I agree with AlphaBeta in Reply #42.
It is safe to assume that some of the artists, designers, and hobbyists interested in using the Arduino have never participated in a technical forum. It is also safe to assume that some of the intended audience have never connected a computer to the physical world, don't know the terminology, aren't skilled in the nuances of the English language, etcetera.
I've participated in a few online forums for ... let's just say a few years. 
I have some familiarity with programming and microcontrollers.
This is the first technical forum I've found that didn't have some sort of guidelines for the first time user. It took me about an hour to understand where things should go, how replying worked (e.g. replies are not threaded), how to include code, etcetera. I found out about http://arduino.pastebin.com/ purely by accident.
If I had difficulty getting started, imagine how intimidating it would be for someone starting from scratch? I'm afraid the lack of initial guidance turns away talented folks who otherwise would be willing to participate.
I propose:
C) writing a list of rules and expecations in a concise text, written by someone with authority
While I certainly do not claim to be someone with authority, I will propose the first rule...
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Code less than or equal to 30 lines should be included in the message
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Code more than 30 lines should be saved at http://arduino.pastebin.com/ with a link included in the message
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When saving code at http://arduino.pastebin.com/ be sure to select C++ Syntax Highlighting
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Be mindful of the retension; if the code is a final working result, it should be saved forever
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Brian