This is the start of a series of forum edits that we'll be doing to make the forum a better place. We have Runouw's forum redesign happening at some point in the future.
Changes
First off, we have the rules. If you look at them now you can see that they aren't really that clear, they're quite long, and they don't answer every question you may have. So, after much debate and general discussion we have come up with a more concise, and much clearer set of rules.
The Rules
The Forum
- You should post in a way that is respectful to other users. (No flaming.)
- Illicit, explicit material (ie “Not safe for work”) material is forbidden. Posters to be found with this material will be permanently banned.
- GIF images that flash or are otherwise seizure-inducing are not allowed.
- We ask that you type in English as this is an English speaking community.
- Posts should be written in a way that is understandable, and how you would expect others to write. This means no excessive use of smilies, capital letters, punctuation colors etc.
- We remind you that this forum is for a general audience, so swearing should be kept to a reasonable level, and not be in any images at all.
- If you see a post or topic that does not comply with the rules (in the wrong forum, spam etc), do not reply. Use the report button.
Spam
- Spam is not tolerated at all on this forum. This means do not repeatedly post similar items (posts, topics), double post, advertise, etc.
- Make posts relevant to the topic. Exceptions are in the Fortress of Awesome.
- If you see a spambot post in the forum, don't reply or thumb up the post, just report it. Therefore the moderators can ban it quickly and cleanly. Ignoring this rule can result in a 1 day ban depending on how much it is done; however a warning is usually more common.
Punishment
- On Runouw we uphold a “3 strikes and you’re out” policy. Your first two offences will result in warnings, while the third will be a ban with the length varying depending on the situation. Subsequent warnings will be permanent.
- Staff members have the right to determine if you have broken any of the rules. Do not argue with the team for a given warning. Doing so will result in another warning. If you feel that you were given a warning unnecessarily, please contact another moderator or User Representative and the case will be reviewed.
- Any attempt to avoid the ban (by reregistering or manipulating another user) will result in a permanent and an IP ban.
- If you want to appeal your ban, mail the staff at support@runouw.com. If you believe our reason for banning you was not good enough, please tell us why in your message.
- If your ban is longer than 2 weeks, you may appeal for an earlier ban end after this timeframe, by sending us a mail at the same address. The staff team will then vote on your return. Even permanent bans can be appealed this way, though the timeframe before you we will start a vote is longer (about half a year).
- Do not try to moderate other users. It is the sole responsibility of the staff to give warnings and carry out punishments.
Account/Avatar/Signature
- Reregistering, that means one person having two accounts, is strictly forbidden.
- If another account uses your network to sign up or login, you must notify staff beforehand.
- Signatures should not largely exceed 250px in height -with a range of about 40px or so. We don't want there to be a strict limit, but neither should it go too far. Only one animated GIF is allowed in your signature. We're trying to keep load times down and keep the focus on the post.
- Youtube videos are strictly prohibited in your signature.
- If you find you want to add more to your signature, use [ spoiler ][/ spoiler ] tags.
The Chat - for more information click here .
- Please follow the rules of the IRC server.
- Name changing is forbidden under all circumstances. If you are off doing something else then use /away or simply log off. (This only applies if you have joined the #runouw channel.)
We will also be encouraging new users to talk to URs, maybe through some buddy system, where they can ask questions and get feedback.
User Groups
If you look at the bottom of the Index page, you can see we currently have 8 groups. 8 groups is too many. We have groups with inactive members, and some which are relatively redundant.
So we're removing these groups:
- Story Mods
- Wiki Mods
- Honorary Members
Story Mods
The original idea behind Story Mods was that they would moderate both the Stories forum and the Story Portal. Interest in stories was a fad and quickly died. We now get very few stories, and there really isn't any need for a separate group to be dealing with this stuff.
Wiki Mods
This group has sort of been neglected. We have Wiki Mods but it seems to be only Zunar who does anything, and that's not even regularly. You can still change the Wiki exactly the same, but the group will be gone.
Who knows? Maybe we'll bring it back when the WIki needs a lot of attention.
Honorary Members
Now this is the big one. Honorary Members are our retired staff - or just about anyone who has ever had a position on the site but has since become a 'regular' user. We now have 13 Honorary Members, and so our forum frequently has a load of coloured names flying around the site without any real need to be there.
The colour gives them importance: something they shouldn't have. They are no longer staff so the distinction shouldn't be there. They can be honoured, but we don't have to place them on a pedestal. While this isn't finalised, I would like to give former staff members their own special medal, thanking them for their work at the site however long or brief.
Level Moderators
Hey? What are these doing here?
There will be some staff change ups happening in the near future.
User Reps
If you read that last part in the rules (probably not), then you'll know that User Reps will now play a larger role: they will be a helper for new users. Their job is to basically teach newer users, and answer their questions through PM.
These changes won't go into effect immediately as we're looking for some community feedback. Does all this seem reasonable? Are there any changes you would make?
All comments are welcome.
) I don't mind updating the smaller topics too, like the stickied topics, in the other forums too, like I briefly mentioned in F23 methinks.
