Hao Hao Report Submission Guidelines

Here at the Hao Hao Report we attempt to be as open and easy going as possible. In our opinion there's just nothing worse than a fascist Web 2.0 site. However, we're sad to report that this goodwill is sometimes returned with abuse or misuse of this system, and as such we've created these guidelines and FAQ to help add clarity to what we consider the good, the bad and the fugly when it comes to HHR.

The Guidelines

To understand these guidelines, you first need to understand what we hope the HHR community will be - a collective group of people all wanting to share interesting and amusing stories (news, opinions, blogs, etc.) about China.

Must be about China. We know Japan, Korea and India are near by, but if the story doesn't centre around China, it doesn't belong on HHR.
Must be English-language - we're an English-language site.
Must NOT be commercial/selly. We recognize this is subjective, and will be lenient on this if the submissions is something actually useful and related to China (ie. a great new service for learning Chinese, an expat help line, etc.). The price of this leniency is that we ask you present it in a non-commercial way as best you can.
Must NOT be spam. See below for what we view as spam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I post links from my blog/site?

Yeah, sure you can. Hell, you wouldn't have written it if you didn't think it was good, and we're all about the good. The only condition we'll put on this is that you don't spam the site with your stories. If you've written a good post and want people to know about it, cool. If you want to catalogue everything you've ever written, submitted one after another, umm... this will get you disliked. Continue reading for more details on what we feel is abuse/spam.

Why can't I submit non-English articles?

The focus of this site is for English-language stories about China. Though many of our community here speak damn good Chinese (as well as a number of other languages, I'm sure), we're sticking to the English bit. This isn't to say the stories can't have another language in them (eg. Chinese learning posts), it just means the focus should be towards an English speaking audience.

What do you consider spam?

Links to articles or sites that do not in any way pertain to China are, hands down, considered spam. If you want to share your awesome site about cialis or great seo tactics, please do so somewhere else.

Are multiple postings in a row considered abuse/spam?

No.

Are multiple postings in a row from a single source site considered abuse/spam?

Yes.

How come?

Mainly, because it defeats the purpose of HHR - which is to provide the BEST content about China. If it is from a single source, it is likely that it is being submitted more as an attempt to gather traffic and/or linkbacks for purely selfish reasons. We hate that.

But also because when links are submitted to HHR they are displayed on the Newest China Stories page, where they are voted on and promoted to the site's front page. If one person posts a boatload of links (particularly for their own selfish reasons) it pushes down the submissions of other members in an unnatural, and unkind, way. We hate that too.

So I can post a bunch of links, as long as they are from a variety of sources?

Use a discerning mind. If you truly feel that the link you are submitting is something others will take value from, then by all means, post away. If you are just submitting every China-related link you happen to come across, you'll not make many friends here.

Brass tacks, how many posts from a single source do you consider spam?

More than two submissions in a single day.

What do I do if I see some spam on HHR?

The Hao Hao Report's admin, Ryan, visits the site several times a day to clear out spam that manages to get by his faithful army of robot hedgehogs (they make great pets as well). However, he's a busy guy and truly, truly appreciates any help he can get in this regard.

To help him, and the hedgehogs, all you need to do is vote down a story you feel is spam. If a submission receives three negative votes it will be removed from the site and queued for moderation.

Other than that, just do your best to ignore it. We work hard at keeping things cleaned up around here, and so it shouldn't be too long before it is removed.