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.

justingoblue

October 4th, 2012 at 2:29 AM ^

The score above your posts reflects how everyone feels about them. -1 is the lowest the score goes, +5 is the highest. All scores have an adjective attached, but just know that people can be completely arbitrary. We pride ourselves on being logical and informed, but there will be times you need a thick skin to post anything (there is a Sonic not far from Ohio Stadium, Urban Meyer has MNC rings, whatever) with your avatar and username, because someone will neg them no matter the content. OTOH there are several MSU and OSU fans here that get great receptions, though those are earned based on reputation (WatersDemos is a great MSU poster, I think UrbanWarfare and BucksfanXC do a good job from OSU).



When you get 100 MGoPoints, you are allowed to post original topics and "moderate" or vote on posts; the top left of your screen will change with that option. At 500, you can edit the MGoHallOfFame*, two-deep and offer list. Other than that, the purpose of points these days is just to identify who posts a lot.



Check out this link here: http://mgoblog.com/diaries/meta-info-new-mgoboarders and go ahead and post any new questions on this thread. I've been meaning to tell you that you're a good poster here (considering you're a Buckeye.../s) and would be happy to answer anything you want to know about the site. Cheers.

*I don't know how much of it you might think is funny, but the MGoHallofFame is amazing. The humor section is worth spending the time to read, trust me.

 

E. Gordon Gee

October 5th, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^

Justingoblue

Not sure why it won't let me reply back to you directly below... 

Anyway, I try to be as knowledgeable and objective to Michigan fans when I make post so that they contribute to the conversation. I know some Michigan fans will bash me because I'm an OSU guy but its ok, I've been treated way worse my Wisconsin fans in Madison and online. Thanks for being respectful even thought I'm an OSU fan and answering my questions... 

The link you gave me had everything I wanted but if you know how to edit your post after you post them that would be great. Also, I like the point system you guys have here. Elevenwarriors just started one a week ago that works similar to what you guys have. I need to get to 100 points before the Michigan game so I can ask you guys some questions on my own post. 

Good luck vs. Purdue. 

E. Gordon Gee

November 25th, 2012 at 8:06 PM ^

I'm not sure if anyone went to THE GAME or to campus bars but I wanted to hear how everyone experiences went. I don't want to rub anyone the wrong way since we are rivals but I like to hear what people think. I don't have enough MgoBlog points to start a thread. Could someone start one. 

E. Gordon Gee

January 25th, 2013 at 7:50 AM ^

Justingoblue, 

You recently created this topic and I have no way to personally message you so I'm hoping you come across this. Go back to the topic you started and check for my feedback. I recently left you something that might be worthwhile to improving the site for visitors experience. Disregard this if you've already read it but it got buried below all the other new topics. 

justingoblue

January 25th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^

Thanks for putting the time in, especially considering [maize and blue site + heathen Buckeye joke here]. I'm trying to make a final decision and get whatever that is written and up on the site; the goal is Monday morning, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday if I end up needing some HTML help.

Right now, I'm not sure how to handle a lot of your suggestions, but I will forward that post to Seth (he's the site editor) and see if he wants to impliment anything you suggested. The issue with making a lot of those recommendations to me is the limited scope of things I can do. I can get new stickys up or edit threads or adjust points, but I don't have much more input into the sites construction than anyone else with a good idea. For you personally, you have the points to create threads/diaries now, and pretty much everything you wrote out would be a fine forum topic and would get good answers.

Oh, I almost forgot. This piece basically tore the site apart with like a dozen debate threads on the qualities of a good deli and where the best place to go after having too much to drink the night before (and where to drink too much the night before), but it is pretty much exactly what you were talking about as far as an Ann Arbor guide.

E. Gordon Gee

January 25th, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^

Well that link you gave me will serve perfectly for helping to plan my trip up to Ann Arbor. I'll bookmark it and save it under my favorites. Sorry to hear it created ripples among MgoBlog users but it seems informative to me. Hope my suggestions help in some way. Thanks! 

E. Gordon Gee

January 26th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^

I plan on going to Ann Arbor for the football game this year with a few other recent alums to scratch off another B1G school from our list of schools we've been to. Unless our plans get mixed up and we end up just going to Northwestern we'll be there too. However, once we finish our football tour, we probably will travel to each B1G school for a basketball game. If you wanna share your recommendation for which cafe' to check out go ahead, I'll add it to my sticky note under things to check out on campus. I can always start a thread asking for advice and recommendations for my trip or ask my friend who went to Law school there to get more input as the time gets closer. 

Daver113086

February 3rd, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^

This sucks that I have to wait til I get 100 points before  I can post something!!! I have something I want to talk about and get off my chest something about the Mich vs. Mich St. game at the Joe yesterday (Feb.2nd) that happened to my girlfriend and I.  I just joined this blog site the day after the game to discuss it with you guys now I have to wait til I get more points...

ChopBlock

February 6th, 2013 at 1:03 AM ^

Welcome!

Just as a general rule of thumb, if it's something you want to "get off your chest", it's definitely a good idea to think twice about posting it. A couple questions to ask yourself:

1) Is it repetitive? That is, is it something we've all experienced and discussed a thousand times before? We all have stories of bad behavior by opposing fan bases, and the topic has been brought up many times in the past.

2) Is it noteworthy? That is, does it bring something qualitatively (not merely quantitatively) new to the table? Take for an example, a study by a research foundation that indicates that OSU fans are statistically more likely to be meatheads. That's worth its thread, because it brings something new to the conversation.

In summary, one fan's tale of abuse isn't particularly noteworthy, unless something truly momentous happened. The typical internet adage "LURK MOAR" applies here; this community does come down harsh on "bad" threads, but the benefit of that is that you don't have to wade through seas of "Cool Story Bro" type posts to get the good stuff most of the time. Welcome and I hope you like it here!

wolverineswag

February 17th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^

I use a Mac (I use safari and chrome), and I have a glitch where anytime I try to access beyond page 1 of board topics, I see older blog posts, etc. Anything BUT actual board threads. Is there any fix to this?

E. Gordon Gee

February 17th, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^

Sorry to ask this but if you want to block quote a statement, how do you do it? Not sure if you switch to plain text editor then add something else then switch back. Thanks.  

justingoblue

March 6th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^

it's saying you have 73 points, and that usually comes around at 100.

Edit: On the page here it says 146. This is kind of confusing, actually.

Edit II: It doesn't look like you had any points given that might have expired or taken away, so I really have no idea what the discrepancy could be.

Mastersj

April 2nd, 2013 at 9:28 AM ^

Hi,  My dilemma is this:  I have a great true story about Trey Burke but being new here I cannot post it yet.  I've been meaning to tell this story for months but now would be the perfect time.  Would it be possible to send you my idea and if approved post it as soon a possible?  I read M-Goblog every day but would never be a reguar poster or commenter.  The list would really appreciate this story.  

VAGenius

May 9th, 2013 at 4:41 PM ^

Link in the "How can I bold stuff, insert images, embed videos, etc?" FAQ above no longer works. In trying to find it, I noticed a bunchof old articles in the forums noting it was gone... but it's still here.

In my opinion, a link to the "META: Embed Refresher Course" article here would be helpful. I found an older one which ranked higher in my Google search but didn't work as it pre-dated the current software.

SCarolinaMaize

June 21st, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^

I've tried loading a few different photos for an avatar but none will load.  I keep getting 

 - the selected file could not be copied

 - failed to upload image, the pictures directory doesn't exist or isn't writable.

Crash

August 8th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^

Just trying to test out an embed feature:

Alright, why can't I embed a video to start at a specific time?  I wanted to use a different video, but I figured this video would be a good one to test on.

 

Here's my embed code without the opening and closing arrows:

iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v7Ic3g9Hn1U#t=23s" width="560"></iframe

MJ14

January 6th, 2014 at 3:04 AM ^

Testing something out here:

 

The problem with your code is you are doing this #t=23s. Well that only works to post a youtube link that makes the video start at a certain time on the youtube page. If you want the embed link to work you have to do this: 

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/v7Ic3g9Hn1U?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&start=23"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/v7Ic3g9Hn1U?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&start=23" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

That is the correct code to make an embed video start at whatever time you want. 

branden.lee2

August 20th, 2013 at 3:17 PM ^

Hey. I am a HUGE Michigan fan living in Tennessee. Does anyone here have a watchespn subscription they would be willing to let me use so i can watch michigan when they are on espn. I have a btn2go subscription by watchespn is unsupported by my dish network subscription. Anything would help! Thanks

QuentinKyle

September 18th, 2020 at 2:44 PM ^

Hi Mods,

I hope this is the right place for this question; I looked around for a while and haven't been able to find anything elsewhere on this:

Is the only way to DM people still to e-mail Brian and then have a Mod set it up? Or am I missing something - wanted to check b/c this is from over 8 years ago! 

I'll try to check back here; or if there's a way for you to DM me, then please do that... and thanks in advance... Go Blue!