Reminder on Good Quoting Etiquette

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Recently the staff have noticed an upturn in the number of posts quoting large walls of text and other issues such as errors in the use of quote tags. We want to ensure that the forum and it's constituent threads are as easy to follow as possible, and as such we have decided to re-issue a reminder on quoting etiquette.

1. First off the bat; please ensure that your use of the standard quote tags are correct:

Code:

[quote][/quote]

If they go wrong in one post and then other members quote it (as has happened a few times recently) it means that that error is multiplied several times over. Double check your posts, especially if you're quoting large amounts of text.

2. If you are quoting another member, please ensure that you quote only the text you want to respond to. This will decrease the likelihood of errors in quoting, which makes everyone's lives easier. However, please note that it is against the rules to edit/amend the text of another member (Rule 14:"Quoting others accurately"). This includes leaving out content that subsequently alters the meaning/context of the quoted post (quote mining).

3. If you're quoting large walls of text, or are uncomfortable editing another member's post as per point 2, then the staff request that you utilize the hide tags. Doing this will ensure that the large walls of text are not repeatedly pasted over the same page/thread by condensing it down. It also makes threads much easier to read through, which means discussion can can be much more productive. An example is as follows:

Code:

[hide][quote='member1']  this is a block wall of text [/quote][/hide]

Will look like this:

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this is a block wall of text

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If you have any queries regarding this please feel free to post them on this thread or PM the staff.

Many thanks.

AF.org staff.