ITD posting Guidelines

[BlackTooth]

The General ITD discussion forum is solely meant for conversation that relates to topics of IntoTheDark and the ITD community.
By no means is this forum for journal posts or random, useless topics.

Basic Summary:
Be nice. Appropriate language. Respect each other.
Don't spam. Try to not to reply to super-old topics without something important to add. Don't post useless stuff.
Failure to do these things will result in warnings, deleted/edited posts, temporary and eventual permanent banning.

And now, The Expanded Edition...

1.) We Do Not Tolerate Posts Containing:

cursive language that is not heard nor seen on The Simpsons.
insulting other people outright whether they attend IntoTheDark or not.
cussing out other people whether they attend ITD or not.
flaming posts or people whether said people attend ITD or not.
the use of words such as 'gay' or 'homo' or any other relevant words connotating homosexuality, bi-sexuality or transexuality in place of words such as 'stupid' or 'dumb'. (e,g: "That's just gay!" -> "That's just stupid!")
material that is of a very personal family nature (e.g: violence in the family, parental abuse, child abuse, etc,.)
talk of Illegal Drugs
criticism that is not constructive to the topic or the person(s) in it.
'mate' seeking/finding, aka, "wil u b my m8 plz kthxbai!!!!!!!!!!!112@!@#"
role playing, or the playing out of fictional roles.
sopping tales of how one lost one's mate, aka, "ofmg! i r teh so sad cuz my m8 leftered me 4 sum1 elz! WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
rumors about anyone or anything.
prejudice against religious or spiritual beliefs.
extremist religious or political viewpoints.
prejudice against alternative or mainstream lifestyle.
sexually explicit information or material.
gender phobic information or material.
prejudice against a person's gender preferences.
prejudice against a person's choice of gender (e.g: transexuality).
prejudice against world countries; prejudice against ethnicity.
chauvinism or sexism to either the male or female kind.
threats of either harm or impending death unto another.
threats of harm or impending death unto oneself (e.g: suicide).
threats of harm or impending death unto animals that are not part of the RSPCA or RSPCC constitution towards the control of wild animals through culling.
advertisements for a company or personal business.
begging for money or poses, aka, panhandling.
links to websites that contain indecent material not suitable for viewers under the legal age of 21 years.
links to websites that contain explicit language or scenes of violence and gore.
links to websites containing religious or political propaganda.
websites containing 'How-To Manuals' of either physical or psychologically harmful nature.
completely and utterly pointless posts.
Etc.

Posts having anything to do with these things are subject to possible editing or deletion, and you will be warned accordingly. Too many warnings will result in a ban of your account and IP. Play nice.

When opening a topic or replying to one please try to make your posts as understandable as your capable of doing, it's hard for some people to understand when using "chat speak" for example: OMGZ U RULZ
Though we don't enforce this please try to keep those who are attempting to read your post in mind.

2.) When Reading:

When reading a topic it is expected that you are fully capable of taking another person's opinion as a point of view which can add to your understanding of the people that post here, rather than taking their opinion as being a personal attack on your personal beliefs in or on a subject.

Discussion is about opening one's mind to new levels of consciousness where we can accept others as they come, however different they may be to us, and respect them for it whilst keeping respect for ourselves.

However this does not include people who have extremist views.--Extremist views are not a welcome here and will not be tolerated.

3.) When Making A Post:

Before you go to post your new topic, make sure to read through it whilst weighing out the positives and negatives contained within your written text, even if what you believe you are posting is inoffensive from your viewpoint it might be from someone else's.

Though it is frankly impossible to post something controversial and not get someone else steamed over it, it will be your responsibility to be mature enough to post sensibly and respectfully on a subject where the content is controversial or could lead to it becoming controversial.
Once a topic becomes controversial it can be rather tricky in fitting everyone with the same respect you wish to receive.

Be mature and respectful to others.

Post maturely and respectfully even though you don't support the topic or its replies.

Not doing so will have your post modified by one of the administration or moderators as they see fit to correct the wrongs, delete the post entirely, or lock it.

4.) Replying To A Post:

Replying to a post constitutes the same general guidelines as making a new post, but with a slightly different perspective.

When reading a post we absorb both the original postee's and any reply postee's views, and then weigh them out in our own mind so that we can get a clear and defined understanding of what they might be trying to bring us to light about.

When making your reply always take the original postee's views into consideration as they are at the core of the issue, and then read on through the following replies given to that post.
Though we do understand that not everyone reads all replies, and may just stick to the original post made and reply to that rather than take in what anyone has has stated already. This is purely acceptable and common a happenstance. Often what you might post may have already been said, but with a slightly different evocation.

Under absolutely no circumstances should you ever insult anyone for a reply they've posted. Doing so simply discredits you as being mature enough to retroactively correct their reply in the hopes it can permit them to understand the greater picture.

Worst of all is when a reply is a personal opinion such as, "Oh I don't like that.", or "No, that's not how it should be at all.", and is posted without giving reason as to why an individual stated such an opinion yet didn't give any evidence to back that opinion up with.
But that's not to say that anyone who does reply with one lined opinions shouldn't be retorted with, "Back that up!", as it is also your responsibility to be able to elaborate on viewpoints that you might share with the respective postee.

We welcome retroactive communication so long as both (or more) sides of the discussion are capable of accepting and understanding the others'.

5.) 'Bumping your topic/thread':

When you make your post, and no one replies, please do not 'bump' your thread up to the top again for no reason. We ask that you allow AT LEAST 24 hours after the last post before replying on your own topic to push it back to the top. Bumping your topic means just like it sounds, if you notice, when you make a topic, and someone else makes one, or their thread gets a reply, your topic will start going down to the bottom, so when you reply on your own thread, it literally 'bumps' it right back to the top again. We ask that you only do this when necessary, waiting at least 24 hours after the last post on your topic before bumping it, and after 3-4 bumps with no reply, consider your topic dead.

Just use *common sense* in bumping your topic.

Although there are some exceptions, we do like you to recycle topics, such as artwork gallery threads. We don't want you to make a new topic for every new piece of art, so if you make a topic, feel free (we encourage you) to re-use that thread. If you go a week or two without making artwork to post, go find your old topic and re-vamp it with a bump to show off your new art piece...If your topic is months, or even years old, forget it. Better yet, good luck finding it! Just use your better judgment in re-using your topics.
Stickies are also re-usable threads, used mostly for official announcements. Please use common sense before replying, and be sure you have a good reason to bump it!

6.) Spam And Why It's Gross:

Spam: the repetitive posting of useless information that no one wants nor cares about. Or the repetitive posting of new topics that are already defined in currently active topics open for discussion.

Spam is also considered multiple posts by the one user where what's said if pretty darn useless for anyone else to share. Or posts that are titled with some really weird topic like, "Dude! I like to sniff socks!", and then be filled with "Haha. Made you read!".

Spam also constitutes to posts titled, "I'm bored!".
Spam also constitutes posts that are directed to a single individual, and generally titled, "Dude, if you're here, talk to me I'm bored!".
If you have to talk to a single other person, do so via forum private message or third party IM (MSN, AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, etc).

Facts:

-- If you post that you're bored, no one will care.
-- If you post stupid useless topics, people will be annoyed and will not likely respond to anything you post ever again.
-- Trying to contact one person by making a public post on the forums will have that post deleted immediately.
-- Spam annoys people. Lots of people.

7.) Polls:

Polls were permitted for public use so that people could use them in collecting constructive data on a constructive subject.

For example, creating a poll on who likes a particular flavor of ice-cream is perfectly acceptable.
However creating a poll on how bad your feet smell is not acceptable.

People need to be able to relate to the poll subject as it permits them to add to the topic in a fun and effective manner.

No one likes a poll that is not used constructively at all. Such polls will be deleted immediately.



Medical/advice topics.
IntoTheDark's administrators/staff and Wunderwood LLC will not take any responsibility for advice given to you on the ITD forums or chat in regards to medical issues or any other kind of issue which could result in personal distress, harm (be it emotional or health related) loss of property, assets or possesions. All advice given on the forums by users is of personal experience and opinion and should be treated as such. Wolfhome's staff recommends that appropriate channels are sought out (e.g. legal advice or health professionals) when dealing with health (emotional or physical) issues or any other kind of issue which affects property, assets or possessions. Acting upon advice given to you by a IntoTheDark user is under your own volition and responsibility.

[Fonzie]

As you sign up for Into the Dark, you automatically accept the terms and conditions listed below.

Into the Dark generally goes by the "three strikes and you're out" policy unless otherwise stated.

1. Spamming
Spamming is not allowed on the Into the Dark forum. Spamming consists of many forms, including:
- Bumping topics more than once every 24 hrs.
- Posting a topic with the same purpose twice.
- Making posts in topics that are irrelevant to the topic's subject.
- Sending users PMs continuously about the same thing. Also considered user harassment - see below.

2. Offensive Material
Offensive material is not allowed on Into the Dark. This includes:
- Racism
- Prejudice
- Inappropriate images
and more.
All offensive material will be documented and removed immediately. You will also receive a warning based on what material you posted.

3. Cussing
Cussing on the forum is allowed, but keep it PG-13. We don't want the f bomb on this site, nor other words like it.

4. Inappropriate Links
Inappropriate links, such as links to sites that pop up multiple dialog boxes, shock sites, porn sites, etc. will get you a definite ban. Posting links of the latter will get you a permanent ban, whereas posting something such as the first example will get you a shorter one.

5. User Harassment
There are many things that could be considered user harassment. Below are a few listed and a few ways to deal with the situations:
- Naming and shaming. Instead of doing this, contact and administrator or report a post using the "report post" button.
- Harassing about art. If you have not received your completed commission from an artist, contact them a few times at first being polite. If they either refuse to finish your commission, ignore your PMs, or something else, contact an administrator with the situation and they will help.
- Name-calling. Whether or not you are joking around with users, this is insulting. Don't do it.

6. Death Threats
Death threats are a form of user harassment, but they are severe enough to deserve their own spot on this rules sheet. No matter if you are joking around when threatening another user, you will be banned depending on the severity of the threat. Real death threats will lead to a permanent ban with no chance of coming back to Into the Dark.

7. Lying About Deaths
- They're not something to be joked about. Posting that a user or family member has died when they really have not will earn you a ban.

8. Copyrights
- You must put copyrights in your signature. If you do not, you will receive a reminder message. It is courtesy to give credit to the artist of the images you are using.

9. Avatars
- Avatars may have the minimum dimensions of 20x20px but may not exceed 200x200px.

10. Signatures
- Your signature can be as wide as you want it to be, but it can only be 300px high. We don't want the forum to be stretched and users have to download unnecessary pictures into their Internet's bandwidth.

11. Bypassing Age Requirements
There is an age requirement on this forum for specific reasons. If you are under thirteen and on Into the Dark, you will receive a permanent ban that you can appeal when you are of age.
** If you are banned it was done for reason. We will only do this if we find it appropriate, by evidence, to do it. If this is a wrongful ban we will require proof of age to appeal it.