What is PaleoHacks.com?

PaleoHacks.com is a collaboratively edited question-and-answer site. It is not a blog nor a "normal" forum. We want PaleoHacks.com to complement, not supplant, the many thriving high-quality Paleo-themed blogs that exist elsewhere.

I get the Paleo part, but what about the hack?

A "hack" is a shortcut, rule-of-thumb, or simply a good way to get something done quickly. We think that the Paleo community is in need of a site that allows Paleo enthusiasts to share some of their hacks. We take our inspiration from sites like LifeHacker and VentureHacks.

Who are you?

My name is Patrik and I am a Paleo enthusiast. I really should get around to putting up an About Page, but until I do, you should follow me on Twitter. If you're into email newsletters + Paleo, check out another one of my projects: Paleolithic Diet

What kind of questions can I ask here?

As long as your question is:

• related to Paleolithic and/or Primal diet, exercise and lifestyle, which includes subjects like
  • CrossFit
  • Cholesterol and blood testing
  • Sensitivities and allergies to gluten and other substances
  • Supplements like Vitamin D, fish oil etc etc
• detailed and specific
• written clearly and simply
• of interest to at least one other person somewhere

... it is welcome here. No question is too trivial or too "newbie".

If it is your first time here - I would recommend reading this thread to get started.

I need to note: PaleoHacks is NOT the place for treating symptoms that are possibly acutely life threatening. For example:

• Unexplained abdominal pain. (Like, it's not something normal for you like heartburn or menstrual cramps.)
• Abdominal pain that gets worse over the course of several hours.
• Fainting.
• Unexplained sudden severe headache.
• Headache that does not go away after taking pain medication, or gets worse after several hours.
• Shortness of breath.
• Chest pain.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Changes in vision.
• Uncontrollable bleeding.

Please look around to see if your question has already been asked (and maybe even answered!) before you ask. If you end up asking a question that has been asked before, that is OK and deliberately allowed. Other users will hopefully edit in links to related or similar questions to help future visitors find their way.

It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, but pretend you're on Jeopardy: phrase it in the form of a question.

What kind of questions should I not ask here?

Avoid asking questions that are overly subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. Questions about politics and religion are not allowed on PaleoHacks as they inspire strong, emotional reactions that quickly devolve into insults. This is not a discussion board nor a blog, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

Be nice.

Treat others with the same respect you'd want them to treat you. We're all here to learn together. Be tolerant of others who may not know everything you know. Bring your sense of humor.

Be honest.

Above all, be honest. If you see misinformation, vote it down. Insert comments indicating what, specifically, is wrong. Even better — edit and improve the information! Provide stronger, faster, superior answers of your own!

Use humor deftly.

Boorish or sophomoric humor is discouraged.

Don't be a troll.

We will drop the ban hammer on you as we see fit.

Fake emails will get you banned.

If we want to reach out to you to tell you why we suspended you and your email is fake...goodbye. You are now banned.

Take care with self-promotion.

If it even remotely smells like gratuitous self-promotion/spam - it will be deleted. And your account might be suspended or deleted.

Watch your ad hominem comments.

We can disagree like adults. Be respectful. If you aren't. I will simply delete your account. Game over. Good bye.

Don't be hysterical or overly dramatic.

This really bugs me and the moderators. If we get even a whiff of this - your account might be suspended or deleted.

Don't take it personally if your question is deleted.

It has nothing to do with you -- just the quality and context of your question. Complaining about it will not help your cause.

Do I have to log in or create an account?

Nope. You can answer and ask questions to your heart's content as an anonymous user, much like Wikipedia. However, there are some things you won't be able to do on the site without registering. But it's easy to register if you want to.

Do special rules apply to healthcare providers or medical professionals?

Indeed, special rules very much do apply. In the interest of transparency and credibility, anyone publicly claiming to be a credentialed physician must also publicly provide identity info on their profile page. e.g. link to their website, LinkedIn etc etc. If a physician wants to remain anonymous (and that is well within their rights), then they must not use "Dr.", "Doc", "MD" anywhere in their user-name. This applies to ALL credentialed physicians, naturopaths, chiropractors and what-have-you etc etc

What is reputation?

Reputation is completely optional. Normal use of PaleoHacks.com — that is, asking and answering questions — does not require any reputation whatsoever.

Remember, PaleoHacks.com is run by you! If you want to help us run the site, you'll need reputation first. Reputation is a (very) rough measurement of how much the PaleoHacks.com community trusts you. Reputation is never given, it is earned by convincing other users that you know what you're talking about.

Here's how it works: if you post a good question or helpful answer, it will be voted up by your peers: you gain 10 reputation points. If you post something that's off topic or incorrect, it will be voted down: you lose 2 reputation points. You can earn up to 200 reputation per day, but no more. (Note that votes for any posts marked "community wiki" do not generate reputation.)

Amass enough reputation points and PaleoHacks.com will allow you to go beyond simply asking and answering questions:

15	Vote up
15	Flag offensive
50	Leave comments
100	Vote down (costs 1 rep), edit community wiki posts
200	Reduced advertising
250	Vote to close or reopen your questions, create new tags
500	Retag questions
2000	Edit other people's posts
3000	Vote to close or reopen any questions
10000	Delete closed questions, access to moderation tools

At the high end of this reputation spectrum there is little difference between users with high reputation and moderators. That is very much intentional. We don't run PaleoHacks.com. The community does.

What if I don't get a good answer?

In order to get good answers, you have to put some effort into the question. Edit your question to provide status and progress updates. Document your own continued efforts to answer your question. This will naturally bump your question and get more people interested in it.

If, after two days, you still don't have an answer you like, you can offer a bounty. Slice off a bit of your own hard-earned reputation -- anywhere from 50 to 500 -- and attach it to the question as a bounty. We'll even throw in 50 reputation to sweeten the deal. The bountied question will appear with a special icon in all question lists, and it will also be visible on the home page Featured tab.

Once initiated, the bounty period lasts seven days. If you mark an accepted answer, your bounty is awarded to the answerer (do note that accepted bounty answers are permanent and cannot be changed). If you do not accept an answer in seven days, the top voted answer will automatically become the accepted answer, and half your bounty will be awarded to that answer. You will always give up the amount of reputation specified in the bounty, so if you start a bounty, be sure to follow up and accept the best answer!

Of course, bounty awards, like all accepted answers, are immune to the daily reputation cap and community wiki mode.

Other people can edit my stuff?!

Like Wikipedia, this site is collaboratively edited. If you are not comfortable with the idea of your questions and answers being edited by other trusted users, this may not be the site for you.