vocabulary:
  name: Slashdot Vocabulary
  description: >-
    Domain vocabulary for Slashdot, the technology news aggregation and community
    discussion site. Covers news submission, moderation, karma, RSS feeds, and
    the community culture of "News for nerds, stuff that matters."
  created: '2026-05-02'
  modified: '2026-05-02'
  tags:
    - Media
    - Technology News
    - Open Source
    - Community
    - RSS

terms:
  # Core Concepts
  - term: Story
    definition: >-
      A news article or submission on Slashdot. Stories are submitted by
      community members or editors and cover technology, open source, science,
      and digital rights topics. Each story has a headline, summary, source link,
      topic tag, and associated comment thread.
    tags:
      - Content
      - Community

  - term: Firehose
    definition: >-
      Slashdot's real-time submission queue where user-submitted stories await
      editorial review before being promoted to the front page. The Firehose
      allows community members to vote on pending submissions.
    tags:
      - Content
      - Community

  - term: Karma
    definition: >-
      A numerical reputation score assigned to Slashdot user accounts, accumulated
      through story submissions, comment moderation scores, and community behavior.
      Karma affects comment posting limits and moderation point allocations.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Reputation

  - term: Moderation
    definition: >-
      Slashdot's distributed comment quality system where randomly selected users
      with available moderation points can rate comments on a scale from -1 to +5
      using descriptors such as Insightful, Funny, Informative, Troll, or Flamebait.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Quality

  - term: Meta-Moderation
    definition: >-
      A secondary Slashdot quality-control mechanism where users evaluate whether
      existing moderations were fair or unfair, providing accountability for the
      primary moderation system.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Quality

  - term: Comment Score
    definition: >-
      The accumulated moderation rating of a Slashdot comment ranging from -1
      (troll/spam) to +5 (excellent). Users can set a comment threshold to hide
      low-scoring comments and see only high-quality responses.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Quality

  - term: Comment Threshold
    definition: >-
      A user-configurable setting on Slashdot that filters displayed comments by
      minimum score, typically set between -1 and +5 to control comment visibility
      and reduce noise in discussion threads.
    tags:
      - Community
      - User Preferences

  - term: Slashdot Effect
    definition: >-
      The phenomenon where a website linked from a Slashdot story receives a sudden
      surge of traffic, often causing server overloads or outages. Also known as
      "getting Slashdotted." Historically significant for demonstrating viral web
      traffic patterns.
    tags:
      - Culture
      - Traffic

  # Sections/Topics
  - term: Section
    definition: >-
      A topic-specific area of Slashdot such as Developers, Linux, Apple, Games,
      Science, or Your Rights Online. Each section has a dedicated RSS feed at
      rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot{Section}.
    tags:
      - Content
      - Navigation

  - term: Your Rights Online (YRO)
    definition: >-
      A Slashdot section dedicated to digital rights, privacy, surveillance,
      intellectual property law, and internet freedom topics. One of the
      most active community discussion areas on the site.
    tags:
      - Content
      - Rights
      - Privacy

  # Feed Terms
  - term: RSS 1.0 (RDF Site Summary)
    definition: >-
      The feed format used by Slashdot, based on RDF (Resource Description
      Framework). Slashdot RSS feeds are available at rss.slashdot.org and
      are rate-limited to one request per 30 minutes.
    tags:
      - RSS
      - Standards

  - term: Atom 1.0
    definition: >-
      An alternative syndication feed format supported by Slashdot. Where
      RSS feed URLs mention "RSS," users can substitute "atom" to receive
      Atom 1.0 formatted content instead.
    tags:
      - RSS
      - Standards

  - term: Feed Rate Limit
    definition: >-
      Slashdot requests that automated feed consumers fetch each feed no more
      than once every 30 minutes. Excessive requests may result in IP blocks
      lasting up to 72 hours.
    tags:
      - RSS
      - API Access

  - term: Log Token
    definition: >-
      An authentication parameter appended to Slashdot RSS feed URLs for logged-in
      subscribers, enabling access to personalized content, subscriber-only stories,
      and inbox feeds.
    tags:
      - Authentication
      - RSS

  # Community Terms
  - term: Editor
    definition: >-
      A Slashdot staff member or community volunteer responsible for reviewing
      submitted stories, editing headlines and summaries, and promoting accepted
      stories to the front page.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Editorial

  - term: AC (Anonymous Coward)
    definition: >-
      The default username displayed for unauthenticated or anonymous Slashdot
      comment posters. A well-known piece of Slashdot culture that acknowledges
      anonymous participation in discussions.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Culture

  - term: +5 Insightful
    definition: >-
      The highest positive moderation descriptor on Slashdot, applied to comments
      that demonstrate exceptional analysis, expertise, or unique perspective on
      a technical topic.
    tags:
      - Community
      - Moderation