General Rules
Always treat fellow posters with respect and courtesy. Always.
By activating your user ID, you agree to abide by these Terms of Service and General Rules of Conduct in using all features of this Forum, including message boards and the message system.
Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action, which may include deactivation of your account and notification of your ISP
You may only register one User ID. Multiple IDs are not allowed.
No posting of vulgar or obscene material, or other material inappropriate for children.
No derogatory comments against other posters, including slurs based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, or political affiliation.
No personal threats or harassment.
No commercial posts without authorization from the Webmaster or an Administrator.
No off-topic links to personal websites (spamming) without permission from the Webmaster or an Administrator.
No impersonation of other users.
Moderators and administrators monitor your compliance with these rules and dispense disciplinary action at their discretion. Disciplinary decisions may be appealed through the Appeal Procedure.
No unauthorized public posting of appeals.
This is a family site. As such, no language, avatar pictures or external website links inappropriate for children should be posted. If you are uncertain as to whether a certain word, image, or link is allowed, contact a moderator or administrator beforehand.
No discussion of how to illegally acquire copyrighted material or links to websites promoting subversion of copyright.
For your safety, no public posting of any personal contact information.
No misquotations or misrepresentations of other members. This is considered libel.
No irritating posting styles, including use of all caps and excessive punctuation.
Discussion must be on-topic only when possible. If there is no board where a subject belongs, include the words “Off Topic” in the thread or contact a moderator or administrator and ask where to post the thread.
To report a rule violation in a board post, click "Report” to inform a moderator. Do not use this feature for any other reason.
No posting of flames or material intended to start a flame war.
Diciplinary action
Violation of the rules of conduct and terms of service may result in disciplinary action issued by a moderator assigned to the message board on which the violation took place.
Any moderator can take action on a board with no listed moderators or in an urgent case when no assigned moderator is online. Violations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the severity of the offense and past history of violations. The following types of disciplinary action are those most often applied.
1)Deletion of offending material: If the offense took place on a public message board, the material that violated the rules may be edited or deleted.
2)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 (s)he can do to correct it.
3)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 permanent ban.
4)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.
5)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.
Reputation system.
A reputation system has been introduced. Members of the forum can award or mark down other forum members, based on their conduct & general activity on the forum at any time. If a forum member recieves a minus rating of 5 or below on the reputation system, his/her activity & conduct on the site will be reviewed & a decision made among the administrators & moderators whether to allow the member to be continued to remain on the forum or recieve a permanent ban.
Any malicious Reputation points can be removed by an administrator or moderator. if you feel you have been giving or recieving reputation points unfairly, please Private message or email a Moderator who will be able to help clarify the situation & take action if required.
Appeals Procedure
If a moderator takes disciplinary action against you that you believe was unfair, you may appeal the decision in a courteous message explaining your reasons. Appeals must be sent via private communication or e-mail only, and must follow this appeals procedure, or they will not be considered.
You may submit only one appeal per disciplinary action. Please note that public discussion of disciplinary action (public posting of appeals) is a violation of these Terms of Service. Any public airing of grievances against a moderator in connection with a disciplinary action will be treated as a public appeal and is cause for further disciplinary action.
You must submit the appeal to the moderator who originally carried out the action. If the Chief Moderator of the board on which the violation took place is not the disciplining moderator, you may “cc” the appeal to him/her. However, you may not make a separate appeal to a Chief Moderator or anyone who is not the disciplining moderator. Within one week of receipt of the appeal you will receive a response upholding the disciplinary action, revoking it, or requesting more information.
