Overview of the Rules, Guidelines and Enforcement

Below are the basic set of rules this community will abide by. Although being subjective by nature, there can be more than one interpretation of each rule; the one that matter will be the Council's collective interpretation. Over the course of time, you will see a definite style of moderation which will constitute the vision we have for this community.

These rules are listed as basic guidelines to help you participate on the board. Please do not complicate them by posting 'your version' of a rule on the board.

Ignorance of these rules is not an acceptable excuse for violations.

Most of the moderation will be based on common-sense. If there is an obvious and unacceptable content or action on the board, even though it's not listed in the Rule Book, be assured that appropriate action WILL be taken.


Site Rules in a nutshell

1. Do not advertise or spam the site with promotional links or product placements. A link to your personal page is permitted in your profile, but not commercial links. Should you have any questions about what is permitted, private message a moderator or council member to clarify.

2. Do not insult or personally attack other members - treat each other with respect. Attack the post and not the poster. Utilize the ignore function if you have a problem with specific member(s).

3. Do not flame bait other members.

4. Do not bring conflicts from other websites which also includes using former usernames from those sites.

5. Never alter a member's comments when you quote them. Snipping out news articles, pictures, videos or word content is allowed but do not change the intended meaning of the comment.

6. No materials which violate the law, such as copyright infringements.

7. Do not question a moderation action publicly. Do not single out a moderator for an action or behavior publicly. If you have concerns about an action or moderator please 'CC' all three council members in a PM. General threads about how to improve moderation are permitted but will be closely observed to ensure they do not break the above stipulations.

8. Hate messages of any kind will not be permitted. This includes messages meant to incite hate or violence towards others based on race/ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation or any other group.

9. Do not create multiple accounts. If you have a person who will be using your computer and connection who wishes to join the site, PM a moderator or council member so they know.

10. Do not abuse the report function. Appropriate reports include and are limited to reporting rule violations by other members. Reports related to concerns about moderation are not permitted and should you need to report a moderator's post, please PM the council members and CC all three of them with your concerns.

11. Do not post content that shouldn't be viewed by minors on the public forum (for example, porn).

12. Do not harass another member. Repeated PMs after being asked to stop, finding another members phone number, email or mailing address and bothering them through those routes will not be tolerated. Absolutely do not try to hack another member.

13. Do not violate other members' privacy - this includes posting private messages on the public forum, pictures you were sent in private, or other information gathered in private (email addresses, phone numbers, etc.).

14. All posts must be in English.

15. Do not flood the site. Flooding is defined as, "Any action apparently intended to consume board space or to hamper other member postings, including the posting of essentially identical threads into different forums or identical replies into different threads."


How these rules will be enforced

For threads that contain borderline violations a public warning will be issued. Members who go on to violate our rules will be given a thread ban which will always be accompanied by either a formal warning or an infraction. If a thread can’t be brought back on course it will be closed.

Specific reported posts will be discussed by the moderation staff, at which point they will decide between no action required, a private informal warning, formal warning or an infraction. The action is decided based on severity of the rule violation and the member’s history (for example, a member that was recently formally warned not to insult someone is reported again for the same thing - they will receive an infraction).

Should the moderation staff decide that a post or series of posts is deserving of a temporary or permanent ban, the council members will be consulted and they will determine whether to issue a ban.

After 2 infractions a temporary ban will occur automatically. Infractions expire every 10 days.

Again, if you wish to appeal a moderation decision please private message the council member's and use the "CC" feature. They will discuss it and decide whether to overrule the moderation staff's decision.


Clarification on some subjective rules

1. Personal attacks, name-calling, or belittling another member. This includes telling other members to shut up or be quiet, as well as telling other members they are not qualified to post their opinions, or that "they lose". In other words, debate the topic, and not the poster. Leave the ad hominems at home.


2. No flame baiting. Threads or posts with the intention of provoking member(s) to verbally retaliate (rage) is strictly not allowed. Identifying flaming threads or posts is at the moderating teams discretion.

3. In relation to above, if you feel that a thread is intended as bait, DO NOT RESPOND TO IT. If you take the bait, you make it difficult for the moderators to act on the reported post. Action WILL be taken if you violate any rule while responding to the baiting post.

4. DO NOT ATTACK THE POSTER. If you have a difference in opinion, you can attack the post and its message.

5. Though we may substitute certain words and phrases deemed universally offensive, we protect freedom of speech. These forums are regulated and if you find that disturbing, you may wish to reconsider participation. However, with the intention of maintaining civil dialogue in the forum, some violations of conduct, described in the rules above, still apply and will be enforced.