It was recently suggested in a comment to point at our standard loopholes (and potentially other implicit community rules) next to the Answer text area (similar to the How to ask? sidebar when writing a question):
Wouldn't there be a way to customize the "answer" box so that there is a warning about standard loopholes?
While there is no sidebar like the one for questions, new and anonymous users will see this overlay while writing an answer:
(The link leads to /help/how-to-answer
.)
That body of text doesn't make a lot of sense for PPCG. But it turns out that it can be customised for each site. This is the perfect place to point to loopholes and similar things, so let's rewrite this.
I have drafted a new version here, which is probably still far from perfect.
Your Answer
Thanks for contributing an answer to Programming Puzzles & Code Golf Stack Exchange!
If this is an answer to a challenge:
- Please be sure to follow the challenge specification.
- Include a short header which indicates the language(s) of your code and the score as defined by the challenge.
- Explanations of your answer are very much encouraged.
- All answers should show some effort towards reaching a better score. For instance, answers to code golf challenges should try to be as short as possible (within the constraints of the chosen language). You can always include a readable version of the code in addition to the competitive one.
- Don't try to answer a challenge by exploiting loopholes in the specification. Answers abusing any of the standard loopholes are considered invalid.
If this is an answer to a question about code golf:
- Please make sure to answer the question and provide sufficient detail.
In either case, avoid ...
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
This is quite long, so please help me edit it down a bit. Post feedback (corrections, additions etc.) in the comments and answers.