E-Literature Forum Rules

Welcome to the E-Literature forums! This is a place designed for writers of all kinds to share their written works and read the works of others. However, as we at E-Lit are well aware that the internet can be misused or abused. In order to ensure a peaceful and friendly environment for our members, we ask that you please read through the following basic rules and apply them to your time here on these forums. These rules will be enforced by the administrators and moderators of the site, and it will be expected that all members are familiar with these rules. Ignorance will not be an excuse for those who misbehave.

• Flaming
Flaming is defined as unnecessarily attacking another member or members of the board through blatant insults. The use of race, gender, religion (or lack of), sexual orientation or personal background as an insult is not allowed on E-Literature. Minor insults and joking will be tolerated to some degree, depending on the situation, though it is up to the administrators and moderators to determine the intentions of a flame and its severity.

• Spamming
Spamming is the conscious posting of nonsensical content or the deliberate unnecessary repetition of a post or content. As with flaming, some spamming will be tolerated, as long as it is not detrimental to the board or its members. Ultimately the severity of the spam will be judged by a member of the moderating team and acted upon as such. Depending on the situation, the consequences could be as small as a private message with an unofficial warning or as large as an automatic ban.

• Illegal Content
There are some forms of content that cannot be posted on the forums. This includes, but is not limited to, pornographic images or links, ROMs, MP3s, CD keys, warez, passwords, serial numbers, illegal programs and downloads, harmful viruses, gambling and/or illegal drugs, and hacking materials or information. Depending on the content posted, the offender will recieve either a warning or an automatic ban from a member of the moderating team.

• Sensibility
While this is more of a suggestion than a rule, the moderating team is entitled to make actions against those members that do not present themselves in a sensible and logical way. For example, "hey guyz im in skool no but its all kewl cuz its teh comp lab lol" will not be tolerated (unless done in a humorous manner). Members who speak with 'n00bspeak' or '13375P34K' will be contacted with messages asking for them to be more clear in their posts. While perfect grammar and/or spelling are certainly not required, we simply ask that you act your age.

• Respect
Respect can take the community far and will help the community grow. Respecting the rules and judgement of the administrators and moderators will help you to become a better member. However, respecting the moderating team does not mean suck up to them. We are people too, and we will look less kindly upon a member who treats us like gods and more kindly upon one who treats us as friends. Respect, though, is certainly not limited to those in power. In fact, it is perhaps even more important for you to respect other memebers, as well as yourself. If a member of the moderating team sees any blatant disrespect (such as threats or continued arrogancy), the situation will be dealt with accordingly.

• Bannings
If a member is banned, he or she is banned for a good reason. Please do not ask about a banned member or post messages from a banned member on the board. If a banned member has an issue and the only way for him or her to contact the board is through you, please send a polite PM to an administrator about the situation and it will be dealt with. Similarly, if you are banned, you are banned for a reason. If you are unaware of the reason, again calmly send a private message to an administrator and the issue will be dealt with. For the most part, bans will be temporary. As such, there is no need for banned members to try and become un-banned through any means. Banned members are not to re-register with a new account in order to avoid the ban (yes, we can tell), are not to beg the administration to allow him or her back in, and are not to negatively influence other members of the board. Temporary bans can be as short as a few days or as long as a few months (in which case, your ban would most likely be permanent). When a temporary ban has ended, the banned member will be informed via email.

• The Rules
The ruleset posted here is the overall ruleset for the E-Literature forums. Nearly all other forums within the overall board will have their own rulesets posted within, in addition to those listed here. These rules are subject to change without warning and you will be held responsible for keeping up-to-date with them.

Every time a rule is broken, an administrator or moderator will see to give the offender a warning. If the problem continues, more warnings will be issued. When a member has three warnings, he or she will be banned from the board, meaning that he or she will not be able to view or post on the forums. The ban may be temporary or permanent, depending on the situation. Also, the moderating team, while expected to follow the rules, are allowed to deal with individual problems as they see fit, depending on the severity of the situation.