........ ............................................ ............ FORUM RULES ............................................................................ ................................ ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... v.2008_
1Rules will be based on this fundamental premise.
The forums must present a clean, professional yet enjoyable atmosphere.
We do not want to discourage friendly discussion and debate, but we
also can not spend a lot of time moderating and patrolling the forums.
So were relying on our users to keep themselves in check.
Below are the new rules and guidelines for 2008 and there on.
Please take five minutes out of your life to read through ALL of them.
Any infractions of these rules can result in your account being banned.
If you feel this is harsh, understand that this was done out of necessity,
not out of desire.
It is a privilege to be a part of this community not your right, remember that!
The quality of the forum depends on the quality of the members who post.
The more you put into it the more you'll get out of it.
Section.1) RULES FOR PROPER POSTING_________________ 1.a.) The first rule is to read the rules, obliviously.
................................ Introduce your self once you've read and understand these rules.
................................ The guidelines for introductions can be found at the bottom of this list.
................................ The link named "membership Info" under Section 4, named :
................................ Relevant Informative Links
............ b.) Use the Spell Check and proper grammar.
................................ Don't be lazy, type out the whole word and use capitalization.
................................ No web-speak!
................................We are in a predominantly English speaking country.
................................We will extend the use of English here onto this board.
................................Typos are to be expected, but nobody should have to revert to the
................................ "Idiot to English" dictionary to understand what someone is saying.
................................ Any other gross deviation from standard written Language
................................ will not be tolerated.
............................................. b.2.) POSTING IN ALL CAPS IS ANNOYING.
............................................................................... PoStInG LiKe tHiS iS aLsO Annoying.
................................................................................ If for some reason you have to always post in caps, pm a mod.
................................................................................. So you can avoid alot trouble ahead of time.
............ c.) Do not attack, bicker or draw out an argument
................................ We razz/rib/poke at/make fun of/give each other a hard time. If you
................................ can't take the heat, don't put your hand on the manifold. Take insults
................................ like a man and dish them out when you earn the right to do so.
................................ Do not bicker back and forth about a topic you clearly do not agree
................................ with someone on just so you can have the last word.
................................ If you feel the need to argue and fuss, TAKE IT OFFLINE.
................................ Youre going to have to use your judgment on this to some extent.
................................ But you HAVE to decide at some point that a response is
................................ just unnecessary. Once youve stated all your positions and
................................ reasons, leave it alone!
................................ Its really OK to let someone else make the final comment.
................................ It doesnt mean you lost!
................................ It just means youve already stated what you needed to state.
................................ End it after that.
................................ This type of behavior will earn you infraction points faster than anything else.
................................ And it drags the entire forum down.
............ d.) Private messaging and correct forum posting
................................ Please use email or Personal Messaging for personal conversations
................................ that would not interest others.
................................ Post in the correct forum, use a descriptive thread title,
................................ give as much info as possible.
............................................. b.2.)Postwhoring
............................................................................... This is generally frowned upon here, but if you must.
............................................................................... Please do so in the appropriate section.
............ e.) Respect Privacy
................................ Do not post personal telephone numbers, e-mail addresses,
................................ street addresses, or mailing addresses of anyone but
................................ yourself. Or by expressed permission of the person
................................ whose information you are posting. If you want to post your
................................ personal information, that's up to you. Just use common sense and
................................ be ready to accept whatever consequence it may carry.
............ f.) Topic, please...
................................ Please try to remain on-topic. If you have nothing to contribute to the thread,
................................ please refrain from posting. If the original poster asks a questions and
................................ receives the appropriate answer then, there is noting more to add.
................................ And the thread maybe locked and or archived.
............ g.) Search
................................ Be sure you've done research on the question before you ask.
................................ This site has been around a while now, and most of the
................................ basic questions and topics posted by newbies have already
................................ been covered here and in other DSM resources.
................................ Nobody here wants to answer the same questions over and over again.
................................ Please use available resources like those found in
................................ The link named "Good Info and Tech " under Section 4, named :
................................ Relevant Informative Links
............ h.) Proper Questions/Answers
................................ No bumping threads (replying to your thread for the sole purpose of
................................ moving it to the top of the forum for more exposure). If your question doesn't
................................ get answered, it's either because you didn't provide enough info and/or
................................ you asked a question that was already answered in our FAQ.
................................ Please refrain from guessing. If you don't know the answer for sure, don't reply.
................................ We don't need you spreading misinformation.
................................ If your reply contains phrases like "I think", or "I've heard", or
................................ "everyone else does it", or "my brother's uncle's friend
................................ did it and had no problems" - it is not useful.
................................ Only post a reply if YOU know the answer from YOUR own first-hand
................................ experience. Instead of replying with a guess, post a link to a thread
................................ where the answer can be found, or the same discussion already took place.
................................ If you ask a question and get the problem solved, please show courtesy to
................................ your fellow members and reply to your own thread and let everyone
................................ know what solved it. If someone helps you with a tech problem,
................................ you can return the favor by giving that member(s) thank or praise for
................................ their helpful reply. And/or buy them a drink
............ i.) No false representation/multiple accounts
................................ One account per person. Multiple accounts are typically abused for puppeteering
................................ (posting as another user to bolster your own argument),
................................ or for holding an account in reserve to commit a ban bypass.
................................ Do not post on behalf of a banned member or you will find yourself banned as well.
............ j.) No Trolling/Flooding, Spam or Warez,
................................ Flooding is a form of spamming, it's the practice of bumping other topics out
................................ of view in favor of changing the board to either increase your own visibility or
................................ decrease the visibility of another guest or topic. It can be cross-posting
................................ identical topics in different Forums or multiple posts in any one forum with
................................ identical or nearly identical content.
................................ Trolling is someone who rarely/never post. Lurks around maybe to
................................ steal information and/or instigate e-fights.
................................ Do not even think about joining this Bulletin Board for the sole
................................ purpose of selling your wares! Spamming is not tolerated here!
................................ Our Trader section in under strict control and will not allow
................................ non-verified members to post there. If you feel you have something
................................ to sell that may benefit our members feel free to contact any Admin or Mod.
................................ Public complaints and accusations are not welcome here.
................................ If you have a complaint about a vendor or possible scam artist,
................................ post it on Vendors-Reviewed.com.
................................ If a verified member scams somebody on here notify the Admin immediately!!
Bottom Line, just take a couple seconds to think about what your posting before you hit submit!
Section.2) MODERATOR ACTIONS & GUIDELINES_________________The South Florida DSM Administration/Moderator team is dedicated to providing
the user base of South Florida DSM with the best possible experience, while still
enforcing the rules set fourth. Below are the rules that have been set better
understand what the Administrators/Moderators functions are.
Again we are not here to hold hands.
2.a.) EDUCATION
............................... Many times, we will see that someone is simply unaware of the rules.
................................ Which in that case, we will attempt to explain whats wrong and
................................ how to correct it. But not always because we are not here to hold hands.
............ b.) EDITING
................................ Sometimes we will feel it necessary to edit a post to correct an infraction
................................ of the rules(usually grammar related). We'll try to explain why it was done,
................................ but most of the time don't expect it.
............ c.) MOVING
................................ If a post ends up in the wrong forum, we may feel it beneficial
................................ to move it to the proper one. Usually a link will remain in the
................................ original location pointing to the new location.
............ d.) LOCKING
................................ If a post violates the posting rules listed above, and the Moderators
................................ deem the infraction severe enough, the post may be locked.
................................ And or when there is no more to discuss, the thread maybe locked as well.
............ e.) DELETION
................................ South Florida DSM no longer deletes threads or post.
................................ South Florida DSM has a topic repository for threads that are either
................................ A.) Contaminated beyond cleanup or B.) Requested to be removed
................................ by the thread starter.
................................ All threads are either A.) Public or B.) Located in the
................................ Topic Repository(Archives) only viewable by the Administrator/Moderator team.
............ f.) WARNING AND SUSPENDING POSTING RIGHTS
................................ Warnings are given out per the Rules & Regulations policy.Extremely rare,
................................ but as we track infractions per user, if enough infractions accumulate,
................................ the users posting rights may be suspended for a period of time.
................................ The Administration of this Bulletin Board has never,
................................ (so far up to this point 1/08 )since the inception of this
................................ bulletin board, has ever had to drop the Hammer.
................................ This is an option we do not look forward to.
................................ BUT WE WILL IF WE HAVE TOO!
Section.3) PENALTIES GUIDELINES_________________
Penalties for infractions are listed in correspondence to the rules for Proper Posting.
*BAN = Insta-Ban/permanently, unless other wise noted.Instan-Ban This is a no-questions-asked, no-quarter-given ban.
It's an offense so blatant, so egregious, and so obvious that any regular member
who has been a member for long can spot it coming a mile away.
It's a ban where a warning is simply not an option which will be considered.
3.a.) For those special individuals, who don't think they need to read the
................................ rules will be warned and not allowed to post beyond the introduction forum.
............ b.) Penalty for improper grammar will vary from
................................ warnings to removal of the post and/or thread.
................................ All the way to a temporary suspension of posting privileges.
................................ Upon occasion a Moderator may just edit the post or thread to
................................ correct/better explain was the user was trying to say.
............ c.) This will be dependent on how much arguing takes places and the parties involved.
................................ Typically a temporary time out, will suffice(1hour-1day suspension)
............ d.) Typically a warning will suffice and/or closing of the thread in question.
................................ For more extreme cases please refer to part "f" below.
............ e.) If the information is posted with the intent to harass or intimidate,
................................ flood their mailbox or solicit harassment in any way,
................................ then it's a(n) instant *BAN and the information will be removed.
............ f.) Any off topic related conversations will be removed at the discretion
................................ of an Admin or a Moderator. If you cannot learn to stay on topic, your
................................ posting privileges will be suspended for a week. If you still cannot
................................ learn from your mistakes that's fine because you just won't be here anymore. Period!
............ g.) For those who do not search, they will be warned and their thread will be closed.
............ h.) This will be handled on a case by case basis. Typically a warning will suffice.
............ i.) If your account is suspended, and you register a new account,
................................ we will automatically suspend* that account and
................................ may even consider contacting your host and look into taking legal action.
............ j.) This will result in actions from topics being deleted to the
................................ account responsible being banned*.
Section.4)Relevant Informative Links_______________Contact: SoFla_DSM-at-comcast.net
DISCLAIMER: - We reserve the right to update or change these rules at anytime
without prior notice.
- All users should
become familiar with, and follow these rules. Breaking a rule because
you are not aware of it IS NOT a valid excuse!
Failure to comply with these rules will result in action being taken, up to and
including loss of posting rights as described Above.
- This is a voluntary association of mostly like-minded people.
If you don't like that, the people involved, or find our information not useful,
feel free to uninvite yourself.
No one is making you be here.
- Advertising on the SoFla DSM BB is not free. Contact an Admin
- South Florida DSM collects no information.
Any information obtained is not done purposely and quickly discarded,
ignored and not used or given out.
South Florida DSM RULES 2008_revision1_1/1/2008
South Florida DSM RULES 2007_revision3_9/2007
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