There is no reason to use "force" to get people to use the correct forums. You can politely tell people they would have better luck in the appropriate forums. The moderators are paying attention and we'll move the threads as we notice them.

Most jobs that have nothing to do with type or typography are considered spam. These threads are removed. If, however, someone is posting saying they need a type designer and it is a humble enough request there is no reason not to leave it. Most of us can tell the difference.

There is simply no way to ensure posting will happen in the appropriate areas, not with the number of visitors Typophile sees, but as Tif said, part of what the moderators do is to move threads into other topic areas if necessary and keep everything tidy.

Though we'd love to have the boards organized as efficiently as possible, there are no set rules that say software discussions must be kept within the Build section, or logo discussions under the umbrella of Critique. In coming months, we will be making some minor tweaks here and there, and part of that will hopefully assist users, especially newbies and first time visitors, in finding and posting to the appropriate sections. Type ID is certainly an area that needs this attention, and much of the issue is simply exposure. A significantly large % of visitors do not land on the "Forum Topics" page so they may not be aware that the option exists until after they have posted.

thanks for your replies and for your efforts at moderating - a question i still have :
is "general discussions" the appropriate forum for project / job solicitation ?

(and i didn't really mean "force", more of a nudge)

typophile rocks !

From what I can tell the more stringent forums moderators tend to be, the more griefers show up just to screw with the mods.

Type ID has far and away the most threads, but General Discussions has the most posts, obviously because a lot of ID's are taken care of pretty quickly whereas some of the General Discussions threads go on and on.

Do you have a way to track which forum gets the most hits?

For myself, I wish that Critique was limited to font critiques as the subtitle suggests. I have always felt that the sub-forum "Typography/Composition" kind of gets buried there. I forget to look. I'd rather see that under Design.

James, from what I've seen, the only griefers we have on this board are noobs that are't quite acclimated to how things are here. Even our trolls are nice trolls, that eventually become contributing members.

This is really a problem. We generally need to get away from name-calling altogether. If someone is new then we need to extend more "benefit of the doubt" their way. If someone isn't new and you don't enjoy their posts you should ignore them. No one is making you read anyone's comments and/or threads.

And by generally I mean, of course, altogether. Name-calling is for school yards and this isn't a school yard. And even there it isn't appropriate.

We all need to try to read between the lines a little more or ask more questions to discover what is in between the lines. Assuming only causes problems. If you have a sincere question as to why someone posts something then ask the question. Don't make an assumption and post based on that. We, Typophile as a collective, can benefit from each other only if we allow for the collective to exist. Name-calling is one way to destroy that collective. It is human to disagree with someone's POV, but it is inhumane to debase that person only because you disagree and further not allow that person to have their own POV.

When you participate in online discussions you agree to use common courtesy—which is common sense to do so. We've lost a few people because this doesn't always happen.

There is a revealing story about giving the benefit of the doubt in the Talmud. The sages said "Be judging every person in a favorable light." So the question is: What does that mean? So the story goes that a certain famous sage was seen going into a house of prostitution with a sack of money, staying for a half hour, and later emerging with a young woman, and without the money sack. "How do you judge that in a favorable light?" a sage asks his student. The student answers: this was a time of war, and his sister had been captured and sold into prostitution; he went to pay a ransom to rescue her before anything bad could happen to her. --And that was indeed the case, the story concludes.

Things are not always what they seem, and our anger is easily aroused, at least if you are anything like me. I try to remember that story and smile--which also helps.

you are right miss tiffany, but actually i found asvetics comment rather friendly. "noobs" is not name-calling, i don't mind being referred to as a noob when that's what i am... and "nice trolls".. that just made me smile.

but yes, maturity and diplomacy win the day. i'll be the first to admit that i'm prone to argue with insults, but i've successfully refrained from sending a few harsh replies. thanks for providing the voice of wisdom.

and now back to our regularly scheduled typography forum...

Any chance we could get an addition to the rules requesting that students not post requests for help with their research before they’ve actually done some on their own? I enjoy helping people who are having real trouble with their research, but sometimes it’s really obvious that kids are just copying–and–pasting assignments from their online coursework without doing a Google search or checking the indexes of their textbooks.

Aren't we all here to learn? Sometimes don't we need a good lead to get going?

Yes, I'm aware that the students who post without doing research are a thorn in some sides. For those of you who find the thorn the best thing to do in regards to that is ignore the thread. Or, even better, make a simple suggestion that gives them a little help but also suggest that the best place to start is the library or wikipedia. Do all of this with a smile too. If you can't then simply ignore the thread.

Or, even better, make a simple suggestion that gives them a little help but also suggest that the best place to start is the library or wikipedia. Do all of this with a smile too. If you can’t then simply ignore the thread.

Yes, or if the premise is weak give them a angle to chase down that will help them figure it out. There is usually a way to give a person what they need even if it isn't what they are asking for.

I’m not asking for free reign to brutalize users who post their homework—just that the rules suggest checking Google, the Wiki, or a library first. This might lead them to ask better questions, and raise the level of discourse overall.

And not to derail the thread, but why not add a homework help forum? It would be a great way to make Typophile—which can seem overwhelming to a noob—more palatable and useful for design students.

It could be argued that finding this site at all constitutes research. I certainly don't mind helping students, altho it sometimes does cross the line into doing their homework for them. Particularly when they ask what they should write their dissertation on.

It certainly benefits students more if they are given suggestions as to how to conduct their own research rather than just answers. Give a student a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach him how to fish he'll eat forever.

I knew something was fishy about that posting. Now, what if the small printer post something like this:

[Uncle Sam pointing at ya]

I WANT YOU
TO WANT
ME
TO PRINT
ALL
YOUR LETTERPRESS STUFF
TODAY

Is that bad - out of the rules?

Thanks

observation only

I am blown away how many people post 'what is this typeface?' or 'help me?' or 'do these make my bum look big?'
I do think 'those posters' wanting help on recognition of fonts they have to list at least 3 sites they have been to see if they could identify it themselves? How much time have they spent looking?

Myself love to find a typeface research it out, while researching I find other interesting typefaces or topics.
However I am surprised and interested to see the 'helpers' of typeface recognition, their replies are well informed and very courteous even to the lame questions.

@ William Berkson: “Be judging every person in a favorable light.” very nice