House Rules - Updated 27th January 2008

[Darren]

CORSA-D|UK Forum Rules
Last Updated: 27th January 2008

Thank you for following these rules, they help to ensure that all our members have a positive and responsive experience on the forums.

Repeat violators of any of these rules may find themselves subject to loss of posting privileges, after due warning.

These rules are to be considered part of Corsa-D|UK Forums' Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, then you must discontinue use of the forums.

About Moderation

Remember that moderators and administrators have the final say on any moderation decision, including the right to close, rename, or delete any thread, or edit or delete any post, for any reason. While the action will generally be explained, this explanation is voluntary and may not be provided, even upon request.

Remember also that just because a moderator has not noticed a violation does not mean that the rule is no longer valid, no longer being enforced, etc. All rules listed here (plus any at a moderator's discretion) are valid and binding.

Posting Etiquette

Step 1: Search and Research
First, search to see if anyone has posted the same question or item. If you have a question, search for relevant keywords. (It helps to restrict your search to the relevant forum.) Do a general web search for the problem, too — you're probably not the first person to encounter it.

If it's a really hot topic (like a alloy wheels or lowering etc...), chances are there are already one or more active threads about it. Look in those before posting.

If you have a link that you think might interest people, search the forum you planned to post in for the URL you planned to link to. Especially if it's older than just 1 or 2 days, it's probably already been shown here before and thus not of interest to most.

Don't resurrect ancient threads. If your search finds a relevant thread that doesn't answer your question, but that's more than about 6 months old, the information in it is probably partly outdated. Instead, post a new thread, but include a link to the old thread as a reference. This shows people that you did your homework.

Step 2: Choose where to post
Carefully choose which forum to post in. The correct one is the one that most narrowly fits the specific problem. (For example, if your problem is regarding will these alloys fit my corsa, then post in the wheels, brakes & suspension section.) Don't use general chat as a catch-all because you don't know where your problem goes. Don't post wherever and declare "I didn't know where this should go, so I put it here" — take the time to find out. Do not post your question in more than one forum. Miscategorized posts may be moved, closed, or deleted without further notice.

Check the forum you plan to post in for any sticky threads: these contain common questions, or rules concerning that forum.

Step 3: Name the thread
Choose a thread title carefully. It should be a super-short summary of the question. Do not announce that you have a question — we already know that, because you wouldn't be posting otherwise. Do not mark your subject with any emphasis like "Need help!", "Please!" "Urgent!", etc. That is just noise that reduces your chances of people reading your thread.

Good title: "Alloy Wheels are rubbing"
Bad title: "Help!", "Alloy Wheel problem!! Urgent!!"

Step 4: Post your question
Ask your question correctly. "How to ask questions the right way" is a good place to start. (Though it's written with Linux questions in mind, the same principles apply.) Again, leave out pleas for help and just stick to describing the problem.

Step 5: Follow up
Thank those who took the time to respond, and follow up with a report of whether their suggestions did or did not help.

Main Rules

1. No sexism, racism or abusive posts
Sexist, racist, or abusive posts shall result in punishment, with the severity of the punishment depending on the intensity of abuse. Racist and sexist posts shall be removed, and the offending user shall be banned immediately. Rude behaviour in your replies to another poster (especially those new to the message board) will be seen as abusive posting and will be punished.

2. No Post boosting
Those found to be flaunting this rule shall be warned. Unecessary posting, unecessary threads or random posts/threads shall be dealt with at the initiative of the member of staff exercising a context sensitive decision. Don't whine if you get warned for this. Sometimes people get away with it, but you likely will not.

3. Use common sense when posting in any of the forums
Whereas Corsa-D|UK encourages laughter amongst those who contribute, we do ask users to remain sensible when doing so. We ask users to respect other peoples opinions and beliefs.

4. Discussion of Piracy
The specific linking to files or sites that index files is forbidden,and will gain you an instant warning. You are permitted to discuss clients and file sharing as a phenomenon. You are not permitted to discuss specific instances of copyright violation that you or another carried out.

5. No content that is sexually explicit
Genitals, Breasts, and mutual arousal/stimulation images and Pornography in general is forbidden, and those who post pornographic content shall be banned, the length of this ban will be determined by the Admin Team. False links that connect to pornography which purport to link to a legitimate URL, will be dealt with harshly.

6. Be nice to the staff, and they'll be nice to you
We will treat you in a civil, courteous and responsive manner, and expect our members to act the same towards us.

7. No text talk in posts
Corsa-D|UK severely discourages users to use either leet or text speech on the forums. We ask users to remain considerate for those who read their postings. We ask users to contribute using as clear English as they possibly can, and for those who do not know how to paragraph to learn to do so. The key labelled 'Enter' is large enough. Exceptions shall be made to those using a braille keyboard.

8. Aliases
Each user is allowed one account. Any user found to have more than one account on Corsa-D|UK will be deemed to have an alias. The alias account will be banned and the admin/mod will decide what happens to the original account.

9. Use of proxy services
The use of proxy servers as in those of known proxy server sites and hosting companies like layeredtech, ev1servers and others is prohibited. Although we respect your privacy, those we find hiding behind a non-normal proxy server (normal being for example NTL, AOL, BT, etc..) will be permanently banned from our messageboard.

10. Problems or queries
If you have a problem or wish to have any of the boards rules clarified, please contact one of the Admin Team.

11. "Loaning" accounts
People who are suspected/found "loaning" their accounts to other posters shall be banned, the length of this ban will be determined by the Admin Team. Persistent offenders will be permanently banned. Also anyone found using someone else's account with or without permission shall be banned, the length of this ban will be determined by the Admin Team.

Other rules

• If you are going to bicker with someone, do it via private message, email, or instant messaging. There's no need to annoy everyone with it.
• No threads about other members.
• Don't post nonsense threads, +1 posts, or anything else with no semantic value.
• Don't hijack or derail threads. Stay on topic. If you want to discuss a detail or offshoot, start another thread.
• Don't ask for replies via email or private message. That defeats the purpose of a forum, of allowing everyone to see the question and replies.

Useful Suggestions

• Spell check your posts and use proper grammar. Not only is it less annoying for the reader, but it helps prevent people from attacking your spelling and grammar rather than having real discussion.
• Don't use images except where necessary. Most of the time, a text description is more than enough. If you do use screenshots, crop it to just the area where the specific problem appears. We don't need to see your whole desktop. Remember the inline image rules below. Use a link when in doubt.
• Don't put in a line break after each line. The browser will wrap the text for you.
• Don't try to use HTML in posts — it will not work. Use vB Code to format your posts instead.

Signatures and Avatars

Signatures and Avatars are only available for Extra Members, below are the rules:

Signatures

• No image, and up to four lines of text. Blank lines are counted as a line.
• Lines must be of reasonable length so they don't wrap on most screens (think 800px browser window width).

Avatars

• Images must be no wider than 160 pixels, nor taller than 120 pixels.
• Be no greater than 15kb in file size.
• Must not include animation

Posting Images

• Inline images may not be wider than 640 pixels, nor taller than 640 pixels.
• Also remember to not quote posts with images (or be sure to edit out the images!), since this causes excess width as well.
• Images posted in violation of this rule are subject to deletion.
• We offer a Gallery to Extra Members to host their images in. More details can be found here.
• If you are not an Extra Member then you must provide your own image hosting. Many members use ImageShack (free) for this.

Spam

We take a strict zero-tolerance stance on spam. Any commercial messages, posts linking to free iPod/Mac/Xbox/etc sites, etc will be immediately closed, the links removed, and the poster banned with no warning.

Enjoy the forums

We, as members of Corsa-D|UK are all here for our love of both the Corsa D, and cars in general.

We ask that all users make an effort to get along together, and to enjoy Corsa-D|UK. If you have any suggestions or improvements to make to these rules, please post it in the suggestions forum, or contact a member of the Admin Team.

Cheers
Darren
Corsa-D|UK Owner/Admin