Forum Guidelines and Rules

[Julieann]

General:

**The Moderators:
Keep in mind that people here want to be helpful ... that's really why they're here. But, they are volunteering their time because they are interested in these topics. They don't "owe" you (or anyone else) anything. So, approaching everyone with respect is the best way to get what you want from the experience.

**Critiquing
Good critiques are a marvelous thing. As writers we love them. As readers, a good critique can take as long to write as it was to read the fanfic.

For Reviewers: The Diplomatic Critiquer  and Critiquing the Wild Writer: It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It  are marvelous resources on how to give a good critique and how to phrase it.

For Authors: Remember that when you ask for critiques and/or commentary on a fanfic that not all of it will be positive (that would be a rave). Critiques can be wonderful in helping to improve writing.

**No igniting flames!
A flame is a blatant personal attack on another member rather than his/her idea or argument. Arguments and debates should be kept civil and respectful of the other person's feelings and opinions. Argue with verifiable facts from sources that can be shown to other forum members. Opinions should be clearly stated as such. If you find yourself deadlocked in an argument, then it's time to end the conversation. Don't beat a dead horse, as the saying goes.

Do not bring problems or flame wars from other message boards or webpages to this one, or personal issues from any other source. If you have a problem with someone, DO NOT bring it in here.

**Please don't feed the trolls!
What is a troll (other than someone who seriously needs to get a life)? This is a user who posts insulting, rude and uncivilized messages on public forums. The goal of a troll is attention. They thrive on creating a stir and generating hostility and then watching the reactions of other users.

Please avoid replying to all such posts and thus feeing the trolls. Instead, please immediately report them so the Moderators can take care of the situation.  (However, you should not report someone merely because they disagree with your point of view.) Don't discuss a troll in public. Don't announce that you are reporting a troll. Just do it quietly and anonymously.

**Get out the soap!
Excessive or inappropriate use of profanity may be grounds for a warning or tempban.

**Image Content:
Explicit content such as nudity/porn in images is not allowed.Be aware that there may be younger fans reading the forum.  For more adult fanart, we have a special area in the Gallery. Do not post it to the Forum.

**Illegal Booty:
Do not post anything illegal such as hacking, mp3 etc. Anything that is unwholesome or illegal will be deleted or moderated without warning.

**Complaints
We appreciate your complaint about a certain person or his/her action for e.g. flames, insult. However, this will have to be done in private through PM or e-mail. Be aware that sometimes disciplinary actions might be taken in private. Don't assume because you haven't heard anything that nothing has been looked into.

**Just ask!
If you don't know if something is okay, send a private message to an admin or moderator and ask about it before posting.

**Privacy / Harassment / Stalking
Do not post messages from Private Email/Private Mail/Private Logs if they are meant to be private.

Do not post other people's personal information without their permission.

In addition, please do not threaten or harass members via Private Mail. Continually harassing a member or a group of person and being offensive is not tolerated. Specifically going after a member in a hostile manner is not tolerated. Do not "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone in any way through the website or communication methods of the forums. Do not contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted.

**Off Topic Posts:
All Off Topic posts belong on the Off-Topic board. Off-topic posts should be limited to non-controversial subjects.

Posting to the Forum

**Subject lines
When creating a new topic, please give it an informative subject. Example: Instead of "Help me!", use "Need help with Zark Plot Point".

**Quoting
If you are quoting lines from a previous post, please prune out anything that does not directly relate to your reply.

**Images in Posts
There are no current limits on images in the body of a message, but use common sense and discretion. Images should not be so large that they cause a horizontal scroll bar to appear in a desktop set to 800 x 600. Nor should the file sizes be so large that they cause a significant increase in page loading time for 56k modem users. If a Moderator believes an image pushes these boundaries, they will contact you privately.

**Text in Posts
Please note that this applies to large text size as well. If a line of text using a large font size causes the window to overflow and causes a horizontal scroll bar to appear, it should be set to a lower font size.

Do not type in ALL CAPS. In net-speak, that is considered yelling.

Try to use proper english.  If; for example, you can't write "you" in its entirety, then this may not be the place for you.

**Avatar Size Limits
Avatars are limited to 100 x 100 pixels square. We support .gif , .jpg and .png. Animated avatars are allowed, but annoying ones will be subject to change.

You can link to an avatar (be sure you have permission), use one provided by the forum or upload your own.

**Signatures
Signatures are limited to a maximum of 300 characters and should be limited to 5 lines high. Text size should be between 9 (small) and 12 pixels(normal) and is subject to the same conditions as posts. Links are permitted in signatures.

Signature images should be under 100 pixels tall by 800 pixels wide of image size and 75kb of file size.

**Long URL links
We understand that it is faster to just copy and paste the URL of a certain website onto this forum, in which the forum will automatically convert it to a link. However, if the URL link is very long, it might distort the way the forum will display into something that is not desirable.

For long URL, please use the following bbcode format, instead of simply copying and pasting the link.

CODE
Name of Site

For e.g.

Code:

[url=http://www.gatchfanfic.com/viewpage.php?page=tos]Gatchfanfic[/url]

which will display

Gatchfanfic

**Copyright
If you post materials from other fanfic, websites, books and/or newsgroups credit should be given whenever possible.

This document will be adjusted, added to, rephrased as needed.

Most of all, everyone have fun!