MGoBoard FAQ

Submitted by Brian on June 3rd, 2019 at 1:10 PM

Why can't I start threads?

New users are not entrusted with that capability until they reach 100 points. (Updated 11/29/2010)

How do I get points?

Every time you post a comment or reply in a thread you get a point.

Wait… then why do I have negative 60?

You can't see this yet—you won't until you get to 100 points, naturally—but all posts/comments come with the ability to vote up or down on them. If you post things that are displeasing to the general populace, you will lose points as people downvote you. You get two points per upvote and minus one per downvote.

How can I avoid downvotes?

Don't be redundant. Don't use stupid nicknames like O$U. Spell things correctly. Don't post useless replies like "I agree" and whatnot.

What happens when I get huge numbers of negative points?

I get dinged and I check your profile out to see if you're pure troll or not, and ban appropriately.

What should I title my threads?

Please make your thread titles as informative as possible: "Justin Feagin" is bad. "Justin Feagin leaving the team?" is good.

How can I bold stuff, insert images, embed videos, etc?

ShockFX provided a helpful primer on basic HTML if you'd like to add some visual pop to your posts.

Why did my post get deleted/edited?

Getting personal on college athletes usually results in a deletion, and virtually always when it's a Michigan player in question. Threads that invite flaming also get deleted. Threads with misleading titles designed to scare the crap out of readers before they click will either be deleted or edited so that their titles reflect their contents.

What is the board's tolerance for language?

Calibrate your language to what it would be at a Michigan tailgate with lots of strangers. We don't ban people for expletives (we do track them though) but we do ask that you avoid offensive language. If someone corrects your language (e.g. please don't use "thug" due to racial overtones) try to respect that. Avoid blasphemy too please--in this you can follow the main page writers' example in using cognates like gotdang, goldang, gotdam, or change up religious expressions to made up/generic polytheistic ones like "Pray to the holy Denard" or "the gods." 

Can I repeat premium information?

To a limited extent. More details are here. Briefly: don't hit CTRL+C, and don't repeat every last detail.

What's the offtopic policy?

In the offseason, offtopic posts are tolerated. During football season they are discouraged and may be subject to removal depending on how alert the moderators are. What counts as on- and off- topic?

ONTOPIC

  • Anything Michigan sports related
  • Anything related to other Big Ten teams or upcoming opponents
  • Stuff about the blog itself
  • University of Michigan topics that don't relate to sports

GRAY AREA

  • College sports in general
  • Ann Arbor

UNWELCOME, KTHX

  • Politics
  • Drew Sharp, Ace Williams, Mike Valenti. Saying stupid and/or false things about Michigan in order to get Michigan fans upset is a tried and true way to phish for clicks. Let's not feed the trolls.
  • Bewbs/Objectification of women. Whatever misogynistic "standard guy stuff" gets tolerated on other sports sites you visit will NOT fly here. 

OFFTOPIC

  • Pro sports of any variety
  • Everything else

We will let pro sports topics slide even during football season but "everything else" posts are likely to get the axe. A few known exceptions for annual local culture things (e.g. there's an annual thread at the opening of firearm deer season).

Can you connect me to another user?

No, sorry. We value our users' privacy too much to share their contact information and I don't have the time to service connections anymore. Social media outlets all have direct message options these days for individuals to connect.

I have another question.

Email me about it. Or Seth.

tabfan19

December 24th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^

I'm trying to post a reply in the Mark May thread, and I'm getting a message about triggering the spam filter and so my message won't be posted.  Any idea what sort of things set off the filter? 

edited to add:  no profanity in the post, no brand names, and obviously I don't want to post the text here in case this won't post it either.

dahblue

January 3rd, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^

Any way to get a more detailed response from an admin (unnamed) who dropped a 1000pt neg for "Warning: Refrain from the name calling. You have points you can argue well, but flaming by name calling gets you nowhere."

I know the points are just numbers, but it's a bit offensive when I didn't "name call" but merely pointed out how defenders of RR had done so with much venom.  I think the worst "name" I called was "RR loyalist".  In comparison, here are a couple examples of folks who didn't see a -1000 today while insulting this swell fella.  I'll omit names as one is a mod/former mod:

When you look at record and ignore circumstances, you again prove what a dumbass you are, dahblue.

Then called:

a complete dick

And told:

stfu

And asked:

How tiny is your penis?

So, I really don't mean to bitch about points.  I know that's a big no-no, but I do mean to bitch about hypocrisy.  If I lost the points for that reason; why no one else?  And where's the quote were I levied the terrible insults?  I love the content on this site, but the hypocrisy on this one is a bit much.

dahblue

January 3rd, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^

While I appreciate the effort to even out the bombs, could you please quote where I levied these terrible insults today?  I think you'll find that I wasn't calling the names but instead was quoting the names screamed by RR supporters to anyone they disagree with.  I'm not sure how quoting people's insults of me (or others) is name-calling.

In general, it's an odd thing as the insults I received today seem to be the norm here on MGoBlog and I get the neg bomb?  I won't quote them again as I don't feel like rocking it negative, but if you're trying to be even-handed, you've got weeks (months? years?) of work ahead of you...and maybe a reversal of a mistake.

formerlyanonymous

January 3rd, 2011 at 8:34 PM ^

My way of moderating is go down long threads, look for a long string of replies, then look for people who were negged or pos'd in large amounts. If either said something that was ad hominem or insulting, I throw them a -1000 bomb. Unless it's an obvious joke, of course.

It's not the best filter, but it's generally effective as a warning system. Like you said, otherwise I'd have way too much work to do.

I'm not sure which CC thread the particular one you received yours for, but I'd bet it was somewhere in the CC: for pro-RR camp thread. There were about 7 or 8 tossed in there.

dahblue

January 3rd, 2011 at 10:29 PM ^

Again, I appreciate the response, but I think you likely didn't quote me because there is no quote to prove your allegation.  Any quote would prove the opposite.  Why not just say, "Oops, I didn't notice that you were quoting someone else"? 

A former mod can call me a "dick" and tell me to "STFU" (one of the most common 'phrases' on the blog), and then I somehow get neg bombed by you???  How is that right?  If your goal was to create a "warning system", your action had the opposite impact.  LIke I said, we all make mistakes and I can understand if, in skimming tons of posts, you didn't notice that I was quoting others to show how angry their rhetoric has been.

dahblue

January 8th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^

Formerly-

You negged 80% of my points for quoting a mod insulting me (which is why a flat neg of 1000 is ridiculous even if the neg were warranted) and haven't produced my "offending" quote that warranted the 80% neg.  That same -1000 penalty would have cost you only 4%.  Losing the points is kinda annoying.  Losing the points for quoting someone else insulting me is really annoying.  Entirely disproportionate reactions based on previously existing points is just wrong.  Yeah, I know..."don't complain about points"...So, maybe consider this a complaint about punishment not fitting the alleged crime and a request for you to fix your mistake.  Thanks.

dahblue

January 8th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^

I'm dwelling for sure.

I'm a big fan of fundamental fairness, so when I quote a (former) mod insulting me and get negged 80% of my points by a current mod (who posted a viewpoint contrary to mine in the same thread), it just isn't right and smacks of censorship rather than moderation.  I'll be over it soon, but it doesn't speak well of the MGoBubble.

jerseyblue

January 17th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^

Is anybody else losing points to expiration at a rapid rate? I've lost about 100 points in the last few weeks due to it. I'm not one who measures himself by his point total. My thing is if it keeps up at this rate I could end up inthe neg without actually having people neg me. Then Brian is alerted that you are in the neg I'd feel like I'd be summoned to the principal's office without doing anything wrong.

JimLahey

February 20th, 2011 at 10:33 AM ^

I got shitnegged before for asking this but I'm only asking because I don't know and I only need to be told once and then I never need to ask again. Can someone please explain what the deal is with points expiring, what does that mean and why do they expire? Also, why is the point system currently not working is it just a problem with the site right now? Thanks.

octal9

February 22nd, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^

Can someone please explain what the deal is with points expiring, what does that mean and why do they expire?

It means 365 days have passed since the points were acquired/lost, so they expire and we have to get rid of them. If we keep them around they might gain sentience and go all Skynet on us (it also saves on database space).

Also, why is the point system currently not working is it just a problem with the site right now? Thanks.

Yes, there is coding that needs to happen on the backend in order to make the point system 100% functional.

snehalgarg

May 13th, 2011 at 6:01 AM ^

Hey Brian! Thanks for sharing the MGO Board FAQs. Its of great use to everyone & also provide the important informations regarding this forums. So that everyone should be careful & comfortable in posting the different stuff.

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illinoisblue

May 14th, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^

I may get negative feedback again for asking this, but I don't see it in your descriptions. How do I up my karma rating? I automatically start at zero now and I don't even know what I did?

dahblue

May 14th, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^

So far no luck getting info from anyone, but I'm hoping there is a way to order the threads newest-to-oldest (as was previously the case).  Is it possible to change that setting?  Thanks.

HighSociety

September 8th, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^

keeps giving me this error message when trying to add a picture

 

 

The image was resized to fit within the maximum allowed dimensions of 85x85pixels.
  • The selected file /tmp/desmond_0.jpg could not be uploaded, because the destination sites/mgoblog.com/files/pictures/picture-27115.jpg is not properly configured.
  • Failed to upload the picture image; the pictures directory doesn't exist or is not writable.
 

M-Wolverine

October 24th, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^

It had something to do with the great site crash of 2011. If it's back up, ever, I would think that the off-season would be the earliest, and is on the to do list, but won't get a whiff with as busy as football season is...and may wait till post hockey/basketball.

bacon1431

September 15th, 2011 at 9:05 PM ^

For some reason, my last few posts have started out with a "Score:2". Just curious if there's a reason for this because I swear I'm not pos-banging myself (not that Score:# really even makes a difference)

InDee

November 6th, 2011 at 12:07 AM ^

what the heck is going on?

let my posts be visible dude! been on 0 karma for couple of weeks now.. just posting that I can watch the game on espn3.com?

bjk

November 30th, 2011 at 11:02 PM ^

when the board went to rich text editor.

You can use html by using the "Switch to plain text editor" button below.

You can find the text of "Shockfx"'s 2009-era html post in "Raoul"'s comment on the thread here, or follow the link in that comment and see it with all the comments (many informative) here ("Google cache feature," per "Raoul"). I have no idea how he dug it up.

Now, can someone tell me what are "Karma" points and should I want more of them?

Amaizin'Blue87

August 11th, 2012 at 12:20 PM ^

I am looking for two (2) tickets for the U-M Tailgate party for the Cowboys Classic 2012 game in Dallas. If anyone has tickets they would like to sell please contact me via e-mail.