Guide:STEP Community Citizenship

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Intro

By posting on or using this forum, you agree to abide by the following rules and accept any punishment given for breaking them. The administrative team reserves the right to make any changes to this page it deems necessary.

While trying to lay out the most common problems, not every situation can be planned for. Moderators reserve the right to use their judgement and remove any post they deem inappropriate. Attempting to "smartass" your way around these rules will not help your case and will probably result in a harsher punishment.

While the moderators will make every effort to enforce the rules fairly and efficiently, we are only human. If you see any violation, do not engage and please report it to <Insert link to list of Moderators>.

General

• Use common sense when posting! Most of these rules will be completely avoided when you think before you post.

• Usernames aren't allowed to be profane or offensive.

• Absolutely NO offensive or harmful language will be tolerated. This does not include general cussing; it is referring to direct insults, racist, sexist, homophobic, or hateful language, and anything else meant to be blatantly harmful.
  • As a general guideline, most NSFW (Not-Safe-For-Work) content is prohibited. Also, please make sure to state if a link you've provided contains NSFW content.
  • Linking to any harmful websites/software, virus, referral sites, etc. is also prohibited and will be removed without warning.

• Always try to find the correct sub-forum for a new topic. Threads made in the wrong places will be moved by a moderator into the right location and a post will be made explaining why.

• Always maintain the original topic in a thread. No derailing topics, hi-jacking threads, starting flaming wars, or posting purposeless inflammatory posts.
  • Debating and discussion is always encouraged, but rudeness and personal insults aren't. Keep any arguments about the topic not the posters.

• Utilize the Search function before posting, especially if you're looking for support, your question may have already been answered.

• Each person is allowed to have one account. Anyone caught sock-puppeting will have all of their accounts banned.

• Posting of anyone else's personal information is disallowed and will be removed.

Signatures

• All rules and guidelines for the forums also apply to signatures. This means keep it Safe-For-Work, no adverts, etc.

• Although the amount of images/text in signatures is not explicitly limited, the overall signature must be within 800 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall.

• Individual images must be under 150kb. Please be respectful of those with less bandwidth.

• Excessive animation or otherwise annoying images can really clutter a page, so keep them to a minimum.

Avatars

• Avatars follow general forum guidelines as well.
  • Images must be less than or equal to 100x100 pixels.

• No animated avatars.

Spamming and Advertisement

• Any form of spamming or advertising is explicitly prohibited and will be removed without warning. Any users in violation of this rule will also be banned immediately.
  • This includes spamming through the use of the forums directly or any other methods related to this site, such as private messages, emails to users, etc.

Post Content

• This is a message board, not a chat room. DO NOT use "Leet-Speak", slang, colloquialisms, or chat lingo on the forums, these posts are subject to moderation and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the "translation".
  • In addition, when one punctuation mark will work, please only use one. ("!" vs. "!!!!!!")
  • Using Caps Lock or all capitals for any substantial part of a post will result in post moderation/deletion.

• Wait a reasonable amount of time (more than 24 hours) before "bumping" your topic.

• Refrain from "Double Posting". There is an Edit button for a reason, please use it.

• When editing or modifying a post, please add your new message on a new line starting with "Edit:"
  • On guides, how-to's, or anything else in that realm, a basic edit changelog is acceptable, just make sure to state what you changed.

• Any post with the following will be immediately removed. DO NOT:
  • Discuss or assist in illegal activities such as software and music piracy, warez, cracks, serials, etc. This includes linking to other websites with said material.
  • Re-create a deleted or locked thread for the purposes of trying to keep it going or to circumvent moderator action.
  • Post flashing or strobing images or text. They're annoying.
  • Reply to a thread without anything to contribute. (E.g. "First" or "/signed")
  • Post images greater than 800 pixels wide, they tend to break the look of a page, as well as generally be annoying. Image hosting sites offer the ability to resize images, use it.
  • Use excessive amounts of large, colorful, or otherwise annoying text just to emphasize your words.

• Cite your sources. Don't plagiarize content and claim it as your own.

Moderation

• Moderators do not want to ban you. Warnings will be given for first offenses and minor violations.

• Attempting to circumvent any previous or current ban (ban evasion) will result in a permanent ban for all accounts associated with the user without the opportunity for petition.

• Please keep any communication regarding Moderator action private. If you feel something was done incorrectly, please contact the Moderator responsible first, and if really needed then explain the situation to another Moderator or Administrator.

• Any attempt to impersonate a Moderator or falsely claim Moderator status/authority (indirectly as well) will result in an immediate ban.

Punishments

Please note that the following are 'guidelines and are not exact. Moderators will use their best judgement, along with these guidelines, to determine appropriate punishments.

• Most minor offenses, such as flaming, minor trolling, and misplaced topics will result in a warning and possibly removal of said material.
  • Further offenses will result in a temporary, or in extreme cases permanent ban with length determined by the user's post and ban history at the Moderator's discretion.

• More severe infractions, such as insults, excessive trolling, or spamming will be immediately removed and the poster most likely banned, with the length depending on previous offenses and the infraction.

• The most extreme violations, such as hateful speech, racism, etc. are utterly unacceptable and will result in an immediate and permanent ban without a chance for petition.

• Spambots or anyone that looks like one will have their post removed as soon as it's seen and the user will be banned indefinitely.