Member rules

[mugaliens]

The rules of this forum are simple. While simple, however, they are rules and will be enforced, so please know them and follow them.

1. Ownership/Administration/Moderation/Use of the Forums: These forums are available to the general public, but are privately owned and funded by the Administrator. His word is final on all matters. Moderators police the forums and enforce the rules, but are not here to clean up after you when you don't follow the rules. If that is required you will be assessed a 1 pt "cleaning fee." More serious infractions will be met with more serious points, suspensions, or a ban. If you disagree with a moderator's actions, you may appeal.

2. Appeals: You may submit one appeal for each incident/infraction to any moderator. If no moderators are available (please give us at least 48 hrs to get back to you), you may resubmit the same appeal to the Administrator.

3. Community Rules: We are a community of adults. Minimum age to join these forums is eighteen, but they're read by people of all ages, so watch your language. One account per person -- do not use anyone else's account nor allow anyone else to use your account. Treat others with dignity and respect, whether you feel they deserve it or not. Attack the post, not the person -- personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. Learn and use the Taxonomy of Logical Fallacies. As this is a science forum, keep discussions on religion and politics in the background, and keep it respectful i.e. no racism, sexism, or religion-ism. If your pet theory goes against the mainstream, post it in that section. Respect the privacy of others – do not share PM's and e-mails on the forum. If someone breaks these rules, report their post using the post report function. Feel free to edit your posts for spelling and grammar, but once you've posted, do not go back and delete your posts. For significant content changes, simply create a new post.

4. Scope: The main focus of these forums involves astrophysics, but you're free to discuss any material directly related to the original post (OP) starting each thread. Please create threads in the appropriate sections. Post your own material, not that of others – we want to know what you think!

5. Spam: Spammers of any kind will be permanently banned. This includes both in-thread and private message (PM) advertisements or solicitations. This does not include sharing links to good resources, even if those resources are commercial. The key is whether or not the member has any personal/commercial affiliation with a resource.

6. Copyrights and Trademarks: If the work belongs to someone else, post a link to the resource. Small snippets of the work may be quoted here for subsequent discussion, provided you reference the original material as it's posted elsewhere.

7. Infractions: These include warnings, points, suspensions, and bans. We currently do not have a formal system in place with respect to what behavior warrants which response, so please avoid becoming the test case. At 12 pts your posting privalages are automatically suspended. Regardless of your status, the points for each infraction will be removed after 10 days. When you drop below 12 pts, your posting privalages will be automatically restored.

8. Modifications to Rules: We reserve the right to change or modify the rules at any time, both formally in this listing, as well as on a case-by-case basis, in order to maintain a healthy forum for all members.

- Mugs