Editor's rant here! I realize that there is a lot of news and buzz about Windows Phone these days, which is always a good thing. I also appreciate that our audience is growing every day, and we welcome you warmly.
Comments are a crucial aspect of our community. The fact is you folks are often our connection to the rest of the world. If we miss something, or get something wrong, we love learning more from you in those posts, as you are a valuable resource too. As our site grows, there are more challenges for us to face including moderating comments. A few solutions are due in the coming weeks, but for now, here are a few guidelines that can keep your fellow WPCentral readers happy.
It is time to lay down the law and for you to eat your veggies or something.
Comment Guidelines
If you all follow these guidelines, it sure would make me happy. I am certain your fellow reader would also be thrilled. So here are some tips to be a good community member!
Read the article first
I plead with you: before making a comment, please read the article. Yes, the whole thing. Try not to skim or only look at the headline. I do not want you to look silly when making a comment. I understand we do not get everything right all the time, but the writers here do take their time to give enough details to answer your questions. I try to think of every question a reader may ask, even ones who are very new to the platform, and incorporate that information in the article, so make use of it.
Limit the usage of 'It seems faster'
I get it, it can be funny at times and yes, technically I started it with those no-changelog Facebook updates (the irony). However, some of you abuse the 'It's faster' meme and use it too often. In short, if someone already did it, it is less funny the second, third or twentieth time.
First!
If you post "first!" or any variation on this site, you are automatically hated by everyone else. This is a fact. Do not be that person. For one, your comment is getting deleted, so it is a waste and two, this is literally the most idiotic thing you can post. Stop it.
One-word comments
There is nothing valuable you can say with just one word. You are a human with a cerebral cortex, so create a sentence. I believe in you!
Troll!
Please, do not call people 'trolls.' Nothing good has ever come of it. The accused have never had a sudden revelation, falling to their knees and begging for your forgiveness because of your label. A troll is also not someone whose opinion you happen to disagree with; or who is unhappy with Microsoft. We can disagree here, and we encourage debate. Keep it friendly. This name-calling goes for 'fanboi' too.
Off-topic comments
If we posted about the Lumia 920's camera and you ask if someone can help you with your Lumia 520 and Wi-Fi that is exasperating. We have the world's largest Windows Phone forums with dedicated moderators and some of the smartest community members around. Use this tool; the community is awesome, and you are likely to find the answer to your question in the forums. Go ahead, ask away!
Search
We go through a lot of effort on our articles and we tend to write a lot. If you do not know something, try the handy-dandy search feature on our site! Just think of some keywords and see what comes up. There is a good chance you can find what you need.
Check the links
We hyperlink the heck out of our articles with previous coverage. The idea there is if you are new to the site, you can click those links to get even more context on the article's topic. If you are using our app you can just swipe over to 'More' and hit the 'View Links' to see them all.
I already know this!
Often, we post How To articles. These are for people who just picked up their first Windows Phone. These articles are not for our veteran readers. Please do not disparage them with the "We already know this!" and "Really? You need to write this?" The longer answer: If you go on Bing or Google, you are often asking a question e.g. "How do I…." If you do that for Windows Phone and WPCentral is not the result you find we have failed as a site. WPCentral is not just for enthusiasts. We want to serve the new person too. Just think of how you found us in the first place.
Who cares?
We post loads of news, reviews, and how to articles every day and if you find something that does not interest you that is fine. I certainly do not expect everyone to find everything fascinating. Simply scroll over the article and go to the next one. No one forces you to read something and then comment on it. It is all up to you.
Spelling/Grammar
On occasion, you may find a spelling or grammar error in an article. Let me throw some numbers at you. Last month, John Callaham wrote 160 articles in 30 days for this site. I wrote 44,129 words, many after 10 hours on the site that day. If you think it is possible to push those numbers and not have an occasional blunder, well, you should be writing for us! Regardless, just let us know, it's cool. There is no need for the snark, or the holier than thou criticism. We are human. It is never fun being called out on an error, less so when someone treats it like the end of the world and insults your existence.
Finally, one of the big features coming to the site (and hopefully the app) in the coming weeks is up and down voting of comments. In the end, you the community are our best moderators, so for those who found this article TL; DR, well, you can down vote them to oblivion if they do not follow along :)
Be nice to each other, share your wisdom, and let us keep this place rocking.
– The WPCentral Staff
