Most of you know about automatic post merging, some of you have yet to discover it. So I'll explain it here :D

Back in the bad old days when Mene first started, before Lee bought us in October 2007 and we switched to vBulletin for software, our rules were harsh. Super harsh, in fact! Josh had things on a 3 strikes and you're out system. So that meant you could only do 3 things wrong and you'd be banned!

To break that down:

1. Don't quote some spoons = permanent infraction
2. Double post = permanent infraction
3. Bump a thread = BAN

Another example:

1. Necro a long dead and totally irrelevant thread = permanent infraction
2. Have a sig pic that was too big = permanent infraction
3. Make 2 exchange threads = BAN

Scary, huh?

So for 3 newbie mistakes, you could get yourself banned, and unsuprisingly, people did!

---

So, once Josh was out of the way I set about revamping the warning system. It's been through several overhauls to get to where it is today, now people are unlikely to even get an expiring infraction, let alone a permanent one, because they have a lot more chances to learn by their mistakes. People have to do the same thing wrong 4 times now, to get a permanent warning, and if they make the same mistake 4 times they fully deserve a permanent warning IMO :ninja:

One of the tools used to make life easier on people was the auto post merge. Which took away a person's ability to double post, so meant no-one should ever get warned for it again \o/ (unless you use the over-ride to do it needlessly then we will kick your butt >:]). But it confuses some people, I know!

So a quick break down:

Posts will be automatically merged if they're within 5 hours of each other.

There's no more to it than that. You'll still get all the gold for it (unless your 2 posts are long and the total exceeds the 30 gold max), and we don't end up with a forum full of multiple posts.

What I've done today is change the ------ that seperates merged posts, so now it actually puts a time stamp, which will hopefully be a lot less confusing for people! I also made the text a nice colour :lol:

For those of you who don't know how to NOT have posts merge, for when you want to set up permanent threads, check out THIS thread in the FAQs forum, the FAQs are your friend :yes:.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have!

@allonline;

Now we all know exactly when someone decides to post again. :insane:

I suddenly feel ridiculously grateful that I wasn't around during the super-harsh rules, and that you've made things better. And I really kind of like the timestamp idea, and I'm not even sure why I like it so much. I'll figure it out later.

Yeah, the original warning system was absurd, and is probably why Mene still has a reputation in some circles, for being harsh and banning for no reason, to this day : /

I'm sure that reputation will fade eventually, especially considering how much fun everyone has around here now.

I should hope so! But people tend to bear a grudge for a long time xD So someone who got banned on here in 2008 could still be telling people, "OMG, that site sucks, they banned me for no reason!!!11!!"

Ironically, that's what I say about Gaia. :lol:

I have a Gaia account... somewhere. I don't remember the last time I logged into it, but I do remember I wasn't impressed with what I saw. Mene's better, as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by Mageling

I have a Gaia account... somewhere. I don't remember the last time I logged into it, but I do remember I wasn't impressed with what I saw. Mene's better, as far as I'm concerned.

I agree. I really... Really.... HATE Gaia with a passion.

Originally Posted by jellysundae

Yeah, the original warning system was absurd, and is probably why Mene still has a reputation in some circles, for being harsh and banning for no reason, to this day : /

You are right actually. Before I joined back in 2010 I heard that this site was harsh and stuff like that. (My gaia days)

To bad I still hear that Menewsha is bad but I know it isn't. I really like it here!

Ooh, nice! Thanks, Jelly! :D

Wow how convenient! :O
Thanks for doing this and letting us know, Jelly! :D

oh.. wow GO JELLY 'tackle huggles' you so rock.

I was wondering if it was just my computer making it look different XD But I like that idea!!!

and I have an infraction to my name from like 2008 for forgetting to quote a question when I posted the question and the answer. I'm pretty sure it expired but I was always worried back in the day that I'd do something else and get banned for it D: I like the more lenient system and I rarely see people who repeatedly break the rules.

Oh, cool. :eager: I like this new feature. :)

and I am sure proud for myself that I went through the super harsh system... XD

I'm kind of glad I wasn't here during that time.
:ninja:
I like the Mene now though! :D Well no.. not like.. LOVE! :heart:

Originally Posted by Maria-Minamino

I was wondering if it was just my computer making it look different XD But I like that idea!!!

and I have an infraction to my name from like 2008 for forgetting to quote a question when I posted the question and the answer. I'm pretty sure it expired but I was always worried back in the day that I'd do something else and get banned for it D: I like the more lenient system and I rarely see people who repeatedly break the rules.

I have an infraction too. And it's a non-expiring one. Which bums me out. But I understand why I got it so I don't fret too much. xD

I do like how the auto post merging looks now. All fancy and stuff. :)

it is a nice color, jelly.
oh, if you ever feel like giving the usernames a color tweak,
teal would be supercalafragalisticly wonderful!
:P

*tweaktweak*

how do you find out if you have any infractions?

Look on your profile.

I remember when I made my first ever account, I was told by someone who had been using it for a few months that I wasn't allowed to spell anything wrong, nor was I allowed to be illiterate because Mene frowned upon this and you would be sanctioned. At the time, I did really think that, that was indeed what would happen ;) However as I came to know Mene a little more, I felt stupid for believing it. I was aware of the rules however, about bumping, Necro-ing and generally being a Tard, since I lived by the same rules when I ran my own forum as Joint Admin! I'm glad though that things have been changed :] It makes it easier for a mistake to be realised rather than getting reprimanded straight away and then become annoyed over such a thing. I also quite enjoy the time stamp Idea, Thanks for the work, Jelly! x

Originally Posted by DaisyKeehl

I agree. I really... Really.... HATE Gaia with a passion.


You are right actually. Before I joined back in 2010 I heard that this site was harsh and stuff like that. (My gaia days)

To bad I still hear that Menewsha is bad but I know it isn't. I really like it here!

I never heard of the "harsh" menewsha thing. I've been around since 07 and I never had any of those problems. xD
I thought people got banned because they earned it.

Thank You
I love the color by the way
=)

examples of the olden times:

12-30-2008 Expired 100 (points) Posting Flobs .... (I STILL have no idea what I did wrong)
and
10-19-2008 Expired 100 (points) Bumping/spamming (third offense) ... (I still have no idea what I did wrong)

and these, even though expired, STILL show up on my profile. harsh times. harsh times indeed, Jelly.

but, on a lighter note, I am REALLY excited about the changes!! thank you!!

M i r o, the people who complain the loudest about unfair banning are usually the ones who fully deserved it :ninja: I'd like to think we've never banned anyone unfairly on here.

I know they ban unfairly on Gaia, as two of my good friends were both banned for receiving botted gold through donations from strangers. Both of them donated, one of them bought plushes and all sorts. I've always felt that Gaia doing this was partly what caused their financial problems. Unfairly ban a lot of the donating members, and welcome with open arms the spammy kiddies with no cash, then wonder where the income's gone...

---------- Post added 04-21-2012 at 12:57 AM ----------

Originally Posted by crazymuch

examples of the olden times:

12-30-2008 Expired 100 (points) Posting Flobs .... (I STILL have no idea what I did wrong)
and
10-19-2008 Expired 100 (points) Bumping/spamming (third offense) ... (I still have no idea what I did wrong)

and these, even though expired, STILL show up on my profile. harsh times. harsh times indeed, Jelly.

but, on a lighter note, I am REALLY excited about the changes!! thank you!!

They have to remain on your profile as a record :yes: We wouldn't know if people already had infractions if there was no record, would we :) Which would make things a teeny bit difficult :ninja:

What you need to bear in mind is this...because of the age of those, they are no different to what a new user would receive now, which isn't even an infraction, it's just a pointer to what they've done wrong and a gentle nudge in the direction of the rules :yes:

So what happens to the infractions from a single 'wrongdoing' that already exist? Are they to remain or are we wiped clean of those.
I had some infraction from having two exchange threads, yet bumping the old one would have landed me the same infraction.

---------- Post added 04-20-2012 at 05:15 PM ----------

And, to test out this new merging feature...

I just read the post above mine, which explains it. It's for record-keeping. Although, shouldn't they count as warnings rather than infractions?