FORUM CLEANUP

[Asterocrat]

I haven't read them yet. I mean, it's just common sense, I have been on another site before that, I know what to do and what to not do. No spam, no swearing, no inappropriate content...

Also I didn't make any Welcome topic as well :3

[Avo]

that's the most homosexual thing ever

Gonna have to side with Raz here, that is ♥♥♥♥, his sig was completely fine. Sure it was "over the limit" but the sigs have never caused my computer any lag or anything, and my computer is pretty ♥♥♥♥.

Honestly, the sigs are perfectly fine, I mean, if it's really big then I can see your point. But if people put things in spoilers, then there's no point in putting a limit that is pretty dang small.

tl;dr 350px is fine.

[Buff_]

Signature sizes have always been pushed from the original limit of 200px. It had come to the point where they were going too far, so we put it back. If you look at the current rules, it says the height limit is 250px, and because no one actually said anything until now, we get complaints?

Our reasons: Page load time down, keep the post length to a reasonable level, keep the focus on the post and not the signature.
Your reason: It was fine before.


This is 350px:

That's quite large. In fact, after some searching, the most common signature size is 150-200 in height, and they have file size limits. We're trying to keep everything as smooth as possible.

[Dtroid]

My opinion: The limit should be around 300px.

Edit: Isn't my signature around like 350px?

[Raz]

Because no one had a problem with it until now.


I would have changed my signature the day I changed it to the raz sigbar and pinkiepie gif if someone PM'd me that it was too large, that's why I'm so reluctant to do it now, whether I get a warning or not.

[Buff_]

I really do see your point, Raz. I'm pretty sure I would do the same thing in the same situation.


Having said that though, when we rewrote the rules we chose to say something about the signatures because they were getting large across the board. It's regrettable as I really quite liked the larger sigs, but when they are double-triple the size of an average post, you know that something must be changed.

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Done now: show

Also:

Should be absolutely fine. (I took some blank space out and did a little resize.

Rules updated to accommodate larger signatures. No strict limit, but not going too far past the 250px range.

[nin10mode]

This is quite late, as no one seems to be complaining anymore, though I said I would do this a few times.

Here's a rundown of everything significant that happened in F23 regarding this.

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Forum Revamp :: Rules: show

How The Rules are now
Problems:

-informal
-depth
-layout

As of now, the rules are written rather poorly(no offense to Runouw and other contributors). Firstly, the subheadings of each rule is very unprofessional. "Think Before You Post", "Don't Spam or Flame", and especially "Don't Be Dumb" and "Use Common Sense" are all extremely rash and blunt. They could be reworded, and in turn be taken more seriously. To maintain professionalism, contractions need to be removed, names omitted, and personal nouns removed. The quotes are unnecessary as well. It is simply more serious looking that way. You could argue that this is primarily a children's site, though by now, I'm sure everyone realizes it is universal and we can afford to makes things like the rules a tad more mature(and not the immature kind of mature).

Another problem is that the current rules barely scratch the surface of potential problems, which I'm sure we are aware of. And what it does cover, it covers shortly and sparingly. Spamming is no longer just "asfhgerafah", it also includes being off topic and excessively joking in a serious thread(which I get tired of especially as of late). Backseat moderation is not defined, and it should probably be mentioned that the illegal material mentioned in Rule 1 pertains to US laws. As far as I can tell, the Level Designing Rules have disappeared from the site entirely. The Warnings rule is rarely followed, usually because of the severity of some accounts of rule-breaking.

Which brings us to layout. Rules can be organized in a more orderly fashion. Many of our current rules have become acceptable to a point; Signatures can exceed 400 pixels in height as long as it is not excessive, doubleposting seems to be accepted in most forums, given a significant amount of time has passed, and grammar is not enforced. Loose rules can be separated from strict rules via sectioning, or at least followed by asterisks or something and explained in a footnote at the bottom, and links to other rule threads can be presented at the top. We have a plethora of tags at our disposal now(not even the list tag is used, and it has been there forever). Most of the current sections have different layouts, or are too short to have a layout of any sort.

With that in mind, I have drawn a quick draft of what the new rule setup may be. Keep in mind that it is not what I think the final product should be, just how I think it should be laid out and the rules that need to be included, typed out and organized as notes for the sake of editing.

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Spoiler: show

LD Rules link
Art Rules Link
etc.

Rules
I:: Posting

1:General
a. bumping*
b. doubleposting*
c. editing*
d. postcounting

2:Respect
a. flaming, spamming, etc.
b. backseat moderation

3:Material
a. illicit/inappropriate material
b. piracy
c. language(vulgar)
d. advertising
---
II:: Account

1:Profile
a. username(appropriate)
b. non-required fields(posting real info is at discretion of user)
c. signature*
d. material(illicit/illegal links/images in sig/website field)

2:Maintenance
a. password responsibility
b. sharing accounts*
c. hacking
d. warnings/bans*

3:Other Users
a. reporting
b. moderation authority(refer to bottom of original rules post)
---
III:: Off-forum

1: Chatroom
a. namechanging
b. swearing*(allowed until someone asks)
c. 'all other rules apply'

---

Suggestions are gladly appreciated.

Nice start.

While it seems it has come the norm to have signatures with 400px or more I would suggest that actually we shorten that (and enforce it this time). Page loading times will be much quicker and actually look a whole lot better.

I would also say that some kind of profanity rule limit needs to be addressed. Yes, they are blocked out, but I don't think it's especially nice to read a post full of insults and swearing. Continuing on with that, all images with any explicit material at all are banned. Why bother blocking profanity when they just show up on gifs? We do get kids after all.


..actually, going on from that. While I don't think we should ban anyone who has proven themselves on here, I would like to have an age limit. The general rule is 13 and over and we haven't really done anything about that.

I suppose for the images with profanity we could just ask people to use spoilers or warnings for that and videos with profanity too. How does that sound?

As for the layout, I like it. It's clear and easy to understand. That's all we need really, and I think you used the right tone.

Well guys, I went ahead and made a sample post for the rules. Add, change, replace whatever.

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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 most likely filled with a younger audience, so swearing should be kept to a minimum, and not be in any images at all.
• If you see a post or topic that is not what it should be (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.
• 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

• You are responsible for all actions happening on your account, even if you are not the one doing it. You should make sure your account is safe, and do not give out the password.
• Images should not exceed 200px in height, and the file size must be as small as possible. Only one animated GIF is allowed in your signature.
• Up to 8 lines of text are allowed or, if you have included an image, 2 lines. If your image is smaller than the limit, you can gauge how large your signature should be.
• 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.)

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The rules don't have to be fancy or huge - they just need to get the job done. Now if Suyo or Runouw could see this, could we get the users to agree to the rules before they register so that we don't have to go through the tedious job of asking everyone to read the rules.

And if you do see this, could you tell me if I am able to do this, and how (if so)?

The rules don't have to be fancy or huge - they just need to get the job done. Now if Suyo or Runouw could see this, could we get the users to agree to the rules before they register so that we don't have to go through the tedious job of asking everyone to read the rules.

Fair enough. Added seizure-image, relevancy, and backseat moderation rules.

I added the spambot rule. I know we had mentioned about not replying to spam or off-topic messages and just to report it but I think it would be a bit clearer to have a specific rule on it, too.

Also perhaps make the signature rules a bit clearer- like, you say only one GIF animated image is allowed in a sig but you mention about using spoiler tags to add more. Some people could misunderstand it.

We could just have a no spoiler rule. They're only there to stop spoilers (ofc) and allow extra content into a small space. Signatures aren't meant to hold too much, so why allow more?

Yeah, fair point.

Or we could have a limit of 1 spoiler in a sig- I mean I've seen some sigs with hundreds of spoilers in them.
*coughNincough* jk

On a site that's main purpose is to share user-created things, I think self-advertisement is necessary, and that signatures are the only real thing that permits advertisement.
How about:
Your signature can not be more than doubled in height with all spoilers open. Of course, I'd have to remove something to follow that rule as well, but that can wait 'till these are set in stone. :p

*Moy's old sigs used to be 10 times the height of my current one Amp* :p

And yet I don't feel like I need to open anyone's spoiler tags. Self advertisement only works if others click on your stuff, and even one extra click will deter them elsewhere. I guess then it's a matter of choice.

Is there anything major we're overlooking? If not, we can publicize it and start working on the other necessary revamps. Rules are meant to be edited as time goes on anyway.

It seems pretty good to me. Thoughts, anyone else?

Yes. Lets roll it out.

As you can see, my original idea was a lot more drastic in appearance. A few others contributed to the thread, but it was mostly me, Buff, and MP3.

Also keep in mind that these are months old. And a reminder, the rules have not been officially adopted yet.

[MessengerOfDreams]

This post by Raz was thumbed up by: 2

Dtroid (June 16th, 2013, 11:26 pm) • MessengerOfDreams (June 15th, 2013, 10:07 pm)

[Karyete]

I'm siding with Raz here. Sure, tons of spoilers in a sig is silly - but a limit to 1? Having a couple more than that wouldn't hurt.

[Buff_]

There isn't a limit....