General ForumRules - Please Read

[TheVeganAtheist]

1. This is a discussion forum. Please come here willing to discuss. This isn't a place to lecture, and then refuse to address others' rational arguments or even answer others' questions. Discussion is founded upon logic, if you don't accept basic logic as valid, there's really nothing for you to do here except lecture, and this isn't the place for it. Again: This is a discussion forum.
Discussion is also founded upon correct usage of words. The forum language is English, and while it's fine to discuss definitions, assertively twisting words beyond their reasonable definition to troll, like saying "Saliva is an animal product, if you swallow your own saliva you're not vegan!" is not acceptable.

2. Don't come here just to spam your survey/links etc. If it's your first post and it's clear you're just here to get something, it will probably be considered spam. We may or may not be interested in helping you with your survey, or even buying your product/subscribing to your channel (particularly if it's related to the forum subject matter). But please join in the discussion on the forum first and participate in the community.

3. Post in English (it's OK if it's a second language), and please try to use mostly proper grammar and spelling (we're not grammar nazis, but it needs to be readable). If it becomes clear your English ability is not proficient enough to understand the posts of others written in clear English, and your behavior is one of arrogance and impatience rather than humility and a willingness to improve your English level to avoid the problem in the future, you may be warned or banned.

4. Keep the forum readable. Please DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS FOR A SIGNIFICANT PART OF YOUR POST. A word here or there is fine, but not paragraphs of it. No obscene amount of punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!! Or Emoticons or crazy colors or font sizes everywhere.

5. No huge images. Respect bandwidth limits of other users.

6. Mild profanity on occasion is fine, but keep any images safe for work. No porn. And nothing too obscene in other ways. We're not prudes, but there's a reasonable limit.

7. Don't violate copyright or talk about doing any illegal stuff. Not because we care, but because we don't want the server shut down. Definitely don't talk about/encourage doing anything violent or dangerous. That we do care about, so just don't.

8. Try to post in the right forum, and use a descriptive subject line. Examples of bad subjects include; "Help me!", "You Suck", "I've got an issue!", etc. We need to know what you're talking about.

9. When using the quote function in a reply, quote only the part you are replying to and not the whole post. There is no need to fill topic pages with repeat posts in their entirety. Also, do not reply to another poster inside the quote tags referring to that poster; this makes it very difficult to read. Quote small amounts, and close those quotes with the [/quote] tag before typing your response.

10. No large images in signatures. Or unnecessarily large amounts of text. If a user asks you to change your signature because it's too long, please do so.

11. Avatars should be no larger than 120x120 pixels and should not exceed 30KiB (20720 bytes) in size. No distracting animations.

12. Don't bump your posts obsessively. Be patient. If you want to bump, try to add more information; it's possible others didn't understand what the post was about.

13. Don't abuse the report function. It's for rule violations only.

[brimstoneSalad]

OLD RULES:

These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on TheVeganAtheist Forum. They have been compiled and are revised regularly and should be adhered to by everyone.

Forum rules
a. Posts are to be made in the relevant forum. Users are asked to read the forum descriptions before posting. Users consistently posting to the wrong forum may be given a warning (see policing below).
b. Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning.
c. Members are asked to not act as “back seat moderators”. If members note an issue which contravenes something in this policy document they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the Moderator Team. Please use the “post report” feature to report posts. Do not respond to such topics yourself. Members who constantly “act” as moderators may be warned.
d. Members should remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning.
e. Members are asked to respect the copyright of other users, sites, media, etc. Users linking to or asking for information on warez, crackz, etc. or re-printing material without permission will receive a warning and their post will be removed.
f. Members are asked only to post in English, as this is an English speaking community.
g. Members should respect the bandwidth of other users and sites. The use of inline () image tags pointing to data stored on third party systems for which the user has not received permission to link to may be removed.
h. Members should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing". That is users should not post excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small or coloured text, etc. Similarly users should not SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. Users consistently abusing this will be warned.
i. Members should use an appropriate, descriptive subject when posting a new topic. Examples of bad subjects include; "Help me!", "You Suck", "I've got an issue!", etc.
j. Spam is not tolerated here under any circumstance. This includes offering hosting services (charged and free), installation services, solicitation etc.
k. Recruiting members for your own projects (moderators, designers, professional MOD work, etc.) is not permitted and is also considered spam. Users posting spam will be warned and their post removed. See specific item on spam and 3rd party linking for more information.
l. Members are asked to not disclose to any 3rd party, board, or list any vulnerabilities in phpBB before first notifying the admin.
m. The moderating, support and other teams reserve the right to edit, remove or put on moderation queue any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to Team Members and not users.
n. The above forum rules where applicable also apply to private messaging. Abuse of the private messaging system may lead to warnings (as above) and/or the revocation of private messaging.
o. When using the quote function in a reply, quote only the part you are replying to and not the whole post. There is no need to fill topic pages with repeat posts in their entirety.
NEW: p. Please do not feed the trolls. If a troll joins the forum looking for attention, the best solution is to simply ignore them. Engaging with them will only deflect attention from serious forum members looking to create an honest community.

Signatures
a. Signatures may contain up to five lines of normal sized text OR a single image that is no more than 60px high, 468px wide, 10KiB (10240 bytes) in size and one line of small sized text. The font size of signatures should be normal or small only.
b. Signatures containing an image of 30px in height may include up to two lines of normal sized text or three lines of small sized text. Images 15px or below in height may contain up to three lines of normal sized text or four lines of small sized text.
c. Content in signatures should be consistent with normal writing and abide by the general forum etiquette. You may not include hidden text or links or information that suggests you offer official support for TheVeganAtheist Forum.
d. Links in signatures are permitted to a maximum of 5 links. You may not link to warez, pornographic, racist or other similar extremist sites.
e. Remote signature images must have a consistently high availability to ensure page load times are not affected.
f. Animated images are not permitted.
g. Users abusing these rules will be warned or have their signature privileges revoked.

Avatars
a. Avatars should be no larger than 120x120 pixels and should not exceed 30KiB (20720 bytes) in size.
b. Avatars must not contain animation or include graphics which attempt to portray the ranks or avatars of TheVeganAtheist Forum Members.
c. Remote avatars must have a consistently high availability to ensure page load times are not affected.
d. Avatars are subject to the same conditions as posts with respect to the general forum etiquette.
e. Users abusing these rules will be warned or have their avatar privileges revoked.

General
a. Please take note of any stickies and announcements (located above regular topics) as they often contain frequently asked questions and additional forum-specific guidelines.
b. Replying directly after your own post (or "bumping") is only permitted after six hours have elapsed since your last post. You may only bump a topic a maximum of two times until a reply is received. If you fail to receive a reply, consider editing your post and include further information.
c. General linking (within posts) to other sites is generally permitted.

Policing
a. TheVeganAtheist operates a three strike policy. Users will be warned a maximum of three times for any and all offences in a three month period. If the need arises for a fourth warning a temporary ban will be put in place of between 1 to 7 days.
b. Arguing with team members after having received a warning will lead to an immediate additional warning. Should this exceed three strikes a temporary ban will be put in place as above.
c. Users who feel they have been unfairly warned are welcome to contact the relevant team leader, e.g. if warned by a moderator you should contact the Moderator team leader. If they feel you were treated badly they will remove a warning.
d. Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban or other moderator action will lead to a permanent ban of your account(s). Circumvention includes re-registering or using an already registered account under a non-banned username. Other examples include changing IP addresses, using a new email account or other action that can be taken to evade moderator action to hide your identity as the owner of the sanctioned account.
e. An exception to the three strike rule applies when users contact team members personally (via any method) and post insulting, indecent or vulgar material. Such users may be subject to an immediate permanent ban.
f. Permanent bans are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them. While TheVeganAtheist may consider lifting permanent bans from time to time this is a rare occurrence.