Guide For Newbies Draft Page

Draft page for NEW Guide For Newbies

Let's all lend a hand and draft some guidelines to optimise the CC.com experience for newcomers and old-salts alike. . . . .

This is not just a Mustang site

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Do not try to impress us with big words. Chances are you don't really know what they mean and you have no idea how to use them in the proper context. We DO know what they mean and we will mark up your post like a 3rd grade english teacher with a beehive and a hairy mole on her chin.

Absolute Statements are Critical Lightning Rods; use them with care, or risk grounding.

Use the WAG label as a get out of jail free card.

A single post in all caps will get you banned or worse. Guaranteed.

When you ask a question, try to be as specific as you can. Rather than ask a general, sweeping question ("what suspension parts are good?"), try to narrow it down to a specific subject ("Konis vs Bilsteins for a street/open track car?"). Let us know what your intended purpose will be, make, model, and year of car (we welcome all types here), and what relevant mods (if any) you already have. Without this basic information, we can't accurately answer your question.

Use the search function BEFORE you post a question. We don't like rehashing a subject that was discussed just last week, last month, or a even last year if nothing new is brought to the table. We like to be thorough in technical discussions, so chances are good that your question was answered if your topic has been brought up before. In addition, use wildcards in your searches. A search for tire* will find both tires and tire. Finally, don't search for a URL and expect to find out if a link to another site has been posted; that does not work.

Go easy on the signatures. A couple of lines will do. We're more substance over style here. You're here because you want to learn more about cornering your car better. We can assume that you either have a ton of stuff done to your car, or you're going to shortly. If we want/need to know we'll ask.

Do not start a thread asking about 'what kind of music do you guys listen to. . . .' That is considered quite gay, and you will be christened __Homo Dancing Queen.__ This is a car website, not fucking 'Soul Train.'

Silly usernames (Barry Mccockiner), usernames that imply useless superiority (Supastreetcarkillah), or usernames with alternating caps (tYpERfORdezZcOrt?) bring little to no credibility to your posts, and will probably end up getting your dumb ass banned. Try using your own name, and say nothing you wouldn't want associated with it.

Ghetto-tabulous language, street slang, and ebonics are all not welcome here. "sup, dog?" is not acceptable in any post at any time. Nor are the words "dope, mad, tight, hella, or da'bomb" unless they are used in the context that our friend, the dictionary, places them in.

Use the spell check function in your word processor. Then cut and paste your posts into the BB.

Big sigs suck. They waste space and are weak methods for getting people to be impressed by dumbasses. Here's a short rule you guys (and girls!) can live with... Short sigs on CC.com - that's it. If you include a long sig as part of your posts, that will be altered once as an educational measure. Any use after and your user name will be deleted. If you want people to know what bolts you use to hold the LEDs on your hood and which hand you prefer for taking a piss, get a website and include a link.

Please do not tell us that you are a "good driver" and outcorner Corvettes in your stock 1989 GT. We don't care, and if you have to tell us you are a good driver then in all likelihood you aren't. People who actually are good drivers don't have to broadcast it.

If you are new, your post count will tell us this fact. Please don't announce to us that you are new. We know already. Instead lurk, lurk, lurk until you find a topic you have something of value you can contribute to. Telling us you are new will get the minimum in cordial accolades however if you post something stupid at a later date we will remember you and come down much harder. On the other hand, if you "blend" in and post useful info you will slowly gain respect from the "elders".

In addition to being an excellent source of road race and auto-x related tech, cc.com is often a source of lively political and philosophical debate. But like the technical discussions, before entering such a debate, oh newbie, there are a few things you should know: Be prepared to back up your opinion with some reasonable sources. Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. Opinions are also like assholes in that no one wants to look at your un-wiped one just for the hell of it, so before you post be prepared to have your opinions questioned, ripped on, torn up, or worse. This board is not your soap box, we don't hold hands, and we only sing Irish drinking songs (although certain poetry is also acceptable). Saying, "you guys are a bunch of big meanie heads" will be of no help as we don't care. Saying, "I'm going to take my ball and go home" will be of no help, as we are well stocked in balls and don't need your wussy pink ball cluttering up the place anyway.

The next guy who provides a link to a site that seems intent on crashing the entire internet through the use of pop-up ads and windows without a warning is going to get a Trac-Link shoved so far up his/her ass that they're gonna "pop-up", too.

Kindly reserve "cute-sie" indications of your uncontrolled physical glee and/or responses to posts (especially YOUR OWN posts) such as <G>, <EG>, <EFG>, etc., for the express purpose of amusing the trailer-trash at whatever shit-house-come-chat-room you report to every evening on AOL. It ain't funny, it's actually never cute-cute, and quite frankly, you're neither all that clever nor amusing anyway.

Don't post a question in multiple forums in hopes of "getting more responses." Most members go through every forum when they visit, and they will come across your post regardless of where you put it. Having the same topic occurring in multiple forums makes it difficult to keep track of what's going on and increases the chances of duplicated effort.

Use a meaningful thread title. You want readers to know what the thread is about before they enter the thread. The forum software allows thread titles to be quite long; use this to give your thread a meaningful yet succinct title. A thread title like "brake question" is not nearly as effective as one like "Need help on master cylinder sizes." In addition to drawing the appropriate expertise to your thread, a good title helps when searching the forums at a later date.

Anyone schooled in economics is familiar with Gresham's Law: bad money drives out good. Well, indifferent moderating invites a Gresham's Law of Online Interaction: idiotic postings drive away contributors who have something interesting to say.

"Stang" is a word that inbred cretins use to describe what happened to them when they threw their MGD bottle at the wasp nest growing on their trailer and is not an acceptable substitute for "Mustang", not even if you put an apostrophe in front of it.

Don't even think about posting the most recent amusing picture, funny story, or warning that the atmosphere is on fire that your best friend from accounting just emailed to the company directory. We'll see them whenever the thing invades our inbox.

Checking sources is an important aspect of posting with credabilty. If something you are posting sounds too good to be true and you are relying upon someone else's words to make a point, take your ass out to www.snopes.com or www.google.com and make sure you're not spreading misinformation, which is a capital crime here in CC land.

If you're going to discuss politics, try to make sense: read George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," available through your favorite search engine.!