Guidelines - Rules of Talking Football Forum . Please Read

[TalkingFootball]

Prior to register or posting on this website, please make sure you read and fully understand all of the following information.

Why Do I Have To Read This?
Sorry, but we have to enforce these rules to keep the forums running smoothly so everyone can enjoy them. It's important for everyone to understand this, and not to assume that we are just being mean control-freaks.

What Happens If I break the rules?
Consequences can range from a simple warning to a complete ban from the forums. Depending on what you do, the staff will decide an appropriate course of action.

Our Mission Statement

Offer a friendly informative AFL football forum where members treat one another with respect at all times. We aim to promote a game we love.

Respect Your Fellow Members! talkingfootball.net is a community of people who share a common interest in Australian Rules Football. There are newbies and experts; young and old; all kinds of people participate in the forums. Everyone brings something unique to the forums (yes, even you!). Your personality, experience and self-expression add dimension and make the forums an interesting and useful place. Be yourself but always remember to respect your fellow members.

Personal Comments Or Off-Topic Comments

Primarily this forum is about creating a pleasant environment where all members can discuss all Afl football issues, not a schoolyard, or name-calling and rock-throwing festival. Please refrain from hijacking threads with personal or off-topic comments.

Please Please Stay On Topic

After reading and posting at talkingfootball.net you may feel as though you have developed friendships with some, perhaps many, of the other posters and readers. This is probably one of the most rewarding parts of participating in a discussion area.

It is only natural to occasionally want to share information with your friends that is Off Topic (i.e. not related to the subject matter of the forum you are in). While it may at first seem harmless to post a bit about off topic (OT) subjects, it can become a slippery slope.

If others join in on OT posts then soon everybody has sent the discussion threads on so many tangents that it is difficult to follow the original topic.

Posting Tips

1/ Post in the board most relevant to your question/problem. Please take some time to get to know these forums in the long run this will allow you to post in more appropriate forum therefore obtaining better quality answers.

2/ Always stick to the original topic, which was stated by the 1st person to have started the thread. If you have a suggestion or comment, which is on a different topic, please start a new thread.

3/ Use a short 3-5 word descriptive title. The forums here get pretty busy at times. Make it easier for everyone by providing a descriptive title.

4/ Please do not place personal comments regarding any matter in any post.

5/ Absolutely no flaming! Do not respond to flamers.

6/ Say Thank You. Very important.

Starting A New Thread

See here - How To Start A New Thread

Forum Guidelines - Zero Tolerance For Spammers

Advertising

Advertising for items or services, websites and any other kind of advertising is not allowed. This includes (but is not limited to) advertising in posts, banner ads,signatures and private messages (PMs). We will not allow links or images in signatures unless prior approval by site administration team has been given.

Avatars

Avatars are the pictures next to your posts. They should be no taller than 80 pixels, no wider than 80 pixels, and their file size should be no more than 8k. Don't use someone else's avatar unless you get their permission. Make sure your avatar is appropriate, and that it doesn't violate any of the rules.

Signatures Text Only - NO External link allowed

A signatures text that appears under each of your posts. Signatures must only contain approved images or links to any external website. Any signature text must be appropriate and not in violation of our general site rules & guidelines.

Bans

If you get banned, it means that you can't come back. You will still be able to view the forum, but you won't be able to register or post.

Content

Do not post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or sexually oriented material, or any other material which is in violation of any applicable laws. If you do, you may be warned or banned, depending on the material and whether we might have legal liability.

Copyrighted or Trademarked Materials
It is illegal to post any content that is copyrighted or trademarked, unless you hold the copyright or trademark. Any material protected by copyright may not be posted in the message boards without the expressed permission of the author or owner of the copyright on that material. This includes reproducing the full text of news stories, articles, etc. It is acceptable to provide a link to copyrighted material, to post brief excerpts, or to paraphrase other works, though we do strongly encourage you to cite the original source whenever possible.

Discouraged Topics

We strongly discourage posting certain topics. Sometimes it's because they've been discussed many times before, or because they contribute nothing useful to the forum. We will probably lock these topics when we see them.

Double Posting

If you just posted and want to add something, don't reply again. Just use the "Edit" button to make any changes. If you post the same thing twice, use the "X" button to delete the second post.

Flaming & Trolling

"Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion. Don't use offensive language, and don't be confrontational just for the sake of confrontation. If you're here to just troll heated topics to get someone to bite you will be asked to stop.

Moderator Abuse

If you think that a moderator is being unfair or abusing their position, send a PM to talkingfootball.net

Pictures or Images In Posts

Pictures or Images of any type are prohibited in this forum unless they are pre-approved from site administrator.

Political/Moral Beliefs

We don't want to push our beliefs on anyone, and we welcome members of different beliefs to use this forum. Please be tolerant of other members' personal, political, moral, and religious beliefs, even if you disagree with them.

Posting Links
Our policy on linking to other sites is pretty simple. Members may link to any other site that provides information that helps answer another member's question or is just of general interest to members of that particular forum. One of the most basic principals of the Web is the open exchange of information, and the TalkingFootball wholeheartedly support this type of exchange.

The only type of linking (besides porn, spam, warez etc - of course) that will not be allowed on our site is when members solicit people to leave our site. That's just common sense. We won't allow people to use our site to promote a competing website any more than a brick-and-mortar store would allow his competitor to paste flyers all over his walls. However, people are always welcome to link to any online resource, whether it's on our site or any other site, in order to share useful information with fellow members.

Private Messaging

Private Messaging (PM) is a function of the forum that lets members communicate directly with each other. It has many great uses, but please don't assume that other members are interested in randomly chatting with you through PMs. PMs are like the forum's own e-mail system, not an instant messaging service. Harassing or abusive PMs are not allowed, but if you receive such a PM, please do not delete it. Let talkingfootball know, leave the PM in your in-box, and it will be dealt with. Don't reply to an abusive PMs, it just makes things worse.

Text Colours and Styles

Please don't post coloured text, or make posts in all bold/italic/etc. It does make your posts stand out, but it makes them annoying and difficult to read.

Topics

Each section of the forums is for specific topics. Please post in the appropriate section. Take some time to learn this forum, posting your questions and comments in the right forum leads to better quality answers or yourself.

Disclaimer

See base of page - Plus the adminisration team of talkingfootball.net here by reserves the right to change any of the above guidelines without notice.

Please remember that posting on this forum (or any Internet forum, for that matter) is a privilege, NOT A RIGHT. Please treat it that way. If your posts are removed due to one of the issues outlined above do not be offended or take it personally. Evaluate what you posted and think about why it might have been removed. If you have any questions as to why your post was deleted or you lost posting rights please feel free to e-mail any questions to webmaster(at)talkingfootball.net

Thank you for adhering to these rules and hope your stay at www.talkingfootball.net is both long and enjoyable.