Macclesfield Forum - Forum Rules

These Forum Rules form part of the overall Terms of Use Agreement. Conformance to this Agreement is a condition of your accessing or using the Forum. If that's not something that you're comfortable with, then please, go play somewhere else...

  1. Introduction

    1. This Forum is an online space in which you can read about and discuss a wide range of topics with other Members. As such, there is a very distinct possibility that there are people here who have opinions that differ from your own, and even some who may feel rather strongly about those differences. Ain't that great?! That's what a successful online Forum is all about – the active participation of its Members, engaging in lively but civil discussion on a diverse range of subjects. As such, a lack of civility in your interactions with other Members is just not on.
    2. Remember - Macclesfield Forum is a privately owned Forum, and membership is a privilege, not a right. We reserve the right to decline a request for membership for any reason, and to do so without stating what that reason might be. We also reserve the right to revoke your membership at any time, and for any reason.
    3. The Forum Rules boil down to this – be respectful towards each other, towards the space that the Forum calls home, and towards the worker bees toiling behind the scenes. Don't litter the sub-forums with spam and don't feed the trolls. Of course, there's a little more to it than that, so here goes...

  2. Post & Message Content

    1. Although the Management Team will attempt to keep all objectionable materials off this Forum, it is impossible for us to review every individual post, discussion thread and attachment. The determination of what is construed to be objectionable will be made by the Management Team only.
    2. The Management Team reserves the right to edit, delete, move or close any post, discussion topic, or file attachment. The Management Team will endeavour to explain why such actions have been taken, but reserves the right to take such actions without notice and without explanation.
    3. Please try to use "normal" language – i.e. Avoid SMS-style messages or the like. Do your best on punctuation and spelling in order to keep your posts readable and understandable; we encourage the use of the Edit utility if you spot a typo or some other issue with your post. Note however that you only have a finite period to edit your posts, once they have been published.
    4. Please try to keep posts on-topic; if you have something to say on a subject that might be better off with its own topic, then please, start one, and add a link to it from the old one.
    5. Although some potentially offensive words are filtered, we obviously can't keep track of every single word that might offend someone; therefore, please keep profanity to a minimum, since we do not want to discourage participation in the Forum. Note that Members may opt to switch off the Word Censor utility, which filters and replaces specific words with censored text.
    6. Please remember that all content posted expresses the views or the post's author, and that Macclesfield Forum and the Management Team cannot and will not be held responsible for the content of such posts.
    7. All content should be truthful [unless obviously fictional or a parody]; if, for example, you wish to praise or to criticise a local product or service, you may do so so long as you are specific and accurate in your comments.
    8. Posts that appear to be defamatory in nature may be removed without notice.
    9. You may not post or hyperlink to pornographic or sexually-explicit images.
    10. Content of an obviously adult nature [e.g. sexually-explicit jokes] but which is not illegal or otherwise obscene is permitted, so long as you take reasonable steps to prevent passive viewing of such materials by visitors and other Members. Use of the [conceal] BB Code button when posting such materials is an acceptable way of fulfilling this requirement.

  3. Member Etiquette & Conduct

    1. Members are expected to be civil with each other. Rude, ad hominem or other personal attacks, either publicly or via PM, will not be tolerated.
    2. You should not air your dirty laundry in public. If you have a personal issue with another Member, please contact the person directly.
    3. Please do not feed the trolls. We strongly encourage you to ignore flame posts from individuals, or to simply report them without commenting further on the thread.
    4. While the Management Team endeavours to hold Forum Members to the Terms of Use Agreement, the Forum and its Management Team are not responsible for the actions and behaviour of its Members either within the Forum, or in any other space, venue or medium. This including the dissemination, publication and sharing of information that you may have shared with other Members, either privately or otherwise.
    5. Please avail yourself of the Friends & Foes tools, to better manage your interactions with other Members, as appropriate.

  4. Management Team

    1. The Management Team consists of Forum Members who have been assigned additional responsibilities in order to maintain the smooth operation of the Forum.
    2. Members of the Management Team are appointed [and removed] at the absolute and sole discretion of the Macclesfield Forum ownership. The Management Team acts on behalf of Macclesfield Forum when undertaking tasks and actions.
    3. Administrators are responsible for all aspects of the running, maintenance and security of the Forum. They look after the underlying software, hardware and databases that are used to run the Forum. They also handle account creation, deletion, suspensions and deactivations and ensure enforcement of the Terms of Use Agreement.
    4. Moderators are responsible for ensuring that you and other Members are following the Forum Rules.
    5. Other groups within the Management Team may be created and staffed as and when deemed appropriate.
    6. As Forum Members, members of the Management Team may post to the Forum like any other Forum Member, but they are of course mindful of issues concerning conflict of interest [perceived or actual] and will endeavour to avoid moderating topics in which they are involved. through previous posts.
    7. The Management Team will endeavour to be as impartial, fair and consistent as possible when it comes to implementing the Terms of Use Agreement and these Forum Rules, and it has its own set of guidelines for undertaking their responsibilities.
    8. The Management Team reserves the right to make judgment calls, since it is not possible to create a rule for every eventuality.
    9. Macclesfield Forum and the Management Team are always open to constructive ideas, suggestions, changes to the Forum Rules and ways to help the Forum to grow and to improve. Remember though, that Macclesfield Forum is not a democracy. We will certainly listen to and carefully evaluate your constructive ideas and suggestions, but please do not take offence if your ideas or suggestions are respectfully declined.
    10. Unsolicited ideas, suggestions, proposals and other intellectual property submitted for consideration are subject to the same licensing terms as all other contributions to the Forum, as detailed elsewhere in the Terms of Use Agreement.

  5. Member Accounts

    1. You may not register or use more than one Forum account, without prior written permission from the Management Team. If you are discovered to be operating unauthorised multiple accounts, your membership may be suspended and all relevant accounts deactivated.
    2. Accounts may not be shared by more than one individual.
    3. Account control may not be transferred to other individuals without prior written permission from the Management Team.
    4. You may not use proxy servers or other anonymisers to log into the Forum. This is to prevent potential security issues as well as to prevent potential abuse by individuals who might seek to use such tools in order to conceal their identity, while harassing others.
    5. If you wish to change your Forum account user name, you may make a request to the Management Team via Private Message [PM] or email at info (at) macclesfieldforum.co.uk. Changes will be made at the sole discretion of the Management Team.

  6. Confidentiality and Privacy

    1. The Forum has a specific Privacy Policy concerning the use and storage of information that might identify you.
    2. Please bear in mind that content posted to the Forum, including personal information, may be indexed by and become accessible through search engines.
    3. You may not post details of another member's private life and / or personal information [including first, last or full name, physical address, telephone number, email address, web site[s], place of work, family details, user names and / or memberships of other Forums, etc.] without the express prior permission of that other Member. You should always exercise caution when considering sharing such information with other Members, either via publication on the Forum [which is strongly discouraged, although not prohibited] or privately.
    4. You should refrain from referring to other Members by anything other than their chosen account user name, unless the Member has indicated otherwise. Using a Member's real name in posts, without his or her express permission, is prohibited.
    5. Do not post photographs or links to photographs of other Members, without their express permission.
    6. You may not publish, post or paraphrase the contents of emails or PMs received from another Member, without that Member's permission. You should always exercise caution when sending emails or PMs to other Members, since the Management Team cannot guarantee that their content will remain private.
    7. Please note that the Management Team can delete PMs sent and received by a Member, but cannot view the content of those PMs.
    8. You should not send PMs to another Member if that Member has requested that PMs not be sent. You should consider using the PM Rules Creation Tool to set up rules to manage PMs sent by other Members.
    9. The Management Team may restrict access by new Member accounts to PMs, temporarily or otherwise. New Member accounts registered via IP addresses that are associated with previously abusive or offensive individuals, will be subject to particular scrutiny in this regard.
    10. Abuse of the PM system may lead to your future use of and access to the PM system being revoked.

  7. Forum Avatars

    1. You may use a pre-defined gallery avatar, upload an image of your own for use as an avatar or create one via a link to an external image.
    2. Avatar images may be no larger than 100 px by 100px, with a maximum file size of 10 kB. Eternally linked images should be consistently available, or will be subject to link removal.
    3. You may not use an avatar image in an attempt to portray yourself as being a member of the Management Team.
    4. Avatars are subject to the same terms and conditions as all other content in the Forum. Members abusing these terms may lose their ability to use avatars.

  8. Forum Signatures

    1. Your Forum signature may contain up to 5 lines, may contain a single non-commercial hyperlink and may contain a single image of up to 60px high by 468px wide, with a maximum file size of 6kB.
    2. No advertising of a commercial nature is permitted within your signature and you may not use your signature to attack another Member.
    3. Signatures are subject to the same terms and conditions as all other content in the Forum. Members abusing these terms may lose their ability to use signatures.

  9. Member Email Addresses

    1. You must provide and maintain a valid email address for your Member account. You need a valid email address when confirming registration details and for resetting your password should you forget your current one.

  10. Promotion and Advertising

    1. The promotion of other general Forums related to the same subject matter as Macclesfield Forum [or any Forum that resembles the structure and / or content of Macclesfield Forum] in your posts, signature or in any way on the Forum is prohibited.
    2. The reasonable promotion of specialised Forums [e.g. for MTFC fans] is permitted.
    3. You may not advertise commercial products or services outside of any sub-forum[s] set up for this express purpose.
    4. Reasonable promotion of local events in which other Members might be interested is permitted.
    5. If you promote or advertise products, services or local events within the Forum, you must disclose any relationship that you might have with the owners, vendors or organisers of the same, and the nature of that relationship. If you are not willing to fully disclose such relationships, then please do not make posts of this kind.

  11. Complaints & Dispute Resolution

    1. If you have a complaint about a post's content, please report it using the "Report This Post" icon next to the post.
    2. If you have a complaint about the behaviour of another Member, please report it by PMing or emailing the Management Team.
    3. The Management Team will examine the contents of all complaints, and if the complaint is valid, will undertake all reasonable measures to resolve the issue, including notification of relevant authorities, as required by the specific scenario.
    4. Please do not act as a "back seat moderator". If you become aware of an infraction of the Terms of Use Agreement or the Forum Rules, please report it by PMing or emailing the Management Team. Do not post on or respond to such topics yourself.
    5. When the Management Team takes action on Forum-related matters, it is entirely possible that you might disagree with such actions. You are of course entitled to your opinion in this regard. Please do not air such disagreements within the Forum, but instead, direct them to the Management Team via PM or email, if necessary. Note that the Management Team will NOT engage in drawn out debate or correspondence concerning such matters.
    6. Any harassment of or abuse towards members of the Management Team may result in the immediate suspension of your account and possible additional action, including legal action.
    7. The Management Team is not obliged to disclose which Team members have issued bans, edited or removed posts and so on. If you persist in asking about such matters, it will be regarded as harassment.

  12. Account Deactivation

    1. You may request at any time that your account be deactivated. You must wait an additional 48 hours from the initial request, to make a confirming request of the Management Team, to deactivate the account. Initial deactivation requests shall expire if they are not followed by a confirming request within 7 days of the original request.
    2. Once it is deactivated, you will not be able to log into your Forum account. Within the first 30 days of deactivation, you may send a request to the Management Team, to have your account reactivated. The Management Team will re-activate your account after it has been deactivated in this way, once only.
    3. After 30 days of deactivation, access to your Forum account may be subject to irreversible permanent removal, so please give considerable thought to any request for account deactivation. Any posts that you made will remain in place within various threads and sub-forums unless the Management Team decides to edit, move or delete them, and will continue to be associated with the original user name of the deactivated account.
    4. On permanent removal of access to a deactivated account, the original user name associated with the account may be preserved or altered at the sole discretion of the Management Team.

  13. Warnings, Suspensions & Bans

    1. The Management Team will issue warnings to you for infractions of the Terms of Use Agreement, including the Forum Rules. At first these might simply be friendly "words in your ear"; continued problems or more serious issues will result in formal warnings. You will be informed of the reason for a warning, at that time.
    2. More serious infractions may lead to immediate temporary suspension.
    3. If you feel that you have unfairly received a warning, you may contact the Management Team via PM or email. After a review of the situation, the Management Team will either allow the warning to remain, or will remove the warning. Arguing with the Management Team after the issuance of a warning may result in an immediate additional warning.
    4. Warnings will remain on your profile for up to two months before expiring.
    5. You will be warned a maximum of two times in a two month period. If it becomes necessary to issue a third warning within that period, your account may be temporarily suspended for between 1 and 7 days for the first suspension, between 7 and 21 days for a second suspension and between 21 and 63 days for any subsequent suspension. The Management Team reserves the right to convert such suspensions into permanent bans if deemed necessary.
    6. If your account is suspended, you will not be able to access your Forum account.
    7. Any attempt to circumvent a temporary account suspension [such as registering a new account] may lead to the suspension becoming a permanent ban.
    8. The most serious infractions, including specific threats against Members, the Management Team or to the integrity of the Forum, its software or hardware, may result in an immediate permanent ban and account termination.
    9. If it is discovered that you are using a Forum account after having previously been banned from the Forum, your Forum account may be subject to immediate termination.
    10. The Management Team reserves the right to ban certain email addresses, user names and source IP addresses, from being used to register or to access Forum accounts.

  14. Account Termination

    1. If you receive a permanent ban from the Forum, your membership will be terminated and you will not be able to log into your Forum account.
    2. 30 days after account termination, your Forum account may be subject to irreversible permanent removal. Any posts that you made will remain in place within various threads and sub-forums unless the Management Team decides to edit, move or delete them, and will continue to be associated with the original username of the terminated account.
    3. On permanent removal of access to a terminated account, the original user name associated with the account may be preserved or altered at the sole discretion of the Management Team.

  15. Revision Date

    1. These Forum Rules were last updated on April 5, 2008.

Go to Registration Screen  Go to Terms of Use Agreement


Copyright © 2006-2008 Macclesfield Forum - All Rights Reserved • Terms of Use • Privacy Policy
Powered by phpBB © 2000-2007 phpBB Group
cron