1/ The problem:

Currently, forum rules are hard to find. This leads to:
-Unintentional rule-breaking.
-A higher workload for moderators.

2/ The solution:

Add an “i” button (information) to each forum page. Clicking on it will display all specific rules for that forum

3/ The features:

Clicking this button would display:
-Forum-specific rules (e.g. Does necroposting exist? Can we make ads?)
-Links to general Scratch guidelines
-Optional tips for good forum participation

When a user sends a message for the first time, a pop-up containing commonly broken rules may appear before the message is sent, asking the user to read the rules

4/ Moderation:

Adding this feature wouldn’t solve every forum problem related to rules. To complement it:
-A notification could be sent by the Scratch Team (ST) when a rule is broken
-These messages could come with a forum-only mute and couldn’t result in a ban

5/ Other:
Mock-up by HighlaneGamingStudio
Mock-up of what the pop-up could look by floofycat4436 (at the end of the post)
Mock-up by Rosics

Edit: added a precision about the pop-up
Edit 2: added Other category
Edit 3: corrected a misspelling

I think it might be best to show them the rules when they first open the topic like the ‘becoming a scratcher’ thing
example for suggestions:

this forum is for suggesting ways to make scratch better

reply to posts giving ways to improve them

make posts showcasing your own ideas having checked the directory to ensure there is not already a topic and the list of rejected suggestionsto make sure the scratch team has not already considered it also please make a separate topic for each idea

Support, I could've used this when I was new to the forums, and plenty of other people I see could've, too.

While this would be better than nothing, I think most people are still not going to read them.

jvvg wrote:

While this would be better than nothing, I think most people are still not going to read them.

These are my thoughts on the matter. This initial suggestion does correctly note a problem but I don't think an information button as such would do much to address the major parts of it.

everwinner64 wrote:

When a user sends a post for the first time, a pop-up asking them to read the rules could be displayed before the post is submitted

I do also think more should be done to emphasise this part of the suggestion - this sort of hands-on confirmation (perhaps with the pop-up even containing some basic, commonly accidentally broken rules?) could easily educate folk before accidentally breaking rules - I think this should perhaps be the focus of the suggestion.

Support! This means new scratchers won't accidentally mis-use the forums cuz they don't know how it works.

op456 wrote:

everwinner64 wrote:

When a user sends a post for the first time, a pop-up asking them to read the rules could be displayed before the post is submitted

I do also think more should be done to emphasise this part of the suggestion - this sort of hands-on confirmation (perhaps with the pop-up even containing some basic, commonly accidentally broken rules?) could easily educate folk before accidentally breaking rules - I think this should perhaps be the focus of the suggestion.

If possible, I'd like to add on to this - maybe there could even be a “timer” of sorts preventing people from just clicking through the pages. Nothing drastic, obviously, but at least a couple seconds-to a minute delay might encourage more people to actually stop and read them.

pasta_enjoyer7 wrote:

If possible, I'd like to add on to this - maybe there could even be a “timer” of sorts preventing people from just clicking through the pages. Nothing drastic, obviously, but at least a couple seconds-to a minute delay might encourage more people to actually stop and read them.

Even better: hide a keyword or passkey within the rules that must be inputted into a textbox, being randomly put together with whatever string anyone wants it to be.

I'm on a forum where this is a must, and they quite literally blend it into the rules. For instance, to quote the exact part it's in:

Keep the topic of a thread in mind! The forum is not a chatroom, it's more like sending a letter to someone. Remember what the topic is about, try to stay on topic, and make sure what you're posting contributes to the conversation and doesn't make the thread harder to read. If someone complains about you being spammy, take the hint. The key we referred to earlier is the compound word greenflower. Lastly, no financial transactions. We won't stop you from performing commissions on your own in private or elsewhere, but you're on your own if you do. We can’t have your back if a deal goes bad.

Doing something similar to this could work - It'd completely force the user to read it, not just wait out a timer and call it a day.

Of course we can't just put it in the middle, we'd need to go from high severity to low, so when we reach the lowest severity of a rule break or something that is completely at the user's fault, we could first give the pass key.
After that we'd have to reroll where we place this obviously, else the next train of thought on the end user would be to look at roughly the same place.

I'm no rule-writer, so writing an example of this isn't something I can do.

jvvg wrote:

While this would be better than nothing, I think most people are still not going to read them.

It’s why my suggestion includes a part 4. If they don’t read, it would be their problem.

op456 wrote:

These are my thoughts on the matter. This initial suggestion does correctly note a problem but I don't think an information button as such would do much to address the major parts of it.

It’s why the system would ask you to read the rules when you try to post for the first time, even if you’ve not clicked the button to read them

op456 wrote:

perhaps with the pop-up even containing some basic, commonly accidentally broken rules?

I thought about it but I forgot to precise it in the op. I’ll add the precision

Buuuump

For everyone saying people won't read it, put a checkbox saying “I readed this, and agree to these rules” not at the end, but in some random spot which changes every time you first read the rules.

For necroposting, maybe there could be a warning if the last post was made a certain amount of time ago (this could also help people that know the rule, but misread the date)

medians wrote:

For necroposting, maybe there could be a warning if the last post was made a certain amount of time ago (this could also help people that know the rule, but misread the date)

Something like this has been proposed here

Bump

Bumppppp

The button should probably be placed in a useful location, like this:

Thiago_le_meilleur wrote:

Good idea. This will prevent necropost for scratchers that are new to the forums.

Necroposting isn't a thing on the scratch forums, if it's not closed it still can be relevant.

coder2310 wrote:

Thiago_le_meilleur wrote:

Good idea. This will prevent necropost for scratchers that are new to the forums.

Necroposting isn't a thing on the scratch forums, if it's not closed it still can be relevant.

Necroposting is a thing?? (this can include implemented suggestions that aren't closed, and posts from many subforums)