11
Site announcements and information / Re: Linking to image shack has been disabled
« Last post by Bill on August 08, 2017, 10:54:21 am »Thanks, photobuc*et has also been added to this list.
Recent Posts
12
Site announcements and information / Re: Linking to image shack has been disabled
« Last post by WXFan04 on July 18, 2017, 06:21:32 pm »site not allowed because it replaces linked images with banner adset has apparently decided to replace linked images with banner ads too, so I would consider disabling linking to their website as well.
13
Site announcements and information / Linking to image shack has been disabled
« Last post by Bill on August 19, 2015, 12:36:01 pm »Due to an unscrupulous decision of "image shack" to replace linked images with banner ads, we have had to take the step of completely disabling the ability to link to their domain. This kind of advertising and spamming is prohibited by the forum rules. In addition, banner ad companies are notoriously bad at vetting their clientele, a major infection vector for malware is through banner ads which either exploit vulnerabilities themselves, or else advertise a download/program which contains a malicious program/code.
If you attempt to link to "image shack", it will not work as the domain will be replaced with other text describing the reason for this policy. The board rules have been updated to reflect this.
If you attempt to link to "image shack", it will not work as the domain will be replaced with other text describing the reason for this policy. The board rules have been updated to reflect this.
14
Site announcements and information / Forum conduct rules and guidelines
« Last post by Bill on April 06, 2015, 07:13:04 am »Please read and review these forum conduct rules and guidelines before participating in our community.
Newbie accounts
As a security precaution due to spambots, all new approved accounts start out in the Newbie group. This group is limited in what it may do. Here is a summary of the important things to know about Newbie accounts:
WARNING POLICY
Due to rampant abuse in the past by a handful of individuals, we have had to adopt a punitive warning policy. A member who is found to be in violation of board conduct guidelines will be subject to a warning. All warnings are accompanied by a message explaining why the warning was issued. Except in straightforward obvious cases, warnings are by committee; the entire moderation staff must agree with the decision to issue a warning beforehand. This is to ensure multiple viewpoints on the situation are taken into consideration.
Your first warning will also severely impact your chances of ever being considered for any dev staff position. So, think long and hard before you decide to engage in behavior in violation of the board rules.
Warning percentages
Warnings are added in increments of 33%. The forum software automatically reduces existing warnings at a rate of 1% per day, provided you have checked the forum since your most recent warning.
Total lifetime warning cap
Due to unfortunate flagrant abuse of the warning system by certain users in the past, and to ensure repeat offenders are dealt with accordingly, there is a hard cap on the total amount of warnings an account is allowed to accrue before permanent punitive action is taken. The total number of warnings an account has can be found by counting the lines in the account's warning history where the warning points are positive.
- Do not create off topic threads in forums which are intended for a specific topic. (Bug reports, suggestions, tech support).
- Do not post off topic replies to someone else's thread. This is considered impolite. Instead, reply to an appropriate existing thread, or create a new one.
- In addition to receiving a possible warning (see below), consistent disregard of the two above rules may result in your forum account being put on indefinite mod review, which means all posts you make will have to be approved by a moderator before they show up.
- Please do not expect the forum staff to provide personal one-on-one tech support via PM. We have a subforum dedicated to support questions already, if you have a question about using the simulator, post it there.
- Do not personally attack other board members. This includes, but is not limited to: Inflammatory remarks, insults, namecalling, "snark," "trolling," "for teh lulz," bullying, rudeness.
- Do not post vulgar or offensive remarks. This includes your signature and any information in your account profile which can be viewed by other people.
- Do not post inappropriate/offensive material or images. This includes your avatar and any place in your account profile which can be viewed by other people.
- We will not tolerate malicious behavior intended to slander/subvert and sow discord in the project/community. This includes concern trolling, spreading FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), brigading, etc.
- Do NOT link to sites which are malicious or contain inappropriate/offensive material. There is no leeway in this and it will get you warned if you do it - this is necessary to protect people from getting infected with malware
- Do not post material of questionable legality in terms of copyright status. While the board staff could care less, we can't afford to get into a legal battle so unfortunately all posts falling under this category will be removed.
- The "report post to moderator" function is meant to be used for reporting inappropriate posts. Misuse/abuse of this function may result in a warning.
- When a thread gets locked or deleted, don't create a new thread on the same subject just because you couldn't reply. It was locked/deleted for a reason.
- No spamming. There is a zero tolerance policy for spambots and SEO spammers. If you wish to discuss your personal website, you may consider creating ONE thread about it in the Advertisements subforum.
- Do not use image shack as a host for your images. This company replaces links to images with banner ads from ad networks. As such, they have been banned from this forum and it is not possible to link to their domain.
- Duplicate accounts are not permitted, especially when done to circumvent punitive measures. All duplicate accounts will be deleted on sight, and the offending account issued a warning.
- Exploiting loopholes in the board conduct guidelines will get you warned. This rule was implemented due to previous abusive members.
Newbie accounts
As a security precaution due to spambots, all new approved accounts start out in the Newbie group. This group is limited in what it may do. Here is a summary of the important things to know about Newbie accounts:
- New accounts are subject to anti-spambot verification questions when making any post and searching.
- Newbie accounts are subject to post moderation, in other words, any posts made by newbie accounts will be invisible until a member of the moderation staff approves it. This is to protect against spambots.
- Newbie accounts cannot edit profile information. This is to protect against spambots who inject malware urls/SEO keyword spam into their profile information.
- You may request access to the "Members" group by posting in this thread. Please do not do this until you have made a few posts first so the moderation staff can ensure you aren't a malware/spam bot.
- Please do not spam the board with posts in hopes of being promoted out of the newbie group. Again, you may request access out of the newbie group after you've made a few posts by following the instructions above.
- Newbie accounts are NOT ABLE to use the Private Messaging system at all. This is due to malicious bots which are crafted to mass-PM the entire memberbase of a forum with malware urls. We're sorry about this restriction, but protecting our members warrants this measure.
WARNING POLICY
Due to rampant abuse in the past by a handful of individuals, we have had to adopt a punitive warning policy. A member who is found to be in violation of board conduct guidelines will be subject to a warning. All warnings are accompanied by a message explaining why the warning was issued. Except in straightforward obvious cases, warnings are by committee; the entire moderation staff must agree with the decision to issue a warning beforehand. This is to ensure multiple viewpoints on the situation are taken into consideration.
Your first warning will also severely impact your chances of ever being considered for any dev staff position. So, think long and hard before you decide to engage in behavior in violation of the board rules.
Warning percentages
Warnings are added in increments of 33%. The forum software automatically reduces existing warnings at a rate of 1% per day, provided you have checked the forum since your most recent warning.
- Strike one - Your first warn will result in a 33% warning level. Your account also will be placed in post moderation mode, this means that any topics and posts you attempt to create will first need to be approved by the moderation staff before they show up. Once your warning level drops below 20%, the post moderation mode will automatically be removed by the forum. This effectively results in a 14 day timeframe when you will be subject to post moderation.
- Strike two - A warning level of 34% or higher will result in your account being muted. You will no longer be able to make any posts until your warning level drops below 34%.
- Strike three - A 67% or greater warning level results in a minimum one month suspension from the board with possible permanent ban depending on the situation. Those permitted to return will be subjected to, at minimum, a one month period of post moderation.
Total lifetime warning cap
Due to unfortunate flagrant abuse of the warning system by certain users in the past, and to ensure repeat offenders are dealt with accordingly, there is a hard cap on the total amount of warnings an account is allowed to accrue before permanent punitive action is taken. The total number of warnings an account has can be found by counting the lines in the account's warning history where the warning points are positive.
- If an account gets 4 lifetime warns, it will be immediately suspended for 30 days regardless of its current warning percentage.
- If an account gets 5 lifetime warns, it will be immediately suspended for 60 days regardless of its current warning percentage.
- If an account gets 6 lifetime warns, it will be immediately suspended for 90 days regardless of its current warning percentage. In addition, it will very likely be permanently banned at this point once the staff reaches a consensus. If for some reason it is not banned, any future warnings will result in an immediate and permanent ban from the site.