About HotWhopper Chat
There are oodles of weather discussion boards, and lots of climate blogs, and some people like Facebook and Twitter. However there aren't too many options for people who aren't bloggers but who occasionally want to write something about climate change when they think of it.
HotWhopper Chat was conceived as a place where people with a common interest in climate change can develop a real sense of community - a climate community, that they can own (not someone else). A place where everyone can feel welcome, from scientist to complete climate newbie.
Getting around HotWhopper Chat
If you want to become familiar with how the HotWhopper Chat forum works, look at this introductory video. It shows you how to navigate the board, how to register and sign in so you can join the discussion, and some of the basic features of the forum. You can make the video full screen by clicking on the video, then clicking the square button in the bottom right corner (to the right of the YouTube logo).
Additional features
There are a number of features not described in the introductory video. For example, you can:
- change the forum layout to whatever you choose. Click on your name in the bar at the top to go to your profile, click the small icon on the top right of the panel and choose “edit profile”, scroll down and choose your layout options. These can be changed any time.
- add images and files to your comments in the chat forum
- edit your comment for up to an hour after you post it
- bookmark discussions:bookmark discussions so you can come back to them later. You'll see a link to your bookmarks in the panel on the right.
- private messaging: send a private message to another forum member, and receive them
- flag comments that you want a moderator to look at. You'll need to say why you've flagged it. It could be that you'd like it promoted as a “sticky” (it's a great comment), or because you think it doesn't comply with the Terms of Service (it's an inappropriate comment).
- quote-folding: in case people quoting people quoting people gets out of hand, in the “edit profile” section (click your user name, then the figure icon), you can select how many quotes are displayed in a comment before they are hidden. You'll be able to unhide them by clicking on the shortcut in the comment.
If there's a feature you'd like to see, post a suggestion in the Suggestions and Feedback forum.
Chat Etiquette
- Play nice.
- You can flag a comment if you think it isn't in accordance with the Terms of Use. A moderator will look at it and make a decision.
- Avoid writing in ALL CAPS. It is the equivalent of SHOUTING and is generally considered to be rude.
- Duplicate comments will usually be removed. Avoid writing the same comment in different forums on HotWhopper Chat.
- Respect the moderators. Their job is to keep the forum safe and harmonious.
Guidelines on content
When you post a comment, work from the assumption that climate change is real and we are causing global warming. “Climate hoax” conspiracy theories aren't welcome here, except to point out where and why they are wrong. If you believe climate science is a hoax or that mainstream scientists as a group are faking data, then you would be better posting your ideas on one of the climate conspiracy blogs. Defamatory comments will be deleted.
That doesn't mean that questioning of a specific scientific paper isn't permitted. It's encouraged. Bear in mind that if you are challenging well-established theory you'll need to back it up with very solid evidence. Just saying “the data is fudged” isn't evidence. That's conspiratorial thinking and will get you the Tin Foil Hat award. Referring to denier blogs to support your argument won't wash either. Pseudo-science isn't welcome here. Data from reputable sources will win you friends at HotWhopper Chat.
Policies
HotWhopper Chat has some policies for your protection and ours. There is a link to them at the bottom right of every page in HotWhopper Chat. They are:
Use of HotWhopper material
Material created and owned by HotWhopper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.