You might ask them to post type ID questions to the correct forum and not to hijack a thread by saying, “great topic guys, now how about tell me the name of this font?”

ChrisL

PS: I think the size is about 600px wide?

I have long advocated posting a request to refrain from personal attacks—at the place where people do their posts. Here is the one from Typographica:

“Please refrain from off-topic banter and personal attacks. Your comment may be edited or removed at the discretion of Typographica editors. Our goal is not to stifle debate but to keep it relevant.”

I would not want the stuff about refraining from off-topic banter, though. In good Talmudic style, some of the best stuff on Typophile happens when people go off on a tangent and people join in the discussion of it. A little irrelevant humor is welcome also.

And the policing warning is not a necessity. Typophile is so active that it is probably unreasonable to ask volunteers to police it. But if the notice is there, then a firm warning from a moderator, and a very rare after-the-fact removal with an explanation might be healthy also.

“A little irrelevant humor is welcome also.”

:-)

ChrisL

I would love to see a small navigational feature that can direct posters to appropriate categories for best response.

This is already posted as a guide in the Type ID section but new topic subjects such as “Help!” or “What is this font?” is less inviting to open than slightly more descriptive topics like: “Please ID script face on store sign” which might interest the right members.

B) Image guidelines: Images MUST be in RGB format and should not exceed certain dimensions (what dimensions should those be? you tell me!)

You should probably repeat the requirements for Flash 8 player requirement.

I think people should know that jpeg is the preferred format for attachments as well. I get annoyed when I find myself involuntarily downloading a pdf file that I then need to delete from my hard drive.

Agree that descriptive titles should be encouraged for the posts, especially on the Type ID board. And also a suggestion that they read the FAQ before posting on that particular forum.

I don’t know that jpeg is always the preferred format for attachments. In type critiques, I want a pdf, so I can zoom in.

I don’t know that jpeg is always the preferred format for attachments. In type critiques, I want a pdf, so I can zoom in.

yes, i’m hoping to develop similar guidelines for other areas as well. for type crits i want to suggest that posters include

1) a gif/jpg/png showing large detail of the font

2) a pdf with text/display showings to show the font off in context.

Just echoing patty and speter: it would be a good idea to have some guidelines for posting images/pdfs to the Critique section. Also, and I’m not sure how to correct this, but it seems like a lot of image uploads to that section fail to show up properly, although a helpful, more experienced person usually pops up and fixes the problem.

GIF is preferable to JPG for type viewing pleasure. Isn’t the quality better too? ;^) And doesn’t PNG not them both off their pedastal?

PNG is better but maybe the folks hosting the show have reasons for a particular format?

ChrisL

I think PNG doesn’t have universal compatability. IE still doesn’t like PNGs with transparencies, I think.

I agree that some simple guidelines, more on the technical side than anything, would be good. Can topics be ’pinned’ to the top of the General Discussions area? Other bboards I’ve seen do this with FAQ and guideline threads. Also, perhaps you could include a very brief and courteous line or two about requesting free fonts on Typophile.

Can topics be ‘pinned’ to the top of the General Discussions area?

yes. once i have my guidelines together there will be a closed thread that will remain at the top of the topics list with guidelines.

Also, perhaps you could include a very brief and courteous line or two about requesting free fonts on Typophile.

definately. it will refer free font seekers to this wiki entry: FAQ_Free.

PDF is a pain, but I concur that for type critique, it’s useful.

Ideally, everyone would post inline images. Having to navigate to another page or download a PDF just gets in the way, IMHO.

PDFs never launch with me. It may be a setting on IE6? When I click it and try to open it, it (Acrobat) tells me that the file does not exist so I always end up donloading it to my PC separately and then opening it from the location where I had to save it.

I have a funny feeling I’ve just done what Chris can’t abide which is to change the topic halfway through. BTW, any idea what this font is?

On size of images, I like 640 x 480px (the size of screens once) but it turns out that that’s too big for the column width available without scrolling. 600 (the size for Type Battle) seems a reasonable suggestion - don’t think depth matters as much (provided it’s not crazy).

LOL!!!
Lovin it Nick! :-)

ChrisL

Seriously though, how do I make PDFs just launch?

can you get them to launch normally from other sites besides typophile?

alright, the guidelines are now live at: http://typophile.com/readme

please post any critiques, additions, corrections here.

now on to guidelines for the Critiques section. Anything besides attach a gif + pdf suggestion?

Thanks, Paul—very nice.

ps. I noticed a typo: ’Assistsance:’

Way to go Paul!

ChrisL

I’m having the same problem with PDF’s as Nick Job. They launch from every other site but Typophile, so I end up downloading them as well.

Nice going, Paul! The FAQ reads really well.

Thing 1: Under “Post threads in the appropriate forum”, the word one is missing from the next-to-last sentence:

Please contact of our moderators...

And Thing 2: this may be a dumb question, but... shouldn’t the FAQ be posted at the top of the Forums page? Or is it at the top of General Discussions because everyone comes here first?

thanx for the compliments and for pointing out my errors. i hope i’ve fixed em all now...

Paul, good idea!

I certainly agree with William that we should recommend refraining from personal attacks. Integral to this however is a parallel recommendation: Typophile -although inescapably leaning towards certain cultures- is more like a zoo than a cocktail party, and the animals are from all over the planet. Ergo, don’t assume, and certainly don’t insist, that others take offense from the same things. That’s just provincial. William’s Talmudism or my Agnoticism should not impede candor. We pay politicians for that.

Without adding that to your “Be Courteous” section, you: risk people getting overly shocked once in a while; and really, you’re hiding the truth.

hhp

>Typophile ...is more like a zoo than a cocktail party

Hmmm, Let’s see. I am the billygoat. Nick S. is the ram. John H. the giraffe. David B. the old lion. And Hrant is ...?

okay, i edited the Be Courteous heading. Does that tidbit convey your intentions, Hrant?

Paul, thanks - should do fine.

William: According to Yves, an Armenian mountain lion.*
But giraffes, they’re silent. :-) I’m very glad John isn’t.
BTW, I forgot to point out the main thing in the zoo
analogy: Typophile is our watering hole.

* Google shows it, but it’s yet to be unbroken:
http://www.typophile.com/forums/messages/30/38661.html

hhp

Sorry Paul, I’ve been away for the weekend.

Yes, same problem as Lauri with PDFs - every other site is fine - this one is the only one that doesn’t work. PDF attachments on other sites do not prompt me with a grey dialogue box as to whether I want to open or save etc. They simply launch Acrobat automatically (unless already open) and open pdfs in the same/another browser window (ie in IE6 but with Acrobat functionality). I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

”...I am the billygoat. Nick S. is the ram. John H. the giraffe. David B. the old lion. And Hrant is …?”

Guess I can’t be the old goat since William is Billy— then how about the bald eagle? :-)

ChrisL

Paul, reading today’s page-9 action* I thought of another thing you might add to the FAQ: When you ask for font suggestions, please tell us at least a little bit about the friggin’ thing you’re setting, sheesh!! Not in those words.

* :-/ I’d actually moved up to page 8 the last few days! :-(

hhp

Here’s the very first mention of the Armenian mountain lion in the legendary Typophile Classic Thread with Typophile’s very first one minute identification, courtesy of Hrant.

BTW Paul — feel free to check the FAQ in the Type Identification Board and reuse whatever info you need. It’s not like it’s copyrighted to me personally or anything, I consider it property of Typophile.

Paul, the writer in me says:

Typophile Forums Answers to FAQs aka General Posting Guidelines

should be

Posting to the Forums

ps Yves, ’Posting to the Type ID Forum’ might get more reads than “FAQ.”

okay, that does it! :^D i’m just going to name it what i wanted to in the first place instead of trying to keep everyone happy (like the diplomant i usually am). see you on the other side...

yves, i’ll go over what you’ve got posted again. thnx.

>trying to keep everyone happy

The #1 cause of excess words!

I think we should make an amendment to the amendment and amend the fact that moderator’s have the right to ignore suggested amended ammendments. ;^D

I second the motion to ammend the ammendment Tiff is trying to ammend but I would like to make a recommendation on another thing to mend :-)

ChrisL

Paul,
Do your thing man.

>Paul,Do your thing man.

Amen to that ammendment!

Paul,
I think you need to add this - PLEASE READ: Typophile Forum Posting Guidelines ; next /below to “Post new comment”, or “Comment:*” ; and RED ( the same thing with the ID Board)

When you ask for font suggestions, please tell us at least a little bit about the friggin’ thing you’re setting, sheesh!! Not in those words.

okay, i think it’s time to put together a specific Read Me for the Design forum and for the Critique forum. what are some things people posting to these forums should know? Anyone care to rephrase Hrant’s advice above?

Type suggestions —> Design Forum
Free type notices —> Design Forum

Agree that know a little about the project should be given. Otherwise we are aiming without a target.

what kind of info should a person looking for advice give about their project, in order for us to be able to give relevant help?

things like: nature of project, text size, printing process, budget?

Yes to all. Even when someone has two typefaces that might work but neither are quite right at least that gives direction to those who want to help.

any other considerations that should usually be taken into account?

media? what else? help me brainstorm here...

audience

market (which is the same. sorta)

I guess we are looking for a Cliff Notes of the problem brief.
Audience, Purpose, message, Clent description, delivery chanel, Desired action of target audience. Other restraints like printing specs (colors, stock, press-run, etc.)

ChrisL

And ethics: The client knows about the post/thread?

And... student work or the real world work?

This is just a pet peeve and maybe off topic but I wish the original posters would show us what they ended up doing either based on our suggestions - or not. Sometimes they touch base at the end but more often we never see the results of the brainstorming.

I think we should make an amendment to the amendment and amend the fact that moderator’s have the right to ignore suggested amended ammendments.

Somehow I am reminded of the Isley Bros...

“It’s your thing, do what you wanna do. I can’t tell you, who to sock it to.”
; )

Don’t forget to mention that all comments posted on this web site must be completely pointless and uterly without merit, reason, or be based on facts or expereince.

Don’t forget to mention that all comments posted on this web site must be completely pointless and uterly without merit, reason, or be based on facts or expereince.

I’m pretty much the only one doing that, so I guess for once I’m not screwing up.
: )

How about, “to thyne own self be true,”—as in no phony names and drive-by shooting tactics when posting. This is not some dating chat room where people hide their identity. We are supposed to talk about type and there is no need for secret identities to do that.

ChrisL

Font player, your one of the only reasonable people hear.

It’s about time someone realized I was the voice of reason. Thanks for the chuckle.

By the same token, please do not post links to sites with commercial fonts for download.

should be

By the same token, please do not post links to sites with commercial fonts for illegal download.

as sites like these have commercial fonts for download.

I think if you’re going to direct posters to search first, you might also want to provide instructions for the workaround with Google since the built-in search function doesn’t seem to turn up reliable results.

...commercial fonts for illegal download.

illicit would be preferable to “illegal”, because in some countries there is no “legal” basis to the act of “font theft” or “unauthorized sharing of software”, no actual state laws or legislation relating directly to it.

The only real standard for this kind of thing is the commercial nature of font vending and the moral outrage of type makers and vendors whose commercial rights are violated. For example, a user who breaches the terms and conditions of a font product’s EULA makes illicit use of the product, but there may be no legal redress to their behaviour, depending on which country we’re talking about.

It may be wise to put in a statement dealing with the “unauthorized distribution or sharing”, breach of EULA and the commercial rights of authorized vendors.

j a m e s

hey, thanks for the suggestions! how about this: “please do not post links to sites witch offer unauthorized downloads of commercial fonts.”?

Craig, I’ll go back and link to some googling instructions later...

hey, thanks for the suggestions! how about this: “please do not post links to sites witch offer unauthorized downloads of commercial fonts.”?

First, I’d recommend that it say “that” instead of “which.”

Second, remember that non-commercial fonts are still copyrighted. We could look at what Wikipedia says. I have to go.

Good points Thomas.

Paul, how about: “please do not post links to sites or resources offering unauthorized downloads of fonts, either free or commercial.”

It may seem trivial to some people, but Thomas has good point about “that” v.s “which”. It’s a very fine point in English grammar.

I’ve avoided it altogether with “offering”.

Glad you guys care.

Yep, some basic google tips on searching would be invaluable.

While I think of it, the max image width of 600px still causes scrollbars to appear in Internet Explorer, so I’ve adopted 590px for max width. I’m not allowed to look at Typophile on Macs at work. so can Safari users please post some feedback on max image width? What’s the maximum width image you can post before scrollbars show up?

Thanks :^)

j a m e s

In my defense: BBC say that and which are often interchangeable. I thought BBC might be a reliable resource, but as with anything that’s up for debate.

The BBC answer doesn’t mention Fowler, of “Modern English Usage”. Fowler had a campaign to distinguish between “that” and “which”. The idea is that you should use “that” when the clause defines or identifies that which comes before: “The assassination that triggered the First World War.” But when you are expanding on the previous, then you use “which”: “Romney’s speech on religion, which was highly controversial.”

There is some debate about how valid this rule is, but I think it’s helpful.

Also there is the other use: “That witch that was burned at the stake which hirt like hell” :-)

ChrisL

Fowler’s rule separating “that” and “which” is widely used by editors and teachers in the United States but has never been widely adopted in Britain. It’s a bit artificial, in my opinion, since it’s sort of an arbitrary creation - as if I were to say “people should only use the word ’desktop’ to refer to computer interface spaces and never use it to refer to a piece of furniture”, and then expect everyone to obey me - but people complain about violations anyway.