Posting Guidelines

Please note that activity in this board is extremely limited. The foums have been reopened in order to allow older members to view old posts, remember the magnificence that PMF used to be, and dwell in uncontrollable nostalgia.

Posting Guidelines
All offenses are analyzed on a case-by-case basis, such that each instance may be treated fairly. Moderators and Administrators are instructed to be rigorous in warning members on most cases. Major offenses are usually worthy of a Warn, Suspension, or Ban. Common major offenses: - Any advertisement that is outside of a signature or the Advertising board; - Breaking of Signature Rules: See Signature Rules below; - Flaming: offensive statements of several sorts (severity usually defined by how offended the object of the flaming is); - Racist or discriminative comments of any kind; - Mature content: As this is a forum visited by kids, mature content such as pornography, etc. is not allowed; - Harmful behavior: any actions and harm or risk the well-being of the community and/or its members. Regular offenses may qualify for Warns, Suspensions, and Bans depending on the severity. Common regular offenses: - Spamming: Posts or topics that don't fit the subject of discussion, or post that do not add enough to the topic; - Leetspeak (aka 13375p34k) or any other form of vastly irregular grammar that may hinder the understanding of a post; - Mini-Modding: Posts that request moderator action on another member's offense(s) (Please use the Report button); - Bumping: Posts that send old and dead topics to the top of the list without adding to the discussion (does not include topic updates); - Swearing and other vulgar language; - Trolling: the act of posting with the sole purpose of annoying and offending other members; - Disfiguring forum tables with large unbroken words (no spaces) or large images. Minor offenses are not usually worthy of any punishment, but are greatly looked down on. Common minor offenses: - Use of irregular or improper grammar; - Irregular polling order in Yes/No polls, being that Yes should be the first option in the poll. Punishments: - Warns are given on most major offenses and many cases of regular offenses. These add 35% to the member's Warn Level, and may expire after one month of good behavior. - Suspensions are given to any member who reaches a 100% Warn Level. Suspensions last 30 days, and the member returns with a Warn Level of 70%. - Bans are given to members who get two suspensions with a time gap of less than two months or make several major offenses in a short period of time. The member will be kept away for at least three months, and will have a Warn level of 70% in the event of return. - Permanent Bans are given to members who severely destroy PMF and/or its sister forums in any way, or who would receive another suspension less than three months after returning from a Ban. Members will not be allowed to return in this case. Important Notice: Please read your Warn Logs (accessible by clicking your Warn percentage indicator) to find out why you have been warned. Posting a topic about your warn may be considered an offense worthy of Warn. Sending a PM to a member of the staff regarding your warn may also be an offense. Staff is not required to respond to requests to reduce Warn Level. SIGNATURE RULES - The content of signatures may not infringe any of the forum rules described above. - Signatures may not occupy excessive vertical space. The limit is not strictly defined; common sense is used to define the severity of this offense. - In the case of signatures that are too long, members will be sent a PM about the issue and given 24 hours to reduce the signature to an acceptable length. More to be added any time, without notice. Check back often for updates. [Last updated on December 18, 2008.]

Posting Guidelines

All offenses are analyzed on a case-by-case basis, such that each instance may be treated fairly. Moderators and Administrators are instructed to be rigorous in warning members on most cases.

Major offenses are usually worthy of a Warn, Suspension, or Ban.
Common major offenses:
- Any advertisement that is outside of a signature or the Advertising board;
- Breaking of Signature Rules: See Signature Rules below;
- Flaming: offensive statements of several sorts (severity usually defined by how offended the object of the flaming is);
- Racist or discriminative comments of any kind;
- Mature content: As this is a forum visited by kids, mature content such as pornography, etc. is not allowed;
- Harmful behavior: any actions and harm or risk the well-being of the community and/or its members.

Regular offenses may qualify for Warns, Suspensions, and Bans depending on the severity.
Common regular offenses:
- Spamming: Posts or topics that don't fit the subject of discussion, or post that do not add enough to the topic;
- Leetspeak (aka 13375p34k) or any other form of vastly irregular grammar that may hinder the understanding of a post;
- Mini-Modding: Posts that request moderator action on another member's offense(s) (Please use the Report button);
- Bumping: Posts that send old and dead topics to the top of the list without adding to the discussion (does not include topic updates);
- Swearing and other vulgar language;
- Trolling: the act of posting with the sole purpose of annoying and offending other members;
- Disfiguring forum tables with large unbroken words (no spaces) or large images.

Minor offenses are not usually worthy of any punishment, but are greatly looked down on.
Common minor offenses:
- Use of irregular or improper grammar;
- Irregular polling order in Yes/No polls, being that Yes should be the first option in the poll.

Punishments:
- Warns are given on most major offenses and many cases of regular offenses. These add 35% to the member's Warn Level, and may expire after one month of good behavior.
- Suspensions are given to any member who reaches a 100% Warn Level. Suspensions last 30 days, and the member returns with a Warn Level of 70%.
- Bans are given to members who get two suspensions with a time gap of less than two months or make several major offenses in a short period of time. The member will be kept away for at least three months, and will have a Warn level of 70% in the event of return.
- Permanent Bans are given to members who severely destroy PMF and/or its sister forums in any way, or who would receive another suspension less than three months after returning from a Ban. Members will not be allowed to return in this case.

Important Notice:
Please read your Warn Logs (accessible by clicking your Warn percentage indicator) to find out why you have been warned. Posting a topic about your warn may be considered an offense worthy of Warn. Sending a PM to a member of the staff regarding your warn may also be an offense. Staff is not required to respond to requests to reduce Warn Level.

SIGNATURE RULES
- The content of signatures may not infringe any of the forum rules described above.
- Signatures may not occupy excessive vertical space. The limit is not strictly defined; common sense is used to define the severity of this offense.
- In the case of signatures that are too long, members will be sent a PM about the issue and given 24 hours to reduce the signature to an acceptable length.

More to be added any time, without notice.
Check back often for updates.
[Last updated on December 18, 2008.]