Forum Rules

[UBT - Timbo]

We need to have some policies and "rules" that are as common sense as possible, so that if issues arise, then the admins can follow the procedures agreed and established by the forum membership.

So, please use this thread to openly state what should and should NOT be allowed.


Obviously:
- extreme profanity,
- physical, religious or racial prejudice,
- posting of obscene images or links,
- things likely to cause offence, etc

are covered automatically.

But I would like your input on the "proper" forum guidelines we would request members to follow.

Likewise, need a view on the options that should be considered, if the "rules" are broken.


To make it easier for members to "voice their opinion" this posting has been put in this section, so that you may answer "anonymously" (just log out and then reply as a "Guest").

regards,

Tim

[UBT - Halifax-lad]

No Team Ads from other people who are Non-members, you are free to participate but not to post a link to your team, after all this is our Team Board and no one else's.

Must have a sense of humour - no that one doesn't count really

edit: 3 strikes and your out attitude I would say, or even having privileges taken away from you, which you can earn back once you have seen the error of your ways

[guest]

I think you've covered most items.

Clearly this forum is here, in the main, to support the teams efforts, so I don't think it should become a personal "soap-box" or a "free for all" for anything else that is not directly related - there are other places for that sort of thing.


Freedom of expression is a "human right" so by definition anything that is seen as censorship COULD be regarded in the wrong way.


But just as we have rules to follow in our lives (which we MUST abide by or suffer the consequences, usually at Her Majesty's Pleasure), so I think it very reasonable that IF the forum admins should decide to adopt "rules", then if they are broken, then it must also have "punishments".

What that should be, I will leave to your members to decide - but it goes without saying that there are implications to consider, no matter what is agreed or carried out.

Good luck with your credits.

[Temujin]

No Team Ads from other people who are Non-members, you are free to participate but not to post a link to your team, after all this is our Team Board and no one else's.

I disagree, I see no reason to stop someone having a reasonably sized pic in their sig, just like most of us have. It certainly wouldn't persuade me to jump ship just because I can see an ad for another team.
Would you also suggest all UBT members don't have UBT ads in their sigs on say BoincSynergy forums etc?

edit: 3 strikes and your out attitude I would say, or even having privileges taken away from you, which you can earn back once you have seen the error of your ways

Both seem reasonable to me.

[UBT - Halifax-lad]

I disagree, I see no reason to stop someone having a reasonably sized pic in their sig, just like most of us have. It certainly wouldn't persuade me to jump ship just because I can see an ad for another team.

Maybe I didn't say it right no blatant adds such as dropping a URL etc in to messages. A sig stat or banner in a sig would be fine with me

[Temujin]

Maybe I didn't say it right no blatant adds such as dropping a URL etc in to messages. A sig stat or banner in a sig would be fine with me

I personally don't even see much wrong with a link either but each to their own

[Darren]

I think...

Let people post what they like as long as it's legal, not offensive, not obscene or destructive to the team. I would not want to see anyone starting flame wars or giving out addresses or phone numbers.

If you want to pass on personal info use a pm.

Moderators and Admins should be able to able to edit, move and delete posts if they fall foul of any of the above.
If any posts are moderated then a pm should be sent informing the poster why.

So far we haven't needed to moderate the board at all so lets try and keep it that way.

[UBT - BHCJackie]

Likewise, need a view on the options that should be considered, if the "rules" are broken.

I totally agree with the three strikes rule but I think once someone is out their account should be removed, not just deactivated.
I realise that this might upset the posts in some way but posts from a deactivated account can be looked up which could start the issue up again when 'John Doe' decides to side with the deactivated member.

Also what about copyright? Ok, I'm probably being paranoid again but what I write here is mine, for the consumption of other UBT Forum Members and I don't want it to be copied here, there and everywhere. I know there's the copyright doodah at the bottom of the Forum but it should, IMHO, be mentioned in the Rules too.

[UBT - BHCJackie]

- things likely to cause offence

That's a chunk of my funnies list gone west then

[UBT - BHCJackie]

I run two rat elists on Yahoo!Groups so have had to write and rewrite Rules - what fun

I am happy for the following to be amended for the Forum Rules if you want:

The following are NOT permitted under ANY circumstances -
Posting of spam; spam URL links; binary files; chain letters; flames; get-rich-quick schemes; name calling; offensive language and swearing; pyramid schemes; adverts.

List Violations will result in a warning (sent to the list and by private e-mail).
First Offence - subscription moderation, meaning all messages by you must be approved by the Administrators prior to being sent to the list.
Second Offence - a second warning and review of moderation, if removed after first offence.
Third Offence - placement on the banned list.

Persons joining the list to spam or for other malicious reasons will be automatically banned.

If you receive a message you believe to be spam from a member of the list or you believe your e-dress has been harvested, from the list, for spam purposes, please report it to the Administrators who will take the appropriate actions.

COPYRIGHT - Any message or material posted to the list is the copyright of the author and may not be published without the written consent of the said author. If you wish to copy a posting please remember to ask for permission.

This message is not meant to sound draconian. Basically if it isn't listed under not allowed, feel free to post ;-D

Please remember:
You may disagree with someone's views, practices, and opinions as much as you like but please keep such disagreements civil as children might be reading.

Thank you

HTH

[UBT - Timbo]

I run two rat elists on Yahoo!Groups so have had to write and rewrite Rules - what fun I am happy for the following to be amended for the Forum Rules if you want:

Hi Jackie,

That's a very generous donation - thanks.

It will certainly help to "forge" a "rule set" and give us a start...!

regards,

Tim

[UBT - Halifax-lad]

their account should be removed, not just deactivated.

I don't agree with that, all posts should be kept if something did happen, just lock the topic, removing someones posts may remove something valuable that they have added in he past.

for example a user posts over 200 messages and all of a sudden he/she goes bad and they are banned for whatever reason, if the messages are removed that's 200 down the pan, which affects the whole forum, a piece of it would be missing forever.

So if you locked the post that person had become bad in and gave a reason for it I think most of us would see the reasoning behind it and not be bothered and would just get on with our forum postings

[UBT - BHCJackie]

I don't agree with that, all posts should be kept if something did happen, just lock the topic, removing someones posts may remove something valuable that they have added in he past.

Oh, I'm all for keeping the decent posts but the troublesome ones should be removed and members should not be able to look them up.
ATM anyone can click on Deactivated in the memberlist and look up the posts. Anyone with half a brain can see Deactivated was G3KFQ because people who quoted the posts have "G3KFQ wrote:" which kinda makes calling the account Deactivated a bit of a waste of time.
And it's not like the thread where Deactivated / the person calling themself G3KFQ was active is locked.

So if you locked the post that person had become bad in and gave a reason for it I think most of us would see the reasoning behind it and not be bothered and would just get on with our forum postings

IMHO locking a thread and posting a reason could make people more curious about what happened. Some bright spark will post "Why is thread such and such locked?" even when there is some kind of explanation, and off we go again.
I've seen if happen on archived lists loads of times before and I'm pretty positive it will happen again.

Is there some way to attribute the posts to a made up account then remove the banned account? That way you could keep the good stuff, stop anyone reading the bad stuff and stop the troublemaker posting (unless they sign up again with a different name - seen that happen too).

[UBT - Halifax-lad]

The point of the forum is to have open topics start removing posts and that point has gone, keeping them is the best idea as people can see what has gone on if they are removed then that could mean to others there are things we are trying to hide

The account you talk about that has been deactivated has been done so at the request of the person it was trying to pretend to be.

[UBT - BHCJackie]

The point of the forum is to have open topics start removing posts and that point has gone, keeping them is the best idea as people can see what has gone on if they are removed then that could mean to others there are things we are trying to hide.

But surely your suggestion of locking a thread is the same as my suggestion to remove bad posts.

The account you talk about that has been deactivated has been done so at the request of the person it was trying to pretend to be.

You, I, anyone who was live at the time and anyone who bothers to read the thread knows that but the posts are still there.

Ideally that thread should be locked but then we lose some good stuff from you, Tim and Brabus SLR so perhaps removing the account and posts is the best way to go in this case.

In the future, assuming the vote on Forum Rules goes that way, it would be the decision of the Admins whether to lock threads or remove posts.

[UBT - Halifax-lad]

But surely your suggestion of locking a thread is the same as my suggestion to remove bad posts

Nope it is no where near the same as deleting posts, locking the thread makes it still viewable without losing anything such as deleting it.

removing the account and posts is the best way to go in this case

Leave it as a warning to others that your account will be deactivated if misused

In the future, assuming the vote on Forum Rules goes that way, it would be the decision of the Admins whether to lock threads or remove posts

Locking a post will get my vote anyday

[UBT - BHCJackie]

So if, in the future, someone posted:
"profanity, profanity, racist comment, get-rich-quick scheme info, blah, blah, blah, profanity, sexist comment, blah, blah, blah, paedophilic url"

you'd just lock the thread?

[UBT - BHCJackie]

Anyway, can individual threads be locked or is it just forums?

[UBT - Halifax-lad]

Anyway, can individual threads be locked or is it just forums?

Yep any thread can be locked and messages can also be filtered out so if racist comments or anything like that are made they can be edited to remove the bad stuff. The forum also has built in software that can be used to turn a certain word into something else.

so if it were working and you were to swear it would altered the work to something else

[UBT - Simon]

Both, though i'm sure that if a url like that pops up it'll be quickly deleted and locked

[UBT - Simon]

So Llama = Duck
Duck = Llama