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What is 8chan?

8ch.net is a site running 'infinity', which is an open source software that allows anyone to create and manage their own anonymous imageboard without any programming or webhosting experience for free.

What is an imageboard?

An imageboard is a type of internet forum which lets users post text and images anonymously (without name) about any topic, or no topic at all. Unlike forums, imageboards do not hold old content permamently, and old threads are pruned as new ones are created.

The imageboard format holds several advantages against traditional forums:

  1. There is no registration process, which allows for anyone to post what they like without having to jump through hoops.
  2. Users do not have names and thus feel no reason to build up an identity or reputation for themselves. Post are judged based on their content rather than who made them.
  3. sharing images and multimedia content is as easy as saving and uploading it to the site.

How is 8chan run?

8chan is a service that hosts a large selection of imageboards to browse. These boards are maintained by their respective board owners, who are not affiliated with the 8chan global staff.

The 8chan global staff are responsible for maintaining the site as a whole and protecting it from spam and illegal content. The administration is NOT responsible for enforcing any rules outside of the global rule. Any complaints about the content or management of a board should be addressed towards the owner of the board, unless it violates the law of the United States of America, or global policy.

How do I post a new thread?

Navigate to the board you would like to post on, fill out the post form, and click "New Thread". On many boards, you are required to upload an image, but if you do not have one you can also draw a picture by clicking "Oekaki". No boards require you to fill out a name or email address.

New thread FAQ

How do I comment on a thread?

On 8chan, threads are ordered by newest to oldest and have no "score" like on other websites. There are no upvotes or "Like" buttons. This allows even unpopular opinions to rise to the top. The replies in threads are ordered oldest to newest and similarly have no score.

To reply to a thread, click [Reply] on any thread on a board's index.

New thread FAQ

Fill out your reply. Only the "Comment" field is required for replies on all boards.

New thread FAQ

Your reply will be highlighted on the page.

New thread FAQ

How do I reply to another poster?

Click the number of their post. A reply box will open automatically prepopulated with the post number you're replying to. Write your post under their post number. Similarly, when people reply to you, it will show (You) after the post number as a hint.

New thread FAQ

Are there any global rules regarding content?

Only one:

Other than that, you are free to institute whatever rules you want on your board.

More information about US obscenity laws and how they relate to 8chan boards

More information about the Dost test

Just who is this 8chan person anyway?

How do I add more volunteers?

You may do this in your board settings, click on "Edit board volunteers".

How do I manage my board?

Go to the volunteer panel and click on the board link for your board.

How do I contact the admin?

The admin can be reached at admin at 8chan dot co.

What's your privacy policy?

Find it here.

Help! My board has been deleted!

As of November 13th, 2014, board expiration no longer occurs.

You still may lose access to your board, however, if you fail to log in for two weeks or it receives no posts for a week. See here for a list of boards that are available for reclaiming.

How do I post as a volunteer on my board?

Make sure you are using the volunteer interface to view your board. The URL of your browser should be https://8ch.net/mod.php?/yourboard.

If you are the owner of the board, put "## Board Owner" in the name field. If someone else is the owner and you are just assisting them, put "## Board Volunteer" in the name field. Write your post and click "Reply". It will appear with your capcode.

Help! The owner of X board is doing something I don't like!

If they aren't doing anything illegal, I can't help you. I don't dictate how board owners should manage their boards.

If they are doing something illegal, email me.

Can you give me X board?

If the owner of the board is inactive or the board is broken due to bad CSS, sure. Send me an email. You can see a list of boards that qualify for being taken over here.

Can you add some new feature?

Open a Github issue. Better yet, write it yourself and open a pull request.

What is "sage"?

Posters may reply to threads without bumping them to the top of the index by putting "sage" in the email field.

What is a tripcode?

Most posts on 8chan are made anonymously, but this is not the only way to post. The name field can be used four ways to establish identity:

  1. By simply writing a name in the box. This is insecure as any other poster can write the same name.
  2. By writing a # character and then a password. Putting #example in the name field would become !KtW6XcghiY. This is reasonably secure, but with increasing GPU speeds these tripcodes can be cracked in a few days by a dedicated attacker.
  3. By writing two # characters and then a password. Putting ##example in the name field would become !!Dz.MSNRw9M. This is quite secure, but it relies on a secret salt on the server so the code will not work on sites other than 8chan.
  4. Board owners and volunteers can enter the special codes "## Board Owner" and "## Board Volunteer" which become capcodes that display after the name. The 8chan administrator can type "## Admin" which becomes 8chan Administrator.

Please note, many boards on 8chan have an option set called "Forced anonymity" which causes the name field to not work. This is because many users (and therefore board owners) do not like tripcode users.

How do I format my text?

How are featured boards chosen?

Top twenty-five boards excluding /meta/, /b/, /operate/, /boards/ and /news+/.

Who owns boards like /b/, /news+/ and /operate/?

No one, so they are de facto managed by the administration.

Why does https://8ch.net/banned say that I'm banned? I can still use the boards?

8chan is centered around user created boards. That's a board with CSS that makes it look like the ban page, not an official page. You've been tricked. 8chan has no official ban check page.

Where's the mobile app?

There is no official mobile app, however there is an unofficial Android app at wingy/Exodus.

I don't provide support for this app, ask the developer of it if you have a problem with it.

Where's the archive?

There isn't one yet and there will never be an official archive.

Given that archives are inevitable and will be created anyway via archive.today, Google cache, and anyone who installs Asagi, I'm softening my stance on this. Currently, 8archive.moe provides our archive, and I may set up an official one. All archives officially partnered with us will be opt-in by our board owners, not opt-out. Archives who archive boards that have not opted in will be considered pirate archives, and legal action may be taken.

Can I have a list of all API endpoints for getting raw data from 8chan?

Assuming the /b/ board, they are as follows:

There are also endpoints for getting information about 8chan's boards:

Just read the data to get an idea of what is exposed and under what attribute names. It should be self explanatory.

Endpoints not listed here, like post.php, catalog.json or boards-top20.json are subject to change or removal at any time!

I got an email from an @8chan.co email address, is that you?

8chan.co uses cock.li to manage our domain's email. cock.li allows anyone to create an email account @8chan.co.

That said, we have quite a few official 8chan.co email addresses. They are:

I would like to send you an encrypted message.

The current admin contact private key can always be found at https://8ch.net/pubkey.txt.

The current key fingerprint is 6F12 EC72 A82A BCA3 5235 063A 10DD C983 901A A183.

How do I donate?

Donations can be sent to 1NpQaXqmCBji6gfX8UgaQEmEstvVY7U32C (Bitcoin) or LUPgSCJt3iGeJXUETVhmnbQ89Riaq1yjZm (Litecoin).

I am also a big fan of Monero (XMR). You can send XMR to our OpenAlias in the simplewallet client, or simply send to 49dBJhGhYFxJEfydS6hH6GRyg1W4cDgupdNVtw7j1WtcUY7xPXwNLw6fUVay644viaCcEhMFG1Z7SjjxRXEFDdNWJdvH9kS.

If you would like to support development of the engine that 8chan runs on (infinity), you may also donate via Gratipay.

Are you really a cripple?

Yes.

Mamoru
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