KillerMuffin
Seraphically Disinclined
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2000
- Posts
- 25,603
No, not how to be nice to each other etiquette, but how to format your posts. I did this in ORP, but I'm seeing a lot of miscommunication here and good posting skills can't do anything but help make us more clear. At least in some cases.
This is etiquette simply because it considers the person who must wade through your post to get your point. The more difficult you make it, the more likely you will be misunderstood. I am sincerely hoping that you are posting here to be understood and not some perverse notion of "style."
Posting Images. There are two ways to do so. One is the attachment feature. There is one rule here. No copyrighted images. If there is a copyrighted image on a thread you frequent and it is brought to the attention of management, the thread will be removed or the post edited by management. The second method is through the [ img][/img] tags. This is actually frowned upon by most domains, though Literotica has expressed no opinion. The practice is commonly known as "hotlinking" or "stealing bandwidth." What happens is that the host site, where the image is stored, must supply--and pay for--the bandwidth required for the hotlinked image to be viewed here since it is never downloaded on Literotica servers. Use your best judgement.
Style. Everyone has a right to their individuality and expressing that individuality. There are those who do so by going their own path when posting here. They, erroneously, believe that adding distinctive flairs--like signature capitalizations, punctuations, or smilie strings--communicates their unique manner of expression. This is actually not so. There are a limited number of ways to add distinctive flair to a post and they have all been done before. When you post with distinctive flair you are sacrificing both clarity to your reader and a certain level of credibility. Think of it as someone attempting to join a BDSM group while carrying the Koran.
Paragraphing. Please indulge in it. When you move from one subject to the next, please hit enter twice. That will format your words for ease of reading. This will ensure maximum clarity for maximum understanding. If you aren't in the habit of paragraphing, please pick up the habit. Large blocks of text are difficult to process and understand.
Capitals. They aren't good emphasis. They have a tendency to make the eye skim and only pick out the emphasized words and miss the rest of them. Use italics. The way to italicize is to do this: [ i] italicized words [/ i], but without spaces.
Punctuation. It doesn't have to be perfect. However, you should make some effort. Like paragraphing, punctuation is there to ensure maximum clarity.
Quoting others. Consider how much of your quoting is necessary. If you are only addressing a portion of someone's post, please edit out the unrelated parts. When you do edit, please keep the [ quote][/ quote] and [b ][/ b] tags. Clarity is the issue! If you are addressing the entire post or just the person, then by all means, use their name. There is no need to quote a post to address someone. It's easier, granted, to simply hit the key, but then you are rudely subjecting everyone else in the thread to a long string of unnecessary verbiage.
Ellipses & Smilies are hotly contentious, so you do what you will with them. However, you are less likely to be taken seriously if the bulk of your posting requires smilies or ellipses.
Smilies. Think "cartoonish" when you're choosing your smilies because they are cartoons. They can be an effective tool for transmitting your particular feelings or tone. However, if your words say one thing, there are no amount of smilies that will change what they say.
Ellipses (...) are a different kettle of fish. They mean, very specifically, that words have been omitted. Popular usage is changing that in dialogue enclosed in quotation marks or in narrative where the sentence trails off, indicating omission. They are not a pause. The comma is usually best suited for that. They do not indicate a breathy voice or sexual tones. They are punctuation, not modifiers.
This is by no means the rules. Post however and whatever you want. This is simply meant to be a friendly guideline to promote clarity and understanding in a place where open communication is key. Common sense and common courtesy apply.
This is etiquette simply because it considers the person who must wade through your post to get your point. The more difficult you make it, the more likely you will be misunderstood. I am sincerely hoping that you are posting here to be understood and not some perverse notion of "style."
Posting Images. There are two ways to do so. One is the attachment feature. There is one rule here. No copyrighted images. If there is a copyrighted image on a thread you frequent and it is brought to the attention of management, the thread will be removed or the post edited by management. The second method is through the [ img][/img] tags. This is actually frowned upon by most domains, though Literotica has expressed no opinion. The practice is commonly known as "hotlinking" or "stealing bandwidth." What happens is that the host site, where the image is stored, must supply--and pay for--the bandwidth required for the hotlinked image to be viewed here since it is never downloaded on Literotica servers. Use your best judgement.
Style. Everyone has a right to their individuality and expressing that individuality. There are those who do so by going their own path when posting here. They, erroneously, believe that adding distinctive flairs--like signature capitalizations, punctuations, or smilie strings--communicates their unique manner of expression. This is actually not so. There are a limited number of ways to add distinctive flair to a post and they have all been done before. When you post with distinctive flair you are sacrificing both clarity to your reader and a certain level of credibility. Think of it as someone attempting to join a BDSM group while carrying the Koran.
Paragraphing. Please indulge in it. When you move from one subject to the next, please hit enter twice. That will format your words for ease of reading. This will ensure maximum clarity for maximum understanding. If you aren't in the habit of paragraphing, please pick up the habit. Large blocks of text are difficult to process and understand.
Capitals. They aren't good emphasis. They have a tendency to make the eye skim and only pick out the emphasized words and miss the rest of them. Use italics. The way to italicize is to do this: [ i] italicized words [/ i], but without spaces.
Punctuation. It doesn't have to be perfect. However, you should make some effort. Like paragraphing, punctuation is there to ensure maximum clarity.
Quoting others. Consider how much of your quoting is necessary. If you are only addressing a portion of someone's post, please edit out the unrelated parts. When you do edit, please keep the [ quote][/ quote] and [b ][/ b] tags. Clarity is the issue! If you are addressing the entire post or just the person, then by all means, use their name. There is no need to quote a post to address someone. It's easier, granted, to simply hit the key, but then you are rudely subjecting everyone else in the thread to a long string of unnecessary verbiage.
Ellipses & Smilies are hotly contentious, so you do what you will with them. However, you are less likely to be taken seriously if the bulk of your posting requires smilies or ellipses.
Smilies. Think "cartoonish" when you're choosing your smilies because they are cartoons. They can be an effective tool for transmitting your particular feelings or tone. However, if your words say one thing, there are no amount of smilies that will change what they say.
Ellipses (...) are a different kettle of fish. They mean, very specifically, that words have been omitted. Popular usage is changing that in dialogue enclosed in quotation marks or in narrative where the sentence trails off, indicating omission. They are not a pause. The comma is usually best suited for that. They do not indicate a breathy voice or sexual tones. They are punctuation, not modifiers.
This is by no means the rules. Post however and whatever you want. This is simply meant to be a friendly guideline to promote clarity and understanding in a place where open communication is key. Common sense and common courtesy apply.
