• We mostly discuss individual daily comics here. Comments such as “I hate this comic strip and its artist should never be allowed to work in this business again” are not productive. The CIDU page is a place for people who love comics, and the artists deserve respect.
• Commenters are welcome to disagree with each other, and the editors, but please keep the discussion civil.
• Thread drift is fine (and common), but we steer clear of politics. Please avoid making political comments.
• Q: Doesn’t “FAQ” imply this page should have a question and answer format? A: No
• Everybody’s first comment gets sent to Moderation. Once your comment is approved, which should happen fairly quickly, your subsequent comments will usually sail right through. If it gets stuck in moderation, usually it will be cleared by an editor if you wait for a little. If it doesn’t, you can e-mail the editors to let them know, or try reposting with some sensible changes (e.g. fewer links).
• We have a number of categories here other than CIDU (for Comics I Don’t Understand), including Oy (puns or wordplay), Ewww (gross), LOL, and Arlo Award.
• The Arlo Award, on the other hand, goes to the writer of a syndicated newspaper comic strip who manages to sneak something generally considered “unacceptable” past the syndicate’s censors. Obviously this doesn’t apply to Internet-only or self-published comics. It was named after after Arlo Guthrie. (That was Bill’s story, and we’re sticking to it.)
• There are also the occasional off-topic posts, cleverly labeled “[OT]”
• The site is usually updated with a new post every day around 3:00 AM Pacific Time.
• The posts are typically CIDUs (or other interesting standalones) on weekdays, Oy collections on Saturday, and LOL collections on Sunday. And Bonus postings as called for!
• There’s a lot of thread drift, and generally no requirement to stay on topic. If you have a comment that’s completely unrelated to any thread, you could put it in the Random Comments page.
• We don’t encourage artists to explain their own comics, because they’ve already had their chance to make us understand. Also, it’s more fun this way. However, when a comics-creator does drop by, please don’t invoke this principle in such a way as to make them feel unwelcome.
• If you have anything to submit, send it to . Even if you know an editor’s personal address, please use this address for submissions.
• When you’re submitting a comic, please (if possible) include a link to it, and attach it — because sometimes attachments don’t survive the trip, and sometimes links don’t work. It’s helpful if the submission e-mail has a descriptive subject title related to the comic, and the category you’re submitting it for (“CIDU”, “LOL”, “Oy,” or “Ewww”), rather than just something like “a comic.”
• If you send something in and you don’t want your full name used, sign the e-mail with your first name, or the nickname you commonly use here. Or if you want to be absolutely sure, just add “Call me Bob.” Please don’t expect us to remember from a previous time.
• This FAQ is based on an earlier version by Bill Bickel, with only minor changes.

(Version 2021-07-11 Mitch4 – “Housekeeping” edits)