Quote from: mprep on July 21, 2014, 05:27:51 PM

NOTE: This is meant to serve as a reference/educational/informational thread, NOT a rock solid list of rules.

Recently I noticed that a lot of new members don't know all the rules and I don't (usually) blame them since not all rules are written and even those written down can be overlooked by users who don't pay much attention to some stickies in select boards. Maybe they'll pay attention to this thread in which I'll try to list all the rules present on the forum. I'll provide sources (if I know of any) to where they are posted. The rules are in no particular order, just written as I found them although I'll try to keep the more general ones first.

Update: I also added in guidelines for posting threads and an FAQ. Just keep scrolling down until you reach it.

Overview / Table of contents (click the link to go to that part of the post):

Forum rules
Examples/Explanations of rules
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Guidelines for threads
Sources
Credits

Legend:
[1] - number of the source below
[e] - more examples regarding the rule below.
[?] - Need confirmation if rule is still active.

The list is somewhat complete but I will still be adding rules as I encounter them. I'm open to suggestions on formatting, sources, mistakes, rules, removal from the list, etc.

Forum rules

1. No zero or low value, pointless or uninteresting posts or threads. [1][e]

2. No off-topic posts.

3. No trolling.

4. No referral code (ref link) spam. [1]

5. No link shorteners that require users to view an ad.

6. No linking to phishing or malware, without a warning and a valid reason. [e]

7. No begging. [5]

8. No threats to inflict bodily harm, death threats.

9. Discussions in the main boards must be in english. All other language discussions should be posted in the appropriate Local board.

10. No embedded NSFW images anywhere. NSFW content must be marked accordingly.

11. No linking to illegal trading sites.

12. No duplicate posting in multiple boards (except for re-posting topics in the local language boards if they're translated and re-posting marketplace topics in the altcoin boards if altcoins are accepted).

13. Bumps, "updates" are limited to once per 24 hours per thread. Bumping multiple threads at the same time is allowed if it's not annoying. [2][e]

14. All altcoin related discussion belong in the Alternate cryptocurrencies and its child boards. [3][4][e]

15. No on-forum altcoin giveaways. [6][e]

16. Do not have more than one active sales topic in the Currency exchange board. [3]

17. Trading of goods that are illegal in the seller's or buyer's country is forbidden. [2]

18. Having multiple accounts and account sales are allowed, but account sales are discouraged.

19. Possible (or real) scams and Trust ratings are not moderated (to prevent moderation abuse).

20. There are restrictions when selling accounts and invites for invite-only sites. See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134779.0 [2][?]

21. Old bumps should be deleted. [2]

22. Advertising (this includes mining pools, gambling services, exchanges, shops, etc.) in others threads' is no longer allowed, including, but not limited to, in altcoin announcement threads. [8]

23. When deciding if a user has broken the rules, the staff have the right to follow their interpretation of the rules.[e]

24. Advertisements (including signatures within the post area) in posts aren't allowed unless the post is in a thread you started and is really substantial and useful.[9][e]

25. Ban evasion (using or creating accounts while one of your accounts is banned) is not allowed.[e]

26. Local thread rules, if stated properly when the thread was started, specific enough and don't conflict with the forum rules, have to be followed.[e]

27. Using automated translation tools to post translated content in Local boards is not allowed.

28. Exploiting bugs or flaws (even if the result is harmless) in the forum's software is not allowed.

29. Sending unsolicited PMs, including but not limited to advertising and flood, is not allowed.

30. Similar marketplace items must be listed together.[2][e]

31. User avatars must not contain NSFL or NSFW content, infringe on copyright or attempt to impersonate a user.[10]

32. Posting multiple posts in a row (excluding bumps and reserved posts by the thread starter) is not allowed.

33. Posting plagiarized content is not allowed.[e]

Examples:

1. Such posts as "SELL SELL SELL", "I agree", "+1", "Support", "Watching", "Interesting", "LOL", "SCAM", "LEGIT", "FAKE", other one word posts, posts consisting mostly of swearing, quote pyramids, useless introduction threads, threads about a topic already recently discussed in several other threads.

6. The warning must be obvious. For example: "MalwareSite.com <------ CAUTION. This is site contains malware - do NOT click". A valid reason would be if your Bitcoin wallet was hacked and you feel a file you downloaded is to blame.

13. According to a personal message from the head admin, theymos:

Quote from: theymos on April 22, 2020, 06:02:10 PM

The strong guideline is 1 bump per 24 hours per thread. Additionally, bumps should not be annoying, which needs to be determined subjectively. If a user bumps 10 threads every day, that's annoying. If a user bumps 3 threads at the same time for some good reason, then this may not be annoying.

14. This includes services, trades, discussion, speculation, mining and any other content related to altcoins. Trades that include an altcoin and Bitcoin is OK (except for an exchange between the two). For example, a thread named "Buying Bitcoins and Litecoins for bank transfer" can stay in the general boards.

15.

Quote from: theymos on January 27, 2014, 06:11:50 AM

Most giveaway threads are no longer allowed in the Alternate cryptocurrencies sections. From now on, posting or replying to such threads could result in being banned. <...>

Specifically, you are not allowed to give people any incentive to post insubstantial posts in your threads. You can't offer to pay people who post their addresses, usernames, etc. You can do giveaways off-site and link to the giveaway page in a thread, but you can't give people any bonus for replying to your thread.
<...>

23. This rule is meant to prevent users from exploiting possible loopholes in the rules or some interpretations that follow the literal meaning of the rule rather than the meaning of what it truly wanted to prevent.

24.

Quote from: theymos on August 21, 2014, 09:08:07 AM

<...>
Ads are typically not allowed in posts (outside of the signature area) because they are annoying and off-topic. It is especially disallowed to put ads or signatures at the bottom of all of your posts. Except for traditional valedictions, which are tolerated but discouraged, signatures are for the signature area only.

However, if you are using the forum as a publishing platform to host something really substantial and useful, selling ads in that substantial work is allowed. To be eligible for this, your post must be in a topic that you started, and your post must be substantial and long enough to make the ad seem entirely insignificant. If in doubt, ask me.

25. If you get banned (temporarily or permanently) and create a new account to continue posting / sending PMs, it's considered ban evasion. The only exception is creating a thread in Meta about your ban.

26.

Quote from: theymos on January 10, 2015, 10:10:58 PM

Those were mostly replaced by self-moderated topics, but local rules can be enforced at the moderator's discretion.

30. This includes (but is not limited to) domains, software keys and membership invitations. What's considered similar is up to the moderator handling the situation.

33. This includes both copying parts or the entirety of other users' posts or threads and copying content from external sources (e.g. other websites) and passing it as your own.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Q: Why haven't you banned <insert scammer username here> who is an obvious scammer?
A: Possible (or real, not for me to decide) scams are not moderated to prevent moderator abuse. If we start picking out which ones we call "scammers" and ban, we would make a lot of decisions based on biased opinions.

Q: Do you moderate/delete (possible) FUD, accusations and untrue information?
A: No. We don't have enough time to check every single piece of information and verify the validity of the sources. Also, just like scams - too much room for bias and abuse.

However, trolling isn't allowed. If a user is habitually posting obviously false nonsense ("obviously false nonsense" to an outsider, NOT to someone who follows or is involved in the discussion) just to stir up trouble, then it's considered trolling, which is prohibited. Such cases should be thoroughly documented in the report though (There are tons of reports that just say "trolling", but moderators don't have time to look through each user's post).

When it comes to accusations of commercial misconduct, if a user is accusing you / someone else of scamming or defrauding them in your / someone else's sales thread without providing evidence (either in the post itself or by linking to evidence elsewhere), that's considered low value and thus should be reported as such.

Q: Someone insulted me. Why aren't you deleting his post/thread?
A: Possible (since we don't have the time or resources to check) insults are also allowed as long as they contain any kind of constructive opinion, info or something else substantial and aren't off-topic. For example, posting something like "you are dumb" will be deleted as it contains no meaningful content. However, if the post is somewhere along the lines of "You are dumb. This is wrong because this website/thread/etc. has explained it's not right", it's in most cases accepted.

Q: What about deleting DOXes?
A: Nope, we don't delete them either as long as they comply with the following rules:

Quote from: theymos on August 05, 2016, 04:23:54 AM

<...>
1. Personal information must be confined to the new "investigations" board (under Scam Accusations), which is only visible to Members and above. Personal information is defined as anything which links a user's online identity (username, email, etc.) to their meatspace identity, excluding links that the person himself has posted. It is not allowed to post somebody's personal information in any other public place, including in signatures.
2. It is not allowed to post someone's dox if it is especially obvious that you're just using the dox as a weapon. For example, if there are no remotely-plausible trade complaints, then the person can't be a scammer, and their dox should not be posted.
3. As before, anything that the legacy insecure government/banking system requires to be secret is not allowed anywhere. This includes social security numbers, credit card numbers, and certain account numbers.
<...>

Why aren't they deleted? Because such doxing is just compiling information about a user already available publicly, often via search engines.

Q: I saw a guy selling Bitcointalk accounts. Why is that allowed?
A: Since we can't effectively prevent these sales (proxies, TOR, sales on other forums), we don't because otherwise we would be giving the users a false sense of security.

Q: My account was hacked! What do I do?
A: See this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5089777.0. If you don't know how to sign a message, see this thread made by shorena: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=990345.0

If you don't know how to sign a message and the tutorial mentioned before didn't mention your client, google for some tutorials with terms like: "signing messages with <insert your bitcoin client name here>". For example, "signing messages with bitcoin-qt".

Q: What is Trust and how does it work?
A: Trust is Bitcointalk's trade feedback system based on trust (hence the name). The Trust system is made up of 2 components: the Trust list and left feedback.

The Trust list is where you select the users whose feedback on other users you trust and how deep is this trust. You can either trust just their feedback (select the Trust depth as 0), theirs and their trusted users feedback (Trust depth 1), and so on (up to and including Trust depth 4). Trusted feedback will be counted when displayed as numbers to the left of a user's post in trade boards such as Marketplace or Goods. If a you don't set up your own trust list, a default one is used (info on how it is generated can be found here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5095156.0).

The feedback page is where you can leave feedback on other users or see a detailed view of a user's feedback. Trusted feedback will be shown first and untrusted feedback will be hidden by default. You can view it by clicking the link "Show ratings". Last of all, you can see all the feedback the user has left on others.

This covers the basics of the Trust system. If you want a more in depth description of the Trust system and details I probably missed, go here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=211858.0.

Q: What are Trust flags and how do they work?
A: While Trust feedback is meant for trade-related endorsements or accusations, which other forum members can read through to get a general idea of a user's trade history, Trust flags are meant to serve as a more serious equivalent of a negative Trust feedback. There are 3 types of flags:

1. Warning to guests / newbie users that "anyone dealing with this user has a high risk of losing money". Anyone can create this type of flag, even if they weren't impacted by the actions of the user they are flagging.
2. Violation of "a casual or implied agreement". This type of flag should only be created by a member who was directly damaged by the actions of the user they are flagging (e.g. got scammed out of goods or services).
3. Violation of "a written contract". Same as the type 2 flag, but the victim had to have had a written contract with the user they are flagging.

When a flag is created, other forum members can support or oppose it. When calculating if a flag has more supporters or opposition, it uses the same Trust list mechanics as the Trust feedback system (only counts votes of users you "trust"; see previous question for more info about how "trusting" users works). For logged out users (a.k.a. guests), a default Trust list (with the default depth) is used (see previous question for info on how it is generated). A type 1 flag is active if it has more supporters than opposition. For a type 2 or type 3 flag, the flag has to have 3 more supporters than opposition for it to be active.

Active flags are displayed on the flagged user's Trust feedback page (above the trusted feedback list), as warnings on threads they've started (shown only to guests and newbies for type 1 flags and to all users for types 2 and 3) and on their Trust score on their profile page and beside their posts (shown as # symbol for type 1 flags and as a more verbose warning for type 2 and 3 flags). Inactive flags are only shown on the flagged user's inactive flag page (the link to which can be found on the flagged user's Trust feedback page under the "Inactive flags" section).

For a more in depth and detailed explanation, see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5153344.0.

Q: Why is there a warning displayed on my thread / topic?
A: Either you've been flagged (see previous question) or you have more negative pre-flag (before the flag system was introduced) Trust feedback than positive. The pre-flag feedback (both positive and negative) that is included in the calculation is determined by the thread viewer's Trust list and Trust list depth.

Q: Why isn't trust moderated?
A: Feedback isn't moderated (except for obvious cases such as pure advertising, hundreds of identical empty/gibberish reports on one user) for the same reason as scams - too much room for abuse.

Q: So when is the new forum software coming?
A: Well, according to theymos, some time after February 2015.

Quote from: theymos on February 11, 2014, 02:50:26 AM

<...>

Quote

When will the software be finished?

About one year from now.
<...>

Q: I want to change my forum username. What should I do?
A: You can either donate 50 BTC to become a VIP or PM theymos asking to change your username (although he rarely accepts such requests nowadays).

Q: 50/10 BTC for VIP/donator? Are you all crazy?
A: No, we aren't. Someone who is a donator or a VIP is usually an early adopter and having such a rank means you were either here from the start or you contributed a lot to the Bitcoin community. Although, there is a possibility new cheaper ranks might be added.

Q: Why is my IP banned? What are those units of evil?
A: Your IP might be banned because it was used by a user that got perma banned. Don't worry - IP bans decay over time if there's not too many of them issued during a small period of time. If you register using a banned IP, are using TOR, VPNs or well known proxies, you will have to pay a small fee. This is to prevent spammers while allowing legitimate members to post without many restrictions.

Q: Why was my account banned?
A: You probably have broken one of the rules. Try emailing a message to the specified appeal email shown in your ban message.

Q: How does activity work?
A:

Quote from: theymos on June 18, 2013, 08:44:42 PM

The activity number is determined in this way:
time = number of two-week periods in which you've posted since your registration
activity = min(time * 14, posts)

Activity is updated every hour.

For example, if in a 14 day period you post 14 posts, you gain +14 activity.
If you post 2 posts in a 14 day period, you gain +2 activity.
If you don't post at all in a 14 day period, you don't gain activity.
However, if you post 15 or more posts in a 14 day period, you still gain only +14 activity.

Some extra reading on it: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=582736.0 and https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2766177.0

Q: How do ranks/membergroups work?
A: See this link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178608.msg1861412#msg1861412. If you have the required amount of activity yet are wondering why you haven't ranked up, you might've missed the thread's brief mention of the added Merit requirements.

Q: What is Merit and how does it work?
A: See this link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2818350.0. Make sure to check out the linked infographics if you're having trouble understanding how the system (or a part of it) works.

Q: How do I put an image in my post/thread?
A: First you have to upload it to some image hosting site. Just google it, I'm sure you'll find one that suits you. Then simply put in the link to that image like this:

Code:

[img]http://ImageHostingSite.com/MyImage.jpg[/img]

Q: I can't post / embed an image and I'm a newbie. Why?
A: Embedded images have been disabled for newbies due to abuse (see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1172918.0). You'll be able to post images when you become Jr. Member or if you pay a small fee. See more: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2385104.0.

Q: When will I be able to add an avatar to my account?
A: Once your account is ranked Full Member or higher.

Q: Why aren't I receiving any messages from newbies? / I'm a newbie and I can't PM other users
A: In order to mitigate spam, messages to and from newbies have to be opted in. You can do so here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;sa=pmprefs. If you are a newbie and can't seem to reach a user who's buying / selling goods and / or services, post on his thread about it.

Q: Why do I get the "The last posting from your IP was less than 360 seconds ago." error when I haven't posted today?
A: Logging in, sending PMs, searching via the forum's built in search engine and reporting posts to a moderator will also be counted as posting and extend this limit back to 360 seconds. Don't worry: as your activity increases, the 360 second limit will decrease as well. Here you can see the algorithm how the posting limit is calculated based on your activity: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=237597.msg4131557#msg4131557

Q: Can I enable self-moderation on an already existing thread?
A: No. Just lock the old thread and start a new one with self-moderation enabled in "Additional Options... ".

Q: I bumped / A user posted on my thread but it didn't get bumped up to the front page. What's happening?
A: The way bumping works has been changed for certain boards. See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5183553.0

Q: How do I delete/lock my own thread(s) when I no longer need them?
A: On the top right of your post is a delete button. You can delete threads if nobody has seen them. Otherwise, just click "Lock topic" link at the bottom left.

Q: How do you add a link to a word?
A: Pretty simple. Just use this code:

Code:

[url=MyLink.com]Word[/url]

Just replace the "Word" with the phrase/word of your choice and the "MyLink.com" with the link of your choosing.

Q: Why can't I put <insert something like a link, image or color> into my signature?
A: There are signature restrictions based on member rank:

- Newbie: No signature.
- Jr. Member: Max 150 characters.
- Member: Links allowed. Max 4000 characters.
- Full: Color allowed.
- Sr. Member: Size allowed
- Hero: Background color allowed

Q: What is the draft feature on these forums?
A: When you write a post or a PM and click preview, the post gets saved into the Draft page. Same as when you click post (even if an error that prevented the post from being posted appeared such as "The last posting from your IP was less than 360 seconds ago."), send a PM or save an edited post.

Drafts can be found at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=drafts.

Q: Where can I find all the moderators/staff/administrators?
A: Just go to the Member search page (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=mlist;sa=search), untick all the boxes and then tick "Search by position". To find all regular moderators like board moderators, local moderators or patrollers (site-wide newbie moderators), search for "Staff" (without the quotation marks). To find all global moderators, search for "Global Moderator". To find all admins, search for "Administrator".

Make sure to check you are not dealing with an imposter: real mods have the "Position:" field (or the field bellow their username and above their rank (like 'Member' or "Hero member") when they PM or post) set as either Staff, Global Moderator or Administrator. Also, administrators and global moderators have a half colored last coin when you view the left side of their PM or a post. Admins have a red one and global mods have a light blue colored one.

Q:What can <insert staff member name or rank here> do?
A: Different ranks have different access to moderation tools. A quote from Salty Spitoon explains it pretty well:

Quote from: SaltySpitoon on April 29, 2015, 09:10:18 PM

<...>

Admins: can do everything imaginable on the site. They however can't delete their accounts.

Global Moderators: can perma ban, nuke newbies, see and handle reports from all sections, and see reported PMs.

Moderators: can see and handle reports from their sections and nuke newbies

Patrollers: Are essentially Moderators but can only do moderator tasks for newbie members.

<...>

Q: How should I name my thread? / Are there any guidelines to naming threads?
A: A post from the admin, theymos, explains it pretty well. See: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=102944.0

Guidelines for threads

Some boards which are obvious were left out of the list

Section: Bitcoin

Bitcoin Discussion - "General discussion about the Bitcoin ecosystem that doesn't fit better elsewhere. News, the Bitcoin community, innovations, the general environment, etc. Discussion of specific Bitcoin-related services usually belongs in other sections."

Legal (child board of Bitcoin Discussion) - Discussion about laws regarding Bitcoin, it's companies (in general), "court cases, complaints, regulatory actions, etc."

Press (child board of Bitcoin Discussion) - Articles about Bitcoin with links with the appropriate title format.

Meetups (child board of Bitcoin Discussion)- Bitcoin related meetups, conferences, discussion and announcements of such events.

Development & Technical Discussion - "Technical discussion about Satoshi's Bitcoin client and the Bitcoin network in general. No third-party sites/clients, bug reports that do not require much discussion (use github), or support requests. "

Wallet software (child board of Development & Technical Discussion) and it's child boards - Discussions, technical support about other clients such as Electrum, Armory, a variety of hardware wallets, etc.

Mining - Discussion about Bitcoin mining in general (discussions that don't fit in its child boards).

Mining support (child board of Mining) - Problems with mining (rig stopped/doesn't start, miner not hashing), "getting started" guides.

Pools (child board of Mining) - Discussion about Bitcoin mining pools, announcements of such pools. Multipools with Bitcoin as a possible mining cryptocurrency are welcome.

Mining software (miners) (child board of Mining) - Discussion, announcements of Bitcoin mining software.

Hardware (child board of Mining) - Discussion about Bitcoin mining hardware, new hardware announcements. No trades.

Mining speculation (child board of Mining) - Speculation about mining hardware (will this rig break even, when, etc.), difficulty (predictions about it rising/falling), profitability (is this rig profitable, should I mine with such price of electricity, etc.), etc.

Bitcoin Technical Support - Problems, issues with the Satoshi's Bitcoin client (bitcoin-qt, bitcoind). Issues with other clients should go to the Alternative clients board.

Project Development - Organization of Bitcoin and related projects (sites, software not yet developed/in development), bounty campaigns, advertising etc. No hiring here although "looking for partners" threads should be here.

Section: Economy

Economics - Discussion about economics in general: this includes both Bitcoin and fiat.

Speculation (child board of Economics) - Speculations about Bitcoin's price, predictions.

Marketplace - Business / trading with Bitcoin related threads that don't fit into other sections.

Goods (child board of Marketplace) - Trades of physical goods on-forum for Bitcoin. If you are selling goods on another site (e.g. have an online store), it doesn't belong here.

Collectibles (child board of Goods) - Trades of physical collectible items ("Including physical Bitcoin coins" as the board's subtext states). If you are selling these collectibles on another site (e.g. have an online store), it doesn't belong here.

Digital goods (child board of Goods) - Trades of digital goods on-forum for Bitcoin (except for invites and accounts). If you are selling goods on another site (e.g. have an online store), it doesn't belong here.

Invites & Accounts (child board of Digital goods) - Trades of site invites and accounts. If you are selling accounts on another site (e.g. have an online store), it doesn't belong here.

Computer hardware (child board of Goods) - Trades of mining hardware on-forum for Bitcoin. If you are selling goods on another site (e.g. have an online store), it doesn't belong here.

Services (child board of Goods) - Services provided/demanded on-forum for Bitcoin. If you are providing/demanding services on another site (e.g. have a hosting site), it doesn't belong here.

Currency exchange (child board of Marketplace) - Buying/selling bitcoins using other fiat currencies.

Gambling (child board of Marketplace) - "Gambling and all "investments" that are so risky they might as well be gambling (HYIPs, pyramid schemes, etc.)"

Games and rounds (child board of Gambling) - "Spreadsheet games, forum-based games, and discussion of individual rounds/games on other sites." All Bitcoin giveaways, raffles, contests also go here.

Investor-based Games (child board of Gambling) - "Games where the main factor is whether or not new "investors" join the game. Also any Bitcoin-denominated investment product with an APY far above the reasonable market rate. " That includes ponzis, HYIP and other "invest and get tons of cash tomorrow" type sites.

Gambling discussion (child board of Gambling) - "Discussion of sports games and other gambling-related topics which are separate from games and services themselves. ".

Lending (child board of Marketplace) - "Lend BTC or get loans of BTC." This includes loans to individuals and loans to companies.

Long-term offers (child board of Lending) - "Long-term offers to lend BTC or receive loans of BTC, including deposit accounts. "

Securities (child board of Marketplace) - "This section is for topics about individual Bitcoin bonds, stocks, etc."

Auctions (child board of Marketplace) - "Auctions may optionally be placed in this section. Topics and replies in this section can't be modified or deleted. "

Service Announcements (child board of Marketplace) - "New services and significant information about existing services. Do not create excessive "announcements" just to advertise your service." All Bitcoin service website announcements should go here.

Micro Earnings (child board of Service Announcements) - "Faucets, rotators, web based games, and other services that are primarily based on ads and/or micropayments." That includes a lot of websites that payout either dust or near dust amounts of Bitcoin.

Service Discussion (child board of Marketplace) - "Comments and questions about specific Bitcoin services or about all Bitcoin services." This includes discussion of Bitcoin sites (both specific and in general), discussion about technical problems of such sites (API doesn't work, etc.).

Web Wallets (child board of Service Discussion) - "Discussion about online wallets.". This includes client-side Javascript based wallets like Blockchain.info, as well as exchange accounts that double as a wallet like Coinbase.

Exchanges (child board of Service Discussion) - "Discussion about specific exchanges, Bitcoin ATMs, and Bitcoin debit cards. ". Emphasis on Bitcoin - discussions about altcoin issues on exchanges don't belong here.

Trading Discussion - "Discussion about doing business with Bitcoin. Best trading practices, delivery methods etc.". Specific site, exchange discussions don't go here. If you are having problems conducting a trade, need to know the best way to ship a miner to a certain place then this is the place to do it.

Section: Other

Politics & Society - Discussion about politics, recent event in the world - both related and unrelated to Bitcoin.

Beginners & Help - All primitive questions (to pros like us Cool

) like "what are ASICS", "who is satoshi" and "what is mining" should stay here.

Off-topic - "Other topics that might be of interest to bitcoiners"

Serious discussion - "More serious discussion. No advertising of any kind. No junk posts. ". Unlike in most other main section boards, altcoin talk here is OK. You must be a Jr Member to post in this board. Posts in this board do not increase your post count.

Ivory Tower (child board of Serious discussion) - "Even more serious discussion. [Full] Members and above only. No advertising of any kind. No junk posts.". Same as Serious discussion in terms of altcoin content. Posts in this board do not increase your post count nor do they count towards your activity.

Section: Alternate cryptocurrencies

Altcoin Discussion - "Discussion of cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Note that discussion of how these currencies *relate to* Bitcoin may fit in other categories. ". Generic coin discussion threads or discussion about altcoin prices do not belong here.

Announcements (Altcoins) - Altcoin announcements, generic (usually announcement like) coin discussion threads.

Tokens (Altcoins) (child board of Announcements (Altcoins)) - Altcoin token (an altcoin entity / thing that relies on another altcoin's infrastructure to function) announcements, generic (usually announcement like) token discussion threads.

Mining (Altcoins) - Altcoin mining discussion. This includes discussion of PoW mining, PoS staking as well as other mining-like activity (e.g. dedicated devices, software, troubleshooting etc.).

Pools (Altcoins) (child board of Mining (Altcoins)) - Discussion and announcements of altcoin mining pools.

Marketplace (Altcoins) - On-forum sale of goods and services either altcoin related or sold for altcoins.

Bounties (Altcoins) (child board of Marketplace (Altcoins)) - "Altcoin bounties and ad campaigns". Bounties, advertisement campaigns, announcement of external giveaways (that do NOT require posting on Bitcointalk) and other similar threads belong here. Discussions about such campaigns / services do not belong here.

Service Announcements (Altcoins) (child board of Marketplace (Altcoins)) - Announcement of external services that are directly related to or accept altcoins.

Service Discussion (Altcoins) (child board of Marketplace (Altcoins)) - Discussion of altcoin services (both external and on-forum). This includes discussions about bounties.

Speculation (Altcoins) - Discussion about altcoin prices. This includes discussion about portfolios ("what altcoins are you holding?"), price predictions ("is coin X going to reach 10$ next week?" or "why is this coin's price so low?") and general speculation ("are the altcoin markets crashing?").

Section: Local

All Local boards - Discussion of various topics in the appropriate language. Posting translated coin announcements is limited to languages that have their own section (a.k.a. dedicated board with sub-boards).

Special thanks:

For finding typos:

shorena
Welsh
dserrano5
Willisius
MadZ
sncc
CryptoReggae
iasenko

For suggestions:

Welsh
Baitty
Brewins
railzand
medUSA
shorena
Buziss
UFOkid
hilariousandco
dserrano5
Quickseller
-ck (ckolivas)
qwk
capcher
Mitchell
SaltySpitoon
Cyrus
xandry
alanst
jamyr
hosseinimr93

Translations:
_{Note: these translations are unofficial and may be partially or completely inaccurate.}

Spanish translation "Reglas no oficiales del foro" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=705523.0) by dserrano5

German translation "Inoffizielle Bitcointalk.org Regeln/Richtlinien/FAQ" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=767079.0) by Zephir

Portuguese translation "Lista "não-oficial" de Regras do Fórum" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=759695.0) by Adriano

Croatian translation "[WIP] Neslužbena lista Bitcointalk.org pravila/smjernica/FAQ" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4611641.0) by marlboroza

Arabic translation "قائمة غير رسمية من القواعد الرسمية للموقع" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2345906.0) by hugeblack

Filipino translation "Unofficial Forum Rules & Guildelines (Tagalog Version)" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2383339.0) by nc50lc

Polish translation "Nieoficjalna lista (oficjalnych) zasad, wskazówek, FAQ Bitcointalk.org by mprep" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2861831.0) by poptok1

Japanese translation "Bitcointalkのルール、ガイドライン、FAQ" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2966475.0) by sncc

Russian translation "Heoфициaльный cпиcoк oфициaльныx пpaвил" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=994018.0) by xandry

French translation "Liste des règles du forum, guides et FAQ." (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4050645.0) by JeremyB

Dutch translation "Niet-officiële lijst met (officiële) regels, richtlijnen, FAQ Bitcointalk.org" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4606921.0) by TranslateIntoDutch

Korean translation "비공식적인 Bitcointalk의 포럼규칙, 가이드라인, FAQ " (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5068958.0) by elamachain

Romanian translation "Lista neoficiala de reguli, intrebari frecvente ale forumului Bitcointalk" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5112706.0) by 3dOOm (and alanst)

Hindi translation "Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5117825.0) by rangnatht

Italian translation "Elenco non ufficiale di regole (ufficiali) di Bitcointalk.org, linee guida, FAQ" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5147564.0) by CryptoReggae

Turkish translation "Forum Kuralları (Resmi Değildir) [Türkçe Çeviri]" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053076) by vycl87

Legal note: this forum post is a collection of personal observations on how Bitcointalk.org moderation functions at this point in time. It is not a codified set of rules or policies and may be partially or wholly inaccurate. I did not decide upon these policies and have no legal power to change or remove them. All legal queries, requests and demands regarding actual forum policy should be directed at the owner of Bitcointalk.org.

Yogi1996

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