Forum Tips
Introductory threads: If you feel the need to post an introduction thread please take the effort to write something substantial or don't bother at all. Threads and post that contain only one word/sentence such as "hello & welcome to the forum" will be removed without warning as it causes unnecessary clutter.
General threads: A General thread will contain relevant information related to the question/subject of the title. Duplicate threads related to this question/subject are not allowed, so please refrain from creating them. General threads are supposed to be informational and reposting similar information multiple times is not allowed.
Watch list: theymos (the forum admin) explains how to use Watchlist. This feature makes it easy to keep track of threads you have posted in.
Trust list: Read up on the trust system in this thread. It is also suggested to read: Trust Vocabulary. If you have questions about it, ask them over here. You can set your own trust list over here.
Forum rules: For all forum rules checkout this thread: Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ
Reports: If you notice someone breaking the rules, please use the 'report to moderator' feature found on the right side of their post. Alternatively, you could contact one of the moderators directly.
Recovering your account: If you ever lose your account, be sure to read up on how to recover it: Recovering hacked accounts or accounts with lost passwords
Signing a message: Read up on how to sign a message with your private key, so you can proof ownership of your account and funds: How to sign a message?
Merit: You can get merit by making good posts and gift it to other when you think they made a good post. Some useful links: Your merit page, other people's merit page, statistics and click here for more information.

Other important information
Do not trust people! Checkout for some good reasoning.
This thread has some solid security protocols.
Don't make threads or posts solely for putting up referral links, that's what signatures are for.
Be careful with PayPal, deepceleron's thread does a good job explaining why PayPal is bad to use when exchanging bitcoins.
Want to know what wallets are out there? Checkout Bitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why?.
Want to know how to create a really secure wallet? Checkout this thread for a good guide.
There's a lot of weird terminology, this thread is a good guide.
Are you looking to earn some Bitcoins? Checkout How to earn Bitcoins - Part 1.
If you're looking for free bitcoin giveaways, checkout the games and rounds subforum. WARNING: It does contain gambling as well. Altcoin giveaways are not allowed! Checkout this thread for more information Giveaway threads are not allowed
A warning about Alt-Coins: Almost all of the alt-coins out there are going to be a waste of time. They're being created to take advantage of people who get super excited about different things and then get pumped and dumped. Be careful about wasting time with too many alt coins. Be careful about downloading files, seems like there's plenty of wallet stealers around hidden as alt coin miners. You can find more good information in this post, and you should also read this thread: Beware of Increasingly Sophisticated Malware Infection Attempts

More detailed information

I cannot post images?
Pictures posted by Newbies using the [img]-tag are displayed as links, because of previous incidents with spammers and trolls. See this thread for more information Images in posts disabled for newbies. It is possible to purchase to "Copper"-rank if you want to post pictures right now, checkout this thread for more information on that: Newbies can now pay a small fee to enable images.

Why can't I change my avatar?
Only Full Members and up are allowed to wear avatars. It must be no more than 120px wide, 80px tall, and 100 KiB in size. It must be a PNG, GIF, or JPEG image. It must be safe for work.

For more information why this restriction exists, please checkout About the recent attack and Avatars re-enabled

How can I find my Bitcointalk ID/UUID?
Go to your profile
Click on "Summary"
Look at the URL in the URL bar (mine would be https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=101872;sa=summary)
The bold part is my Bitcointalk ID/UUID, so "101872"

What forum account levels are there?
There are multiple account levels on this forum, here is a quick list for all of them and how to get them:

Quote from: theymos on January 24, 2018, 11:00:11 PM
Rank   Required activity   Required merit
Brand new   0   0
Newbie   1   0
Jr Member   30   0
Member   60   10
Full Member   120   100
Sr. Member   240   250
Hero Member   480   500
Legendary   775-1030   1000

You get merit points when someone sends you some for one of your posts. For more information, checkout Forum ranks/positions/badges and Merit & new rank requirements.

How is forum activity calculated?
Activity is calculated with the following formula:
Code:
activity = min(time * 14, posts)

Activity is increased by staying logged in or by posting and is updated every 30 minutes. There is a maximum of 14 activity points every 2 weeks.

What is Merit and sMerit?
You have Merit and sendable Merit (sMerit). sMerits can only be send, they have no other purpose and hoarding them is pointless. When someone gives Merit to you they lose sMerit of the amount transferred and you gain Merit as well as sMerit (which in case you can send again).

Quote from: Lutpin on January 25, 2018, 01:00:08 AM
Quick Example:
Should I send 10 Merit to you for a post, my sMerit would decrease by 10.
Your Merit would increase by 10 and your sMerit would increase by 5.

What signature restrictions are there?
There are restrictions on signatures, based on your activity/rank.

Quote from: theymos on February 26, 2014, 09:15:18 PM
- Newbie: No styling (including links) allowed. Max 50 characters.
- Jr. Member: No links allowed. Max 150 characters.
- Member: Unlimited length.
- Full: Color allowed.
- Sr. Member: Size allowed
- Hero: Background color allowed

Why can't I send a private message to someone as a newbie?
In response to the annoying private message spam that has been happening, someone now has to opt into receiving PMs from newbies. The option can be found in their private message preferences.

For more information checkout: Newbie PM opt-in.

I cannot send multiple PMs?
There is a limit on how many PMs you can send based on your activity.

Quote from: theymos on December 06, 2017, 07:35:30 PM
Activity   Max recipients   Max recipients if whitelisted   Max PMs per hour   Max PMs per hour if whitelisted   Max PMs per day   Max PMs per day if whitelisted
0   2   10   1   40   2   120
15   3   10   10   40   15   120
30   5   10   10   40   30   120
100   7   14   20   80   150   600
250   15   30   120   120   300   1200
500   30   30   120   120   1200   1200

You are automatically whitelisted if you buy a copper membership. You don't need to wear the copper membership, just own it. You can also be whitelisted for free by any staff member and a few non-staff, but we're going to need some reason to think that you actually deserve it. Do not ask me for free whitelisting.

Whitelisting is a not a license to spam. You will be immediately banned if you're found spamming, even if you bought a copper membership (and you will not be refunded).

How long do I need to wait between forum posts?
Waiting time between forum posts is calculated with the following formula:
Code:
waittime = 360;
if(activity >= 15)
waittime = (int)(90 - activity);
if(activity >= 60)
waittime=(int)(34.7586 - (0.0793103 * activity));
if(activity >= 100)
waittime = max((int)(14-(activity/50)), 4);

What are the badges some people have?
There are some badges that a member can earn on this forum.

Quote from: theymos on December 31, 2013, 06:55:38 AM
I added a system of badges to SMF a while ago, though only two are defined now. Here are the current badges:

Bitcoin expert   Dev&Tech only. People with this badge know enough about the Bitcoin network to reimplement something very like it from scratch. They are capable of intelligently discussing the Bitcoin network: current protocol, possible attacks, proposed changes, etc. Criteria: Recommendation by an existing Bitcoin expert or core dev and approval by a forum administrator.
Bitcoin-Qt core developer   Dev&Tech only. These are the core developers of Satoshi's Bitcoin client. They are listed here. Core developers are among the top contributors to Bitcoin-Qt, and they are all bitcoin experts, though they don't also get that badge.
The Glider(hacker symbol)   Awarded for people who have responsibly disclosed forum security flaws.

A core dev does not "outrank" a bitcoin expert (or vice-versa), and it's possible for someone without a badge to contribute meaningfully to a discussion with experts and core devs.

princenoom

Posts

Merits