Forum Misconduct

2. Do not stretch the page horizontally, multi-post, make unjustified bumps, post in the wrong section, or otherwise use the forums in a messy and unorganized way.

We have a term coined for this kind of behavior. It is called Forum Misconduct. We would like to keep the forums and forum threads consistent and easy to read. There are plenty of exceptions to these rules regarding the Spam & Shenanigans board. However, if the OP of the thread (as in, the creator of the thread) says to not do something regarding the rules on Forum Misconduct, you listen to him or her. Any reported posts made by the OP that are considered Forum Misconduct are automatically valid unless he or she commits it in the thread as well.

Here we go into detail the rules surrounding Forum Misconduct, and what they mean.

Page stretching is pretty self-explanatory. Do not horizontally stretch the page; not even a little. People reading a thread shouldn't have to scroll to the other side of the page just to see the rest of the message. Stretching the page can be caused by using an excess amount of images, emoticons, or typing out one large word (or gibberish). None of these are allowed to begin with in any other place EXCEPT the Spam & Shenanigans board unless the OP says otherwise.

Multi-posting is another self-explanatory rule. Do not post multiple posts at a time unless you have a good reason for it. If you wish to add something else on top of what you just said, edit your post by clicking on the edit button on the top right corner of your post. There are exceptions to this rule in the Spam & Shenanigans board, and if it's a justified bump. Which by the way...

Unjustified bumps are when you post in an old, outdated thread that hasn't had a new post in weeks, months, or even years, for no good reason. Justified bumps are when you, the OP of the thread, bump to add something new to a still relevant topic. Multi-posting will often be forgiven for the intention of bumping for a good reason.

Posting in the wrong boards and sections will also not be tolerated. People do not go into the Gaming board to read about how bananas are the core cosmic elements that keep the universe in balance, nor do people go into the Real World & Debates board to read about class strategies in Team Fortress 2. We have a variety of sections on the board to keep discussions organized, and to lay out a diverse set of subjects for members to choose at their disposal.

Quoting the entire post DIRECTLY above yours is another thing that we do not allow, for there is no point of it. You may only quote a portion (or portions) of the post that you feel is relevant to your response to said post. If you are responding directly to the above post, you may use the carrot (^) sign to signify that you're directly responding to said post and no one else's, assuming it is still on-topic.

Posting incredibly short and irrelevant posts may also be deleted if they add little to nothing to the discussion. This includes posting a carrot sign, or saying “this” after a quote of someone else’s post to signify that you agree or disagree with someone, and nothing else.

Sock puppeting, or making an alternate account to converse with yourself in a thread is very disruptive, and not allowed outside of the Spam & Shenanigans board in your own threads, or threads that permit it.
On top of all this, we ask that you do not have an avatar larger than 150px by 200px, a banner size no bigger than 500px by 100px, and a text based signature no longer than 5 lines. As of right now, we provide no file size limitations. For now, we will simply trust that your avatar and signature will not slow down the loading of a page. More details concerning avatar and signature limitations will be noted in a future topic.

Any violations to these will be most likely assumed to be an honest mistake, if done sparingly. But if done time and time again, the violator will be issued verbal warnings, and after that, privileges will likely be taken until he or she is downright banned.