A Few Guidelines On Posts
- Images
- Please do not imbed large images (over 400 pixels wide) in posts using the [img]filename[/img] tag. Please, use either a [url]filename[/url] or [imgw=400]filename[/imgw] tag.
- Inappropriate images
- Several types of images are not appropriate. Lewd, gender demeaning, highly sexualized, or portraying sexual activity are flat out not acceptable.
- Copyright Concerns
- Since the servers are in the US, COTI is subject to US Copyright laws. This means (amongst other things), you should not use people's artwork in inline images. Certain exceptions are book or product covers, images hosted on a site owned by the posting individual, and images in collections that explicitly allow such deep-linking (eg: wikimedia commons).
Even when the use is fair, consider a link back to the hosting site, as it allows easier access for tracking.
One or two images is also easier on people's bandwidth. - Bandwidth Concerns
- Be respectful of other sites' bandwidth when linking images. COTI can generate (at times) up to a few thousand hits per day. For example, a thread with 10 people participating, and rapid posting, can hit 100 posts in a day - the posters alone can be 1000 hits right there.
Likewise, be considerate of other users' bandwidth, too. - Image Gallery
- Using the Image Gallery images, no attribution nor link is needed. Note that various sizes are generated by the image gallery, so the thumbnails in the filmstrip can be directly used. (Right-click, "copy image location", and in thread, paste it between [img] and [b][/img][/b].) If you're really nice, you then wrap that with a link to the image page. EG: [url=imagepageURL][img]thumbnailURL[/img][/url]
- Length
- Posts are limited to 10000 characters, including tags and quotes. You must also have at least 10 characters minimum not counting tags and quotes. Plan accordingly
- Links
- Links need to have a clear indication where it goes to in the link text.
"Click here" (and anything similar) is not an acceptable link text. No use of URL proxies like go.to// or youtu.be// - those are not clear.
A video needs to mention what the content of the video is. A document file should have a title reference.