Forum Guidelines

First, let me say thank you for taking the time to read these guidelines. I call them guidelines, not rules, because I don't particularly care for the typical black and white rules that you see on many internet forums. That said, rules are made for a reason...mostly to help people to get along with each other. I think we all know how to do that, but none of us are perfect and we sometimes make mistakes. There must be some form of guidelines to keep things running smoothly and so nothing gets too out of hand. Most of these guidelines are just common sense, but others need to be followed for either technical or aesthetic reasons. Please take the time to read them now. Following these guidelines will help make the forums a more enjoyable place to stay.



General Posting

Freedom of speech and expression is encouraged at TSG. You can discuss almost any topic you like, as long as you keep discussions civil and respectful. There are no double post rules nor are there rules against swearing. On the other hand, too much double posting or excessive swearing can become annoying and the mods may give warnings if they believe you are pushing the limit and being disruptive to the forums. Please refrain from posting any offensive remarks regarding an individual's race, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation. Posting of, or linking to, pornographic material is not allowed. In addition, harassment of any TSG member will not be tolerated. If you have a conflict of any kind with another member, take it someplace else.



Spam

Let's keep spam to a minimum, please. There are some places on the forums where spam is tolerated, such as the Fun, Games, and Tomfoolery Board, but it is frowned upon on other boards. Hijacking threads, one word posts, nonsense posts, excessive smileys, off topic comments, and excessive postings of advertisements are all examples of spam.



Trolling

A troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. Trolling will not be tolerated here at TSG.



Advertisements

You may advertise other sites on TSG, including personal sites and commercial sites. You can put a link in your signature or occasionally mention the site in a post. You may not create a thread exclusively devoted to advertising another site. Any suspicious members whose sole purpose of joining this site is to advertise will be banned. Linking to pornographic sites is also forbidden, and will most likely lead to banishment.



Clone Accounts

A clone account is a second (or third) account, created by a member using a different username. Clone accounts are allowed at TSG as long as they serve a reasonable purpose or are created for entertainment purposes. Such accounts created to bypass a ban or warning, trolling, or breaking any other rule at TSG, will be deleted. The member's main account will get an official warning.



Display Names and Signatures

Display Names are not to exceed 16 characters. Having long usernames becomes an annoyance when viewing the forum, downloads, or any other sections of the site, and can create a graphically unattractive looking forum. Signatures are also limited to approximately 125 pixels high (roughly 5 lines of standard (10pt) text). There can be no more than 5 lines of text, and no images larger than 700 x 100 pixels. If a large font is used, then the amount of lines allowable will most likely need to be under 5, to keep the height from exceeding 125 pixels. A combination of text and images is also allowable, but once again, it may not exceed the approximate height limit of 125 pixels. Members who go over these limits will be contacted and asked to make any necessary changes.



Posting Images

It is highly suggested to upload images to Imgur and link it to any posts via direct links. If attaching images, please avoid posting images in bitmap (.bmp) format. These types of files are unnecessarily large. JPEG (.jpg) is the recommended format. You can easily convert the format to JPEG (.jpg) in a program like Microsoft Paint before uploading. Also, it is advised to re-size images to a width of 800 pixels or less. Images larger than this will automatically be re-sized, but it's still best to do it manually, as it can still cause the forums to get sluggish.



Disciplinary Action

At TSG, we all firmly believe in staying out of business that doesn't need our most dire attention. If possible, we will always try to let conflicts resolve themselves. However, there are times where official disciplinary action needs to be taken. They are as follows:



- Verbal Warning: If you break any of the forum guidelines, yoou will be pm'd by either the Board Moderator where the infraction occurred or a Global Moderator. This will be a polite warning informing you what you did that broke any forum guidelines and how to avoid any further warnings.



- Official Warning: If you have previously been warned via pm, but continue to break the forum guidelines, you are subject to an official warning by a Global Moderator. The moderator giving the warning will pm you and tell you that your are being warned, and why you are being warned. A warning is a 'mark' on your profile, and will show up underneath your username and title bar. A warning will last 90 days and then be removed from from the your profile. If, during the 90 day period, you receive a second warning, the 90 day period will reset, and you will have to wait another 90 days for both warnings to be removed. If a third warning is issued before the 90 days is up, this will result in a Restriction.



- Restriction: If you receive 3 official warnings, a Global Moderator will send you a pm and tell you that you have been placed on Restriction. Restriction will last a minimum of one week. While on Restriction, you can still view the forums, but you will be unable to post. Once the full seven days are up, you may then pm Weyoun and agree to follow the forum guidelines. He will decide whether or not to lift the Restriction. If he does, the Restriction will be removed, and you will be put on a two month Probation. If you do not contact Weyoun, your restriction will continue indefinitely until you do.



- Probation: Probation is automatic following the return from a One Week Restriction. Probation lasts 2 months. During probation, members are observed closer than members who are not on probation. Any warnings during this period will result in instant Banishment. If you have not received any warnings during the 2 months, you will be taken off Probation and your warnings will be removed.



- Banishment: Being banned is the most severe consequence a member can receive, and one that the TSG staff wants to avoid at ALL costs. If a member is on Probation and receives a single warning, (bringing their total to 4) they are banned from TSG. All banishments are permanent. There may also be times when a member's behavior is so disruptive to the forums that an instant ban may result, bypassing the normal disciplinary system. This would happen if a member became so out of control and was beyond reason, such as going on a rampage and spamming the forums with dozens of derogatory and/or obscene threads, posts, and/or pm's. Evading a ban by creating a clone account would also result in that account being banned and/or deleted. Also, a banned member may not use the account of another member/friend to make posts. This could result in disciplinary action against THAT member as well.



-Insubordination: Any type of insubordination directed at any mod or administrator of the site will get an instant official warning. This includes pms, such as responding to a verbal warning with rude or vulgar language.



Addendum

That's about it. These guidelines may change over time as needed. We are all part of a very special community, and we should work together to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and can be themselves, without the fear of consequences. We're all here to have fun.



Have fun.



Weyoun