A good set of rules for your board as wellas moderator tips

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Lacrosse Boy
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2003
    • 365

    A good set of rules for your board as wellas moderator tips

    Well, these are some good rules for your board when you establish them. I do not take credit for writing these, rather, this is a mostly "compiled" list of various rules I have seen which seem to be a good all purpose "rule set." If you are looking for a good community policy, feel free to use this one! (Of course, remove any references to MetroDanceCenter.com)


    MetroDanceCenter.com General Guidelines and Provisions

    The Golden Rules

    MetroDanceCenter.com isn't run by rules, per se. Rather, it is moderated by people who put themselves in the position of making difficult judgment calls.

    -Most of these Guidelines are geared towards just improving the state of the website through smart tips. Some of these Guidelines are more prohibitive, however, and they function as rules. The rules come in two-forms: the cardinal, and the compulsory.

    Cardinal Rules

    -No trolling. Don't make posts that are inflammatory just to get people riled up. Substance is the key to not being labeled a troll.
    -Attack the message, not the messenger. Criticize ideas, not people. Flaming will not be tolerated.
    No member is allowed to engage in public personal attacks on any other member.
    -Personal attacks are defined as Personal, Racial, Ethnic, and/or Gender based insults, slurs, or derisive comments.
    -All complaints need to be communicated privately using either PM, "Report this Post" feature and/or EMail.
    In the event of this, the offending post will be edited or removed, and the offending party shall receive no more than two (2) private warnings via PM and/or EMail, and one final Administration warning.
    -If the behavior continues, the member will be banned for a week, and upon a repeat incident, banned permanently.
    This will apply to all other community members as well.
    -All we want is a little community kindness and no attacks. Let's all work together to accomplish this, eh?
    -No pornographic, sexually offensive, sexually explicit, or objectifying material. _Simple rule. Administrator's judgment applies here. Sexually suggestive images will be heavily scrutinized. We'd like for our readers to be able to visit the site at work and share with friends without fear of retribution.
    -Do not post links or requests for warez
    -Post in the right forum! If it's a question for the studio, post it in the “Ask the Studio” forum. Even if it's only humor, an observation, or angst, if it's about something that we have a forum for, post it there. Resist the temptation to post something off-topic because you think you'll get "better responses" in a particular forum.
    -Respect the privacy of others. Do not post other's phone numbers, addresses, pictures, etc., without their permission.
    -Each MetroDanceCenter.com member may have only one account.
    -Do not place foul language in thread subjects .
    -Blatant advertising of competing products is not tolerated.
    -And of course, NO SPAMMING. No commercial-oriented posts, and no flooding with useless content.

    Compulsory Rules

    -Use descriptive subject lines and research your post. This reduces the chances of double-posting, and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Also, scan the subjects of the last several days' posts to make sure you aren't duplicating posts. Also, consider what forum your topic should be posted in.
    -Restrict the use of excessive foul language. Swearing will not be tolerated on this board at all. Because of the fact that it is a family-oriented site, we need to keep it clean. We aren’t saying you can't express your opinion, but there are ways to do so without swearing.
    -No "Am I Hot or Not", "show me your girlfriend." etc. threads. There are several places for that already. The occasional picture thread is OK (if we're talking about pictures of members), but this is not a dating forum.

    Finally, remember that we're not the ratings board here. We're not going to give you a PG for four swears and a gunshot, but R for five swears and splattering brains. Not making any hard and fast rules means that the moderators can use their good judgment in moderation, and we think the results speak for themselves.
    Bottom line: we always give warnings (with the exception of unacceptable posts-sometimes we need to work fast), but we don't necessarily give them more than twice to the same person. If you are disrupting the community, we will take action.


    MetroDanceCenter.com Signature Guidelines

    We have come up with some general signature guidelines, and these will be enforced.

    -Signatures will be no longer than 5 lines.
    -Signatures may contain a link to your personal site.
    -Signatures are expected to follow the same guidelines as posts, which means no flaming, no swearing, no personal attacks, and no adult material.

    If you are seen violating these guidelines you will be asked once privately to change your signature. If you fail to comply, we will change it for you. These guidelines should be easy to understand and easy to follow. Thanks for your understanding in this matter, and have a nice day.

    Also, I think that moderators should act judiciously and liberally with rules. Far too often I have seen people kicked off of boards for minor violations. Why, it has even happened to me! But that is another story full of scandal, lies, etc. Don't make your board too "Nazi-ish" as members will complain, especially when you kick them off.

    Please post your ideas! This could be a GREAT resource for newbies!
    | DiscBurn | CD & DVD Replication services, film and VHS to DVD, and duplication equipment
    |
    Disc On Demand | Short-run CD & DVD duplication... all online.
  • mdx381
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 217
    • 3.7.x

    #2




    I need to fix the CSS since I accidently overwrote the one used for those pages.

    They're the one's I use for my message board, pretty in depth.

    Comment

    • Michael2
      Senior Member
      • Oct 2001
      • 1027
      • 3.8.x

      #3
      The link to your boards says "forms". You probably want that to say "forums", right?
      HBO Forum - Discuss Game of Thrones, True Blood, Big Love, Boardwalk Empire, and more!
      Disney Forums - Disney theme parks, vacation, entertainment, and more!
      iLoveTalk - Our general discussion forum.
      VeggieBoards - The largest and most active vegetarian forum!

      Comment

      • Lacrosse Boy
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2003
        • 365

        #4
        No, I don't. It is like that for a reason. That is the area where I post printable forms for the studio, so that people can print them off.

        But, I warn any prospective moderators and administrators, as well as the current ones -- GO EASY ON YOUR RULES! This will save countless disputes, make your members happier, and in effect will make yourself happier. If you are the gestapo in enforcing every single one, then people will get miffed, and that, in effect, will take a dent out of your smile. Trust me, I know. That is why my rules are split up into cardinal and compulsory.
        | DiscBurn | CD & DVD Replication services, film and VHS to DVD, and duplication equipment
        |
        Disc On Demand | Short-run CD & DVD duplication... all online.

        Comment

        • Bane
          Senior Member
          • Jul 2000
          • 515

          #5
          Originally posted by Lacrosse Boy
          Don't make your board too "Nazi-ish"
          I so agree, things like "Thou shalt not disagree with staff or your post will be moderated/deleted" is a good example of that, and that is something I have seen on boards before and always marveled at. The sheer ego involved baffles the mind.

          Comment

          • Floris
            Senior Member
            • Dec 2001
            • 37767

            #6
            lol @ bane's underlying statement.

            Comment

            • jw791
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2003
              • 121

              #7
              I like those. They have a lot of the same themes as my rules...

              Talk about pets and post pictures at Talk Pets!

              Comment

              • Blue Wings
                New Member
                • Oct 2003
                • 14
                • 3.0.0 Beta 7

                #8
                Those are very good rules and should be applied to if not all, to atleast message baords that call for respect to its users.

                Comment

                • himerus
                  Senior Member
                  • Nov 2003
                  • 221
                  • 3.5.x

                  #9
                  I just scanned them over, but I think I'll use some or most of that for my board. Thanks for the contribution.

                  Comment

                  • orca
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2001
                    • 1151
                    • 5.5.x

                    #10
                    Originally posted by mdx381
                    http://www.gaming-world.com/forums/forumrules_v3.htm



                    I need to fix the CSS since I accidently overwrote the one used for those pages.

                    They're the one's I use for my message board, pretty in depth.

                    Hmm, domain for sale...
                    Ueli

                    Comment

                    widgetinstance 262 (Related Topics) skipped due to lack of content & hide_module_if_empty option.
                    Working...