Rules and Suggestions for the Graphics Forum.

These are Lenor's very useful suggestions for the grpaihcs forum. Please take the time to read them and comment.

So, you want to help do you? You want to save our forum from the wormhole; well you???ve come to the right place.

When you first log into Marapets in the morning, afternoon or evening and go to the graphics forum, what do you do? Look for friends topics or look for you old topic, right?
Instead of doing that, try looking in the Replies column. Find the topics with one or two posts, there is usually a few of them. If it???s a ???Rate??? topic, take the time to actually rate the graphic, it will only take a couple of minutes to type up a few suggestions and improvements. If it???s a ???Selling??? topic, simply post Good luck. If it???s a Live Auction make the starting bid, we all know how sad you feel when nobody bids on your graphic. This is the first step, if we can achieve this we can accomplish anything, its all a matter of working together.

When rating, don???t even bother putting a number or a quality it really doesn???t make a difference. Focus on your criticism; make sure to suggest it not tell it. The difference between suggesting and telling is this; Perhaps you could try a faded out border, it would look better then a solid =] and A faded border would be better.
See the difference? People take suggestions easier and it is less likely to end up in a fight or make the artist sad. Also note the smiley face, smiley faces always seem to make the artist feel a bit better about their work.

If you think your graphic is really good and it???s the best it can be and you want people to rate it don???t be disappointed if you get lower ratings then you expected. First off, don???t have a fit if someone points out a few mistakes, do the mature thing and accept their critic with a smile and a thank you. If someone posts something completely idiotic like ???It sucks??? ignore their post and report it.
If you are confused about a rate someone gave you, don???t be afraid to mail them about it. If the member is a good person they will explain it to you with out a problem. Make sure to mail them though, if you post your question it is unlikely that it will be answered especially if the member does not return to your topic.

Quality has become a big thing here but many people don???t know how to obtain a certain quality. If you believe you graphics are high quality but other people don???t it is always good to make a Quality Check topic. Be sure to give at least three examples of you work in you first post. If on you topic you get five or more people who are not your friends say you graphics are good quality, you probably are.


Before you post something read it over, see if anything in it might hurt someone???s feelings. Remember it???s never good to start a fight; it usually ends up in broken friendships.


Now I don???t want history to repeat itself, we all know what happened last time a member tried to make changes here. But I know if we all try, we can help and make this a better place.
If anyone has anything to add feel free to post it. =]