The 20 Character Requirement

is dumb.


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what sorcery did you use to defeat it???

Underbar.


Gangsta


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Das right


“Hey guys, here’s how I break that rule I don’t agree with and here’s how you can do it to.”

Really?

The character minimum was put in place to improve the quality of post content. Nothing of much substance that can be posted should fall below that limit anyhow. “Yes.”, “LOL”, “I agree.”, “What he said”, “x2” or similar can pretty much all be conveyed with the Like button on a relevant post. “No.”, “You’re wrong”, “I disagree”, “GTFO” all bring no actual value to a thread’s conversation and can/should be better thought out with just a few more words.

Some people might see the character minimum kinda like speed limits, “Sure, it’s technically 55mph, but screw it, that’s slow. I’ll do 65.” A rule that’s clearly outlined, but can be bent when we feel like it. But, no, that’s not how it works.

When the forum was created, the 20-character policy was a step to help ensure a certain level of post quality, and post quality is what matters (to Admins, active members, and lurkers).

Trying to use loopholes like the underscore or literally typing “20 char limit” at the end of posts instead of spending a handful of seconds to think of five whole words you want to type will not fly. Breaking that forum policy can result in the post being deleted or, actually, a one-week suspension of posting privileges if the issue continues.

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Come on Chris, it’s just a bit of fun. I spent $50 on the site today, let me have a lil fun…

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I disagree. Less is often more. People just end up using space fillers to hit the requisite character count. And a suspension for a violation? Really?

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[quote=“anon50325502, post:8, topic:217565”]
Come on Chris, it’s just a bit of fun. I spent $50 on the site today, let me have a lil fun…[/quote]

I get what you’re saying, and I’m thinking you’re just half-serious, but the “I bought stuff so loosen the rules a little” is a slippery-at-best point that comes up whenever forum policies are discussed/enforced. I’m sure you know what I mean.

[quote=“kpsnap, post:9, topic:217565, full:true”]
People just end up using space fillers to hit the requisite character count.[/quote]
The whole point is to have people use actual contributions to hit the requisite character count.

Have there been many instances you’ve run into where a legit, meaningful reply warranted fewer than 20 characters?

I’m told week-long suspensions are on the table for “repeat offenders”. As it stands, basic post deletion is the most direct way the issue will be handled.

It’s essentially a case of, if you can’t come up with 20 characters to post, then you don’t have anything that needs to be posted.

I don’t think this is really fair. Sometimes there’s just a very concise answer. Doesn’t mean it’s not meaningful.

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I was just joking Chris. Not serious at all.

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Yes, like when someone posts a final revision of a good nutrition or training or other type of plan and just asks if it’s okay. Thank you posts are another but I guess a like covers those. They dont make sense for confirmations thougg… probably messes with other functions as well (such as thread suggestions).

Also: Do 5/3/1 and Just do 5/3/1 should always be valid responses :grinning:

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lol! This guy gets it!

Actually, Chris, my reason for posting this in the first place was not to be cute. It was in response to the inordinate, unnecessary amount of posts that are substantive, that are under 20 characters, that have the unnecessary addendum, “post must be at least 20 characters” or some iteration thereof.

Yeah, I found a way to get around it, but my point is that this particular new requirement of an otherwise fantastic update to the site is more than unnecessary. It actually hinders the smooth flow of conversation. And I’d wager that every one of us who is not a moderator or administrator here would be more than happy to see it go immediately.

But this is the actual discussion I wanted to have, so thanks for replying.

Exactly. What’s more, there was never a problem with short, often succinct replies cluttering up the site in the first place. It was a fix for something that was never broke.

Yes. On PWI. All the time.

I had to add “All the time” to hit 20 characters.

Seriously. Good grief.

There are plenty of worthless posts on here that contain information that is potentially dangerous if followed containing hundreds or thousands of characters. Yet they aren’t policed.

But your going to improve the quality of the posts by enforcing a 20 character requirement and suspend people who don’t follow the rule. Great idea.

I am a huge fan of advertising fish oil as pharmaceutical grade by the way.

Also let’s go with your assumption that anything less than 20 characters is not a quality post. How long do those posts take to read. 1 second. Is that really a huge deal.

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There’s nothing preventing very concise answers or short, often succinct replies. Those are still fine. Ball-busting is fine. Even throwaway driveby one-liners are fine. The issue is doing those things in under 20 characters, which is roughly four or five words, which is not too much to ask.

Not joking or being sarcastic, but if you could link to a few of those, I’d like to take a look.