ᗒ Rules for 'What-if' threads ᗕ

[Felstaff]

What-if? can be ordered chronologically. Here's how!



You can find this at the bottom of the page in the subforum

Each What-if is correctly numbered, and all duplicates are removed. This is done by either merging the older thread into the newer one (with some editing of posts), or deleting a duplicate if it currently contains zero replies, or magic. If you have an issue with this, we'll throw the 'magic' defence at you. It worked for O.J.

GENERAL RULES

1. Abide by the General Rules
2. This forum is only for Randall Munroe's "What If?" essays as posted on what-if.xkcd.com. There is no reason to post anything else.
3. Have a question you feel could be answered in this forum? Look here first, then read the rules of the forum.
4. Starting a thread for anything other than a new "What-if" is pointless; it will get deleted.
5. If you come across something that doesn't belong in this forum, don't reply to it; report it. It's most likely it'll be dealt with in 24 hours
6. Don't be a dick. I cannot stress this enough.
7. 'Randall get out of my head' posts get you laughed at in other sections of the forum. It's probably best you don't register just to post how you were only thinking about [subject of What if] the other day. Then again, if you are registering just to post that, you'll probably neglect to read this. Everyone else; it's our little secret
8. Hammer says don't reply to spam posts. Report them instead. Srsly.

RULES FOR POSTING A NEW "WHAT-IF" THREAD

Currently, what-if.xkcd.com only has a rudimentary browsing ability, i.e. "Prev" or "Next". Now that it has reached >42 What-Ifs, many people may find it useful to use this section of the fora to browse the What-Ifs in a pleasant, ordered fashion. If the What-if you wish to find does not exist, here's the (strict!) guideline to posting a new thread:

1. Title subject should always be: What-If ####: "Title"
   
   [WHAT-IF][SPACE][DIGIT][DIGIT][DIGIT][DIGIT][COLON][SPACE][QUOTATION MARKS][TITLE][QUOTATION MARKS]
   
2. See the title of every other thread for clues. Note capitalisation, correct spelling, etc. and include quotation marks! This is purely for aesthetic reasons. I am an aesthetic paerson.
3. Link directly to the What-if in question. Use the following code for the link:

   Code: Select all

   [url=http://what-if.xkcd.com/#]Title![/url]
   where # is the number at the end of the What-if URL.
4. If you are unsure or unconfident about using BBCode... don't start a new thread. Someone else will.
5. Provide some commentary below. This is a discussion after all... No point in just posting what's on the front page of what-if.xkcd.com and providing nothing else of value
6. Don't start a blank thread just to be first. Not only is it a tiny bit pathetic, it's also annoying. Complete your thread before submitting it.
7. If duplicates are made, only reply to the earliest one posted. The duplicates will be ruthlessly merged at some point, with no consideration given to disrupting the flow of conversation (hence why several threads have whiners going "waaaaah why are people posting in this thread and not the other?!").

Enjoy!

[Beavertails]

After posing/reading a few great questions and responses across the board (thanks sevenperforce et al) that would seem to qualify as What If type questions, would a What If subforum work? Somewhere to gether these kinds of things? Or would the normal existing topics suffice?

I'd vote for a subforum, but admittedly I've only thought this through for about 30 seconds.

[Angua]

Try the science or fictional science subfora?