PokerForums.org Forum Rules (UPDATED: March, 28th 2008)

[KiD[ReD]]

PokerForums.org Forum Rules

PokerForums.org is a friendly discussion community catered to the wonderful game of poker. We strive to keep the forums a friendly atmosphere and an environment conducive to learning. As a member, please try to keep the following rules in mind:


Posting Guidelines
Behavior
Spam
Signatures and Avatars
Private Messaging
Independent Poker Site Transactions
Images & Video Guidelines
Infraction System



Posting Guidelines

Post in the correct forum

When creating a new thread please make sure you are posting it in the correct forum. Posting in the wrong forum creates more work for the moderators to move the thread to the proper forum. Moving threads also leads to confusion when people look for the thread.

Stay on topic

Please try to stay on topic when responding to posts. Understandably, discussions will veer off in their own directions, but deliberate hijacking of threads will not be tolerated. Offenders will either be given a warning, or penalized with 1 infraction point which would expire in 2 months.

Search before starting threads

PokerForums.org has over 8,000 threads. To avoid repetitive thread topics, please use the search feature to see if your question has already been discussed. After your search, if you cannot find a thread on the subject, or the previous threads do not answer your question or are outdated, feel free to create a new thread on the subject.

Make contributive posts

When responding to threads please make sure your post is contributing to the discussion. Making unneccassary posts ("oic", "okay", etc.) is the main cause of threads getting sidetracked. If your post does not contribute to the discussion in some way it may be deleted. Offenders will either be given a warning, or penalized with 1 infraction point which would expire in 2 months.

Behaviour

Insults and personal attacks

While we are more lenient towards vulgarities, friendly bickering, and so forth than most forums, we do not tolerate blatant insults or personal attacks against others. Naturally, there will be disputes and debates in regards to strategy and such, but these discussions can still be dealt in a respectable manner. Offenders will either be given a warning, or penalized with 1 infraction point which would expire in 6 months.

Attacks on Staff

PokerForums.org is supervised by moderators. Moderators scan the community to ensure that these rules are followed among all members. These rules are in everyone's favor and when there is an issue with a rule, please bring it to the staff's attention via Private Message as opposed to on the public forum.

Allowing somebody to directly challenge a staff member's authority on the public boards undermines the integrity of the site. Therefore, if a member has an issue with a moderator, send a Private Message to the Adminstrator, KiD[ReD]. Your complaints will be reviewed and action taken where needed.

Personal attacks toward the staff and criticism of how they perform their duties will not be tolerated. Offenders will either be given a warning, or penalized with 5 infraction points which would expire in 12 months.


Trolling

There is a zero tolerance policy towards trolling on PokerForums.org. A troll is a person who purposely seeks out others or posts to insult or harass, and/or degrades the forum in an anti-social manner. Repeat offenders will be warned or possibly given infraction points.

Spam

There is a zero tolerance policy towards spam on PokerForums.org. Spam includes, but is not limited to: referral links, sign-up bonuses, any owned or associated website. If you wish to advertise on PokerForums.org, you may do so by purchasing paid advertising.

New members who spam will automatically be banned pemanently from the site; existing members who spam will either be given a warning, or penalized with 5 infraction points which would expire in 6 months.

Do not respond to spam. There is an icon in the upper right corner of every post for any member to report spam and other abuse to the staff.

Signatures and Avatars

Allowed:

A maximum of 5 links
Affiliate links

Not Allowed:

Distasteful or deragatory comments or images

Private Messaging

PokerForums.org's private messaging system, like everything else on the site, is a privledge, not a right. Please act appropriately. Repeat offenders will be warned or possibly given infraction points.

Independent Poker Site Transactions

As any internet community, networking is naturally encouraged. But requesting money from members on site to trade on another is do be done at your own personal discretion. PokerForums.org is not here to vouch for another member's level of integrity away from the site. Any terms relating to such transactions are beyond the walls of PokerForums.org moderation.

Though two-way transactions are permissable, begging for loans is not acceptable in any way. Threads devoted to such will be deleted immediately. The beggar will be warned once for a first offense and a definite 30-day ban for the second offense. A permanent ban for the second offense will be at the discretion of the PokerForums.org staff. If a permanent ban is considered, it will be included in the warning.

Images & Video Guidelines


PokerForums.org allows members to add both images and video in posts. Please follow the following rules and guidelines when posting an image or video. Generally, try to keep images and video PG13 rated. The following items are prohibited:

• Racism
• Nudity
• Excessive Violence

Failure to comply with these rules will result in a penalty at the discretion of the PokerForums.org staff.

Infraction System

What is the Infraction System?

The Infraction System allows moderators and administers to regulate members who violate rules in a fair way. A point system is used, and once a member receives a certain amount of infraction points, their account will be banned for a certain amount of time.

User Infraction Penalties

Below is a list of the infraction penalties. The expires label denotes how long the points will remain with a user before being removed. The warning label states whether a moderator may give a warning at his/her discretion, instead of penalizing with points.

Offence: Blatantly Off Topic
Points: 1
Expires: 2 Months
Warning: Yes

Offence: Non-contributive Post
Points: 1
Expires: 2 Months
Warning: Yes

Offence: Insult or Personal Attack
Points: 1
Expires: 6 Months
Warning: Yes

Offence: Spammed Advertisements - Existing Member
Points: 5
Expires: 6 Months
Warning: Yes

Offence: Attack on Staff
Points: 5
Expires: 12 Months
Warning: Yes

Offence: Spammed Advertisements - New Member
Points: 20
Expires: Never
Warning: No

Automatic Banning

The following displays how many points an unscrupulous member needs before being banned:

2 points, banned for 1 day
5 points, banned for 3 days
10 points, banned for 3 weeks
20 points, banned pemanently


Note: Be sure to check back once in a while to re-read these rules, as they may be modified and/or appended to at any time.

[the alex]

UPDATED:
Spam
Independent Poker Site Transactions

[KiD[ReD]]

ADDED:
Attacks on Staff

[KiD[ReD]]

EDITED:
Attacks on Staff reworded.

[KiD[ReD]]

EDITED:
Revised with new Infraction System

[KiD[ReD]]

UPDATED:
Images & Video Guidelines

[DeeYakaBaka]

bumped so that members will actually read the rules regarding infraction points