Here's the 2-part answer to a very FAQ. The city has had to be mentioned by MLS as one of the potential sites for expansion. There must be at least 10 regular posters to post in a thread requesting the forum on the Customer Service Forum Request board and high traffic in the current thread(s) that are city specific in the MLS Expansion forum.
MLS Expansion - Does My City Have a Thread? - Reference Guide These cities currently have locations to discuss expansion and city-specific information. Forums Atlanta Cleveland Florida Milwaukee Montreal New York City Philadelphia Phoenix Portland Rochester Saint Louis Seattle Vancouver Threads Baltimore Buffalo Detroit Las Vegas Minneapolis New Jersey New Orleans North Carolina Sacramento San Diego Tennessee
MLS: Expansion FAQ Your expansion moderators - Bryan76, Dill0n, and Sport Billy - are committed to making the boards a safe but fun space for the exchange and debate of ideas. We try to review every post for it's content to make sure it is compliant with BigSoccer's Terms of Service. We cannot pretend to know everyone's sensibilities or reactions to posts. If you think that a post is over the line, we urge you to use the technology that the site's administrators built in. You can report a post using this button . It appears beneath the poster's screen name. Board Etiquette Spoilers Trolling, Flaming and Spam Official Threads
Re: If a post offends you...(and other posting questions) Being Cool (aka board etiquette) This board is like a college dorm. There are different threads and different kinds of discussions. In some threads it’s just about anything goes so long nobody has to call the RA. In other threads, the more studious are debating the fine points of Shakespeare (4-4-2) and Vonnegut (3-5-2) concerning their criticism of society (how the league should expand judiciously). Then some threads are like the cafeteria with posters winding news and views together mingling the cerebral with the flippant. Most posters find the kind of atmosphere that works for them, and they just stick to those. Other folks wander from room to room sampling the variety. No matter what most residents are cool, and quick to figure out what kind of room they are in and act suitably to get along with whomever they meet. The RA’s (moderators) are there to make sure everything and everyone is cool. Sometimes that means chucking the bad apples who just showed up to create trouble. Sometimes, it means escorting the trashcan thrower away from the study group before they get fed up and leave to consider the mysteries of the universe elsewhere. Sometimes, it means escorting the study group guy away from the everything goes crowd before he gets himself beat up. But, for the most part the RA’s just wander around content in the knowledge that dorm life is going well, and remarking how everyone is so cool, and how even with their different tastes and attitudes everyone is getting along and having a good time. There are many freshman posters on here who are just learning the ropes and there will be plenty more when a new team is announced. There are all kinds of students of the game here and all sorts of discussions. Please respect those differences, and be cool enough to allow everyone the kinds of discussions they’re looking for. Lastly, please remember that despite all our different perspectives and opinions, we all really do support the same team. Thanks Knave for allowing me to reconfigure your (World Cup and DC) guidelines for use on this forum
Re: If a post offends you...(and other posting questions) Spoilers :: What they are, and how to avoid posting them. We cover this issue in depth here because there’s a lot of confusion about this topic, and there’s not actually much information about it in the BigSoccer Forum Guidelines. Believe it or not, some soccer fans have jobs, lives and families and are not always able to watch the games live. Many will be watching matches on tape or on taped delay. It is therefore imperative that we all take care not to post any spoilers for any match. A spoiler is something that reveals the result of a match without fair warning to readers of the boards. You might say that anyone who is watching a game on tape should not go online and risk having the match spoiled. This, however, is not a good argument. Someone might want to go online before watching a game because: • There's another game on TV that they're going to watch before watching the one on tape/tape delay that they want to know about. • The match is on tape delay in their area and they want to see the pre-match news about injuries and lineups without being alerted to the final score. • They want to know why the tape delayed match is suddenly not on ESPN as they thought it would be. • They want to know the results of other matches but not be alerted to the result of the match they want to watch. These are just a few of the very many good reasons that someone would go on the boards before watching a match on tape. In addition, keep in mind that thread titles on the Expansion board appear on BigSoccer Live on the main page. That means that someone can have a match spoiled without even going onto the boards. So spoilers are a very serious concern for us here on these boards and we will try to insure that there are as few spoilers as possible. Here are some rules to follow to make sure that you do not post any spoilers. 1) Never post a result in a title. Ex. "Team X 4 : 0 Team Y" 2) Never imply a result in a thread title. "Team goes down in flames!" or "Team was brilliant!" 3) Always use neutral icons in titles for threads that reveal results. Here a couple examples of what not to do. City v. MLS All Stars [R] or City v. MLS All Stars [R] Such icons are very suggestive about the results of a match so please avoid using them. Neutral alternatives include the arrow or the generic icon. Use either of these when posting potentially spoiling threads. 4) Along with using a neutral title and icon you must always put an [R] in the title. The [R] is fair warning that the contents of the thread include match results. A thread titled something like "X City and Scoring" is clearly neutral but it is also very ambiguous. It is not obvious whether or not results are revealed within the thread. Consequently, the thread is a potentially spoiling thread even though its title is neutral. If you leave the [R] out then someone who does not want to know the result might unwittingly click on the thread and have a match spoiled. By placing an [R] in the title you give all the readers of the board fair warning about the contents of the thread. The [R] refers to the specific match at hand and any matches that relate to it. That means that for MLS and Open Cup threads other MLS and Open Cup games are fair game. All other threads will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Also, please note that when you post a thread there is a line - in red - right below the subject box that reads: NO match RESULTS in subjects. Please use [R], or you will receive a yellow card! We will be taking spoilers very seriously during the season and anyone who posts a spoiler will receive an automatic yellow card that prevents them from posting new threads. In short, all we are asking for is a little common sense and courtesy to your fellow Bigsoccer posters. Lastly, if you really, absolutely don't want to risk a match being spoiled then you should avoid the boards. We aren't perfect and there will be spoilers here. If it is imperative that you not see a spoiler then try to avoid the boards until you've watched the match. We'll eliminate spoilers as soon as we see them but, as with life in general, there are no guarantees.
Re: If a post offends you...(and other posting questions) Trolling, Flaming and Spam Trolling: This term has its roots in fishing. When a fisherman trolls he trails bait through the water waiting for a fish to bite. Inevitably some foolish fish takes the bait. Trolling on the internet is similar. There is no rule about what is and what is not trolling. But it often consists of posting absurdities, annoyances, contradictions to common knowledge, insults, potshots, belligerent assertions and the like. Trolling isn’t always intentional, and has nothing to do with what team you support. Flaming: To flame is to post personally insulting or defamatory messages. If you want to talk trash then please head over to the MLS: Fan Rivalries board. However, even on that board flames are not permitted. Spam: To spam is to post irrelevant or inappropriate messages. One of the most common varieties of spam is advertising. Threads and posts that flame, troll or spam (as determined by the judgment of the moderators) will be deleted, moved or closed. And please do report any instances of these things that you see to a moderator. On this note, when posting links to articles on other websites you must always post directly to the article – not just to the main page of the website. Links to articles are clearly informational. Links to main pages too often look like spam. Lastly, please refrain from inflaming the flamers and don’t feed the trolls. Just alert a mod to the problem and they’ll take care of things as soon as they can.
Re: If a post offends you...(and other posting questions) Official Threads :: aka No Banter Threads Anyone starting a thread has the option of giving it an Official designation. Threads designated Official will be reserved for serious discussion and substantive analysis. They will, accordingly, be moderated at standards that exceed the normal TOS. This will give thread starters more say about the level of moderation applied to their threads, and it will help to delineate a clear place for those who prefer serious discussion and analysis (like the study group mentioned in Being Cool). Threads can be designated Official retroactively, but only if the thread starter asks for the switch. If you want to designate your thread "Official" then please make that clear in the thread title. • Official :: Is X City ready for MLS?
Re: If a post offends you...(and other posting questions) Let me add to this. Pamela S. Stevens issued "Twenty Five Forum Posting Etiquette Tips" It's pretty good. 1. Read the forums rules and guidelines before posting for the first time. 2. Search the other posts to see if your topic is already covered. 3. Use a meaningful title for your thread. 4. Do not use someone else's forum to promote your product, service or business. 5. Be civil. Personal differences should be handled through email or IM and not through posts displayed to everyone. 6. Stay on topic. 7. Ignore spammers, respond to them personally and not through the board, or report them. 8. Do not submit a post that requires readers to download a large attachment. Either explain the attachment or, better yet, provide a link to the information. 9. Use plain text over HTML if you want your post to be readable by everyone. 10. In order to be understood by most people, use correct spelling, grammar and avoid slang unless you know the word or phrase will be understood by other members. 11. Do not double post (post the same message twice in one thread) or cross post (place the same message across several forums). 12. Act in a give and take manner; help others as often as or more than you ask for help. 13. Do not use all caps or SHOUT in your posts. In addition, one exclamation point is enough. 14. When replying to a post, do not quote more from the previous post than you have to. 15. Do not post new problems on someone else's thread and interrupt a topic of discussion. 16. Do not use someone else’s thread for a private conversation. 17. Most forums prohibit warez, cracks or illegal downloading of software and similar topics. 18. Watch your sense of humor, posts may be read by people from a variety of backgrounds and ages. 19. Do not use a huge and annoying signature, a modest signature is fine, moderators may remove large ones anyway. 20. Do not post any information that you want private. Posts should not contain personal, identifiable information or content embarrassing to others. 21. Do not post content that violates a copyright. 22. Do not post “empty” or useless responses, such as just “lol” or “cool.” Only post responses when you have something to contribute. 23. Write concisely and do not ramble. 24. Do not use words like “urgent” or “important” in your subject line, be patient. 25. Do not chastise newbies. I would like to add #26. 26. Please use the default font. Do not change font and/or color. If you want to change the color of/or italicize a quote from an article, that's fine. But don't change font/color for every one of your posts.
Re: If a post offends you...(and other posting questions) Multi Quote: Learn It, Live It, Love It Instead of creating consecutive posts quoting previous statements in a thread, learn to use the Multi Quote tool. After clicking the relevant box at all the posts you would like to quote, hit the "New Reply" button. BigSoccer will magically format your post to include all the quotes you wish to respond to, from which you can begin to edit and formulate your contribution to the discussion. Help us help you ... so we don't have to merge posts in order to keep things clean and well-organized.
Where to post your Stadium thread. There has been some confusion on where to post regarding Stadiums. Please follow the guidelines below, I think that will help clear things up. - If a post is about stadiums generally then it should go into MLS General - If a post is about stadiums in a certain city then it should go into that city's subforum (In either MLS Clubs or Candidate Cities). - If a post is about stadiums in a city without a team and without a subforum, it goes into Expansion General. Thanks