How to start interesting forum topics

[Cleisthenis]

Welcome to the demosphere!

If you've recently read a news story or article online that makes you tick, or you want to start a discussion about a topic that's missing from a forum, here is a handy template to help guide you. After selecting the appropriate forum for the topic, copy and paste the forum code below to get started by quoting a web source and provide something juicy that members can sink their teeth into.

Code:

From www.website.url, "[url=link]title[/url]":
[img]imageurl[/img]
[quote]
<Copy and Paste relevant quote from the article text here>
[/quote]
[hr]
[list][b]More:[/b]
[*][url=link]title[/url]
[/list]
[hr][hr]<Start your commentary here>

Notes on Using this Template:

• Find an online news article you would like to post a thread on.
• Here's a comprehensive list of online canadian newspapers.
  
• Other good sources include, www.cbc.ca, www.gnn.tv, www.cnn.com, www.en.wikinews.org, bbc news and www.news.google.com.
  
• Open up a new tab (or window), and bring up the relevant demosphere forum.
  
• Copy the grey code box above and paste it into your new thread post.
  
• All you have to do is <fill in the blanks>, including both of the arrows.
• If you have mozilla firefox you should install the BB code plug-in. If you're not using firefox yet, what are you thinking? Download it now.
  
• After you have the plug-in installed it becomes stupidly easy to create links inside of articles.
• All you have to do is right-click & copy the url address that you want to link, and then go back to your post, select the text you want to turn into a link and then right click and use the BB code to do all the work for you.
• To throw in an image, simply right-click and "copy image location", then paste the url into the template [img] tag. BB Code does this nicely for you as well.
  
• Feel free to quote more than one article in a post, or quote portions or small segments of an article. As long as you're linking back to the source, the reader can read the full article if they choose.
• Copy/Paste related demosphere threads, wikipedia backgrounders, or related stories to the 'more' section
• This is important because although we want to provide the reader with background information, and the story, we don't want to over-bear them with text on their page.
• As the thread started you have a responsibility to do some quick research (Google/Wikipedia) to provide one or two links in the More: section.
  
• After you've posted your thread, it's a good idea to go back and add a poll. This is a great way to bring more interactivity and 'longevity' to a thread.
• If the original story that you quoted is an on-going or current event, you may want to reply with updates to the story, by using the same copy/paste template.
• Good Luck!

If you've got ideas for more standard tags to add to the post template, or instructions/tips on posting great threads by all means share it here.

Thoughts?

[Cleisthenis]

Here's an example of what this looks like...

... it took me all of 5 minutes to put together using the code template:

From www.cbc.ca, "Ottawa, N.S. announce $870M resource deal":

Nova Scotia will receive $870 million from the federal government as part of a deal resolving the so-called Crown share dispute.

Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald and Defence Minister Peter MacKay revealed the official figure during an appearance at the Halifax waterfront on Sunday.

The deal aims to put to rest a dispute that dates back to 1986, when the federal government promised Nova Scotia compensation for giving up its ownership interest in offshore resources.

The amount owed by Ottawa was determined by a panel set up in October to examine both sides in the dispute.

MacDonald has said most of the money will go against the province's $12.4-billion debt.

About $75 million of the total will be set aside for offshore energy research, protected lands and university infrastructure.

Eirik Raude offshore drilling rig, Nova Scotia

More:

• Nova Scotian Economy
  

###

Frankly, I can't believe such a tiny maritime province has over 12 billion dollars in debt. Doesn't it seem strange that the $75 million - only 11.5% of the total settlement - is going towards energy research? It should probably be closer to 25% or 40%, and the funding should be geared toward renewable clean energy like tidal and wind energy.

I've been to Nova Scotia and trust me, they've got lots of both.

[d.wylie]

Aaack! Too much code for little ol' me!

[Raos]

For convenience, would it be possible to have the code available to copy and paste right on the "Start new topic" screen?  It would be much more convenient that keeping this page tabbed for reference, and would probably make it easier for new topic starters to try it out as well (and thus more likely to use it).

Or, it we want to get very ambitious, there could be a button to paste it on command, or it could even automatically fill in as the default message text when a new topic is begun.