The No Homers Club FAQ
Here you can find answers to common questions about the No Homers Club. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.
Welcome, and a short No Homers Club history
Welcome to the NHC, the world's daily dose of Simpsons discussion for over a decade. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read the board FAQ to get you acquainted with our community.
History of the NHC
The No Homers Club (aka the NHC) was founded by Eric Wirtanen in 2001 with assistance from Jonah Flynn and Tino Persico. NoHomers.net was registered as a domain on January 2, 2001, and the board officially launched on August 27, 2001. It was originally a part of the Evergreen Terrace Simpsons fan site, which first held the NoHomers.net domain. Although the Internet at that time had dozens of Simpsons discussion websites, the NHC quickly gained the support of other fan sites and their webmasters & regular visitors.
The forum was originally built on the YaBB (Yet Another Bulletin Board) engine. In October 2001, the board switched over to the vBulletin 2.0 platform; unfortunately the switch didn't save the YaBB-era posts. As of 2012 the message board runs on the vBulletin 4.20 platform.
After the Evergreen Terrace fan site was shut down in 2002 the forums became largely independent and developed a large community. The forum's address was originally club.nohomers.net but the board moved to simpsonsforum.com within days after its creation. In October 2002 it took its current domain, http://www.nohomers.net. The website can also be reached by using http://www.nohomers.com. Since 2002, Jacob Burch has also had a large part in the maintenance of the website and became co-owner of the NHC in June 2006. In February 2011, the NHC's mobile theme was re-launched and can be accessed by using http://www.nhcmobile.com.
In August 2011, after a brief stint as a general discussion message board, the NHC re-dedicated itself to The Simpsons and became affiliated with The Simpsons Archive. The NHC's general discussion community subsequently divided from the NHC. A large contributing factor to the general discussion community's move from the NHC was the division in opinion on the quality of the show after its first decade on the air, as well as a shift in interest away from The Simpsons.
The NHC's off topic community moved in late 2011 to nerdgroupies.com, which served as both an off topic message board and a general community of all things pop-culture. After further user deliberation, the name of the site was changed to "Boards and Recreation" in March 2012 (coinciding with a URL change to BoardsandRec.com). The new moniker, also known as Boards & Rec, was viewed as more reflective of the mission of the community: to "provide you with a frequently updated website and forum offering intelligent and amusing articles & reviews pertaining to entertainment & geek pop culture." Boards and Recreation's forum remains comparably active to the NHC's to this day. Additionally, the two websites share several of the same maintainers and moderators.
The website took its title from an episode of The Simpsons, "Homer the Great." In the episode, Homer laments that years ago his peers started a "No Homers Club" and excluded him from the group, even though they let in a boy by the name of Homer Glumplich. (This is explained by the fact that it's the No Homers (plural) Club, and they're "allowed to have one.")
History of the NHC
The No Homers Club (aka the NHC) was founded by Eric Wirtanen in 2001 with assistance from Jonah Flynn and Tino Persico. NoHomers.net was registered as a domain on January 2, 2001, and the board officially launched on August 27, 2001. It was originally a part of the Evergreen Terrace Simpsons fan site, which first held the NoHomers.net domain. Although the Internet at that time had dozens of Simpsons discussion websites, the NHC quickly gained the support of other fan sites and their webmasters & regular visitors.
The forum was originally built on the YaBB (Yet Another Bulletin Board) engine. In October 2001, the board switched over to the vBulletin 2.0 platform; unfortunately the switch didn't save the YaBB-era posts. As of 2012 the message board runs on the vBulletin 4.20 platform.
After the Evergreen Terrace fan site was shut down in 2002 the forums became largely independent and developed a large community. The forum's address was originally club.nohomers.net but the board moved to simpsonsforum.com within days after its creation. In October 2002 it took its current domain, http://www.nohomers.net. The website can also be reached by using http://www.nohomers.com. Since 2002, Jacob Burch has also had a large part in the maintenance of the website and became co-owner of the NHC in June 2006. In February 2011, the NHC's mobile theme was re-launched and can be accessed by using http://www.nhcmobile.com.
In August 2011, after a brief stint as a general discussion message board, the NHC re-dedicated itself to The Simpsons and became affiliated with The Simpsons Archive. The NHC's general discussion community subsequently divided from the NHC. A large contributing factor to the general discussion community's move from the NHC was the division in opinion on the quality of the show after its first decade on the air, as well as a shift in interest away from The Simpsons.
The NHC's off topic community moved in late 2011 to nerdgroupies.com, which served as both an off topic message board and a general community of all things pop-culture. After further user deliberation, the name of the site was changed to "Boards and Recreation" in March 2012 (coinciding with a URL change to BoardsandRec.com). The new moniker, also known as Boards & Rec, was viewed as more reflective of the mission of the community: to "provide you with a frequently updated website and forum offering intelligent and amusing articles & reviews pertaining to entertainment & geek pop culture." Boards and Recreation's forum remains comparably active to the NHC's to this day. Additionally, the two websites share several of the same maintainers and moderators.
The website took its title from an episode of The Simpsons, "Homer the Great." In the episode, Homer laments that years ago his peers started a "No Homers Club" and excluded him from the group, even though they let in a boy by the name of Homer Glumplich. (This is explained by the fact that it's the No Homers (plural) Club, and they're "allowed to have one.")
Who are the people behind the No Homers Club?
NHC Technical Team
Jacob Burch (Roarke): Chief Technical Administrator, Site Owner
Eric Wirtanen (eric): Founder, Site Owner, and Technical Administrator
Ben Newbold (sacrelicious): Technical Administrator
NHC Forum Leader Team
Amber Rodrigues (kupomog): Chief Forum Administrator
Adam (Dark Homer): Forum Administrator
James Tyner (Jims): Forum Administrator
Ryan O'Reilly (Ryan): Forum Administrator
Others
Jonah Flynn (Tomacco): Co-founder, Moderator
Tino Persico (Datoupee): Co-founder
Please see our Forum Leaders page for the full list of NHC moderators.
Rules of the Board (Updated March 2013)
The Rules of the Board (follow them, okay?)
Please note that these rules are only guidelines and that they are not set in stone. The rules are to be followed in spirit, not to the letter. However, they are non-negotiable. Not every mod is going to follow the same rules, and not everyone is going to face the same disciplinary action for infractions of rules. So please don’t try and log who gets punished for what. All moderator decisions are final, but if you need to talk to a mod about a violation, please keep your discussion private-- do not post a thread about it in the public forum. Thanks.
Rule #1 is the most important-- the others basically detail it a bit more.
1. Use common sense.
It’s not that hard. And this isn’t a place for “free speech”-- you can say what you want to an extent that is allowed by the owner of this privately-owned message board. Really-- it’s not worth is to push the limits of free speech here. You’ll just ruin it for everyone else.
2. Don’t post NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content except in permitted areas.
Permitted areas = threads that are marked NSFW by the thread starter. Otherwise, do not post NSFW images inline (using [img] tags). Instead, link to the image or site (posting the URL) with a very clear warning about its content. NSFW content includes, but is not limited to: nudity, pornography, disturbing images, extreme violence, extreme body mutilation/modification, and dead bodies and/or death footage. Extremely graphic descriptive text (e.g. an extremely detailed description of extreme violence) is also considered NSFW. If you think an image might fall under the NSFW umbrella, contact a mod/admin before posting it. And keep in mind, just because we allow NSFW content doesn't mean you can take it overboard. There IS a limit to what we will allow on the board.
Also, be careful regarding websites that use anti-leech scripts for those that hotlink images. Some sites have been known to replace hotlinked images with disturbing images in order to get the hotlinker in trouble. Please note that if your image was deleted or edited, this could be the reason.
3. Post things in the correct forum.
Use the forum descriptions to guide you. Do not object if a thread gets moved if it gets placed in the correct forum by a moderator. If you are not sure what forum a topic would go in, contact a mod/admin. Also, one thread per topic-- if a topic might work in more than one forum, pick the best one to post it in.
4. If something was deleted, there’s a good reason.
Don’t repost it. If you’re unsure why it was deleted, contact a mod/admin privately. Once again, don’t make a public fuss about it. You’ll just get ridiculed.
5. Don’t flood.
Don’t overflow a thread with too many posts, and don’t overflow a forum with too many threads. Once again, use common sense.
6. Don’t hijack, troll or post nonsense.
This includes thread-jacking to sway a topic toward your own agenda. It also includes posting off-topic nonsense, “who gives a shit” posts, hall monitor posts (don’t try to enforce rules yourselves), and criticism-of-the-board posts. Basically, trolling in general. You know you’re doing it, don’t play dumb. This also includes calling out members for no reason other than to start a fight.
7. Don’t be discriminatory.
This falls under trolling as well, but yeah, just to be clear-- there is no tolerance for any discriminatory comments or slurs based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Even if you’re joking, not everyone’s gonna laugh, and we’re gonna hear from someone eventually. And yes, we’re gonna crack down on this harder than we did before.
8. Don’t post illegal/private information.
This includes encouraging others to engage in illegal activity of any kind. This also includes posting others’ private information not listed in profiles, such as phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, passwords, account numbers of any kind and any other information that, if revealed, would compromise an individual’s privacy.
9. There’s a difference between spamming and plugging.
And we can tell the difference. If your first post is a scripted advertisement for a product trying to be sold, then you will certainly be banned. It’s not a good idea to join the board with the intent of trying to sell something to its members. Plugging a website is acceptable to an extent, but it generally depends on the website’s content. Don’t get upset if a plug thread gets closed. Once again, if you’re unsure if it’s acceptable, contact a mod/admin. If your request is reasonable we can certainly make exceptions.
10. No drama.
Don’t bring real-life or another-site drama with another member with you to this board. We are not responsible for what happens with you and others off the board, but we will not let you take it out on the board. This also includes ban drama, which can range from complaining about a member being banned to posting on behalf of a banned member.
11. Be nice to the moderators and administrators.
We’re here to help, but if you get too whiny or upset, then things are not going to go your way. Don’t abuse the contact you have with the mods/admins. This also includes abuse of the Report Bad Post function-- use it wisely. Any abuses will probably result in less leniency by mods/admins toward you in particular. Yes, that’s really the case.
12. Don't threaten or advocate the death or serious injury of anyone who works or has worked on The Simpsons.
Or, really, anyone for that matter. Normally this would fall under "common sense," but apparently some of you aren't getting it. Yes, this includes "jokes."
Please note that these rules are only guidelines and that they are not set in stone. The rules are to be followed in spirit, not to the letter. However, they are non-negotiable. Not every mod is going to follow the same rules, and not everyone is going to face the same disciplinary action for infractions of rules. So please don’t try and log who gets punished for what. All moderator decisions are final, but if you need to talk to a mod about a violation, please keep your discussion private-- do not post a thread about it in the public forum. Thanks.
Rule #1 is the most important-- the others basically detail it a bit more.
1. Use common sense.
It’s not that hard. And this isn’t a place for “free speech”-- you can say what you want to an extent that is allowed by the owner of this privately-owned message board. Really-- it’s not worth is to push the limits of free speech here. You’ll just ruin it for everyone else.
2. Don’t post NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content except in permitted areas.
Permitted areas = threads that are marked NSFW by the thread starter. Otherwise, do not post NSFW images inline (using [img] tags). Instead, link to the image or site (posting the URL) with a very clear warning about its content. NSFW content includes, but is not limited to: nudity, pornography, disturbing images, extreme violence, extreme body mutilation/modification, and dead bodies and/or death footage. Extremely graphic descriptive text (e.g. an extremely detailed description of extreme violence) is also considered NSFW. If you think an image might fall under the NSFW umbrella, contact a mod/admin before posting it. And keep in mind, just because we allow NSFW content doesn't mean you can take it overboard. There IS a limit to what we will allow on the board.
Also, be careful regarding websites that use anti-leech scripts for those that hotlink images. Some sites have been known to replace hotlinked images with disturbing images in order to get the hotlinker in trouble. Please note that if your image was deleted or edited, this could be the reason.
3. Post things in the correct forum.
Use the forum descriptions to guide you. Do not object if a thread gets moved if it gets placed in the correct forum by a moderator. If you are not sure what forum a topic would go in, contact a mod/admin. Also, one thread per topic-- if a topic might work in more than one forum, pick the best one to post it in.
4. If something was deleted, there’s a good reason.
Don’t repost it. If you’re unsure why it was deleted, contact a mod/admin privately. Once again, don’t make a public fuss about it. You’ll just get ridiculed.
5. Don’t flood.
Don’t overflow a thread with too many posts, and don’t overflow a forum with too many threads. Once again, use common sense.
6. Don’t hijack, troll or post nonsense.
This includes thread-jacking to sway a topic toward your own agenda. It also includes posting off-topic nonsense, “who gives a shit” posts, hall monitor posts (don’t try to enforce rules yourselves), and criticism-of-the-board posts. Basically, trolling in general. You know you’re doing it, don’t play dumb. This also includes calling out members for no reason other than to start a fight.
7. Don’t be discriminatory.
This falls under trolling as well, but yeah, just to be clear-- there is no tolerance for any discriminatory comments or slurs based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Even if you’re joking, not everyone’s gonna laugh, and we’re gonna hear from someone eventually. And yes, we’re gonna crack down on this harder than we did before.
8. Don’t post illegal/private information.
This includes encouraging others to engage in illegal activity of any kind. This also includes posting others’ private information not listed in profiles, such as phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, passwords, account numbers of any kind and any other information that, if revealed, would compromise an individual’s privacy.
9. There’s a difference between spamming and plugging.
And we can tell the difference. If your first post is a scripted advertisement for a product trying to be sold, then you will certainly be banned. It’s not a good idea to join the board with the intent of trying to sell something to its members. Plugging a website is acceptable to an extent, but it generally depends on the website’s content. Don’t get upset if a plug thread gets closed. Once again, if you’re unsure if it’s acceptable, contact a mod/admin. If your request is reasonable we can certainly make exceptions.
10. No drama.
Don’t bring real-life or another-site drama with another member with you to this board. We are not responsible for what happens with you and others off the board, but we will not let you take it out on the board. This also includes ban drama, which can range from complaining about a member being banned to posting on behalf of a banned member.
11. Be nice to the moderators and administrators.
We’re here to help, but if you get too whiny or upset, then things are not going to go your way. Don’t abuse the contact you have with the mods/admins. This also includes abuse of the Report Bad Post function-- use it wisely. Any abuses will probably result in less leniency by mods/admins toward you in particular. Yes, that’s really the case.
12. Don't threaten or advocate the death or serious injury of anyone who works or has worked on The Simpsons.
Or, really, anyone for that matter. Normally this would fall under "common sense," but apparently some of you aren't getting it. Yes, this includes "jokes."
I just joined and I can't start a new thread or blog!
In order to cut down on spam at NHC, new members of the board cannot start a new thread, create a new blog, or reply to a blog until they've made at least one post elsewhere.
Please see this thread to discuss this.
A note for people registering with e-mail accounts at AOL and Hotmail:
When you register for the NHC with an e-mail address at AOL and Hotmail, the activation e-mail will likely go to your junk mail folder. Please check your junk folder for this e-mail.
What is the Bart's Treehouse forum? Why can't I see it?
Bart's Treehouse is the moderators forum of the NHC and is inaccessible to all regular members.
Signature Size Policy
In order to keep the forums and threads less cluttered and distracting, we ask that you please keep any pictures in your signature under 200px in height. If you have a picture at the maximum size, please do not add text, or keep it at the smallest text size. If you want to add text, keep pictures at a maximum of 150px in height. For example, an image 150px tall with a single-line quote (using [quote] tags) underneath it is OK. If you want to put multiple quotes, remove the [quote] tags because they take up more room.
As far as an image's horizontal width in a signature, just use common sense and don't stretch the table/page structure of the forum.
Please do not put Simpsons favorites/ratings lists in your signature. There are places where you can list your favorite seasons and episodes in your profile. Lists end up getting too large, and things like this can go in your profile. Please do not post current season episode grades either, as they tend to become too large. Again, you can use your profile for these.
If you must add links to your sig, keep them short, and do not use photo links. If you would like to put a list in your signature, please list the items horizontally, and not vertically, so the signature won't be too tall.
As far as an image's horizontal width in a signature, just use common sense and don't stretch the table/page structure of the forum.
Please do not put Simpsons favorites/ratings lists in your signature. There are places where you can list your favorite seasons and episodes in your profile. Lists end up getting too large, and things like this can go in your profile. Please do not post current season episode grades either, as they tend to become too large. Again, you can use your profile for these.
If you must add links to your sig, keep them short, and do not use photo links. If you would like to put a list in your signature, please list the items horizontally, and not vertically, so the signature won't be too tall.
How do I change my custom title/avatar/signature/username?
...the words under my username (Custom Title)?
Go to Quick Links, then Edit Profile. Enter your new title in the 'Custom User Title' box. (There used to be a 300-post limit for getting your own custom title. With the vb3 upgrade this has been eliminated.)
If you select Reset, it will go back to the default title. The default titles are based on post count:
0 - 24 posts: Newbie
25 - 249: Junior Camper
250 - 999: Pin Pal
1,000 - 4,499: Stonecutter
5,000 - 9,999: SuperFriend
10,000 - 19,999: Hired Goon
20,000 - 29,999: Executive Vice President
30,000 & beyond: The Chosen One
...the picture under my title and stars (Avatar)?
Go to Quick Links, then Edit Avatar. You can select from the various Simpsons avatars we have, or you can upload one from the internet or your own computer.
...my signature?
Go to Quick Links, then Edit Signature (see Signature Size for more information).
...my username?
Private message an administrator (members with red stars) stating what you would like it changed to. Please note that multiple name changes in a short period of time is highly discouraged, and the standard amount of time before you can have your username changed again is six months. Choose wisely.
Go to Quick Links, then Edit Profile. Enter your new title in the 'Custom User Title' box. (There used to be a 300-post limit for getting your own custom title. With the vb3 upgrade this has been eliminated.)
If you select Reset, it will go back to the default title. The default titles are based on post count:
0 - 24 posts: Newbie
25 - 249: Junior Camper
250 - 999: Pin Pal
1,000 - 4,499: Stonecutter
5,000 - 9,999: SuperFriend
10,000 - 19,999: Hired Goon
20,000 - 29,999: Executive Vice President
30,000 & beyond: The Chosen One
...the picture under my title and stars (Avatar)?
Go to Quick Links, then Edit Avatar. You can select from the various Simpsons avatars we have, or you can upload one from the internet or your own computer.
...my signature?
Go to Quick Links, then Edit Signature (see Signature Size for more information).
...my username?
Private message an administrator (members with red stars) stating what you would like it changed to. Please note that multiple name changes in a short period of time is highly discouraged, and the standard amount of time before you can have your username changed again is six months. Choose wisely.
How do I get more stars and what do the special stars mean?
You get more stars (
) based on your post count. Until your 1000th post, your stars are gold. When you hit 1000, your stars turn silver.
10th post:
50th post:
250th post:
500th post:
1000th post:
2500th post:
5000th post:
10000th post:
20000th post:
Special Forum Stars
NHC Owners
(eric, Roarke)
These two awesome dudes run, maintain, and pay for the board. Obey them.
Administrators
(kupomog, sacrelicious, Dark Homer, Jims, Ryan)
They have complete control over the board-- they can edit profile features, change passwords, add/delete/change forums, etc.-- as well as global moderation power.
Global Moderators
(chris, ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬, Rango, Oh, that's raspberry!)
They can moderate all of the forums (edit posts, delete posts, close threads, sticky threads, change thread titles).
Forum Moderators
(Tomacco, TriforceBun, Xt'Tapalatakettle, hammster)
They have moderator power over certain forums. Please see the Forum Leaders page for the forums these mods represent.
Lipz
(many members)
Users with these stars include many of the NHC's regular lady members and currently Dobbie. They do not have mod powers, they just look fabulous.
) based on your post count. Until your 1000th post, your stars are gold. When you hit 1000, your stars turn silver.
10th post:
50th post:
250th post:
500th post:
1000th post:
2500th post:
5000th post:
10000th post:
20000th post:
Special Forum Stars
NHC Owners
(eric, Roarke)These two awesome dudes run, maintain, and pay for the board. Obey them.
Administrators
(kupomog, sacrelicious, Dark Homer, Jims, Ryan) They have complete control over the board-- they can edit profile features, change passwords, add/delete/change forums, etc.-- as well as global moderation power.
Global Moderators
(chris, ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬, Rango, Oh, that's raspberry!)They can moderate all of the forums (edit posts, delete posts, close threads, sticky threads, change thread titles).
Forum Moderators
(Tomacco, TriforceBun, Xt'Tapalatakettle, hammster)They have moderator power over certain forums. Please see the Forum Leaders page for the forums these mods represent.
Lipz
(many members)Users with these stars include many of the NHC's regular lady members and currently Dobbie. They do not have mod powers, they just look fabulous.
Other Special Krew Stars
Other stars are for the special krews that inhabit the board. To join a Public Krew, click on User CP, then Group Memberships. Your join request must be approved by a special Krew Leader specified on the page. But please, be patient. Krew Leaders are busy at times and cannot get to approving join requests right away. If you feel as if you've been waiting to be approved for longer than needed, feel free to PM the Krew Leader to ask if they can approve you. Just don't badger them, please. They will get around to it, eventually.
Music Nerd Krew: Headphones
Nintendo Fun Club: Marios, Links, Old Man Stars
Evil Empire: Stormtroopers, Darth Vaders
I AM CANADIAN: Maple leafs
Fight Club: Soaps
Essay Dork Krew: Lisas with mortarboard
I Love The 80's: Jesse Katsopolii, Rubik's cubes, Orkos, Mr. Ts, pirate Reinholds
Jhonen Krew: Z?'s
And there are many other krews that are created every now and then; visit the Group Memberships page to view all of them. Also, keep in mind that you need a certain amount of posts (that is different for each group) to view the krew's stars under your username.
Is there a way I can start a Public Krew?
You can't, really. Admins decide when Krews are started and/or disbanded. If demand for a specific Krew is outstanding, then an admin might consider it. (Note: Badgering the admins doesn't help)
You can create a Social Group, however, which is very similar to user groups/krews. Social Groups do not have special display stars but have group messaging capabilities.
You can create a Social Group, however, which is very similar to user groups/krews. Social Groups do not have special display stars but have group messaging capabilities.
If I'm a member of multiple Krews, what stars do I have?
You can choose between the stars of the Krews you belong to. Go to User CP, then Group Memberships. On the bottom of the page, you can select the Krew whose stars you wish to have.
How can I link to the NHC on my homepage or blog?
You can use any of the support graphics posted here: http://www.nohomers.net/content/linktous.shtml
Thanks!
 |
|