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SpoilersA spoiler is, in brief, information about something (e.g. an episode, book, movie) that someone hasn't seen/read. Many people don't like to read spoilers, so when posting spoilers or discussing spoilerish information, steps be taken to help those people avoid them. Read on for the details... What Constitutes a Spoiler?Using Spoiler Tags Spoiler Tag Descriptions Color Tags and Spoiler Tags Don't Mix Reading Spoilers Hidden with Spoiler Tags Why Not Spoiler Space? Spoiler Rules and Questions/Answers What Constitutes a Spoiler? Well, a spoiler is any information about an episode that you haven't seen; it "spoils" the episode. Simple, right? Sort of difficulty arises because there are people here from all over the world, and they haven't all seen the same episodes. For these forums, we have defined spoilers as information about episodes that have not aired in the US or on satellite TV in the UK. Thus, since both Buffy and Angel have finished in the US and on UK satellite, no discussion of either Buffy and Angel requires spoiler tags or needs to be treated as spoilers. Our apologies to the few of you who are unlucky enough to be quite far behind, but we have to draw the line somewhere. It becomes complicated, messy, and too difficult to enforce if we require spoiler tags for the previous seasons. If there were to be a reprise of other show in some form in the future (e.g. a spinoff, movie, or TV movie), most details about it would be considered spoilers and would require spoiler tags (except for very basic information such as the stars and the basic premise). It is courteous to use spoiler tags in certain other situations. For example, if you are posting about a movie (especially one that recently opened or has not opened yet) or recent/upcoming episodes of a TV show, you should use spoiler tags around any spoilery information you reveal (especially critical plot points, twists, revelations, etc.), for the benefit of those who have not yet seen the movie/episode. If you fail to use spoiler tags where needed, or use them incorrectly, a moderator who spots your offending post may either edit the tags in or delete your post, at their discretion. If YOU spot the problem, or someone points it out to you, edit your post promptly to add the tags or correct the problem. Back to Top Using Spoiler TagsThere are two ways to use the spoiler tags. The preferred method is this: [spoiler=STATE HERE WHAT YOU ARE SPOILING, INCLUDING THE MOST RECENT EPISODE DISCUSSED WITHIN] Type your spoilers here. [/spoiler]You must type it exactly like that for it to work. The result will be: [Begin Spoiler for Spoiler description which you typed after the equal sign - Highlight to view]A more real life example: [spoiler=Anya info, up to Storyteller] Anya is a girl and I can't type real spoilers here because it's only an example. [/spoiler]Resulting in: [Begin Spoiler for Anya info, up to Storyteller - Highlight to view]The other method of using the spoiler tag is as follows: State here, above the tags, what the spoiler is for, such as "The following contains information up to Checkpoint."You must type it exactly like that for it to work. The result will be: [Begin Spoiler - Highlight to view] The whole point of spoiler tags is that no one can read your spoilers on accident. One must use their cursor to highlight the text, as it is written in the same color as the background color behind it. When using the spoiler tag (or any markup, really) you really should tick the "I want to preview my post" box before you hit Continue (you can also change your profile to have it checked by default go to "Edit Profile" and then "Display Preferences"). Many mistakes can be and are made, and you can easily avoid it by previewing before you post. If it doesn't look right, scroll down and edit. Continue until you get it right. Acceptable variations:
[spoilers=description] text [/spoilers] When we refer to the "description," we mean the text after the equal sign (i.e. [spoiler=DESCRIPTION]). It's important that you understand the purpose, which is to indicate what exactly is being spoiled within, so that people can decide whether or not it's safe/desirable to read. The most important thing is to state what it is that you're discussing (e.g. the movie title, or for a TV show, the show's title and the date/title/number of the episode(s) discussed). Aside from the title/date specification, you may also provide some indication of the topic within. For example, you might indicate that you're talking about the overall story arc, or a specific character. It can also be helpful to indicate the "size" of your spoiler. For example, if you're only saying that you don't like Sarah Michelle Gellar's hair in her newest film, you could say [spoiler=Scooby Doo 12, small tidbit regarding Sarah's hair]. Or if you've found out that Sydney and her dad are going to sleep together on Alias, you could say [spoiler=October 24th Alias -- huge spoiler -- beware]. When talking about a TV show, remember to specify in your description if you're talking about future spoilers things that haven't aired yet in America. If America has seen up to episode 12, and you know what happens in episode 14, your tag should say [spoiler=C.S.I. future info - ep. 14]. If you know something that's going to happen, but you're not sure in which episode, just say [spoiler=C.S.I. future info]. Be careful that your description isn't a spoiler itself. For example, using the Sydney and SpyDaddy example above, don't say [spoiler=Sydney and her dad will sleep together], or anything remotely similar. That would be stupid. Be careful also that the text outside your tags doesn't hint at or give away what's inside the tags. If you're not sure, just put it inside the tags. (Also be sure that your post subject doesn't give away a spoiler!) Please make sure it's clear what your spoilers are regarding, and don't mislead people. Do not say that your spoilers are for a one thing, and then sneak in a totally different spoiler within the same tag. (For example, if your spoiler tag is labeled only "next week's Alias," do not also reveal the plot twist of Jennifer Garner's newest movie.) Either label the spoiler tag for both things, or better yet, use separate paragraphs and separate spoiler tags for each topic, so people can choose which (if any) to read. Always remember the purpose of the tag description (to help people decide whether it's safe to highlight). If you keep that in mind, you'll avoid making useless descriptions like "spoilers" or "my thoughts." Please read this post for examples of good and bad tag descriptions. Back to Top Color Tags and Spoiler Tags Don't MixYou should never use color tags inside spoiler tags. This is pretty much common sense, if you stop to think about it. The spoiler tags make the text within them light gray the same color as the background, so the text is invisible. But color tags will make the text a different color, and therefore visible. Hence, color tags defeat the whole purpose of spoiler tags and are a no-no. Back to Top Reading Spoilers Hidden with Spoiler TagsTo highlight the hidden text in spoilers, simply click your left mouse button just before the area you want to highlight. While holding the button down, pull your mouse across the text until you've highlighted what you want to read. Or, you can use your keyboard to highlight the whole page - hit the 'Ctrl' key and then the 'A' key (while still holding down the Ctrl key), then let go of both. The whole page will be highlighted. To undo it, just click your mouse anywhere the page. Since the text color of the spoilers is so light, if you are on a Mac, you may wish to change your highlight color to a dark color for easier legibility. Go to 'Control Panels' (drop down menu if you click and hold over the apple icon on the top left of every Mac screen). Click open 'Control Panels' and look for 'Appearances.' This should open a box where you can choose a new highlight color. Back to Top Why Not Spoiler Space?Some forums will allow you to simply put some space above your spoilers. This method is unacceptable here, due mostly to popular demand of our members. For one thing, on a large monitor/high resolution, it would take a huge amount of space to make a difference. Another difference is that spoilers can still be run across on accident when using space*; however, when using tags, no one can accidentally read spoilers - you did your job, and they can't blame you if they highlighted and read them. Also, perhaps most of your post isn't a spoiler. Perhaps you're just having a deep conversation on, say, religious symbols on Buffy. Everything's going along fine, but you wish to use something that happened in the most recent episode as an example. By putting spoiler tags around only that part, readers who haven't seen that episode can still revel in your genius and join in the conversation, simply skipping over the spoiler. * Examples of how one can come across spoilers on accident: 1) The obvious way: If the subject doesn't indicate there are spoilers. Depending on the amount of space used and the size of one's monitor, it's all too easy to see too much before realizing there was a spoiler warning. 2) The not-so-obvious: Some readers cruise the board using the "Previous" or "Next" buttons. For example, JohnDoe finds the oldest unread thread, and when he's done reading that thread, he clicks the "Previous" button. (Repeat as necessary.) However, one's eyes have a tendency to first look at eye level -- meaning roughly the middle of the page. So before one can lift them up to the subject or take heed of any spoiler space, they've already seen what may be too much. Back to Top Rules and Questions/Answers
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