Please keep the chat area clean of crap!
"crap" in the chat area is everything which has nothing to do with chat.
Here is an example screenshot with lots of crap:
screenshot
WOW, there is lots of crap:
"Double Kill", "Multikill", etc. (4 times)
"[GunGame] Player X reached level Y" (6 times)
"You have been killed by X. X has Y HP left"
If you ever were on such a server, you know how annoying it is to start a chat conversation here. These crap lines appear so fast that it is hard to keep reading the chat lines from your chat partners.
Here is a list of all stuff which tends to write crap in the chat area:
server setting "mp_killinfo 1" ("You have been killed by X")
chat command "rank" ("Player X is on rank 4711 of 4711")
other chat commands that print on screen
utsfx.lua ("Double Kill")
scripts that use the chat area to provide information
maps that use func_message with "Chat" instead of "Center"
The worst "crapper" is probably "utsfx.lua". Do not use it, as long a "Double Kill" has no effect on the game, there is no reason to mention it.
Also set mp_killinfo 0. Look on the deathlog to see who killed you.
When writing scripts, prefer the center area and hudtxt as notifications and keep the chat clean:
If you have an important event do not write it in the chat area, write it in the center. But take care there, too. Use the center area sparingly and only for important messages that appear seldom. Examples are: "Terrorists win", "Player X has won the round", error messages if something is not possible etc.
If your script has information that is continiusly needed, then use hudtxt and hudtxt2. Also take care of the position you select and test it when you're alive and when you're dead to make sure that nothing overlaps.
Then a suggestion for the "rank" chat command:
add a new column to the scoreboard saying "rank" (of course only on servers which have activated stats)
this makes the simple rank command obsolete so "rank" always is the extended version
For the advanced rank (rank and stats) command I suggest some little improvements:
First: Don't print the line saying "rank". It is no chat and therefore crap.
Second: Make the information only visible to the player who asked for it. It is not so nice to force all players to see the stats of a player
Fourth: Make it possible to ask for the stats of another player