Some forums changes

[Steve Sokolowski]

I'm making a few changes in the forums today. These changes are aimed at improving the quality of the content on the forums, and at better organizing it so that new users can find what they are looking for.

First, I updated the forum rules, and I made the rules a "global" post that will appear in every forum. There were two rule changes to add specific types of posts to the "spam" category. There was also an additional rule added that I thought is the best way to summarize the expectations for new users of the forums. Posts can either "give value" or "take value" from the forums. Giving value is the act of providing insight or new information, while "taking value" requires other people to do something, like answering a question or checking out a product or service. Users are expected to have given more value than they have taken at all times, which implies that new users are expected to post insightful comments before they may take value by asking questions without context or talking about their own websites.

Second, I added a "products and services" forum. New threads that cover only one product or service may now only be posted in that forum. Mineable coin announcements may be posted in the "Coin announcements" forum, as they always have been. The "economics and investing" forum will now be reserved for discussion of prices and trends in the industry, and will not cater primarily towards reviews of exchanges or services. Similarly, the off-topic forum was changed to be inaccessible to new users, and is intended for long-time users to post non-coin thoughts there.

Existing posts may be moved to their new locations over the coming days, although it is likely that the new rules regarding location of posts will only be enforced moving forwards. Feel free to offer your comments!