Pulse Music Board Rules And Guidelines
Feb 15, 2006 23:31:14 GMT -5
Post by Slinky on Feb 15, 2006 23:31:14 GMT -5
There's been some confusion about board policies in the past, so the moderators have come up with a set of rules to clearly define what is and is not acceptable Pulse Music Board behavior. The vast majority of you reading this already comply with the following rules, but we ask that everyone take note of them so there are no surprises:
1. No Duplicate Accounts. One account per person, at all times. Violation of this rule may result in a permanent ban, at the discretion of the moderators. Signing up for a new account to get around a ban WILL result in an immediate permanent ban.
2. No Spam. Blatant advertising in topics is prohibited. If you’re a street team member starting topics only to promote your artist’s website, don’t bother. Promoting an artist or a website in a signature or avatar is fine. If it is determined that a member has only signed up to spam the board, it is grounds for an immediate permanent ban.
3. No Illegal MP3 Sharing. This is against the Proboards terms of service. Posting a link to an MP3 that is not commercially available is fine, so is posting a link to an MP3 on an artist’s website. Posting an MP3 link to a song that is commercially available, without the copyright holder’s permission, will result in a warning.
4. No Asking for MP3s Publicly. Since members are not allowed to post links to MP3s, it should go without saying that asking for these links would also not be allowed publicly. This includes posting messages on the board asking other members to “Private Message” a song. Moderators have no jurisdiction over actual Private Messages.
5. No Personal Attacks. Always show respect to fellow board members and moderators.
6. No Trolling. Trolling, for those not familiar with Internet lingo, is defined as posting just to get a negative reaction from other board members. Just posting “this artist sucks” in an artist thread, or similar behavior, is trolling.
7. Concerns about another member in violation of the rules should be directed to the moderators in the form of a Private Message. Members should not confront other members about rule violations on the board. This tends to escalate things and make the situation worse.
8. No Porn Or Other Offensive Images. This includes images with profanity or nudity. This is a family friendly board.
9. No Avoiding The Profanity Filter. The profanity filter is there for a reason. See above.
10. No Signatures/Avatars Protesting Member Bans Or Board Issues. When a member is banned, the details of the ban are between the member and the moderators. Constantly drawing attention to a ban in a signature or an avatar is distracting, and since we cannot talk about it anyway, it will not accomplish anything. Similarly, board issues are not discussed in the music forums and so signatures and avatars regarding them distract from the conversation.
11. Signature images are limited to 500x100 pixels. Large signatures are obnoxious and wreak havoc with the board’s format.
12. Stay on topic. All topics in the music forums should stick to music. Moderators reserve the right to move misplaced topics. Misplaced topics will not generally result in a warning, unless the misplacement is obviously intentional and meant to provoke a reaction. Here’s a listing of what goes where:
13. Violation of board rules will result in a warning. Unless otherwise indicated, failure to comply with the above rules will result in a warning at the discretion of the moderators. The warning system is as follows:
14. Moderator decisions are final. In addition to warning members, moderators reserve the right to lock topics, move topics, delete and edit offensive posts, and edit signatures and other profile information in violation of the rules. In general, these decisions will not be reversed. However, in rare circumstances, a reversal may be appropriate. Complaints about moderator action should be directed to the moderators. These complaints should NOT be posted in the Announcements/Board Concerns forum, or any other forum.
1. No Duplicate Accounts. One account per person, at all times. Violation of this rule may result in a permanent ban, at the discretion of the moderators. Signing up for a new account to get around a ban WILL result in an immediate permanent ban.
2. No Spam. Blatant advertising in topics is prohibited. If you’re a street team member starting topics only to promote your artist’s website, don’t bother. Promoting an artist or a website in a signature or avatar is fine. If it is determined that a member has only signed up to spam the board, it is grounds for an immediate permanent ban.
3. No Illegal MP3 Sharing. This is against the Proboards terms of service. Posting a link to an MP3 that is not commercially available is fine, so is posting a link to an MP3 on an artist’s website. Posting an MP3 link to a song that is commercially available, without the copyright holder’s permission, will result in a warning.
4. No Asking for MP3s Publicly. Since members are not allowed to post links to MP3s, it should go without saying that asking for these links would also not be allowed publicly. This includes posting messages on the board asking other members to “Private Message” a song. Moderators have no jurisdiction over actual Private Messages.
5. No Personal Attacks. Always show respect to fellow board members and moderators.
6. No Trolling. Trolling, for those not familiar with Internet lingo, is defined as posting just to get a negative reaction from other board members. Just posting “this artist sucks” in an artist thread, or similar behavior, is trolling.
7. Concerns about another member in violation of the rules should be directed to the moderators in the form of a Private Message. Members should not confront other members about rule violations on the board. This tends to escalate things and make the situation worse.
8. No Porn Or Other Offensive Images. This includes images with profanity or nudity. This is a family friendly board.
9. No Avoiding The Profanity Filter. The profanity filter is there for a reason. See above.
10. No Signatures/Avatars Protesting Member Bans Or Board Issues. When a member is banned, the details of the ban are between the member and the moderators. Constantly drawing attention to a ban in a signature or an avatar is distracting, and since we cannot talk about it anyway, it will not accomplish anything. Similarly, board issues are not discussed in the music forums and so signatures and avatars regarding them distract from the conversation.
11. Signature images are limited to 500x100 pixels. Large signatures are obnoxious and wreak havoc with the board’s format.
12. Stay on topic. All topics in the music forums should stick to music. Moderators reserve the right to move misplaced topics. Misplaced topics will not generally result in a warning, unless the misplacement is obviously intentional and meant to provoke a reaction. Here’s a listing of what goes where:
- Chart Forums – For discussion of charting singles and singles going for adds. These can also be used to discuss the state of each format and individual stations in the format. One topic per song.
- Radio Industry Forums – For discussion of general programming issues and format changes.
- Music News – For news about artists and charts not covered by the chart forums, like the Billboard Hot 100. One topic per album.
- Personal Charts – For personal charts and report cards.
- Your Opinion Please – For posting of reviews, open-ended questions, and song IDs.
- The Polling Booth – For polls and other multiple-choice questions.
- Non-Singles/Album Tracks – For songs that have not charted and have not been released as singles at any format.
- Independent Acts/Indie Rock – For discussion of unsigned or small label artists.
- Nostalgia – For discussion of songs more than 2 years old.
- The Lounge – For non-music topics. Discuss current events or “random thoughts” here.
- Announcements/Board Concerns – For discussion of board issues or suggestions.
13. Violation of board rules will result in a warning. Unless otherwise indicated, failure to comply with the above rules will result in a warning at the discretion of the moderators. The warning system is as follows:
- Three strikes, you're out. After two warnings, continued violation of board rules will result in a one-week suspension.
- After a suspension, two strikes, you're out. After one warning, continued violation of board rules will result in a two-week suspension.
- After a second suspension, one strike, you're out. Continued violation of board rules will result in a permanent ban.
- Moderators will attempt to notify a suspended member via email. If the member has a valid email in his or her profile, a message will be sent regarding the reasons for the suspension.
- Moderators may bypass the warning procedure for particularly egregious violations. For instance, a post filled with racial slurs would be grounds for a permanent ban without warning.
14. Moderator decisions are final. In addition to warning members, moderators reserve the right to lock topics, move topics, delete and edit offensive posts, and edit signatures and other profile information in violation of the rules. In general, these decisions will not be reversed. However, in rare circumstances, a reversal may be appropriate. Complaints about moderator action should be directed to the moderators. These complaints should NOT be posted in the Announcements/Board Concerns forum, or any other forum.