THEME POSTS: A SIMPLE HOW-TO GUIDE

"pauljones" (pauljones) 11/26/2013 at 11:47 • Filed to: How-To Guide

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I’ll begin with this: STOP SPAMMING OPPOSITELOCK

Listen, I’m glad you all feel like a community together, and that you all enjoy participating in the community. Really, I like and encourage that. But the problem is that if you want to be a community, you actually need to act like a community.

And you know what? A real community works together to keep the community clean.

This whole theme day concept in which everyone spams the shit out of Oppo with moronic single picture posts for four straight pages just needs to stop. It’s making a mess out this place, and it’s making it much, much harder to get at the quality content that is frequently posted here by commenters who actually work really hard to try to come up with good content. That’s not fair to them or anyone that might be interested in what they come up with. Also, scrolling through pages of bullshit posts just gets old, fast.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not against theme days. But, to be blunt, there are better, simpler, and frankly more mature ways of doing this. To demonstrate this to you, I’m going to give you a few simple rules on how to make a great theme-day post:

Rule Number One: Keep it all confined to a single post. One person starts it, and everyone else comments within the original post.

Rule Number Two - Infinity: Re-read Rule Number One.

I understand that one of the major concerns is that you don’t want the theme post to get lost down the pile as the day goes on, as that would kill the party pretty fast. But there are several ways of countering that concern:

1) Schedule your posts

You can actually schedule when you want your posts to appear. Pick the time that you think Oppo is going to be the busiest, and schedule your post to appear then. It’ll mean you’ll get more replies in a shorter amount of time.

2) The fewer the posts, the less likely that your post will get pushed down the que.

Seriously, this one is pretty self-explanatory. The more posts that occur, the faster other posts will get pushed into the oblivion of the after pages. So, if you want the maximize the time your theme post stays on the first few pages, STOP POSTING A BUNCH OF OTHER CRAP .

3) The “Top Stories” column

We all like to bitch about Kinja and its little flaws, and not entirely without reason. But for all of its flaws, Kinja also has a couple of neat little features. One of those neat little features is the “Top Stories” column on the left-hand side of the screen every time you open up the Oppositelock main page. This column displays a dozen or so of the most popular and active posts on Oppo at any given point, no matter how old the post (Edit: it now only shows three, but still; the point stands) . If it’s active, and people are posting and recommending, it’ll show up there very quickly. This means that if you were to take all of the theme day spam posts, concentrate them all in one simple them post, it’d hit the “Top Stories” column in no time. Comment in, and recommend the hell out of comments within a post, it will rise into the Top Stories.

Allow me to demonstrate with a them post of my own.

Today’s theme is: Things That Interest pauljones.

Here’s how this is going to work: I’m going to publish this post, and then make a shit-ton of comments containing pictures of things that interest me. I will then be that guy and recommend my own posts. And then you guys will also participate, and we’ll have this sucker at the summit of the Top Stories column in no time at all.

Ready? Here we go!

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:48

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F-14

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:48

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Submarine

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:49

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Space Shuttle

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:50

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Self-Explanatory

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:50

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Motorcycles

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:51

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Steam Trains

Party-vi > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:51

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Good luck convincing the masses, sir.

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:51

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Billiards

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:52

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Ships

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:52

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Mustangs

The Transporter > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:53

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This picture interests me right now.

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:53

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Aircraft

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:54

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Bourbon

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:55

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Beer

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:56

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A picture of my favorite supermodels, which I will not posting anything of the sort for the sake of keeping this SFW.

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:57

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Puppies

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:58

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Kittens

pauljones > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:58

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Bacon

pauljones > Party-vi 11/26/2013 at 11:59

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Thank you, I'll take it.

lucky's pepper > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 11:59

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I, for one, don't mind cool pictures of cars. I rather enjoy them.

I don't particularly care about video games, peoples drawings, or some of the other stuff people post about. But I don't complain about it, I just don't view the posts. It's rather easy.

Part of being in a community is dealing with things others do that you may not like. BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT TASTES/INTERESTS. Demanding people do things your way is the surest way to ensure they won't.

pauljones > The Transporter 11/26/2013 at 12:00

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And why might that be?

mycarneverruns87 > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:00

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Looks like your well written common sense approach has worked....now only if the masses take to it...

KB Garage > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:00

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Kinja'd

Rico > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:00

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=/ I can't even post articles on Oppo so I guess I'm on your good side!!

BUT!

pauljones > mycarneverruns87 11/26/2013 at 12:01

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See!? See!? It does work!

Mosqvich > The Transporter 11/26/2013 at 12:01

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But he's fundamentally right. If you're going to make a "post" with just a picture, why not a little explanation, etc.... Oppo isn't twitter, or is it?

pauljones > lucky's pepper 11/26/2013 at 12:01

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I feel as if you've missed the entire purpose of the post. This has nothing to do with not allowing or appreciating the different tastes of others. Please try again later.

Mosqvich > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:03

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Agreed. I get frustrated taking time to think through an interesting piece, write it and post it, only to have lost in a "dance party" full of lame animated gifs.

DailyTurismo > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:03

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Rule #infiniti+1= No Polandball comics. Ever.

KB Garage > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:04

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I have literally starred everything on this post. I cannot bring myself to star this one, so a comment will have to suffice.

Also, I am slightly guilty of your accusations and thusly apologize.

pauljones > Rico 11/26/2013 at 12:05

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Well, that's something that I can very easily, and very happily, fix. Give me a few moments and I'll give you posting privileges.

DailyTurismo > Mosqvich 11/26/2013 at 12:06

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For better or worse oppo has become the male version of pinterest. aka Peninterest.

pauljones > DailyTurismo 11/26/2013 at 12:07

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Actually, I kind of like those little Polandball cartoons.

The Transporter > Mosqvich 11/26/2013 at 12:08

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Kinja isn't your personal blog, except that it is .

lucky's pepper > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:08

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Maybe you failed to get your point across. And I won't try again later, I will simply skip your future posts like I do anything else that doesn't interest me. I put enough with enough ranting in life already.

pauljones > Rico 11/26/2013 at 12:09

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You should now have authorship privileges.

pauljones > lucky's pepper 11/26/2013 at 12:10

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Please do. And best of luck in your pursuit of putting enough with enough.

phenotyp > Mosqvich 11/26/2013 at 12:10

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I agree with everything except dance party. Friday afternoon/evening is worth celebrating.

I always got annoyed when I'd do request posts and they'd get buried under piles of crap, but I also knew not to post anything more than this

on a Friday afternoon.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:11

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MOAR BACON

pauljones > Mosqvich 11/26/2013 at 12:11

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And that's exactly what bothers me; there are so many people here who try very hard to make good, quality contributions and share their thoughts and interests. People who do that should be given more weight than spam posts.

vdub_nut: scooter snob > DailyTurismo 11/26/2013 at 12:13

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that makes it sound like pinterest for penises. The gay version, maybe?

Manterest?

Ghost Dog - For the kittens > DailyTurismo 11/26/2013 at 12:13

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That's kinda what it was before Kinja...

pauljones > The Transporter 11/26/2013 at 12:14

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Kind of. It's posts like yours that I saw when I clicked on the link to your personal page that get lost, and quite unfairly, under the weight of a shit ton of spam posts. That's just annoying. We shouldn't have to scroll through four pages of crap to see a quality post from you.

pauljones > DailyTurismo 11/26/2013 at 12:15

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So true. So true.

pauljones > The Transporter 11/26/2013 at 12:18

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Also of note, Oppositelock and your own personal Kinja page are two very separate things - your personal page will show anything you ever post, but Oppositelock is a community blog, and does not necessarily show everything that you may choose to post to your own personal Kinja blog.

Sinanigans > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:23

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Sorry, I'm a newb to posting on Oppo, so I'm definitely guilty of the things you mentioned... I understand where you're coming from.

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:26

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FUCK YEAH MOD POWERS! WOOHOO! WHOOP EVERYBODY LIL BEHINDS INTO LINE AWWWW YEEEEE

The Jevans > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:27

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I have been guilty of said annoying posts. I also try to make well thought out contributions. I will cease the former. Thanks for this.

leicester > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:28

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Pacing UP 3985:

leicester > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:30

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UP 3985 pulling freight

you're welcome.

pauljones > Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) 11/26/2013 at 12:31

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What mod powers? I think there is some confusion as to what that actually means on Oppositelock. We can't do many things that moderator on a traditional forum can do; we can simply add commenters to the approved author list, edit posts (which absolutely none of us have even the slightest inclination to do if we can help it), and really, that's the biggest part of it.

So, yeah, not much. The goal of being a "mod" on Oppo is not to see supervise and monitor and edit and censor, but to figure out ways to make it a better place.

Slave2anMG > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:33

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Lame gifs. WAT.

Harrison Voorhees > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:33

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cake.

pauljones > The Jevans 11/26/2013 at 12:35

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We all have, including me.

Understand, I'm not against themes in the least. I've seen many of the posts that you've put a great deal of effort into, and I've appreciated them. It just sucks for you when all that effort gets flushed due to a million random gifs of Nicholas Cage or whatever other bullshit. It sucks when that happens to others, too.

Oppositelock is a volunteer-only thing; no one is obligated to put a damned ounce of energy into it, and yet people do. This place should be about that, and about sharing and contributing. It's hard to do that with all the spam.

Wacko > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:37

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thank you paul, i basically said the same thing, and I agree with you 100%

but you brought way more detail than my 4-5 words...

now let's just hope people do read and follow this

pauljones > Wacko 11/26/2013 at 12:39

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They won't. I'm not so delusional as to think this will make a damn bit of difference.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:40

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they continue to defy you!

The Jevans > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:41

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I agree, wholeheartedly. It would be really nice to see my posts last on the first page for more than 5 minutes, so that nobody has to dig for them.

Rico > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:41

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You're the best man! I promise to not be annoying.

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:42

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I figured you guys don't have much power, hence the over-exaggeration c:

pauljones > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 11/26/2013 at 12:42

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You seem surprised.

Hooker > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:43

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But, but, what about all the attention whores who NEED their own posts and people replying to them?

Seriously, your points are awesome but I fear the vast majority won't heed your advice for the above reason.

pauljones > Hooker 11/26/2013 at 12:43

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Some days, you have to at least be able to say you tried.

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:46

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Personally, if we're going with Fighter class aircraft, I like the F-15 better. But my all-time favorite would have to be the A-10. The sound of that GAU-8 spinning up is just amazing!

RacecaR > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:46

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Ah man, can I get some posting privileges as well?

The Transporter > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:47

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You can criticize it all you want, but without this "spam" I never would have learned this .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:48

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not in the least lol.

Though for the record the white montego went out BEFORE this post.

pauljones > The Transporter 11/26/2013 at 12:48

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Sure you would have. You just would have seen it as a comment in a post, rather than as a post in and of itself.

pauljones > RacecaR 11/26/2013 at 12:53

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Done.

RacecaR > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 12:53

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I love you.

Now to go make 20 posts with a picture of a white care in each!!

(joking joking)

Jonathan Harper > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 13:00

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In regards to this particular theme which I may or may not have spurred; I intended for folks to post white cars on that thread.

Sorry to have ignited your ire.

pauljones > Jonathan Harper 11/26/2013 at 13:02

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It's not directed at you, and quite honestly, it's not even ire. It's just one of those odd little nuances of life that blows me away. I figured I'd address it once, see what happens, and be done with it. I just feel bad for the people who make a great deal of effort into making quality content that get promptly ignored.

Just4GP > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 13:03

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I received a bottle of this bourbon for my birthday last week (or week before, I forget). Until then, I had never even heard of it. From that day forth, I decided I don't ever want to have any other.... Knobb Creek, Maker's Mark, your days in my house are over.

pauljones > Just4GP 11/26/2013 at 13:05

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I had the same epiphany when I first tried it. To be fair, I still enjoy Knobb Creek, Maker's Mark, and Hancock President's Reserve. But the Angel's Envy just knocks them out.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 14:04

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Agreed. I feel that what's needed is one guy who's just a dickhead and goes around copy-pasting something as a reply into each of these.

Maybe something like 'please keep theme day pictures in the original post if it does not contain enough original material to constitute a new post' with a link to the original post.

Actually, what would solve both is the ability for mods to pin the original post to the top of oppo for the day.

Just4GP > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 14:07

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I'll probably keep Knobb Creek as a back up. Especially since I can get a handle for less than the cost of a 750ml of Angle's Envy.

I've never had the Hancock President's Reserve. I may have to try that out.

pauljones > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 11/26/2013 at 14:22

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Yeah, the ability to pin a post has been talked about before, but I have no idea where the subject ever went. I'm not entirely certain that Kinja as it is in Oppositelock can accommodate that.

SpeedSix > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 14:25

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Audi Quattros?

pauljones > SpeedSix 11/26/2013 at 14:26

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That'll do.

Klaus Schmoll > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 15:26

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You Sir are a Saint among sinners. Remember the good old days in a land that Kinja forgot? People would put stuff in a single thread and live happily ever after. I always cringe when one of the newbies finds the jalopmeter and we get two straight days of:

- 157 yeah

- 28 I haz a sad

- 13 on DD, but 26788756 on unfinished project in some barn somewhere

etc.

I highly suspect that all the young folks with their phones are part of this problem. It's hard to scroll down a page or follow a lenghty conversation on these tiny screens. Just looking at/posting pictures with nothing else is relatively easy though.

KB Garage > pauljones 11/26/2013 at 17:37

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Have you tried this?

Or perhaps Woodford Reserve? I think that may be somewhat similar to your tastes.

pauljones > KB Garage 11/26/2013 at 18:37

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I enjoy both a great deal. Angel's Envy remains my favorite, however, with the Hancock President's Reserve a close second, and that Maker's 46 rounding out the podium.

Mosqvich > phenotyp 11/27/2013 at 12:52

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Maybe there could be Dance Party posts, as the author suggests, you know piles of them below a primary post.

DasWauto > pauljones 11/27/2013 at 18:15

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Thank you for this. I have tried to make this point on a few occasions but aside from those who sympathize, they're generally ignored or quickly forgotten. It does at least seem that one person tried to follow your idea today (the open wheel wednesday post was scheduled this morning, incorporated a warning to keep it to one thread and rescheduled through the day).

"scrolling through pages of bullshit posts just gets old, fast."

DUDE, tell me about it... it's such a drag sometimes.

As you mentioned in another reply, the ability to pin posts would be extremely useful in quelling the masses of posts that result from theme days. I do think it is possible within Kinja though as the main site editors seem to be able to pin a post at the top (whether it be a promoted post or an advertisement). As you also mentioned this has been discussed before but I think I'll hit up the Gawker team with a post asking if this can be made available to us.

Until then, this post could do with reposting every once in a while. Some people need this drilled into their heads, badly. It's often a small subset of people who are most guilty of this sort of spamming.

Anyway, cheers for your efforts.

ScreenShot > pauljones 12/01/2013 at 11:15

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"The goal of being a "mod" on Oppo is not to see supervise and monitor and edit and censor, but to figure out ways to make it a better place."

...same thing, hopefully, when done correctly. It takes discipline, tho, which is often defined as remembering your original goal(s) and just as often something that escapes so many.

Not everyone has the stomach to walk down the hill after the battle and shoot the wounded...

Leadbull > Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? 01/09/2014 at 11:12

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F-14 all the way. Because swing wings.

Leadbull > DailyTurismo 01/09/2014 at 11:19

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Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > Leadbull 01/09/2014 at 11:57

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Swing wings vs. GAU-8. Hmmm...

Nibby > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:16

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Go to 1:15

Ash78, voting early and often > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:17

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Should I reply here or start a new thread?

CalzoneGolem > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:19

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I’ve been here for over 5 years and this post is almost 2 years old and theme days are still the same.

ttyymmnn > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:21

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I mean, really, who doesn't like puppies?

pauljones > ttyymmnn 11/19/2015 at 13:21

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COMMIE PINKO BASTARDS, THAT’S WHO!

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:22

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objection

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:24

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Oh... :(

pauljones > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/19/2015 at 13:26

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Oh, keep scrolling through my comments. Star Wars is equally represented.

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:27

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I did not know this was a peeve. For the record, I did not intend to start a “theme day” and I was surprised to see several pages of “high school car” posts when I came back to Oppo. But I must admit, though, that there is some perverse joy in seeing such a flurry of activity kicked off by something I posted.

pauljones > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 11/19/2015 at 13:30

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This is an old post that I wrote years ago, but felt it was topical today. No one is upset with you or with anyone else in particular; it’s just one of those things.

Blondude > CalzoneGolem 11/19/2015 at 13:42

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Nothing will ever beat the Oppositerock/clock/smock/etc. theme day. Those were the greatest of shitposts.

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > pauljones 11/19/2015 at 13:43

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Ahh. From before my time on Oppo. I am struck by how different things are from a year ago, but apparently, some things don’t change.