Question regarding what constitutes very large quotes

In this thread several quotes were removed stating very large quote removed by staff. The first half of my reply was as follows: Three lines of quoted text followed by 6 lines of comment. Four lines of quoted text followed by 5 lines of comment. Two lines of quoted text followed by 12 lines of comment.

I believe I am mindful of the amount of quoted text and only include the pertinent portion to further the conversation. How is one supposed to reply when there are 34 posts from an individual? If anything my post now disrupts the flow of conversation as it consists of nothing more than blocks of text without any context.

Looking for advise on what actually constitutes a very large quote as I obviously don't understand.

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This post is full of very large quotes.

[edit on 8/25/2010 by EnlightenUp]

reply to post by Three_moons


I guess a large quote would constitute as a lot of unnecessary text quoted..

I guess the best idea to replying to a large post is only quote the main points in a brief summary.

reply to post by Three_moons


My advise to you:
1) If you intend to quote another member's response and the original quote was longer than 3 paragraphs, break the quotes up and comment on each paragraph individually. If you wish to respond to a full quote in your own paragraph at the end, either use the "Reply To" feature instead or format the original reply to include only relevant information relating to your reply. You will often find members are penalised for quoting more than they comment on, which is kind of counter-productive in many cases.

2) If you are quoting from an external source, provide an introductory paragraph with a link to the source. Or, like before, identity key excerpts from the source and comment on each one before moving on to the next. There is not much point copying an entire article verbatim because people can simply see the article themselves.

While it is important to give credit when referring to the ideas of others, it is also important to do so in your own words, or as the basis for your own views, otherwise you are just echoing the ideas of somebody else.

[edit on 25/8/2010 by Dark Ghost]

reply to post by EnlightenUp



reply to post by Dark Ghost

Thanks for your advice. I've been following basically what you've said which only confuses me more. One of the allegedly large quotes was a whopping 3 lines.

reply to post by Three_moons


Looking at your post in that thread, it does seem kind of strange.

One thing you could do is u2u the mod who removed the quotes and ask why they thought they were excessive, and maybe ask them to at least reinstate enough to make it clear who you're talking to (I assume it's the OP, but I can't tell if it was more than one of the OP's posts, or if it was multiple posters).

Originally posted by EnlightenUp
This post is full of

very large quotes.

Indeed it is...

Is this what's meant by the OP?





[edit on 25/8/10 by Chadwickus]

Originally posted by Chadwickus
Indeed it is...

Is this what's meant by the OP?

The OP did ask:

Looking for advise on what actually constitutes a very large quote as I obviously don't understand.

So, any reasonable proposal is in order.


[edit on 8/25/2010 by EnlightenUp]

reply to post by Three_moons


Here is an entire thread by one SimonGray explaining quoting and the use/warnings for excessive quoting...

If you engage in excessive quoting, you will receive a "warning" and points penalty. Examples of what would cause a warning for an excessive quote are:

Quote the post immediately before yours: This makes no sense, and quoting the entire previous post above yours will result in a slight warning.

Quoting an entire post: Size doesn't matter unless the post is already small, less than 3 sentences. You will receive a warning if you quote an entire post that exceeds four or more sentences.

Compound quoting: If you quote someone quoting someone, this will result in a penalty.


As with multiple topics, our concern is mainly for board readability and the overall user experience. Try to imagine yourself as a new users, and how frustrating it would be to constantly have to scroll through repeated material within message threads.

ABOUT ATS: Warnings for excessive quoting, and how to quote

reply to post by NeutronAvenger


Forgot to add a link to the thread above: ABOUT ATS: Warnings for excessive quoting, and how to quote

reply to post by NeutronAvenger

Compound quoting: If you quote someone quoting someone, this will result in a penalty.

At times I've found this the only way to really preserve the context properly. I'll do it if it's necessary for said reason!

reply to post by americandingbat
Will do. Thanks!

reply to post by Chadwickus & post by EnlightenUp

reply to post by NeutronAvenger
Thanks for the link although it didn't shed any light on the situation.

[edit on 8/25/2010 by Three_moons]

Originally posted by EnlightenUp
reply to post by NeutronAvenger

 

Compound quoting: If you quote someone quoting someone, this will result in a penalty.

At times I've found this the only way to really preserve the context properly. I'll do it if it's necessary for said reason!

Didn't know about that one, I thought it was only for excessive quote nesting...





[edit on 25/8/10 by Chadwickus]

reply to post by NeutronAvenger


That page is from 2004 and is rather outdated in my opinion. It definitely seems like things have changed since then because even Mods take part in doing things that are meant to get you a penalty warning according to that thread. Another important factor is that broadband is now the standard, as well as ATS having grown in size considerably since 2004. Perhaps it is time for a more modern version?

"Quoting and Citation - 2010 Revision" for example.

[edit on 25/8/2010 by Dark Ghost]

I can't see how any of those removed quotes were large, and there are much larger quotes all over ATS.

I certainly hope they don't start removing blocks of text all over the place, that's going to make this site hard to both read and respond to.
Many quotes are more than 4 sentences.

When a thread gets long, sometimes the only way to keep track of what the conversation is, is through quotes.

reply to post by EnlightenUp


Please don't use compounded quotes for any reason.

The "Reply to" tag is the best method for that.

Readers are smart enough to understand context without posters breaking the rules.

reply to post by snowspirit


The "Reply to" tag is the perfect method for overcoming the issues you describe. Please use that function. It is far too under utilized.

Originally posted by Dark Ghost

My advise to you:
1) If you intend to quote another member's response and the original quote was longer than 3 paragraphs, break the quotes up and comment on each paragraph individually.

Again, please don't.

This form of response only slows down reading. A short paraphrase of another member's statement should suffice to provide proper context, especially when used in conjunction with the "Reply to" tag, which, as I have noted above, is far too under utilized and is a perfect tool for directing readers to the original post.

[edit on 2010/8/25 by GradyPhilpott]

I got caught up in this too. I didn't realize I had quoted excessively. I have been here for years and I don't recall ever being chastised for this before.

reply to post by damwel


Don't feel like the Lone Ranger.

I've been nailed for the same thing, but I came to see how the rule was instituted for good reason.

If everyone would get on board with this rule and encourage other members to do so, in a very short time, we could all see just how much better our board would be, both in terms of looks, but most importantly, in readability.





[edit on 2010/8/25 by GradyPhilpott]