Below are rules at Speedsolving.com, rules that apply throughout the
entire site. It is very important that all users read and are familiar
with these rules.
1.
Be Civil, Be Respectful
Remember what your elementary school teachers have told you: "Do unto
others as you'd have others do unto you." This is especially true in an
online environment: all you have to communicate is words and words
alone. As a result, you will be judged on the quality and content of
your posts - spend some thought into posting.
Some guidelines for this forum:
a. No Flaming or Trolling:
Respect other users and try to contribute to a nice ambiance on the
forum. No personal attacks, or provocation of other forum members. If
you are being attacked or provoked, do not feel compelled to defend
your honor here; report the offender to a moderator. See examples of
Flaming/Trolling in the appendix section below.
b.
Language and Content Expectations:
Speedsolving.com is a family-friendly site. There is an automatic
profanity censor; do not attempt to bypass the censor. Additionally, do
not post content that is excessively vulgar, profane, graphic, or
violent in nature. If you see such offensive content, report it.
c.
One Account per Person
You are prohibited from having more than one account; multiple ('alt')
accounts may be banned without warning. Infractions issued to alt
accounts will be reissued to the corresponding primary accounts, in
addition to other punishments. Do not create a new account to get
around a ban or other punishment; these punishments will be extended or
made permanent.
d.
Regarding Backseat Moderation
If you notice someone breaking the rules, kindly tell inform them of
the rules, and do it tactfully. If someone has already informed them,
do not point it out again. Report the offending post if you must, but
do not flame the poster; remember that notes about pointing out
etiquette and rule violations are usually etiquette and rule violations
themselves. Try to help other members, not hurt them.
2.
Stay on Topic
Before posting a new thread, make sure that you are posting in the
correct sub-forum - check the descriptions. Within a thread, do not
derail the thread off-topic. Additionally:
a. No Spam
Speedsolving.com has a zero-tolerance policy on spam. As a general
guideline, ask yourself, "Would I want to see a thread/post like this
if I were someone else?" Report it if you see it. See the Appendix for
examples.
b.
No Cross-posting
A cross-post is the posting of an article/thought/idea to more than one
sub-forum/topic at a time, typically by copying and pasting a post to
duplicate it across the forum. Cross-posting is rude and almost always
inappropriate. If you realize that your thread is in an inappropriate
sub-forum, ask a moderator to move it; do not post the same thread
twice.
c.
Worthless Replying
Don't reply to a post unless you have something of value to add to it. Replying with "+1" or "go
search for it" is not allowed,
as it does no good for the topic creator or the community. If you see
this behavior and would like to respond to it, see: 1e. "Regarding
Backseat Moderation".
d.
No bumping threads
Bumping your own topic for the sake of getting it to the top is not
allowed. 'Bumping' your thread is allowed if you have something of
value to add, however, consider editing the topic instead of adding a
new post to it.
Please use the search function before making a new thread. If you find
an older thread that is similar to the one you wanted to create, please
use that thread instead of creating a new topic. However, please look at the date
that the original thread was posted
(it may be quite old). If you plan to add information to an existing
topic, please make sure you are aware of the age of the thread, and
only reply to it if you have something of value to add to it.
3.
No Advertising
Blatant advertising is rude and inappropriate. Additionally, the
advertising of commercial sites, goods, or services unrelated to
speedsolving is prohibited (exception: Off-Topic Discussion). Accounts
that are created solely for advertising will be permanently banned.
Puzzle sellers and buyers may post in the
Buy/Sell/Trade ('BST') forum.
Be sure to read the
BST rules
before posting.
Appendices
A
place for reference information.
Rule
Enforcement - Rule Infractions:
The rules are enforced by an infraction system. If you break a rule, a
moderator may give you an
infraction
or a
warning.
An infraction is a notification that you broke a rule, and is
accompanied by
infraction points.
In most cases, these infractions will expire after a certain amount of
time, depending on the nature and severity of the rule that was broken.
A warning is similar to an infraction but does not add any infraction
points to your profile.
If you receive enough active infraction points, you will be banned for a specified period of time.
5 Points - 1 day ban
10 points - 5 day ban
If you receive an infraction and believe it was unfair or unwarranted,
you should discuss the matter with the moderator who issued the
infraction.
Additionally, users who repeatedly violate these rules or are
particularly disruptive may be temporarily or permanently banned from
the site, at the discretion of a moderator.
If you notice another user breaking the rules, the best way to help is
to use the
Report
Post function (
),
available in each post. This will alert the appropriate moderators to
the issue so they can respond.
Please do not respond to
spam posts/posts you report - the moderators will take care of it, and
it does no good if members try to resolve the issue.
Infractions:
Spam:
Spam, minor - 1 point, 5 days
Spam, major - 3 point, 14 days
Spam, excessive - Permanent ban
Multi-posting - 2 points, 7 days
Thread-necro - 2 points, 7 days
Inappropriate
forum behavior:
Flaming, minor - 1 point, 5 days
Flaming - 2 points, 10 days
Trolling - 3 points, 14 days
Harassment - Permanent ban, subject to
administrator's discretion
Inappropriate
content:
Censor dodging - 1 point, 5 days
Inappropriate content, mild - 1 point, 5
days
Inappropriate content, major - 3 points,
14 days
Explicit content or images - Permanent
ban, subject to administrator's discretion
Copyright Violation - 3 points, 14 days
Blatant
Advertising:
Advertising violation, minor - 2 points,
5 days
Advertising violation, major - Permanent
ban, subject to administrator's discretion
Examples
of Spam Posts and Threads
- "I'm new!" and "I'm
leaving!" threads. "I'm new!" threads go here: Member Introductions
- Threads with titles
containing excessive characters/punctuation.
- Posts with blatant disregard
to spelling and grammar. This is a forum, not a chat room.
- Threads that duplicate
other, recent threads. Search for similar threads before posting.
- Re-posts of posts/threads
that were recently been closed or deleted; asking why they were closed
or deleted. Direct these questions to the moderators via private
message.
- Posts such as "this thread
is going to get closed" or "this thread is in the wrong forum"
- Image macro posts. This is
not a place for memes.
- Posts with excessive usage
of emoticons. Especially the facepalm emote.
- Multiple posts in a row. To
add/update content to one of your posts, edit the post.
- Posts that bump old threads
without contributing anything new; only reply to old threads if adding
something worthwhile.
Examples
of Flaming
- Posts that only contain one
of the following (or similar):
"OMG"
"LOL"
"Use the serach function"
- Posts that point out
grammatical/spelling mistakes, usually in a hostile manner
- Posts that insult another
member or his/her background, religion, etc.
Also note that usage of profanity and/or the failure to turn off caps
lock are fairly good indicators of flaming (in which case you should
report the post anyway).
