urging that spammers be banned (a matter that I am taking up on other threads).

I request that the rules list be reviewed and updated with appropriate guidance to users about the form of spam known as ICO bumping.

It is obviously spam by any reasonable (or even useful) definition of the word.  I don’t think anybody can reasonably argue that users should not already expect to be banned for it, just as for any other form of spam.  Nevertheless, on grounds that more user education is usually better than less, I suggest that it would be wise to give this issue an explicit treatment in the unofficial rules list that everybody is supposed to read.

Unfortunately, I myself do not know and could not readily find any relevant quotes from administrators or staff on this issue; I would appreciate if somebody could provide some.

<...>

That's already covered by the list of rules since it:

1) Limits thread bumps to once per 24 hours.
2) Prohibits users from incentivizing posting (or, consequently, participating in such incentivized posting) in one or more specific threads if the incentive is an altcoin.
3) Limits incentivized posting to Games and Rounds (where only Bitcoin giveaways are considered on-topic)

Here are the corresponding rules:

2. No off-topic posts.

<...>

13. Bumps, "updates" are limited to once per 24 hours.[2]

14. All altcoin related discussion belongs in the Alternate cryptocurrencies and it's child boards. [3][4][e]

15. No on-forum altcoin giveaways. [6][e]

<...>

Games and rounds (child board of Gambling) - "Spreadsheet games, forum-based games, and discussion of individual rounds/games on other sites." All Bitcoin giveaways, raffles, contests also go here.

Obviously, multiple formal, well-known rules are violated by paid bumps of ICOs which are totally off-topic in Games and Rounds, and are usually paid in shitcoins.  (Also obviously, that is definitional spam as I said—whereas now, I am referring to the forum’s rules.)  Forum users should be guided accordingly.

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[cabalism13]

...

Just wanted to ask about
Rule No. 4

And I just want to have a clear thought before I proceed.(well, I accidentally post my referral link but already change it)

Does referral link like this 👇 allowed?
https://contest-tron.ledger.com/124804/10175054

The Rule says:
No referral code (ref link) spam.

Is it allowed if I only post it once?

I also saw this post:

can put referral link  , promo link and gift link in my Signature ?

Referral links are allowed in signature and in personal text. You can also post ref link in post text, because in forum rules state: "No referral code (ref link) spam. " - so if you post it once, everything should be ok. But be careful , because if you post it second time mods can take it as spam..

[nullius]

The Rule says:
No referral code (ref link) spam.

Is it allowed if I only post it once?

I also saw this post:

can put referral link  , promo link and gift link in my Signature ?

Referral links are allowed in signature and in personal text. You can also post ref link in post text, because in forum rules state: "No referral code (ref link) spam. " - so if you post it once, everything should be ok. But be careful , because if you post it second time mods can take it as spam..

On grounds of simple logic, I was sure that Naficopa must be wrong; at least, that is a quite twisted definition of “spam”.  (Compare what n.a.n.a.e. called “one bite of the apple” arguments by e-mail spammers who claim it’s not spam, if they blast out only one advertisement to millions of people who never asked for it, then “respect” opt-out.)  However, I did a brief search to confirm; whereupon I found that Naficopa was only partly incorrect, insofar as the ref link must be on topic (not merely “posted [only] once”):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=623429.msg6915010#msg6915010

Ref links are allowed if they're on-topic, which this is.

That referred to this—I have redacted the reflink url in this quote:

Subject: Re: How to become a bitcoin millionaire

There are a lot of ways to earn btc as well. I don't have the wallet to buy a bunch but I have managed to earn some. It is the long road and takes patience but it can be done.  

Ron, you have any suggestions on sites?  I use one faucet site that has been awesome.  But I know there are more.

this one is quite nice

So...  That was explicitly permitted by theymos.

I urge the administration to reconsider this policy.  It is not beneficial to high-quality discussion; and it conflicts with at least the spirit of this:

24. Advertisements (including signatures within the post area) in posts aren't allowed unless the post is in a thread you started and is really substantial and useful.[9][e]

[...]

[9] - "Ads in posts" - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=749961.0

Ads are typically not allowed in posts (outside of the signature area) because they are annoying and off-topic. It is especially disallowed to put ads or signatures at the bottom of all of your posts. Except for traditional valedictions, which are tolerated but discouraged, signatures are for the signature area only.

To be clear, I am not opposed to all advertising in posts.  If somebody is creating substantial high-quality content, and (say) links to a variety of relevant commercial resources, that seems to be a reasonable way for people to support their own good work; that is specifically what dogie was doing, in the wider context of theymos’ statement about ads in posts.  I also sometimes see forum accounts created to promote a specific service, where it’s clear that that is what they are doing; everybody expects for, say, a company account to favourably mention the company’s own products or services.  However, arbitrary reflinks are pernicious because it is easy for a user to slip in actual spam in an underhanded manner.  It opens the way for deceptiveness by shill accounts created for advertising, which just pretend to be helpful; and it can also have a corrupting effect on ordinary users, just as special consideration given to magazine reviewers can and does corrupt their reviews.

It is also annoying to anybody who has deliberately avoided the perverse incentives created by referral links in posts.  Surely I am not the only one who can say this:  I am quite sure that in popular posts where people were likely to click, I have occasionally recommended sites which have referral programs.  I have not even bothered signing up for any of those.  I never even thought about that, except for sometimes considering that maybe I should put a reflink in my signature.  I just consider reflinks in post bodies to be spam—unless it is similar to what dogie was doing, or otherwise clearly-marked and clearly benign advertising in content that actually contributes to the forum; and I behave accordingly for my own part.  If forum rules disagree, then perhaps I should take advantage?  

Edit 2020-04-22, an historic and historical footnote:  The foregoing inspired me to finally add a paid reflink to my signature.  It is the principle of the matter—and good, honest crypto-fun!

[cabalism13]

On grounds of simple logic, I was sure that Naficopa must be wrong; at least, that is a quite twisted definition of “spam”.  (Compare what n.a.n.a.e. called “one bite of the apple” arguments by e-mail spammers who claim it’s not spam, if they blast out only one advertisement to millions of people who never asked for it, then “respect” opt-out.)  However, I did a brief search to confirm; whereupon I found that Naficopa was only partly incorrect, insofar as the ref link must be on topic (not merely “posted [only] once”):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=623429.msg6915010#msg6915010

Ref links are allowed if they're on-topic, which this is.

Then what if I'm the creator of the thread just like this👇
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5241953.0
(more likely Iam advertising Ledger's event) but instead of just the address of the contest,... will put a ref link. How can I consider that to be off/on topic, if the ref link will be put on the OP?

(Please use a simple English, my head actually hurts whenever I read your posts ✌️😂)

[hilariousandco]

...

Just wanted to ask about
Rule No. 4

And I just want to have a clear thought before I proceed.(well, I accidentally post my referral link but already change it)

Does referral link like this 👇 allowed?
https://contest-tron.ledger.com/124804/10175054

The Rule says:
No referral code (ref link) spam.

Is it allowed if I only post it once?

I also saw this post:

can put referral link  , promo link and gift link in my Signature ?

Referral links are allowed in signature and in personal text. You can also post ref link in post text, because in forum rules state: "No referral code (ref link) spam. " - so if you post it once, everything should be ok. But be careful , because if you post it second time mods can take it as spam..

Naficopa is just making his own rules up. In general referral links aren't allowed with very few exceptions. Spam doesn't mean posting something more than once and therefore once is ok. Anything is spam if it's unwanted.

[cabalism13]

...

Just wanted to ask about
Rule No. 4

And I just want to have a clear thought before I proceed.(well, I accidentally post my referral link but already change it)

Does referral link like this 👇 allowed?
https://contest-tron.ledger.com/124804/10175054

The Rule says:
No referral code (ref link) spam.

Is it allowed if I only post it once?

I also saw this post:

can put referral link  , promo link and gift link in my Signature ?

Referral links are allowed in signature and in personal text. You can also post ref link in post text, because in forum rules state: "No referral code (ref link) spam. " - so if you post it once, everything should be ok. But be careful , because if you post it second time mods can take it as spam..

Naficopa is just making his own rules up. In general referral links aren't allowed with very few exceptions. Spam doesn't mean posting something more than once and therefore once is ok. Anything is spam if it's unwanted.

I see...
Then I may suggest to give a little change for rule number 4. ✌😁 to make it "No Referral Codes (Ref Links)" removing the word "spam" on it to avoid being confused of users in the future.

[mprep]

-quote snip-

I see...
Then I may suggest to give a little change for rule number 4. ✌😁 to make it "No Referral Codes (Ref Links)" removing the word "spam" on it to avoid being confused of users in the future.

AFAIK there may be certain rare cases where posting a referral link is allowed. Changing the wording into a blanket ban wouldn't accurately reflect that. That and it'd also distance it from the source material.

[JayJuanGee]

-quote snip-

I see...
Then I may suggest to give a little change for rule number 4. ✌😁 to make it "No Referral Codes (Ref Links)" removing the word "spam" on it to avoid being confused of users in the future.

AFAIK there may be certain rare cases where posting a referral link is allowed. Changing the wording into a blanket ban wouldn't accurately reflect that. That and it'd also distance it from the source material.

Don't mean to deviate too much and not even sure if it matters, but are sirius and Cøbra considered to be the same person?  

[cabalism13]

-quote snip-

I see...
Then I may suggest to give a little change for rule number 4. ✌😁 to make it "No Referral Codes (Ref Links)" removing the word "spam" on it to avoid being confused of users in the future.

AFAIK there may be certain rare cases where posting a referral link is allowed. Changing the wording into a blanket ban wouldn't accurately reflect that. That and it'd also distance it from the source material.

Then how about this:

Limit Posting of ref links:
-only once.
-only in one specific Board (Off-Topic)
-only for thread starters, project owners.
-only with a bit slight of advertising.
Ex: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5241953.msg54259534#msg54259534

Note: (There is no ref link on that link yet)
-No redundant threads for ref links/advertising promos.


Violating  the rules for ref links:
-Temp Ban 30 days
-Perma Ban


This is only my suggestion, just to have a clear thought on ref links (and just to be clear, am not pushing it so I can post some ref link ✌😁). And for users not to be confused anymore in the future.

[TryNinja]

Nice updated list! But isn't there a rule that you must remove a bump after someone has posted?

You mean those rules?

13. Bumps, "updates" are limited to once per 24 hours.[2]

21. Old bumps should be deleted. [2]

You only need to delete your old bumps (keeping the last one).

[mprep]

Added additional details to rule 13 (+ an explanation for the rule):

13. Bumps, "updates" are limited to once per 24 hours per thread. Bumping multiple threads at the same time is allowed if it's not annoying. [2][e]

<...>

Examples:

<...>

13. According to a personal message from the head admin, theymos:

The strong guideline is 1 bump per 24 hours per thread. Additionally, bumps should not be annoying, which needs to be determined subjectively. If a user bumps 10 threads every day, that's annoying. If a user bumps 3 threads at the same time for some good reason, then this may not be annoying.

[jamyr]

I was going over the rules and spotted something that needs just a tiny detail updated.

The Trust list is where you select the users whose feedback on other users you trust and how deep is this trust. You can either trust just their feedback (select the Trust depth as 0), theirs and their trusted users feedback (Trust depth 1), and so on (up until Trust depth 3). Trusted feedback will be counted when displayed as numbers to the left of a users post in trade boards such as Marketplace or Goods. If a you don't set up your own trust list, a default one is used (info on how it is generated can be found here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5095156.0).

The max depth is 4, but I don't know if that was what you meant when you said "up until Trust depth 3."

[mprep]

I was going over the rules and spotted something that needs just a tiny detail updated.

The Trust list is where you select the users whose feedback on other users you trust and how deep is this trust. You can either trust just their feedback (select the Trust depth as 0), theirs and their trusted users feedback (Trust depth 1), and so on (up until Trust depth 3). Trusted feedback will be counted when displayed as numbers to the left of a users post in trade boards such as Marketplace or Goods. If a you don't set up your own trust list, a default one is used (info on how it is generated can be found here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5095156.0).

The max depth is 4, but I don't know if that was what you meant when you said "up until Trust depth 3."

IIRC max depth used to be 3. I guess theymos changed it recently. Thanks for the heads up, updated (adjusted other parts of the answer as well).

[cryptoaddictchie]

4. No referral code (ref link) spam. [1]

Just wanted to ask if this one is considered as referral post related and if might considered violation on forum rule number 4 cause he did not directly post a ref link instead he informed users of the code that needed to be input to get register but still as referral based.

The 10 CDB sign up reward is available for the newly registered users with the 1195149 referral code. Other tasks are available for new users.

_{Ive reported it already but wanted to clarify about this. Thank you for any response from mods here.}

[SFR10]

Just wanted to ask if this one is considered as referral post related and if might considered violation on forum rule number 4 cause he did not directly post a ref link instead he informed users of the code that needed to be input to get register but still as referral based.

~Snipped~
_{Ive reported it already but wanted to clarify about this. Thank you for any response from mods here.}

Whether it is/was a string of numbers/letters or a direct referral link, I believe it falls under the same category ^[SPAM].
^{- Rule #4 states "referral code" which is exactly the case here.}

[nemgun]

i have a stupid suggestion i know 99 pour cent it will be no but let s try is it possible to have a share or copy link button behind quote button it can be helpful if we want to share some interesting post as a references in different other platform like facebook twitter telegram .......etc

[logfiles]

i have a stupid suggestion i know 99 pour cent it will be no but let s try is it possible to have a share or copy link button behind quote button it can be helpful if we want to share some interesting post as a references in different other platform like facebook twitter telegram .......etc

The share link button won't be necessary, at least not on this current forum software. Since sharing and copying a link are almost the same thing for social media platforms.
You can still just manually copy a link to the post of the topic you want to share on other social media platforms and then post it there.

[nemgun]

i have a stupid suggestion i know 99 pour cent it will be no but let s try is it possible to have a share or copy link button behind quote button it can be helpful if we want to share some interesting post as a references in different other platform like facebook twitter telegram .......etc

The share link button won't be necessary, at least not on this current forum software. Since sharing and copying a link are almost the same thing for social media platforms.
You can still just manually copy a link to the post of the topic you want to share on other social media platforms and then post it there.

hey i think i know your pictures are you from Malaysian facebook group ?
to answer your post i dont find the fonction of copy the link of a post only copy the link of  a page some topic are longue than this why you don t find article or information as a bitcoin references you only find pr on social media and people can pay for pr manipulation these days i saw a ton of cointelegraph of who is satoshi for it s stupid question because the creator of the bitcoin wp want to keep he s information private and we must respect that but satoshi have his profile on the forum it will be good if we can shares some post as a references in social media platofrm bitcoin it s decentralized  no border currency than mass adoption and sharing information of this forum can be helpful because opinion are free to post so no pr manipulation

[SFR10]

is it possible to have a share or copy link button behind quote button it can be helpful if we want to share some interesting post as a references in different other platform like facebook twitter telegram .......etc

to answer your post i dont find the fonction of copy the link of a post only copy the link of  a page some topic are longue than this why you don t find article or information as a bitcoin references

We already have such function:

Go to any post that you would like to share > Click on the post number ^{[behind +Merit button]} > You'll be given a unique link in the address bar of your browser > Copy and share that.

• Check this screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/CizlsnO.jpg

Alternative way:

Go to https://archive.fo/ > Copy the link of the page ^{[from this forum]} then paste it on the first empty field ^{[red one]} > Click "save" > Highlight the part that you would like to point as reference > Copy it's unique link from the address bar ^{[top of that page]}.

• Like this: https://archive.fo/EU62W#selection-10167.0-10169.755

[Zorro]

Would there be a way to make this sharing function very easy usable?

The easier, the more sharing, the more visibility, the more adoption?