BST forum rule clarification

[EarthDog]

A couple of days ago, I ran across a thread in BST that did not have inline pictures of the items the person had for sale. However, he had a 3rd party link (imgur) to the pictures which met all of TPU's defined requirements. Per the rules, a moderator had stepped in and requested he post pictures of the them items or the thread would be closed.

I looked at the rules and found there was, at least to me, some ambiguity on what is actually needed versus what is requested in the rules. Here are the applicable rules as they stand now:

You MUST have a picture of the item posted (no links) WITH your name HAND WRITTEN on a piece of paper at the time you post it for sale. NO EXCEPTIONS! No posts stating "pics up in a minute" or any such nonsense. Your thread will be deleted immediately without explanation if you do this. It is not necessary for additional pictures of the same item, like pictures taken from a different angle to have the sellers username handwritten on a piece of paper.

and

Post a picture of the physical item (not a link) you are selling/trading, along with your techPowerUp! forums account name handwritten (Not typed or printed!) on a piece of paper in the background. This is to validate that there is an item being sold and that you are the seller. -Have your pictures ready before you post your thread! No pics, don't post or your thread will be deleted.

My question/concern, between these two similarly written rules are this...

When I read both of these rules, it states that you need a picture of the actual (note the word PHYSCIAL in the second rule) item that contains a hand written note with your name on it when you post for the sale. Both rules, to me, do not state, nor allude to the fact that you cannot have a 3rd party link to those pictures that follow the rules. In the imgur link, there is a picture of the "Physical" item. The parenthetic 'not a link', to me, meant do not link the item from say newegg or something like that. The statement following that sentence (
This is to validate that there is an item being sold and that you are the seller. )
doesn't allude/infer that 3rd party links to pictures of the physical items is not allowed. In fact, it only supports what is in the required picture.

I can go either way on this as a requirement, honestly. A 3rd party link to imgur, is a simple click away. This also brings up the point about spoilers which are ok to use in BST threads. Technically, you have to do the same thing to see the pictures hidden in spoilers, click once to view. With that said, why are spoilers ok when it is the same level of effort to view the pics as dropping a third party link? I am thinking that perhaps these rules should be written to say more clearly what they INTEND.

Essentially, what TPU is actually requesting, according to the moderator's actions in the thread(s), is they want pictures INLINE within the thread and the picture must contain handwritten note...etc. No links from 3rd party are allowed.

A rewrite would be something along these lines...

Post a picture of the physical item (NOT a link to the product page)
inline (not a 3rd party link..i.e imgur) you are selling/trading, along with your techPowerUp! forums account name handwritten (Not typed or printed!) on a piece of paper in the background. This is to validate that there is an item being sold and that you are the seller. -Have your pictures ready before you post your thread! No pics, don't post or your thread will be deleted.

I think with the terms "not a link to the product page", "inline", and, "not a 3rd party link...i.e..imgur) would clarify these rules significantly.

While I am aware it isn't a big deal, I think those simple changes would bring more clarity to what you actually want to see here, and could take a small load off the BST moderators having to do police an ambiguous rule.

Thanks for looking.

EDIT: Perhaps I am off my rocker in thinking the rule isn't clear... please feel free to say so, or support a change for clarity!

 

[R-T-B]

I think you might be kinda worried over nothing, to be honest.

It does say basically, "no links" quickly followed by "NO EXCEPTIONS!"

The exclamation mark plus all caps should make it clear enough to anyone reading, methinks.

 

[dorsetknob]

use your 3rd party picture host and embed the image into the bst post

If its embedded it follows the rules

 

[EarthDog]

That is entirely possible RTB... but, the subsequent statement after supports the first two sentences. Its there if you read between the lines, but, why read between the lines is my take? Since NO exceptions is following the actual handwritten note, etc, that is supporting THAT, NOT the fact that it you need an INLINE image. Nowhere does it state or allude to INLINE image being required. It is only inferred due to how the rule is written.

use your 3rd party picture host and embed the image into the bst post

If its embedded it follows the rules

Indeed that can be done, but that isn't the point. Its the ambiguity of the rules as written.

 

[dorsetknob]

there is no ambiguity of the rules you may be attempting to interpret them in your favour

If i vist the BST forum post i expect to see pictures not links to pictures

I saw the forum post you are complaining about
it had a link and not pictures

 

[R-T-B]

That is entirely possible RTB... but, the subsequent statement after supports the first two sentences. Its there if you read between the lines, but, why read between the lines is my take?


Indeed that can be done, but that isn't the point. Its the ambiguity of the rules as written.

Don't get me wrong, you have suggested positive changes. I'm more arguing that anyone who reads the rules would probably understand them as they are. But you know what they say about making things idiot-proof, it's a losing battle so any suggestions regarding clarity are probably good.

 

[EarthDog]

I edited (post 4) a bit RTB...

 

[dorsetknob]

example embedded image (3rd party host )
yes its my bottle and it taste nice

 

[EarthDog]

Damn, those don't auto resize? At least posting it inline/through the forums you can choose thumbnail (which you can for most 3rd party hosts, yes?)

 

[dorsetknob]

yes there is thumbnails available ( but that bottle deserves full size )

 

[theonedub]

Clicking a spoiler doesn't take you to a third party site, clicking an imgur link takes you to imgur's site. The rules are photos in the post, not a link to another website. Coupled with the fact that you can upload photos by attachment or use TPUs very own image hosting service, there's no reason this can't be followed.

 

[EarthDog]

Clicking a spoiler doesn't take you to a third party site, clicking an imgur link takes you to imgur's site. The rules are photos in the post, not a link to another website. Coupled with the fact that you can upload photos by attachment or use TPUs very own image hosting service, there's no reason this can't be followed.

Agreed, but is it clear? Can an update to those rules make it more clear? That is the point.

 

[theonedub]

I haven't seen the rules misinterpreted by very many people at all, but if changing a word or two to clarify that photos should be included within the post rather than linked, OK.

I don't know about using the term 'inline' though, I'd honestly be confused if I saw that over what's there now.

 

[EarthDog]

That is the right term for what they are requesting of us, but, you are likely correct that not a lot of people knows what it means.

 

[R-T-B]

yes its my bottle and it taste nice

Are the seashell-themed bathroom tiles yours too?

 

[dorsetknob]

Are the seashell-themed bathroom tiles yours too?

No but the meds are ( and they are transfers on to kitchen tiles )

 

[Tatty_Two]

I think the 2nd statement is actually a continuation of the first as the first goes off a bit when talking about no exceptions etc, I suppose there are a couple of clear messages here that if not fully understood from the speil may need a tweak, for me they are........

1. No links (my personal preference would be images only uploaded here but that's just my preference).
2. Handwritten paper with username
3. Actual physical item, not a picture off the internet or a manufacturers site.

If those key messages don't come across with some clarity then I agree completely! So just as a little exercise, if we assume that it's not absolutely clear, would it help if we condensed those 2 para's into one to read something like this.........

"You MUST include a picture of the actual physical item you are selling/trading (no links to any other sites or hosts) , along with your techPowerUp! forums user account name handwritten (Not typed or printed!) on a piece of paper that is clearly distinguishable . This is to validate that there is an item being sold that is in your possession and that you are the seller. -Have your pictures ready before you post your thread! Without these requirements being met at the time of posting your thread will be deleted immediatly"

Just some thoughts, I don't specifically moderate the B/S/T sections so would want feedback from those that do in any case.

 

[EarthDog]

I think that is more clear than what is currently there, absolutely.

 

[Sasqui]

A while back, craigslist stopped allowing IMG SCR tag, eliminating external links to images. You now have to directly upload images to CL.

From what Ive read, they did this because of "image swapping". Someone posts an image then swaps it to misrepresent an item. Also, external links aren't always reliable.

Food for thought

 

[BiggieShady]

Also, external links aren't always reliable.

I hate when I stumble at old thread where folks are talking about non existing images ... and no way to get the complete story ... it's lost in time

 

[EarthDog]

Good with that too... I was more looking at the clicking involved and what was 'behind' the tag/link.

I hate when I stumble at old thread where folks are talking about non existing images ... and no way to get the complete story ... it's lost in time

Also a good point, though, with it being in a FS thread, chances are it will be clicked periodically and not 'time out'. Though, for historical purposes, that does present a problem.

I like the input!!

 

[Tatty_Two]

Interested to see if the main Mod players for the section have any thoughts @sneekypeet and @Mussels and just in case @erocker Ninja's by having escaped the Bat Cave.

 

[EarthDog]

Sneeky thinks its fine as is and was pretty emphatic about it (I had this discussion with him via PM). But in the end, (I) wanted to put it out here for discussion. It is always best to have more opinions.

Seems like its clear from the posts here that it can use some touching up as I suspected, but, doesn't look like its a 'need' either. Clarity never hurts... this benefits your staff and the user base... so why not?

 

[sneekypeet]

Staying out of it. I explained it all via PM and Earth seemed to want to take it over my head and here he is. So do as you all wish!

 

[newtekie1]

Nowhere does it state or allude to INLINE image being required.

IMO, it is pretty clear that the pictures can't be links, (No Links) says exactly that. Your pictures can't be links, they have to be in the post.