Spoiler usage pop-up window when posting on manga chapters for the first time

[Official229]

The general idea would be what the title says, but here's a bit more detailed description and my reasoning as to why this would be a good idea to implement:

As things currently are, the first thing a user sees when they want to comment on a chapter is this:

if someone is not familiar with what BBCode is, how spoilers work, or in general that it's just not nice to spoil other people, they'd just write something like this:

Now what I'm suggesting is something really simple, when a user is posting on a manga chapter for the first time they'd get a pop-up explaining to them how spoilers work and when to use them (the rest of the website interface would be disabled in the meantime), it would also disable the I Understand button for a few seconds (with an active countdown), forcing the user to at least attempt to read the contents of the pop-up. Something like this:

Oh, and just so there isn't any confusion, the conditions for this pop-up would be something like this:
[ul]
[li]User posts for the first time in their account's life on the website in the MangaDex sub-forum - no pop-up[/li]
[li]User posts for the first time in their account's life on the website in the Manga sub-forum - pop-up[/li]
[li]User posts for the first time in their account's life on the website on a manga chapter - pop-up[/li]
[li]User posts for the first time on a manga chapter, but has posted before in the MangaDex sub-forum - pop-up[/li]
[li]User posts for the first time on a manga chapter, but has posted before in the Manga sub-forum where he got the pop-up - no pop-up[/li]
[li]User posts on a manga chapter, but has already posted before on another manga's chapter where he got the pop-up - no pop-up[/li]
[/ul]

Now as for my reasoning as to why this would be a good idea:
It would effectively inform the user that there is a functionality on the website to be used when posting spoilers, even if they're not currently attempting to post one. It would also show them how to use them (in case they don't understand). Also another thing that could be added to the pop-up is a picture of where the user could find the button for the spoiler functionality. This would likely reduce the number of people who have no idea that there is indeed a spoiler feature on this website, so that they wouldn't just comment something like this: "SPOILER: spoiler text here" <- I've seen people do this.

Another thing that this could be used with is to give at least a bit of clarity to the

5.2.2 Do not post spoilers outside of designated forums.

rule, by having the pop-up trigger only outside those designated forums (I'm guessing this rule means something like if someone specifically made a forum post asking about a specific event in the future and turning to LN readers for the spoilers, in which case the usage of [ spoiler] would be kind of useless, since the entire point of that forum post would be to get spoilers).

It would also work as a way to at least attempt to double down on people intentionally breaking the

5.4.4 Spoilers belong in spoiler tags.

rule, since if the mods had to keep moderating a specific user's comments due to his frequent failure to properly use the [ spoiler] feature, they could just enable this pop-up for them permanently. If they still failed to properly use the [ spoiler] feature, they would be given a ban or at least some sort of punishment for breaking the rules intentionally.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk 🙃

 

[Pika]

Hey that doesn't sound too bad!
I mean e-hentai gives you a warning every time you try to add new tags. But this one might be a bit too intrusive... Maybe having the placeholder text be something like this instead of having a pop-up

Yo, use spoiler tags with [spoiler} [/spoiler]

I don't know how to type the spoiler tag in plain text so i put a } in there

 

[Samhill]

@Pika Code tag.

 [spoiler] [spoiler]

EDIT: Doesn't work.

 

[Pika]

@Samhill
Pats you in the back while crying

 

[Official229]

@Pika I beg to disagree about that the part about it being too intrusive. Think of it as a sort of "I have read and agree to the terms above" kind of pop-up window, you only see them once so they aren't really intrusive to your experience at all. If they were popping up every time you visited the site on the other hand, then they would be.
While the part about the placeholder does sound a nice idea, you gotta remember and accept the fact that most people out there just click on every possible "x" as soon as they see it.

A website letting you know they use cookies and you gotta accept them? get outta my sight. No one even reads what's on it. The only reason you even remember it being there is because it pops up, darkens the rest of the web page or that it takes up the bottom half of your screen as a footer. Now imagine that being simply a little banner, while I do agree it could work if it was permanently attached to the commenting box, I think the pop-up window would server as a better way of forcefully telling the user "yo, here's something that you need to know because you're very likely going to use it at least once."

Maybe a combination of both would actually be for the best?
Like with the pop-up, people might forget how to use spoilers after they close it and just be like "meh, fuck it."
But if they had a persistent little banner above the commenting box saying "spoilers are used like this: [ spoiler]" they'd be aware of having to [ spoiler] their spoilers because of the pop-up, and knowin how to do it because of the banner.

 

[Samhill]

@Pika LOL

 

[blackyawgdom]

Its not going to stop anybody from posting spoilers. The only way to avoid spoilers is to live like Osama Bin Laden. Hole up in a cave for 14 years then when the US military comes knocking ask about the next Star Wars.
Or Tupac. HE AINT DEAD! Hes managing a Dennys in Wisconsin.

 

[Pika]

@Official229
Well, if it's only a one-time thing, then I doubt it'll be useful, since it's mostly the users that have already commented a lot that don't use the spoiler tags

 

[Official229]

@Pika (might be misunderstanding what you're saying - users that already commented a lot don't know how to use spoilers and because they've already posted, they wouldn't get the pop-up) force its appearance for already existing users. The implementation wouldn't require any extra work to get that to happen, since every user would automatically be treated as a new user after adding the database entry for its value (which would all be set to the same value as default).

But in case you mean that the people that aren't using spoilers intentionally are the problem, then simply doing what I suggested at the last part of my original post would work.

Also @blackyawgdom completely missing the point.

 

[MrIncognito]

The question now then is "what is the overlap between users who post spoilers untagged simply because they don't know what the tag is and haven't cared to check and users who totally ignore placeholder text and things written around the textboxes they're typing in but don't close dialog boxes before reading them?"

 

[Pika]

@Official229
I meant the latter, people intentionally not using spoiler tags because it's a hassle or whatever goes in their mind.

What about giving those people, that already have been reported a few times for not using the spoiler tags, the annoying pop-ups for like their next 10 comments or something?
I mean I get that you want those pop-ups to be helpful, but I don't think just popping it once would be helpful enough, cuz people tend to forget stuff... But having those things pop up every time you try to comment is an annoyance imo

 

[Official229]

@MrIncognito don't know, but I see your point, read the last part here.

@Pika I see, then in the case of people forgetting easily, the sticky header telling you to [ spoiler] things would be sufficient enough. As for people that are intentionally not using spoilers and or simply thing that it's a hassle, the suggestion I already offered in my OP, and the same one you're suggesting, would suffice (the one with the pop-up appearing even after you've seen it for the first time).

I understand how you'd be skeptical about the pop-up even working for most people, but it would at least serve as a good way for new users to at least some forum etiquette (in case they haven't yet).

As to further clarify some options for punishing people who frequently fail to [ spoiler] their comments, forcing the pop-up on them with a smart countdown (so they don't just alt-tab to another site to wait out the timer) for a few comments, or for a duration after the incident could work. Another valid option could be disabling their ability to comment on latest chapters entirely while they're on the cooldown because of failing to properly [ spoiler] their comments (this would probably get rid of most people that intentionally do this, since most of the time, they do it on the latest chapters to get a reaction out of people, or to ruin their reading experience).

how does this sound?

 

[Pika]

@Official229
Well, that's just evil, but I like your proposal. I mean that kind of punishment must be for repeat offenders or something.
Not that I'm a mod or anything

 

[Official229]

 

[ZaxaPac]

@Official229

Another valid option could be disabling their ability to comment on latest chapters entirely while they're on the cooldown because of failing to properly [ spoiler] their comments (this would probably get rid of most people that intentionally do this, since most of the time, they do it on the latest chapters to get a reaction out of people, or to ruin their reading experience).

You do know that chapter specific spoilers are allowed in the chapter comments, right? It's even mentioned as a sticky in the Manga Comments section:

Notice: Mark all spoilers with [ spoiler] tags. Chapter spoilers may be left unmarked only in their respective chapter comment threads.

So if they're just spoiling stuff in that chapter it's perfectly fine, but if they're spoiling stuff from other series or future things beyond what the translation has done, blocking them from only the latest chapters really won't mean too much I would imagine. While I do agree it might be nice to implement something like this, it definitely will take some work to have it make a good amount of sense.

Edit: Forgot to add space before spoiler in the sticky quote lol.

 

[Official229]

@ZaxaPac I think you're misunderstanding something. I'm talking about the cases where people specifically go and spoil future events when it comes to manga that are being adapted from other source materials. When it comes to this, you sometimes see people intentionally spoiling or leaving stuff that should be in [ spoiler] without them. Like for example some big event happens in a manga which is a light novel adaption, lots of suspense and stuff in the air, and some guy decides to spoil a big future event.

Also about this:

So if they're just spoiling stuff in that chapter it's perfectly fine, but if they're spoiling stuff from other series or future things beyond what the translation has done, blocking them from only the latest chapters really won't mean too much I would imagine.

Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem.

But this feature could work for running series that have caught up with the raws, since readers there usually only check the latest chapter's comment section, and not the comments on old chapters. Because of that, there would at least be a smaller likelihood of some "repeat offender", who likes pissing people off, to manage sneak a spoiler in when the chapter comments are being read the most.

 

[Kaarme]

Not a bad suggestion since there have been people not aware of the spoiler tags' existence. However, as long as Mangadex has got no spoiler policy, it's kind of useless. Like if a hypothetical country had set no legal consequences for getting caught speeding, a lot of people wouldn't care about it at all, even if the police stopped them time after time. If there are no fines, risk of losing the driver's license, or anything, they would just keep stomping the pedal. It's the same for Mangadex: when at most you get your post edited by a mod, assuming someone bothers to report it, it just encourages the novel/raw prophets to keep spoiling. You know it's bad when scanlators include warnings about the Mangadex comment section in their releases.

It's commendable you used your time to think of a system like that, but it's kind of like trying to use duct tape to fix a cracked high pressure tube.

 

[Lovelyspacepanda]

Spoiler

I know is old but i want see if it works since I'm still fairly new at understanding this site