NEW SAINTSATIONAL FAN FORUM RULES (AS OF 18 MAY 2014)

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NEW SAINTSATIONAL FAN FORUM RULES (AS OF 18 MAY 2014)

Post: # 1462021Post BackFromUSA »

NEW SAINTSATIONAL FAN FORUM RULES (AS OF 18 MAY 2014)

Saintsational Fan Forum is an unofficial St Kilda Football Club discussion forum open to all ages.

Due to minors being able to access this Fan Forum, respectful behaviour at all times is essential.

Only topics that directly relate to being a fan of the St. Kilda Football Club are allowed in this forum. Other forums such as an Opposition & General Sports Forum; Cheer Squad/Morrabbin Wing Forum, a General Forum, even an Administration Forum and the over 18's Animal Enclosure are all available for other topics and discussions.

There are different rules in place for each forum on Saintsational. Please be aware of these rules before posting. Not being aware of a rule will not be an excuse.

REPORT FUNCTION

The forum has a <!> button in each post for ANY poster to report ANY breach of forum rules to the moderators. The reporting poster will only be known to the Moderators but otherwise anonymous.

Do not start threads or make posts requesting the discipline of other members, nor PM the Moderators requesting discipline or punishment. Use the REPORT FUNCTION (!) instead. You are entitled to report behaviour you believe breaches the rules, but it will be at the Moderator discretion as to the punishment required. Where possible, your report will be acknowledged and/or decisions will be explained to you.

MODERATION POLICY - PLAYING THE BALL (OPINION) AND NOT THE PLAYER (POSTER)

At no point can any post be directed negatively towards another poster in terms of abuse or threats.

Vigorous debate and friendly banter on St. Kilda Football Club matters is encouraged, as long as there is respect for each other’s opinions. No matter how much you disagree, or dismiss the worth of any opinion posted, or dismiss the worth of the poster in your eyes, your response must be respectful. Argue the facts. Post an opposing opinion. Do NOT make commentary about the poster - ONLY the post. If you tease, mock or bait another poster, or abuse them, OR repeatedly revisit past disagreements causing or creating an ongoing dispute between one or more posters, this is regarded as a breach of rules in the Fan Forum and will result in the issuing of a Saintsational warning. Such ongoing disputes can result in multiple breaches and can result in multiple Saintsational warnings.

We strongly advise that ongoing disputes be voluntarily taken to the ANIMAL ENCLOSURE forum.

There will be zero tolerance for teasing, mocking, baiting, belittling, badgering, bullying or any insulting, abusive, sexist, racist, ageist, homophobic, religiously or culturally offensive, or threatening behaviour in the forum or private messages. Such behaviour constitutes a breach of rules and a Saintsational warning will be issued.

Any form of ongoing personal attacks in this Fan Forum or in Private Messages may be reported by the administrators to both the State and Federal authorities under the current cyber-bullying laws.

Please make yourselves aware of the seriousness of Cyber-Bullying:

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/cyberbull ... fact-sheet

Please make yourselves aware of the Victorian and Federal criminal penalties for cyber-bullying:

http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/safe ... rodies+law

http://www.lawstuff.org.au/vic_law/topi ... r-bullying

http://theconversation.com/bullies-bewa ... n-law-1767

FREEDOM OF SPEECH POLICY

Swearing covered by the swear filter will be published as f***, s***, c***, c**k etc.

However attempts to circumvent the swear filter with terms with alternate spellings , or any usage of those words within another word OR an alteration of the swear word that may constitute the reader to understand that it is a swear word, will be deemed as a breach of rules for swearing and a Saintsational warning will be issued.

The community has been consulted and the word "dick" and "shyte" and the acronyms WTF, FFS, BS etc have been found to be acceptable and as such shall be deemed permissible in usage EXCEPT if used in an abusive or derogatory manner towards a poster or posters. A Saintsational warning may be issued in these cases.

Terms that are extremely offensive to readers MAY also be edited by moderators and could result in a Saintsational warning if the term is repeat consistently by the poster and deemed to be warranted.

The moderation team has the right to edit, split, move to another Forum or delete threads or posts that in their personal opinion breach any of these terms and at their discretion issue official warnings to the offending poster. Otherwise no other content should be altered by moderators. Should a Moderator be required to edit a post, this will be shown in the post itself and any warning and explanation issued in private to that poster via PM and noted within <> in the original post.

QUOTATION POLICY

When answering a specific post, the responding poster is encouraged to quote the post or the part of the post to which they are referencing, otherwise they must specify which poster they are referencing in the response.

Failure to identify the post or poster being addressed is considered a breach of forum etiquette and repeated failure will result in a Saintsational warning.

Any editing of a post when quoting another post that deliberately alters the meaning or intent of the original post is a breach of rules and will result in a Saintsational warning.

SPAMMING POLICY

Do not spam the forum board with multiple posts designed to disrupt the harmony of the board.

Such disruption may be eligible for an official Saintsational warning / a one month ban, or account deletion by the moderators. The ban will be decided upon by the administrators in this instance.

TROLL POLICY

“Trolls” are defined as posters who have the only goal to create friction and anger in our community.

Any poster, who has the sole aim to create friction and anger in our community may be eligible for an official Saintsational warning / a one month ban, or account deletion by the administrators.

PORNOGRAPHY AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL

As a forum open to all ages, pornographic, or semi-pornographic images, inferences, references and anecdotes, are not permitted. Any such postings will constitute an permanent ban without warning.

COPYRIGHT POLICY

Due to copyright laws, when posting articles from any other website, please only post the URL (the link to the original article) - and no more a selected small portion no longer than one paragraph.

Breach will result in an official Saintsational warning.

PRIVACY POLICY

Do not post private details of other posters in the public forums of this Fan Forum, nor post your own private details. It is not appropriate to post private messages in public on Saintsational Forums.

Breach will result in an official Saintsational warning.

MULTIPLE IDENTITY POLICY

Posters found to hold multiple forum identities and using them to add support to their own position within a forum argument, OR to undertake any activity that can be constituted as a breach of rules, will be penalised without any formal warning and with an ongoing permanent ban on all identities from the offending I.P. addresses.

The moderators and administrators (through a majority vote) reserve the right to conclude that the multiple identity policy has been breached by posters that shows a pattern of behaviour that indicates that it is the one individual posting under two or more sign in usernames, even if the posters are posting from different I.P. addresses (by using different devices) or by using multiple I.P. addresses through I.P. masking.

OPPOSITION SUPPORTER POLICY

Opposition supporters are welcome to post in a respectful manner and within forum rules, but should their goal be to disrupt our community, they will be deleted immediately WITHOUT warning.

Posters ACCUSED of being opposition supporters can contact the moderation / administration team to prove their status as a St. Kilda fan and they will receive endorsement for the whole forum to see.

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTION DISCLAIMER

The editorial opinion or contributions of the individual posters in no way constitutes the view of the Saintsational website or it's fan forums, or it's administrators, moderators, or voluntary personnel.

PENALTIES

Please note that all official warnings will be done via PM to the offending poster and the warning and the reason for the warning will be published within the offending post as an aid to assist all posters in identifying and understanding breaches.

Three official Saintastional warnings (from any forum) for offending posts made within a 1 week (7 day) period will result in a 2 week ban. The period of 7 days covers dates of posts NOT moderation decisions.

Please note that a warning has no lasting effect after 7 days. It no longer counts in your posting record in terms of further warnings or banning. Receiving a warning is not a disaster and should be used to modify your behaviour and avoid a ban.

Bans will be published for all posters to see in a LOCKED post at the time of issue.

If a poster receives 3 bans within a 12 month period, it will result in a permanent ban.

GRIEVANCES

The moderators have an enormous task to read and assess hundreds of posts per day and make their decisions based on the overall good of the community and purely based on the rules above. The moderators do consult with each other on occasion.

Posting grievances on a Saintsational forum regarding a warning (to you or received by another poster) is strictly forbidden and MAY constitute a Saintsational warning.

Please accept the umpire's decision and move on. If you feel you can prove that you did not breach the rules as outlined above, then PM all the moderators and explain your view WITHOUT abusing, threatening, accusing the moderator of bias or pointing out the actions of others! Please take responsibility for what you post and ensure that it is within the rules of Saintsational Fan Forum. If a moderator feels that your PM on this matter is inappropriate, they can issue an additional warning.

The Moderation team have the final say and are here to provide a fun environment for us to celebrate all things Saints related. Any abuse of a moderator will result in a Saintsational warning.

The above penalty system mostly gives you three chances before your enjoyment of the community will be restricted. Take advantage of those three chances to improve your conduct. In the event that a poster has been unfairly or unjustly banned, or three warnings are issued in quick succession and a ban is issued prior to an opportunity to PM the moderators, the banned poster may e-mail their appeal to saintsationalentry@gmail.com for review and the appeals process will begin.

APPEALING A BAN

Bans will be listed in the Fan Forum. The banned poster can request an appeal process be started in the Administration Forum. If the administrators feel the appeal has any merit, it will be listed in the Administration Forum and promoted in Fan Forum to make the other members aware. The appeal will take the form of a POLL where members have the capability to vote anonymously to uphold or overturn the ban. For a ban to be overturned, a 2/3 majority against the ban must be achieved.


AwayInUSA no longer ... have based myself back in Melbourne for a decade of Saintsational Success (with regular trips back to the USA)

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