I am posting this warning while it is still March 31st west of the Eastern Time Zone because it is now April Fool's Day according to official DKos time -- and after the past few year's it is vitally important that everyone, and especially new users, read the FAQ so that we can avoid a repeat of last year's virtual bloodbath on April 1 and the month or so of recriminations that followed.
For the convenience of those of you who missed it, don't remember it, or weren't yet around for it, below the fold I have reproduced from the FAQ the "April Fool's Rules" that were promulgated in mid-April last year. Please bear them in mind. I was on record last year as opposing the Draconian nature of these rules, which temporarily expand the possible basis for banning, but apparently they are in place. I don't want to lose a valued member of this community who violates them unwittingly.
From the FAQ:
====April Fool's Rules====
Given what has become unacceptable behavior by many posters on April Fool's Day (which given Daily Kos's global audience covers two days, including when April 1 first dawns in the western Pacific to when it finally ends there well after most of the U.S. has entered April 2), special "April Fool's Rules" were promulgated by the front pagers (speaking through Hunter) in mid-April 2008.
Under the "April Fool's Rules," the publication of clever, witty, or downright funny April Fools' Diaries is permitted, but only at a rate of one such diary per hour. Diarists who publish such a diary within one minute after another such diary has been published will be deemed to fall into a "safe harbor" and protected from consequences; diarists are expected to check the Recent Diary list immediately before posting. This rule exists to prevent Daily Kos from being inundated each April Fool's Day from diarists who think that they are being terribly clever.
To further hold down the number of April Fool's diary, the front pagers presented this policy:
If you publish an April Fool's diary that is some sort of prank or joke, you had better make sure that it is funny. If it is not funny, really funny, you do stand the risk of being banned, just like some hapless conspiracy nut. We don't take this step lightly and we trust that longtime users will take care to ensure that, if they are claiming that something false is true "because it's April Fool's" and they assume that on that day they have such a right, they will take every possible step to ensure that the joke is actually funny and not simply weird or distressing or distasteful. Essentially, if you don't have at least thirty people recommending your diary because it is so very funny, and if we editors don't agree with them (and we will try to see it their way if possible), you might as well either delete the diary before we get to it or else start looking for a new online home.
The introduction of the April Fool's rules was controversial, but the controversy was limited due to arguments about the impending Pennsylvania primary. The front pagers later encrypted the comment (making it non-retrievable by Comment Search) and placed it directly in this FAQ.
The same treatment was given to this list of warning signs that an April Fool's diary is not funny:
Signs that an April Fool's diary may lead to banning based on the new policy include:
@ "Breaking" diary with ludicrous title, e.g. "BREAKING: John Boehner Possessed by Walnut Tree"
@ Diaries that show insufficient effort. If the humor isn't more complex than a knock-knock joke, you're in danger. If it isn't less puerile than a Michelle Malkin post, pack your bags.
@ Diaries that report unlikely fake events as true, e.g., "McCain announces he will run again in 2012," unless they are really funny. Most are not.
@ Diaries that report plausible fake events as true, e.g., "McCain to resign from Senate, spend more time with Cindy," absent the unlikely event that they are really funny. If they set up a cheap shot at a Democrat, they are almost certainly not funny. Snipe at "Harry Reid resigning as Senate Majority Leader" with the punchline being that he's becoming a tackling dummy on a day when there won't be a hundred similar failed attempts at humor.
@ Unfunny diaries that are just a way to score cheap political points against someone. These are generally acceptable – we can't ban everyone, after all – but please save them for a different day.
@ Rickrolling or anything like it
Diaries that are presumptively funny include those which address plausible meta issues in a completely deadpan matter, such as this one.
So be careful today, folks! I think that the people in charge here are serious.