Main Forum Rules for SMBF (Please read before joining/posting)

[Toontown59153]

Below are the main forum rules for this site. We know that most of you are good members, but to increase our reputation, we need you guys to know these to avoid getting into trouble, and dragging visitors away from the site.

It may look like there's a lot of rules, but once you read it all through, it's not as hard as it looks.

Every single rule below applies to all forums, threads, posts, private messages, profiles, avatars and signatures.

Please read carefully as there is no valid reason for violating ANY policy, especially with the excuse "I didn't know it was a policy." "I haven't read the rules yet." or "I didn't think that was the meaning of that rule." Ignorance of any of the rules is never acceptable, no matter how strict the rule is.

If you don't know whether or not your actions violate the site rules, or do not understand the rule and/or why it's there, you should refrain from doing that action and ask an Administrator or Moderator before proceeding. Please respect the SMBF staff, as they are the authority of this forum. Speaking to them with intentional spite will not be tolerated and may result in the loss of your forum privileges, and keep in mind that Moderators and Administrators have final say about what happens on this site and their decisions are are final, and not subject to discussion. Anyone who argues or disrespects a moderator or administrator will recieve a permanent ban.

Also, please keep in mind that the rules may change unexpectedly, so please check them frequently (preferably at least once a week).

For each rule you break, you will lose 5 coins. Please also be aware that coins CAN go into the negatives.

We want Super Mario Forums to be a safe, friendly community, so make sure you follow all of them!



PUNISHMENTS FOR BREAKING THESE: Break a mild rule 5 times - Warning bar drop down
Break a mild rule 10 times - Warning bar drop down, Warning sent to user
Break a mild rule 15 times - Warning bar drop down, Final Warning
Break a mild rule 20 times - One month suspension

This repeats, but the suspensions get longer each time.

First suspension - One month
Second suspension - Two months
Third Suspension - Three Months
Fourth Suspension - Six Months
Fifth Suspension - Permanent

POSTING IN GENERAL:
Double Posting:
Double Posting is posting twice or more in a row. “BUMPing” is when you post to get your thread up to the Recent Posts and/or the first page of the subforum. For both of them, it’s only okay to do so if there’s a space of 48 hours between the two posts. Otherwise, you will have to wait for someone else to post before posting on the thread again. Be patient when bumping - please be aware that every single member here has a private life outside the forum, and bumping up your thread every single two minutes won't help at all.

The Right Subforum
Check that the forum that you posted your topic in fits the theme of your topic, so don't post a thread in the Bugs and Glitches forum about your favorite food.

POST CONTENT:
PG Rated
Keep all your posts PG-rated, or in other words, something that would be suitable in a Pixar film.

Minimum Words/Characters
Make sure that each of your posts contain at least two words, or ten characters, whichever is longer.

Random Nature
Don't post threads with extremely random nature. This includes threads about a single type of a huge group (such as a threads saying 'Do you like pie/cake/cookies/etc.', 'I wonder how they made the Times New Roman font', etc.), threads that only require yes/no replies (e.g. Do you like haircuts, is your computer screen 1280x1024 pixels, etc.), or the like. To avoid breaking this rule, ensure that the main topic of your thread can have a diversity of replies.

Violence
Don't post violence-related posts towards anyone, except Naughty Teletubby, because he deserves it.

Personal Relationship Discussion
You can talk about love, but don’t post stuff that’s too over the top (aka anything more extreme than kissing), because sometimes, this can lead to extremely inappropriate subjects.

Pointless Topics
Do not post any content aimed for just one day ('I was ill today', 'What I did today', 'I'm off school tomorrow', etc.), topics that aren't very discussable ('I like donuts', 'I'm buried in a pile of sand ATM, brb', etc.), or topics that apply to multiple occasions ('There's a new member', 'Naughty Teletubby has been naughty', 'The Monkey Man posted', etc.). This is a forum, not a blog. However, this rule doesn't apply for celebration purposes, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays, Mario events in RL/the forum, etc. - these are welcome.

Greetings and Goodbyes
When posting a goodbye in the 'Greetings and Goodbyes' forum for a vacation, holiday, etc., please only post if you're going to be gone for five days or more. If you are going for less time, send it into a PM to your friends if you feel it's required.

Grave Digging
We do not like 'grave digging'. Do not post on threads that haven't been replied to for 60 days or more unless you are going to post something constructive.

Image Sizes
Try not to use large images (more than 800x600 pixels big) in your posts. If you want to do so, please put them in a spoiler tag.

POSTING STYLES:
Grammar
Just pressing a couple more keys can make you look less nooby. Try to keep text talk (txt tlk), bad word order (Word bad order!!!), yelling (YELLING!), purposely exaggerated bad grammar (pRupsly exagrtd bd grmr!!!!!!!!!!11!!11), mixed caps (mIxEd CaPs) and leet speak (1337 5P33K) to a minimum. These don't just make your posts nearly impossible to read, they make the little kiddies laugh at ya. This can be used as a joke occasionally, but if it's your general posting style, it's pretty nooby if you ask me. Using the occasional 'u' or 'r' is okay, as long as you don't use it too much.

Font Colors
We DO allow font colors here, but don't post in any colors that blend in with the site's background, as this makes your post kinda pointless, unless you’re posting a spoiler message or something like that. Also, don't post in any colors that don't mix well with the site, and that make your eyes go funny.


PUNISHMENTS FOR BREAKING THESE: Break a strict rule once - Warning bar drop down, Warning sent to user
Break a strict rule two times - Warning bar drop down by two more blocks, final warning sent (if warning bar is empty at this step, this step is skipped)
Break a strict rule three times - Three month suspension

Again, this repeats, but the suspensions get longer each time.

First Suspension Suspension - Three Months
Second Suspension Suspension - Six Months
Third Suspension - Permanent

POSTING IN GENERAL:
Reposting a removed post
If your post has been removed by a mod for rule breaking reasons, please don't repost it.

Posting one topic more than once
Don't post a topic more than once. If your thread is in the archive, just ask a mod/admin to move it back.

POST CONTENT:
Spamming
SPAM is any post that is a Stupid Pointless Annoying Message. This includes:

- Identical/irrelevant posts
- Posts that aren't related at all to the topic
- Posts that disrupt a thread
- Mass PMing who haven't invited you to PM them
- Posting merely to increase your post count
- Using the forum as a chat room (e.g. POSTER 1: hi POSTER 2: hi POSTER 1: do you want to play brawl with me POSTER 2: okay then who are you playing as? POSTER 1: i'll play as luigi which Course shall we play on? POSTER 2: mario kart circuit POSTER 1: oky letsa go POSTER 2: oh no my health is going down POSTER 2: haha you now have 2% more damage)
- Threads with the topic of "what I did today..." (this is a forum, not a blog or chatroom)
- Repetitive bumping of threads (you can only bump once after someone (including you) hasn’t posted in the thread for 48 hours)
- One or two letter replies (e.g ok, LOL, Yes, agreed, nods)
- and posts containing more than 30 smilies, or 5 smilies per line, whichever is smaller.

In the first week starting from your first post, this will be treated as a severe rule.

Advertising
Don't advertise websites in your posts, signatures or avatars if it’s not on the Approved Sites list. If you link to any website that contains or encourages use of weapons, gore, and/or dr*gs, you will receive a suspension. If you have a suspicion about an area of an approved website you want to post, be sure to ask a moderator if it is okay to post. In the first week starting from your first post, this will be treated as a severe rule.

Personal Information
For your personal safety, never post any personal information. Personal information means age (because if you say your age, people will know how to target and attack that specific age group), SPECIFIC location (country/state is as far as you want to get), last name (you are one of the only people on Earth with your first and last name), photos of self (you never know what someone could do with that picture - what site they could put it on, how they could edit it, or advertise something with, etc.), etc. This also includes arraging/attempting to arrange in-person meetings with other members - you never know if the people you 'meet' online are who they claim to be.

Rude Behavior
Don't be rude, mean or racist to other members. In the first week starting from your first post, this will be treated as a severe rule.

Non-creative Criticism
Don't criticize. Creative criticism is alright (e.g. That picture’s alright, but the mustache needs to be a lil bigger), but other types (e.g. That picture stinks! You should never draw again! Ughhhh ><) are completely prohibited.

Controversial Topics
Do not discuss highly controversial topics, such as religion, politics, abortion, animal testing, capital punishment and s**ual orientation.

Pointing out breakers
Don't post to point out other people of breaking these rules on the forums - if you want to do this, send it in a PM to an administrator.

Naming Names in a Negative Light
Please do not point out people or members in a negative way in public. If someone is bullying you, threatening you, hacking you, etc. through the site, PM it to an administrator IMMEDIATELY - do not post it on the forums. If you mention someone's name negatively and they see the post, chances are, they're going to post on what they say happened, and then it will turn into a huge flame war.

Email Addresses
Do not publicly post any email addresses or instant messaging addresses on the forum. By doing this, spambots can get your email address easily, and we don’t want this site to cause you spam problems, do we?

Favoritism Threads
Please do not post threads or polls asking something like 'Who is the best admin - The Monkey Man, or sk8r gurl?', 'Who smells better – Bob the Duck, or Toontown59153?', etc. These are favortism threads, and will not be tolerated, because they often end up in situations where someone expresses a negative opinion about another person. Posting stuff about fictional characters, like 'Who's better in SSBB - Bowser, or Donkey Kong?' as, chances are, Donkey Kong and Bowser won't be upset when they see negative opinions about them, as they're fictional.

Account Info
Do not give out your Super Mario Forums account info. You can never trust anyone with your account, not even your sibling or your best friend.

POSTING STYLES:
English Language
Speak English at all times. If you wish to speak another language, please post in another Super Mario Bros. forum that suits your language. In the first week starting from your first post, this will be treated as a severe rule.

Impersonation
Don't impersonate or act like any other users, especially moderators and administrators. Telling people that they're breaking the rules falls under impersonating a mod/admin.


These ones will give you a permanent ban on the first breakage.

POST CONTENT:
Inappropiate Material
Don't use inappropriate/offensive images and/or language in your post. This includes profanity (in both text & image form, including abbreviations), s**ual words or images, gory or gross images, migrain-triggering flashes, N^zi related material, or anything else that some people might find uncomfortable and/or offensive. However, this doesn’t apply to the words ‘Crap’ and ‘Sucks’, unless they are used inappropiately.

Law
If you post anything illegal, then we WILL take further action. Don’t break the law in your posts.

Using good to make bad
Don't post smilies, ASCII text, or the like to produce rude imagery/words.

3mulation Discussion
Do not post R0Ms, IS0s, emul@tors, or any discussion of those topics, whether it's Mario or non-Mario related - this is a fansite, not an 3mulation site, and 3mulation is illegal in most cases.

Negative Encouragement
Do not encourage bullying, breaking the rules, or criminal activity.

Filter Evasion
Don't bypass the filter - we have a filter, but not every single bad word is blocked. Also, don't use words that have a resemblance to bad words as a replacement, not including the writing of these rules.

Malware
Do not post any trojans, viruses, or any other malware on this site. We don't want this to become an infection portal.

Hacking Discussion
Do not discuss hacking, except to say that you've been hacked. We classify hacking discussion as discussion about hackers, how to hack, hacking software, and 'Beware of Hackers' threads.

Dangerous Substance Discussion
Please do not mention alc*h*l or illegal dr*gs on this forum.

Download Links
Don't post downloads in your posts, unless you have permission to do so.

Money
Please do not post any topics related to earning/giving away money (e.g. Help me raise money, Posting a competition - winner wins $5! etc.), except for that you donated or you're quitting due to money issues. This is a forum, not a money making site, and we don't want to risk members' bank details being stolen.

Only Other Topics
Do not join if you're only going to post in the Other Topics forums. This is a MARIO site, not a general chat site. Most users join our community to talk about Mario, and if you don't want to talk about Mario, this ain't the site for you.

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT:
”Read, join, forget”
Don't join the forums unless you're going to post at least ONE post. If you join and don't post at all, you will get deleted without warning after 30 days.

Sock Puppetry
Don't have more than one account owned by yourself, unless permission is given by The Monkey Man. This rule doesn't apply to administrators and moderators, as they can create extra accounts to test new features.

Ignoring Warnings
Do not ignore your warnings. Please read every warning that is sent to you (we can see if any messages we send are unread), and please reply back to ensure that you understood.

Refusing to follow the rules
Do not refuse to read and/or follow the rules. If you don’t like the rules, don’t join this site. Don’t waste time doing stuff that you KNOW are against the rules.

Thanks,
SMBF Moderators and Administrators