Proper Thread Starting and Link Posting

[UCAV]

A few members are posting complete news articles and opinion pieces, many times without providing a link. This could cause problems with the our hosting provider and the articles' owners. So, unfortunately, we cannot allow this. The best practice consists of posting a brief explanation of the article/story, followed by a small quote, and then a link to the complete article/story. For more information, see Forum Rules, User Agreement and Privacy Policy board, especially this message on posting news articles.

Other members are just creating threads with a Title and a link. That often isn't very conducive to getting others to read the article you have linked to. After all if you create a thread, or even add a link to an existing thread, your goal is to get as many readers and responses as possible. Right?

Here are some guidelines when creating a thread with a link, or just posting a link in an existing thread:

1) Copy and paste the title if you want, or use your own title. The Forum Software makes a title mandatory.

2) Post your description/opinion of the article/opinion piece/video either before or after the quoted part of the actual article, or the link/player for a video.

3) Copy and paste a portion, not the entire article, of the article to entice the reader to follow the link and/or back up your assertions above. Posting the complete article violates copyrights and intellectual property rights.

4) Place the copied and pasted portion in a quote box. Make it is clear what text is quoted to make it easier for the reader to discern your opinion, or thoughts, from the article you are presenting and quoting. Using the Quote function (6th button from the left, in the Reply Window) is most desirable because it clearly shows what is quoted, but other techniques such as using italics within quote mark are acceptable if it is clear what is quoted.

5) Place a link to the rest of the article/story. The link should show the URL as opposed to masking text such as CLICK HERE. A "Blind Link" tends to turn people off. No one really likes clicking something with no idea as to where it's going to take them. If your story is from a site such as WSJ, you also might want to add "may require subscription to see whole article," next to the link. This is also just plain good forum etiquette.

[newt2008]

Thanks for the timely and friendly reminder UCAV.

Ms. Borelli

[UCAV]

Thank you, newt.