Post by Franz Hopper on Oct 1, 2005 20:28:14 GMT -5
Rules
Purpose
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The purpose of these rules is to assure the safeguard of our rights and to maintain equal balance of the community. This will allow us to achieve our goal of a spam-free forum.
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Before you start posting...
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You must remember that posting on this forum is a privledge, not a right. Your posting ability can be revoked at any time should you not wish to follow these rules.
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Wrongdoing and you - an examination of facts
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Just like in a court of law, no one can be accused of wrongdoing without adequete proof to back up the claim. If you have no proof to support your accusations, don't bother making them.
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Useful Links
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Search:
The Search page will allow you to search the entire forum for a specific subject. For example, if you were to enter "XANA" as a search topic, it would find all posts with "XANA" in them. This function will let you find information on a topic without making a new topic.
Memberlis
The Memberlist page has a list of every registered member on the forum. If you're looking for a specific user, that's the place to go.
Usergroups:
The Usergroups contains all of the users moderating the forum. If you want to know who the moderators are, go there. There will be no other usergroups at this time.
Profile:
The Profile page allows you to change different options such as your avatar, signature, BBCode, emoticons (smilies) and other special features.
Private Messages:
The Private Messages page allows you to send and recieve private messages. This page has four folders: Inbox, Outbox, Sentbox and Savebox. The Inbox stores new and read messages. Any messages you recieve will go there. The Outbox stores messages that haven't been sent. The Sentbox stores messages that have been sent. The Savebox stores messages that you do not want deleted. Each PM has a Save Message option.
Log In / Log Out:
The Log In link allows you to log in. The Log Out link allows you to log out.
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Posting
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Topic Title:
Make sure that the title of your topic relates to what you posted. For example: "hey" and "look here" would not be good titles. The members may not read them and the moderators may think they are spam. Always make sure that the title matches what you wrote.
Topic Poll:
Make sure the poll question relates to the choices in the poll. Also, make sure that the poll relates to your topic.
Double Topics:
Don't post more than one topic about the same subject. Before making a new topic, check to see if any topics on that subject already exist. You can use the Search page to check through all the existing topics for any references to your subject. If no topics on the subject exist, feel free to make one. Once you have, you can post in it but do not make another topic on the same subject. The mods will take disciplinary action when seeing this.
BBCode:
BBCode is a feature that lets you change the stye of the text in your posts. For example: bold, underlined, italic, blue and large text styles are all different forms of BBCode. Do not overuse BBCode in any way or disciplinary action will be taken. Also, make sure you activate BBCode before attempting to use it. BBCode can be activated from your Profile.
Images and Content:
Pictures may be posted as long as they are not explicit or offensive in any way. If you plan to post more than one image, please provide links to the images rather than using BBCode to display them. Signatures may contain images, but the combined image size may not be any larger than 600 x 200 (length by height). If your signature is larger than the allowed size given or is deemed unacceptable by staff, you will be asked by a moderator to resize and/or change your image or signature. Also, try to keep the text in signatures under 5 lines. There's no need to have 20 or so lines of text stretching every one of your posts. One last thing, do not put longs lines of characters with no spaces in your signature. This causes the page to stretch and will be treated the same as an oversized image. Failing to agree with a moderator's request to fix your signature will result in the removal of your signature.
Copyrights:
Do not post or provide the links to copyrighted material here. If seen, it will be removed and disciplinary action will be taken against the person who posted it.
Emoticons:
Emoticons are images that express emotions like sadness or anger. For example, Smile (happy), Mad (mad) and Sad (sad) are all examples of emoticons. Any posts containing an excessive amount of these will be edited or deleted.
Annoying posting habits:
Do not post an excessise amount of any type of character in a row. It stretches the page and annoys everyone. Posts such as these will be deleted on sight. You can say "Hurray!" without using 50 a's in a row. For example, any post that contained lines such as aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, ccccccccccccccccc and CoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCool would get deleted on sight.
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Profile
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Avatars:
Avatars are images that appear under your username. The size limit for any avatar is 200 x 200 (length by height). If you have a image that is bigger than that, it will get resized or deleted. You can change your avatar from the Profile page.
Avatar Images:
Any picture can be used as an avatar as long as it is not explicit or offensive in any way. Any avatars that violate these standards will be deleted. You have 3 warnings until we remove your privileges of using a avatar.
Signatures:
Signatures can be a total of 500 characters long. That includes blanks and any BBCode used within the signature. Signatures may have as many images as you want, as long as the total size does not exceed 600 x 200 (length by height). The same image standards for avatars apply to any images in your signature as well. On top of the image size limit, please keep the number of lines of text in your sig at 5 or less. If you don't have an image in your sig, you can have up to 10. You can change your signature from the Profile page.
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Inappropriate Behavior
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Locked Topics:
If your topic was locked then it was for one or more of the following reasons:
1. Spam topic
2. Turned to spam
3. Off-topic
4. Adult content
5. Copyright
6. Became a chat
Inappropriate Topics:
This forum should be kept safe for people of all ages, so threads dedicated to TV shows and movies that have an high percentage of adult humor and adult situations will be locked on sight.
Appealing a Locked Topic:
If you wish to appeal the lock of a topic, you can do so in the Locked Topic Appeals thread. You must have a valid explanation as to why a topic should be unlocked or your request will not be considered.
Flaming:
Flaming is categorized as posts intended to cause conflict. Flaming will not be tolerated. If you are caught flaming, you will be warned. If you do it again, disciplinary action will be taken. Other forms of flaming include, racism, crude jokes, insults, spam, arguing and attacking a person individually.
Piracy and Hacking:
Piracy is the illegal theft of products that cost money to a consumer. Piracy programs of any sort cannot be advertised or even suggested on this forum. Warez, cracks, and hacks are also prohibited. Any posts containing any of this content will be deleted and/or removed. If your account is hacked, we will try to help you out. It is best if you ask a member of management. If it happens, remember to make security precautions before hand to prevent it from happening again.
Blanked Words:
Any cuss words in your post will be replaced with a different word, like so: *. Do not use "look-alike" characters, such as @ and $, to bypass the filters. Anyone caught doing this will have their posts edited or deleted and further disciplinary might also be taken.
Spam:
Spam is created for many reasons. Some of these reasons are off-topic discussion, boredom, amusement, pointless chatter, bumping a topic or stupidity. If you post spam, it will be deleted and disciplinary action will be taken. This cannot be stressed enough.
Unwanted E-mail or Threats:
These will not be tolerated. Logs are kept of all emails sent through this forum. Any member exploiting the service will be immediately banned. We recomend blocking this person and reporting it to one of the forum's moderators.
Adult Content:
You may not, under any circumstance, post vulgar, obscene or any other material inappropriate for children. Anyone found posting adult content is asking to be banned. Pornography is strictly forbidden. Any adult pictures, clips, videos or anything else of that nature is also forbidden. Advertisement of adult sites or links to adult sites will be removed and appropriate action will be taken.
Username:
You may only register one username. Multiple usernames are not allowed. Any double username posting will result in the deletion of those posts.
Off-topic:
You may not post any derogatory comments against other posters, including slurs based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, political affiliation. Attacks against any member or group of members or anything that will not stay with the posters topic will not be tolerated.
Harrasment, sexual or otherwise:
Any posts of this nature will warrent your immediate ban. You will not be warned beforehand. Take care in what you say lest this happen to you.
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Useful Advice
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Editing posts:
You can edit posts by pressing the button. The number of times you have edited your post will be displayed at the bottom of your post. If a moderator edits your post, no message will show. Do not edit your post if a moderator has done so. This will result in post deletion and/or banning.
Deleting posts:
You can delete your own posts but only for a short time after you've made them. You can only delete your most recent post. Any posts before that cannot be deleted by you.
Support:
We ask that you take advantage of the support services we offer. If you are in need of support, please send a e-mail or PM to a moderator. If you have an issue of significant importance that you would like to sort out with a staff member, please contact them via the PM system or by e-mail. You can also use the Rule Questions? thread if you have any specific questions about the rules.
Safety:
Here are some tips on what you should not do in this forum.
1. Give your phone number.
2. Give your address.
3. Give your IP number.
Any one of these can be tracked with a simple google search. We are not responsible for anything that happens if you give out your information.
Staff and Forum Moderation:
You may not re-edit a post that has been edited by a moderator. Impersonation of a staff member will result in an immediate ban. You may not send PMs or e-mails advertising a forum. If you receive a PM or e-mail like this, please forward it to a member of the staff so action can be taken. If you wish to argue a moderator's decision, you may not bring it before the community. You may also request to speak privately with him or her. Moderators are meant to regulate the forums and help the members through the forum.
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Consequences of Rule Violations
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Informal warning:
If the moderator determines that the offense is not severe enough to warrant a formal warning, an informal warning may be issued. An informal warning is a private correspondence between the moderator and the violator advising the violator of the offense and what he or she can do to correct it.
Formal warning:
If the offense is severe enough or an informal warning has already been issued, the moderator may issue a formal warning. The formal warning becomes a permanent part of the poster's record and all moderators and administrators are informed are soon as it is issued. Several warnings can result in a clock or permanent ban.
Block:
A block is the temporary deactivation of a violator's posting privileges for one or more of the message boards. A moderator may apply a block to freeze a deteriorating situation and make time to work out issues with the violating user.
Ban:
A ban is the permanent deactivation of the violator's account with the forum. A moderator applies a ban in response to very severe offenses and/or consistent display of unwillingness to follow forum rules.
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Footnote
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These original version of these rules were written by Lyoko999 and have been modified by various moderators as needed. Rules will be occasionally updated, edited and added as needed. Check back on occasion for any updates.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Purpose
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
The purpose of these rules is to assure the safeguard of our rights and to maintain equal balance of the community. This will allow us to achieve our goal of a spam-free forum.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Before you start posting...
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
You must remember that posting on this forum is a privledge, not a right. Your posting ability can be revoked at any time should you not wish to follow these rules.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Wrongdoing and you - an examination of facts
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Just like in a court of law, no one can be accused of wrongdoing without adequete proof to back up the claim. If you have no proof to support your accusations, don't bother making them.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Useful Links
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Search:
The Search page will allow you to search the entire forum for a specific subject. For example, if you were to enter "XANA" as a search topic, it would find all posts with "XANA" in them. This function will let you find information on a topic without making a new topic.
Memberlis
The Memberlist page has a list of every registered member on the forum. If you're looking for a specific user, that's the place to go.
Usergroups:
The Usergroups contains all of the users moderating the forum. If you want to know who the moderators are, go there. There will be no other usergroups at this time.
Profile:
The Profile page allows you to change different options such as your avatar, signature, BBCode, emoticons (smilies) and other special features.
Private Messages:
The Private Messages page allows you to send and recieve private messages. This page has four folders: Inbox, Outbox, Sentbox and Savebox. The Inbox stores new and read messages. Any messages you recieve will go there. The Outbox stores messages that haven't been sent. The Sentbox stores messages that have been sent. The Savebox stores messages that you do not want deleted. Each PM has a Save Message option.
Log In / Log Out:
The Log In link allows you to log in. The Log Out link allows you to log out.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Posting
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Topic Title:
Make sure that the title of your topic relates to what you posted. For example: "hey" and "look here" would not be good titles. The members may not read them and the moderators may think they are spam. Always make sure that the title matches what you wrote.
Topic Poll:
Make sure the poll question relates to the choices in the poll. Also, make sure that the poll relates to your topic.
Double Topics:
Don't post more than one topic about the same subject. Before making a new topic, check to see if any topics on that subject already exist. You can use the Search page to check through all the existing topics for any references to your subject. If no topics on the subject exist, feel free to make one. Once you have, you can post in it but do not make another topic on the same subject. The mods will take disciplinary action when seeing this.
BBCode:
BBCode is a feature that lets you change the stye of the text in your posts. For example: bold, underlined, italic, blue and large text styles are all different forms of BBCode. Do not overuse BBCode in any way or disciplinary action will be taken. Also, make sure you activate BBCode before attempting to use it. BBCode can be activated from your Profile.
Images and Content:
Pictures may be posted as long as they are not explicit or offensive in any way. If you plan to post more than one image, please provide links to the images rather than using BBCode to display them. Signatures may contain images, but the combined image size may not be any larger than 600 x 200 (length by height). If your signature is larger than the allowed size given or is deemed unacceptable by staff, you will be asked by a moderator to resize and/or change your image or signature. Also, try to keep the text in signatures under 5 lines. There's no need to have 20 or so lines of text stretching every one of your posts. One last thing, do not put longs lines of characters with no spaces in your signature. This causes the page to stretch and will be treated the same as an oversized image. Failing to agree with a moderator's request to fix your signature will result in the removal of your signature.
Copyrights:
Do not post or provide the links to copyrighted material here. If seen, it will be removed and disciplinary action will be taken against the person who posted it.
Emoticons:
Emoticons are images that express emotions like sadness or anger. For example, Smile (happy), Mad (mad) and Sad (sad) are all examples of emoticons. Any posts containing an excessive amount of these will be edited or deleted.
Annoying posting habits:
Do not post an excessise amount of any type of character in a row. It stretches the page and annoys everyone. Posts such as these will be deleted on sight. You can say "Hurray!" without using 50 a's in a row. For example, any post that contained lines such as aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, ccccccccccccccccc and CoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCool would get deleted on sight.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Profile
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Avatars:
Avatars are images that appear under your username. The size limit for any avatar is 200 x 200 (length by height). If you have a image that is bigger than that, it will get resized or deleted. You can change your avatar from the Profile page.
Avatar Images:
Any picture can be used as an avatar as long as it is not explicit or offensive in any way. Any avatars that violate these standards will be deleted. You have 3 warnings until we remove your privileges of using a avatar.
Signatures:
Signatures can be a total of 500 characters long. That includes blanks and any BBCode used within the signature. Signatures may have as many images as you want, as long as the total size does not exceed 600 x 200 (length by height). The same image standards for avatars apply to any images in your signature as well. On top of the image size limit, please keep the number of lines of text in your sig at 5 or less. If you don't have an image in your sig, you can have up to 10. You can change your signature from the Profile page.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Inappropriate Behavior
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Locked Topics:
If your topic was locked then it was for one or more of the following reasons:
1. Spam topic
2. Turned to spam
3. Off-topic
4. Adult content
5. Copyright
6. Became a chat
Inappropriate Topics:
This forum should be kept safe for people of all ages, so threads dedicated to TV shows and movies that have an high percentage of adult humor and adult situations will be locked on sight.
Appealing a Locked Topic:
If you wish to appeal the lock of a topic, you can do so in the Locked Topic Appeals thread. You must have a valid explanation as to why a topic should be unlocked or your request will not be considered.
Flaming:
Flaming is categorized as posts intended to cause conflict. Flaming will not be tolerated. If you are caught flaming, you will be warned. If you do it again, disciplinary action will be taken. Other forms of flaming include, racism, crude jokes, insults, spam, arguing and attacking a person individually.
Piracy and Hacking:
Piracy is the illegal theft of products that cost money to a consumer. Piracy programs of any sort cannot be advertised or even suggested on this forum. Warez, cracks, and hacks are also prohibited. Any posts containing any of this content will be deleted and/or removed. If your account is hacked, we will try to help you out. It is best if you ask a member of management. If it happens, remember to make security precautions before hand to prevent it from happening again.
Blanked Words:
Any cuss words in your post will be replaced with a different word, like so: *. Do not use "look-alike" characters, such as @ and $, to bypass the filters. Anyone caught doing this will have their posts edited or deleted and further disciplinary might also be taken.
Spam:
Spam is created for many reasons. Some of these reasons are off-topic discussion, boredom, amusement, pointless chatter, bumping a topic or stupidity. If you post spam, it will be deleted and disciplinary action will be taken. This cannot be stressed enough.
Unwanted E-mail or Threats:
These will not be tolerated. Logs are kept of all emails sent through this forum. Any member exploiting the service will be immediately banned. We recomend blocking this person and reporting it to one of the forum's moderators.
Adult Content:
You may not, under any circumstance, post vulgar, obscene or any other material inappropriate for children. Anyone found posting adult content is asking to be banned. Pornography is strictly forbidden. Any adult pictures, clips, videos or anything else of that nature is also forbidden. Advertisement of adult sites or links to adult sites will be removed and appropriate action will be taken.
Username:
You may only register one username. Multiple usernames are not allowed. Any double username posting will result in the deletion of those posts.
Off-topic:
You may not post any derogatory comments against other posters, including slurs based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, political affiliation. Attacks against any member or group of members or anything that will not stay with the posters topic will not be tolerated.
Harrasment, sexual or otherwise:
Any posts of this nature will warrent your immediate ban. You will not be warned beforehand. Take care in what you say lest this happen to you.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Useful Advice
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Editing posts:
You can edit posts by pressing the button. The number of times you have edited your post will be displayed at the bottom of your post. If a moderator edits your post, no message will show. Do not edit your post if a moderator has done so. This will result in post deletion and/or banning.
Deleting posts:
You can delete your own posts but only for a short time after you've made them. You can only delete your most recent post. Any posts before that cannot be deleted by you.
Support:
We ask that you take advantage of the support services we offer. If you are in need of support, please send a e-mail or PM to a moderator. If you have an issue of significant importance that you would like to sort out with a staff member, please contact them via the PM system or by e-mail. You can also use the Rule Questions? thread if you have any specific questions about the rules.
Safety:
Here are some tips on what you should not do in this forum.
1. Give your phone number.
2. Give your address.
3. Give your IP number.
Any one of these can be tracked with a simple google search. We are not responsible for anything that happens if you give out your information.
Staff and Forum Moderation:
You may not re-edit a post that has been edited by a moderator. Impersonation of a staff member will result in an immediate ban. You may not send PMs or e-mails advertising a forum. If you receive a PM or e-mail like this, please forward it to a member of the staff so action can be taken. If you wish to argue a moderator's decision, you may not bring it before the community. You may also request to speak privately with him or her. Moderators are meant to regulate the forums and help the members through the forum.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Consequences of Rule Violations
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Informal warning:
If the moderator determines that the offense is not severe enough to warrant a formal warning, an informal warning may be issued. An informal warning is a private correspondence between the moderator and the violator advising the violator of the offense and what he or she can do to correct it.
Formal warning:
If the offense is severe enough or an informal warning has already been issued, the moderator may issue a formal warning. The formal warning becomes a permanent part of the poster's record and all moderators and administrators are informed are soon as it is issued. Several warnings can result in a clock or permanent ban.
Block:
A block is the temporary deactivation of a violator's posting privileges for one or more of the message boards. A moderator may apply a block to freeze a deteriorating situation and make time to work out issues with the violating user.
Ban:
A ban is the permanent deactivation of the violator's account with the forum. A moderator applies a ban in response to very severe offenses and/or consistent display of unwillingness to follow forum rules.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
Footnote
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
These original version of these rules were written by Lyoko999 and have been modified by various moderators as needed. Rules will be occasionally updated, edited and added as needed. Check back on occasion for any updates.
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>