What is Discordia?
About Discordia's structure and sections...

How can I participate in Discordia?

First you need to become a registered user:

Creating a user account is a simple procedure that starts by following the link in the "Login" box on the right that says "Make new account". This link takes you to the page "Create new user account."

Once you have established yourself as a Discordia user, you are invited to:
- post stories (ignite discussions)
- post essays and announcements (ea dobbs)
- moderate stories by other users
- comment on stories and other comments
- rate comments by other users

How do I submit a story (ignite a discussion)?

Once you've created an account and logged in, follow the "POST HERE" link in the menu box on the right. This will take you to the "submit new story" page, where you will be asked to select a section and enter title, introduction to the story and the story. You are encouraged to use HTML links within your story and you must preview at least once before you submit your story.

If you want to include a link in your text, it should look like this:

<a href="http://thisisthelink.xyz">these are the words you see linked in the text</a>

As soon as you submit a story, it is added to the list of "pending stories". All Discordia users are invited to read pending stories and vote for these stories to appear on the site and/or the front page.

How do I vote a story onto the site?

If you're logged in, you'll see a "Hot Off the Keyboard" link on the right side of the page, just below your login name. Follow that link, and you'll see a list of pending stories which you can read and vote on. When a story receives a minimum number of positive votes, it will automatically appear in the section and/or the front page.

Can't I just submit a story and then vote it to the front page myself?

No. You can (and should!) vote on stories by other users, but you cannot vote on your own stories. This is the point of community moderation.

Can I submit a story without being a registered user?

No. To submit a story and vote on other users' stories, you must have an account and be logged in. This is also the point of community moderation.

How can I comment on posted stories?

Below every posted story you will find the link "Post a Comment", which will take you to the comment submission page. Enter a subject line and your comment in the form provided; previewing is encouraged but not mandatory before submitting comments. Your comment will then be appended immediately to the posted story.

How does comment rating work?

Below every posted comment there is a "rating box"; users are encouraged to rate comments according to their opinions on whether they would recommend reading this comment to other users. The user ratings are then listed next to the subject line of each comment. Depending on how individual users set their preferences, comments with higher ratings rise to the top, while comments with lower (or no) ratings drop farther down. This feature is designed to enable users to regulate the "content-noise ratio" according to their own individual tolerance levels using the collaborative filtering principle.

Who rates the comments?

All registered users are invited and encouraged to rate comments by all other users (but not their own comments). Visitors that are not logged in/do not have an account may post comments as "Anonymous Stranger", but may not rate comments. The collaborative filtering principle presupposes a willingness to collaborate with other users with a shared interest in the topics. Creating a user account is a way of declaring interest; active participation on the part of registered users builds trust and demonstrates reliability.

What is Discordia?
About Discordia's structure and sections...