READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Summary:

Basic rules and courtesies for Draft Forum behavior. [thread locked, retired]

READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 08 Apr 2015 04:11

Getting right to the point: (if you just want to read the bolded parts, that's fine.)

If you're getting critique!

• Be patient! It can take a few days to get critique. No one here is paid to review. If you can't wait, go to chat or message a staff member to wave your forum thread in chat.
• Use the sandbox! Put your draft there, then make a thread that has a link to your sandbox.
• Do not bump threads! That's spammy and unfair to people being patient.
• One thread per draft¹! Keeps things neat. And also so no one person has like the entire first page with threads about their one draft.
• Don't announce minor changes! You can announce major draft revisions and/or additions. We don't need to know every time you added a comma.

If you're giving critique!

• Give the author an action to follow! Just saying "needs work"/"needs more"/"has potential" and leaving it at that is vague and unhelpful.
• Give examples! If you're going to note tonal or grammatical errors, give some examples and suggestions for fixings. Otherwise the author's still sort of lost.
• Make sure you know what the community wants! SCPs don't need to be dangerous/scary/kept in perfect cube rooms. Be familiar with the current site standards and what the community is expecting in an article of quality.

Further reading:
Tips and tricks (basically a more thorough version of this thing): http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-1019181
Rules and Guidelines (in-depth and detailed!): http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-602584

Footnotes

1. Editing a draft does not make it a new draft. It becomes a new version of the same draft.

Last edited on 23 May 2017 00:45 by Zyn Show more

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Newgi5 12 Mar 2016 15:21

I recently drafted an SCP in the sandbox and put it up for critique on a thread. I've decided against my original SCP and am going do draft a different one instead. when I want to have it critiqued do I make a new thread or just delete everything in my old one to start again?

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 12 Mar 2016 19:49

Make a new thread for the new SCP. One thread per draft.

Also, only mods and admins can delete forum posts, and we only do so when they contain severe rule-breaking material, like links to virus sites or inappropriate images.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Newgi5 12 Mar 2016 20:16

Ok thanks

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

OnlineStudio 05 Sep 2016 22:12

When we wish to post our draft for review and feedback, do we post the link to it, or post the full draft on the thread/forum?

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 06 Sep 2016 00:02

do we post the link to it, or post the full draft on the thread/forum?

Post the link.

If/when in doubt, go through some of the other draft threads, and see how other uses did it.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

DarkShot88 16 Mar 2016 02:32

OK so for my new scp, SCP-2335 (More Sleep) My internet shut down just as i posted my thread. Then i posted it again and i realized I posted two Threads. Of the same thing. Please dont be mad, If you could just delete one of them that'd be great!

Best critiquing regards, DarkShot88

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 16 Mar 2016 02:56

Duplicate has been dealt with.

Also, DarkShot88, there's no need to sign your forum posts. We can already see your username at the top of every comment you make.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

DarkShot88 16 Mar 2016 03:08

Sorry and thankyou!!

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

ClairvoyantLobster 30 Jan 2017 06:19

Let's say we have made use of the tabs code on the sandbox site. By "one draft", do you mean only a single SCP (a single tabs worth) or can we just post the link and announce to look over a specific tab?

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Westrin 30 Jan 2017 06:22

You normally give the link to the sandbox with multiple tabs, and then say somewhere "It's under "NAME OF TAB HERE"." That's how I do it, anyway.

---

Only nerds have signatures

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

ClairvoyantLobster 31 Jan 2017 08:00

That was very helpful, thank you!

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Beaners 12 Mar 2017 17:00

So do I put in the draft and the link or just the link?

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Sirens 12 Mar 2017 19:43

Just the link. If you're ever unsure of what to do, you can always take a look at other threads in the draft forum to see how others did it.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

(account deleted) 10 Apr 2017 11:34

Sorry for not linking the sandbox. Forgot about it.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 10 Apr 2017 19:12

You don't need to use this thread to apologize; someone who hasn't seen the thread in question wouldnlt even know which thread you're talking about here. Just fix the thread by editing the problematic post.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

(account deleted) 29 Apr 2017 18:52

Okay, so I am a complete greenhorn and therefore don't exactly know what is meant by "thread" though I will assume you mean URLs for the page….or something? Also I haven't fully developed my internet etiquit so just tell me if my comments are out of place or something.
Anyways, I had an SCP that I typed up in Microsoft Word, but copy paste is not my friend. I realized that the representing the SCP's designation actually got a bit messed up and resembled a cross out instead. If you can overlook that and other minor problems with typos and such, then any critiques would be welcome.
Link: http://scpsandbox2.wikidot.com/edward-buck
thank you for your time

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 29 Apr 2017 19:13

Okay, so I am a complete greenhorn and therefore don't exactly know what is meant by "thread" though I will assume you mean URLs for the page….or something?

Go here: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/c-50864/help:drafts-and-critiques

Find the button that says "create a new thread". Click that. Fill in the new information on the screen that pops up and click the "post" button. If you're unsure what to put, take a look at what other site members have posted.

Please do not use this topic discussion for asking for critique.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

dfu 03 Nov 2015 00:55

I am sorry I have no idea What bumping means. I assume that Bumping is when someone advertises themselves on other threads?

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 03 Nov 2015 01:02

Bumping is when someone makes a new post on their thread to "bump" the thread to the top of the forum list (since threads are ordered by age, the threads with the most recent posts are displayed at the top).

Bumping can consist of anything from "bump" to "PLEASE READ" to other variations of low-content posts, which become spammy if done often.

Announcing significant new changes to a draft and asking for feedback on the updated piece, however, is fine.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

ribby97 21 Jan 2016 09:30

Would it be acceptable to bump if your thread got moved to the second page and you still hadn't got a response?

Actually, I'm assuming that waving the thread around in the sanbox (edit: Chat, yeah-oops) would still be the most helpful course of action at that point

Last edited on 21 Jan 2016 23:26 by ribby97 Show more

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 21 Jan 2016 20:10

Would it be acceptable to bump if your thread got moved to the second page and you still hadn't got a response?

Unless the thread hasn't been responded to in a week or longer, I advise holding off on bumping if there are currently no responses. Staff members who maintain the forums are expected to focus on threads with no replies first, with the aim to be having no threads past the first page unanswered.

Actually, I'm assuming that waving the thread around in the sanbox would still be the most helpful course of action at that point

I'm not sure how someone would wave a thread around in the sandbox since there aren't any discussion forums there, but I'm assuming you meant the IRC chatroom? Chat's generally a much more reliable way to get feedback immediately.

Alternatively, if you can't access the chat or no one's online when you do, message a staff member and we'll help out.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Night Pilot 30 Jan 2016 22:07

What if you make a sandbox page but decide not to use it anymore, do you just delete it? Maybe copy the text and save it somewhere else? I might have just answered my own question, but I'm just clarifying

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 30 Jan 2016 23:13

Given that the title of your current sandbox is "Night pilot's first SCP", are you planning on not using the sandbox because of the name? If so, you can rename a page's url by clicking the "+ options" at the bottom right of the page, and selecting "rename" in the list of links that pops up.

People who use the sandbox are encouraged to name the page simply with the name of the author, since people often write more than one draft, often use more than one draft name, and we don't allow people to reserve SCP numbers. So just [your name] would work fine for the title, or [your name]'s sandbox, which is more common.

If you want a sandbox entirely gone because you don't want the content to be on the sandbox site anymore, ask a staff member and we'll delete the page entirely. Make sure that if you want to keep the material, you save the content before you ask.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Epic Maniac 07 Feb 2017 03:47

If you have not received feedback yet and you make a huge rewrite tat completely changes the article, do you announce the changes or would that be considered bumping?

---

Pierce the heavens with your drill!

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

Zyn 07 Feb 2017 08:21

That would be bumping. Staff members who review drafts in the forums prioritize threads with no feedback, especially those that have fallen from the first page, so you'd have the most visibility if you don't reply to yourself.

That said, you can edit the post ("+ Options" and then "Edit") to make a note of the rewrite you've done.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

OneDrunkWolf 22 Mar 2017 21:19

I'm sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I wanted to make sure of site rule's and such before I even attempted anything.

I thought I read something along the lines of I shouldn't sandbox with site links and I should create a wikidot separate sandbox. Is that right?

I'm sorry, I really don't know how to proceed.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

MayD 22 Mar 2017 21:24

The expectation is that you make a sandbox page on our sandbox site, instead of posting the whole draft on the forums. Just go to this site, and make a page with your username and put your drafts there. Then, when you're looking for feedback, you can just link your sandbox page.

Re: READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE DRAFTS FORUM

sirpudding 22 Mar 2017 21:26

I shouldn't sandbox with site links

I don't know what this means.

and I should create a wikidot separate sandbox.

You aren't required to use the sandbox wiki, but you are required to host your draft elsewhere. Hosting it in the sandbox is best, usually, because the Wikidot syntax will be parsed and you will see exactly what your article looks like.

Last edited on 22 Mar 2017 21:31 by sirpudding Show more