Forum Terms

Glossary of Forum Terms and Jargon

This glossary is a guide to language of the internet. You'll find everything you need to know about terms used on this site.

Administrator (Admin) – Manager of the technical aspects of a forum. Administrators can make forum-wide announcements, change the appearance of the forums, and manage the rules of the forums. At MineralRightsForum, Administrators also serve as Moderators.

Ban – A method of enforcing MineralRightsForum rules whereby a user is blocked from participating on the site. Violators of the rules may be, at MineralRightsForum’s discretion, subject to bans.

Board (Topic) – A division of the forums that sorts discussions according to topics. MineralRightsForum.com has four boards:

• General Discussion
• Natural Gas Shale Plays
• Leasing Help Group
• Landman Discussion Group

Bump – When someone comments on a forum discussion for the sole purpose of bringing the thread back to the top of the front page, in order to get more responses.

CAPTCHA – A test used to tell computers and humans apart by distorting the appearance of letters. MineralRightsForum uses a captcha during the registration process to separate spambots and other malicious computer programs from humans.

Disemvoweling – Removing the vowels from a word or phrase. Example:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Th qck brwn fx jmps vr th lz dg
This is considered a form of spam at MineralRightsForum as it makes it difficult for users to read the post. Disemvoweling will result in removal of offending content and, often, banning of said user.

Double Post – When a user makes two back-to-back posts in the same discussion thread, or when a user posts the same message twice. Double posting (multiple posting) is frowned upon at MineralRightsForum. However, MineralRightsForum allows double posts that have different content, since there is only a 15 minute window to edit your initial post. Multiple posts with the same content are subject deletion.

Emoticon – A method of improving interpretation of plain text. Emoticons (Emotion + Icon) are a way of conveying facial expressions. Emoticons may appear in forum posts.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions.

Flood – Posting duplicate content repeatedly. Flooding is a form of spam.

Forum – A forum is a place for online discussion.

HTML – The language used in MineralRightsForum’s code to present information. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.

Moderator (Mod) – Manager of the day-to-day affairs of the forum. Moderators may delete, re-title, or add keywords forum discussions, ban or suspend members, approve or deny blog submissions, and respond to users’ concerns, complaints, and questions about the forum. At MineralRightsForum, Moderator duties go to the Administrators.

PM – See Private Message

Poll – A poll is an inquiry into public opinion.

Post – A general term for user-submitted blog or forum messages. Posts on the forum are contained in threads (discussions), where they appear in boxes, one after another. Posts that follow the thread are meant to continue the discussion about that post, or respond to other replies.

Private Message – A message sent to another member which can only be viewed by the message creator and recipient.

Profile Picture – The picture that appears next your name in a discussion forum or blog post. This is sometimes called an “Avatar.”

Spam – When a user submits posts that are advertisements, unwanted, abusive, or duplicates. Spam can come from users or automatically in the form of spambots. MineralRightsForum protects you from spambots by employing a CAPTCHA during the registration process.

Thread – A collection of posts, displayed from oldest to latest. “Thread” and “discussion” are used interchangeably.

Word Censor – A mechanism MineralRightsForum uses to keep the website clear of inappropriate content. The Word Censor filters profane content on the forums. Bypassing the word censor by using spaces in between letters, etc. will result in a ban.