Rules of the board - IMPORTANT, please read

Rules of Entmoot v. 1.0 Welcome to the board! I certainly hope that you enjoy yourself here. In order to ensure that everyone is happy, I have written a set of basic rules that you must follow in order to post. If you disobey the rules, you may receive a "punishment" ranging from a warning to permanent IP banning. Ignorance is not an excuse, so I suggest that you become familiar with the rules Trolling (posting with the sole intent of causing trouble or insulting), spamming/flooding (posting the same messages over and over again or in multiple forums) and flaming (insulting) are not permitted. Advertising other sites is not allowed either, except for one <a href=http://server3.ezboard.com/fbenjaminstolkienboardgeneralmessages.showMessage? topicID=102.topic>designated thread.</a> Try to keep profanity at a low. I have the censor turned on, but it doesn't catch everything and as of this writing, it is not customizable. Posting asterixes instead of letters is acceptable, but blocking out only part of the word is frowned upon. Don't post things that you know are inappropriate. I hope to keep this board PG-rated, maybe bordering on PG-13, so if you have doubts as to whether to post something or not, make sure it is suitable for children to view. Don't insult people. If you are just joking around, make sure you include a smiley so that the person knows it; that person may interpret it as a personal attack. Violations of privacy are not permitted either. This includes, but is not limited to, posting private conversations from RL, ICQ, email, etc; posting personal information about others, etc. I've been lenient about letting certain offenses go by, but now that the rules are in written form, they will be enforced more strictly. The admins/mods have the right to decide what is inappropriate, and will act accordingly. Depending on the severity of the offense, one or more punishments may be administered. A warning will be given out to minor offenders. The next steps are 48-hour bans, permanent banning, and as a last resort, IP banning. However, we may move directly to IP banning depending on the circumstances. We reserve to change these rules whenever we deem necessary; it is your responsibility to keep up with the latest version. When the rules are changed, an announcement will be made. Wow, you made it through all that :P. My intention is not to create a strict atmosphere, but just to have written guidelines that will make posting more enjoyable for everyone

cool :P

OK

OK, I have a question regarding how you define "advertising" another site. Is it acceptable to provide a hyperlink (just the URL) to something which may help prove a point in an argument, or to a page which may answer a question? I ask because I don't know how to do links like you and Hernalt (i.e. blue text that is clickable but isn't a url). Sorry, I'm still a little technologically behind the times!!

No, I mean obvious advertising completely unrelated to anything Here's an <a href=http://server3.ezboard.com/fbenjaminstolkienboardgeneralmessages.showMessage? topicID=49.topic>example of what not to do</a> Links that further the discussion are perfectly ok, just don't go starting threads about your home page :P

Whoa. I've done quite a few things on that list several times, and so far I've only gotten "warnings". Maybe I should test this system out.

Hmmm...maybe you should Greg

Thanks, no problem! You won't have any trouble with me from an advertising standpoint, because I don't have a homepage, LOL!!

You've neglected to include a very important rule. What would happen in the highly probable event that an administrater or moderater were to break a rule or unjustly punish members? For anyone who has been at Entmoot for a while, it is apparent that certain moderaters and administraters have consistenlty broken rules, and unfairly banned several people. Because administraters and moderaters make up a signifacant portion of Entmoot, it would be reasonable to include a set of guidelines for them as well.

*shakes fist* You tyrant!!!!!!!!!

Dmaul96- I did a quick calculation on a calculator and found that admins/moderators make up about 5.8% of the total count :P Anyway, the day I promoted Ryan and Tater to admin, I did write some guidelines for them, but they're in the mod forum so you can't see them :P Version 1.1 of the rules should come out soon, too

Although they may only make up 5.8%, the moderaters and administraters post a lot more than other other people. Anyway, how do we know that the admins and mods have rules as well. I think you're lying

hi, sorry i neede to put this in to log on as dmaul96

ya, whatever

Jae, I don't think there is an admin or a mod here that would think twice about editing, banning, or warning a fellow admin or mod, if the situation was appropriate.

Yeah, they suspended PB at the JC a few months ago... Anyway, the only person who can't get punished here is me (I don't think the software allows it )

Yep, I bet you wouldn't even venture a try.... :P

Board owners can't be banned or de-admined.

Soah, thats a lie I banned myself from my own bord, and un-admined myself, also Luckily i had just made Ben an Admin and he was able to set things straight, but it certainly isn't true that board owners can't be banner or de-admined

This maybe a dumb question....but why did you ban yourself from your own board? BTW, what is your board?