nodalpoint.org posting guide

This introduction was taken from Chris' original Submission guide. It has been moved here for collaborative editing.

Be nice, be interesting. You'll find we are, mostly. Try to keep it brief. See our resources page. Sorry, we don't do homework.

This is a brief guide to the do's and don'ts of submitting to Nodalpoint.org. They're not set in stone, but rather should act as a reference point. First off, general ground rules: good netiquette is expected from users; no trolls or flamers will be tolerated. So keep it clean and civil please. It's very easy to lose control over trivialities when posting to a website, as you're not face to face with the other person. Take a moment to calm down, compose a reasonable answer, and be prepared to give others the benefit of the doubt. Should you find something disturbing on the site, report it. Some things are bound to slip by our eagle-eyed administrators and moderators.Please keep posts relevant and as short as possible - that way other users don't have to wade through reams of elegant literature to get your point. Suitable topics for contributions include but are not limited to:

• bioinformatics - methods, coding, news etc;
• molecular biology - methods, news, theory, experimental design;
• scientific literature - new publications, critique, opinions;
• genomics - news, theory, methods.
• other geeky/nerdy/sciencey stuff

Try to reference your posts where possible and/or appropriate; the easiest way to do this is to include hyperlinks in your text. See the stories entry for further details.Enjoy (;])

If you would like to ask a question the best place to do this is in the nodalpoint forums, questions may also be posted as weblog entries or stories (which may end up on the front page). Here are a few other points to keep in mind when asking questions:

• In general, we welcome questions, comments and/or observations. Proviso: no homework!
• If you are unsure about how to phrase a question see How To Ask Questions The Smart Way. For example, “Tell me everything you know about bioinformatics” is a bad question.
• Questions with answers that are readily available via a quick web search will generally go unanswered.
• Submissions as blog entries initially go to the moderation queue, site admins will then decide if the post is worthy of promotion to the front page (see nodalpoint_faq).
• To get your post on the front page, try to keep it short, on topic, interesting etc. The usual stuff.
• The readers of nodalpoint are often working scientists, so don't expect us to be gentle. We are harsh but fair when it comes to questions.
• Lastly the blogging system is not really set up for personal blogging, all posts go to the moderation queue and when edited return to the queue. If you want to keep your own blog, then I would suggest using a free Blogger account.

• For announcements (software releases, courses, conferences etc.) please see the nodalpoint forums
• At the moment there is a no-advertisements policy, however we are open minded. If you are in business and can convince us you are also helping the community the please get in contact.