RULES FOR POSTING TO nifootball.co.uk BOARD

Below are the rules for posting to nifootball Bulletin Board. Most of this falls under the simple rules of “Be polite” and “Use Common Sense”. However, there are some specifics that need to be listed.

In most cases, the first violation will result in a public and/or private warning. Subsequent violations will earn you infraction points depending on the seriousness of the violation. Accumulating sufficient infraction points will result in a suspension and, beyond a certain level, a permanent ban. We may also issue a ban if we feel a warning and/or infraction points will not suffice.

That may sound harsh, but in reality these rules are pretty easy to follow. This board is based upon mutual respect for and by all posters. This is a community. Whether we agree on specifics or not, we’re all here because we’re interested football. Following these rules benefits everyone.

By registering on these forums you agree to these rules, and warrant that you will not post any material:

• that is threatening, obscene, indecent, pornographic, liable to incite racial or religious hatred or sectarianism, menacing, libellous, or in breach of privacy; or
• which constitutes or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise be contrary to UK law; or
• which is technically harmful (including, without limitation, computer viruses, logic bombs, Trojan horses, worms, harmful components, corrupted data or other malicious software or harmful data).
• that refers or links to other websites containing material noted above.

0. The Spirit of the Law.
The purpose of all of these rules is to ensure that this forum remains a law-abiding, civil, and congenial place to engage in discussion. That a post complies with that spirit is a greater consideration than whether it can be defended as being within the rules.

1. Posting Topics

First and foremost, this discussion forum focuses upon football. Please stay within these areas when creating topics and participating in existing conversations. There are relevant sections for off topic discussions which fall outside local football -- and do note that the forum rules apply there as well. Topics outside of local football are welcome in the General and Other Sports section.

2. Civility and Decorum

Politeness is the top rule here. Of course, we expect to have spirited debates! That’s fine, as long as the people involved extend one another basic respect. Disagreements are inevitable, but even in those situations you must still be nice.

Attack the ideas, not the person(s) presenting them. If you've got concerns with what someone is saying, feel free dismantle their arguments, but do not resort to ad hominem or personal attacks. Be mindful and respectful of others' feelings. If you feel that someone has crossed the line and insulted you, please report this via the reporting mechanism described here. Don't write scathing posts in the forum to try and humiliate people publicly.

If these guidelines are not followed, the administrators/moderators will take swift and appropriate action, so please behave accordingly.

3. Language

To ensure forum content stays within the Rules, all Moderators must be able to understand it. While people of all nationalities and cultures are welcome here, we ask that you post only in the dominant language in our location, which is English. As before with common sense - but if you post a couple of sentences of Klingon you can expect it to be edited.

• Bad grammar and spelling are acceptable.
• Nokia-speak is not acceptable.

In General swearing is not acceptable on nifootball forums, and most swear words will normally be masked by *. However in general banter we will accept the following:

• at least two letters in the word must have been replaced with a *
• it must not be an insult directed towards another user

Swear words may NOT be used by splitting the word, rearranging the letters, substituting letters or similar tricks. They MUST be 'masked' with *, and by no other method. Any posts containing swear words which do not meet the acceptable standard is liable to editing, with the user receiving a warning.

4. Copyright

Do not post copyrighted material here. This is very serious. It is within the law to post small, relevant quotes, but not whole passages from newspapers, magazines, books, etc. If you do, the post will be deleted, and you will be warned. Do it twice and you will be banned. If you want to reference material somewhere else on the web, give a brief summary and link to the rest. People can go take a look at what you're talking about and then return to discuss it further.

5. Privacy Issues

Posting private information about forum users that is not available otherwise publicly will not be tolerated. This includes photographs of people particularly where you also post their name or other means of identifying them, either by their real name or nifootball.co.uk username. Do not post private email you have gained access to without the express permission of the sender. There are legal and copyright reasons for this, not to mention that doing so is very impolite. The same caveat applies to private messages, whether they're from this forum or anywhere else. If you receive rude or abusive private messages on this forum, you can report them via the same mechanism as inappropriate posts.

However, private messages to a moderator about forum administration issues are an exception to this rule. These may be shared with other moderators (but only with other moderators) unless you have a prior agreement with the moderator not to do so. To put it another way, think of the moderator team as a single entity. A PM to one is a PM to all, at least when it comes to official business.

Note that if you do report a private message that you consider inappropriate, you should provide background information regarding any private discussions that preceded that message, since the moderators (unlike with public message posts) cannot establish context without such information. Members who report inappropriate messages without revealing that they sent messages that might have goaded the sender into writing such a message will be dealt with severely.

6. Advertising, Solicitation, and Spam

Do not post advertisements of any kind without securing the express consent of the administrators beforehand. Do not use this bulletin board as a vehicle to promote your own website, product, or forum, nor to sell merchandise. These are egregious offenses which will result in the deletion of the offending posts and banning of the user(s) responsible. Do not submit threads/posts containing identical text in multiple forum categories; that's considered spamming the board, and likewise will be dealt with accordingly.

You can put a website in your signature if you wish, but please think carefully before you do so. If you have any doubts that it may break one of these rules, contact a moderator or administrator first.

7. Second & Third Party Posting

Do not post on behalf of other people. In other words, if someone you know has something to say relevant to the discussion in a thread, have them register and post it. Think of them as a copyrighted source: you can quote them in short amounts, but if there is something substantial they want to add, they must do it themselves.

8. Hotlinking and large images

Try to avoid putting in links to images directly from someone else's website. This can add a lot to their bandwidth, and then the host has to pay for it. In other words, if you see an image you like on an astronomy site, put in a link to that site, but don't use the [IMG] tags so the image loads into your post from their site directly. If you really want an image in your post, put it in a public site someplace and link to it from there.

Additionally, don't embed a huge image (meaning an image that's over 100k or extends beyond the right-hand edge of a typical display) inline using the [IMG] tag but link to it instead. We still have dialup users and others with limited bandwidth for whom downloading a large image would be a significant annoyance.

9. "Hit & Run"

The technique of posting a single provocative and then never posting again in a thread is greatly frowned upon. This is only a step above trolling. Barely.

10. Sock Puppetry

Users are allowed only one account per person. Do not register under a different username for any reason as that will be treated as sock puppetry. All such accounts (including the primary one) will be banned without warning. Should you feel a need to contact the moderator staff, use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the home page.

11. Editing & Revisionism

Edit your posts with care. There's no problem with editing a post later to change the tone or to correct spelling and the like. But changing content is not allowed! This is a slippery path that can be seen as revisionism. You may edit your post for up to 24 hours. Also, when quoting other posters, you may trim the text down to brief snippets to address something in particular, but do not misquote others or alter their content to suggest they've stated things which they haven't.

12. Politics & Religion

This is a football forum. Politics and religious discussions are not considered appropriate except where it impacts directly on local football, or unless we open a forum specifically for them. If you can't respect other people's religion or politics, please keep that to yourself. If you have strong religious or political views, please keep those to yourself too. Sorry, but this isn't the place for them.

13. Disruptive Behavior

The moderators and administrators reserve the right to take action against a poster who is disrupting the normal flow of the board. This includes violations listed in the other rules (trolling, use of ad hominems, posting copyrighted materials, etc.), but may also include behavior we have not yet foreseen. Since this rule is perforce general, we will attempt to correct the problem by warning the violator (via PM, email, or posting in the thread) and giving him/her a chance to explain his/her behavior, and we will take further action only if proven necessary.

14. Repeat/Chronic Offenders

Repeat offences are liable to attract progressively more serious warnings .Be warned: If you are banned and try to get back in by spoofing or changing your email, appropriate action will be taken -- not limited to but including contacting your ISP.

15. Reporting Bad Posts

If you feel a post breaks one of these rules, please report it by clicking the 'report' button (the red triangle with the exclamation mark inside it, located at the top right hand side of every post). Do not talk about bad posts or anything else you consider to be inappropriate user behaviour in the forum itself or suggest, speculate on, or threaten what the moderator response should be. All reported posts are reviewed by moderators or administrators, and are treated very seriously (so do not report frivolously).

16. Moderator Actions

If there is a rule violation, then a moderator will take action. This may include: the deletion of a word or phrase (if it breaks the rules), the removal of an entire post (if it is beyond redemption, or if it's a spam, etc.), the merging of a new thread with an existing one on the same topic, the closing of a thread if it wanders too far off-topic or gets too heated, a gentle warning to a user or users, a not-so-gentle-warning, and as a last resort, the banning of a user. This banning may be temporary or permanent, as outlined above. If a moderator gives you advice, we advise you to take it.

If you disagree with a moderator action, you can create a new topic in the Infringement Appeals section. This can only be viewed by the user who created it and the moderators.

17. On-line conduct

17.1 You understand that all data, text, software, music, sound, photographics, graphics, video, messages or other materials (“content”) whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which the content originated. This means that you, and not Scott Boyde, are entirely responsible for all content that you upload, post or email via our forum or thread and our site. We do not control the content posted via any forum or thread and therefore do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of the content.

17.2 Under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for any content, including (without limitation) any errors or omissions in any content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any content. You agree that you must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any content including any reliance on its accuracy or completeness. You also understand that by using our forum and our site, you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable.

17.3 You acknowledge that we do not pre-screen content but that we shall have the right (though not the obligation) in our sole discretion to move, modify or remove any content that is available on or via any forum or our site generally.

18. You agree to indemnify and hold us and our subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, officers, agents or partners harmless from and against any direct or indirect loss or damage (including consequential loss) and loss of profits, goodwill or business opportunities arising from any third party claim in relation to any content you upload, post or email on or through our forums, threads or our site, your use of the forum, threads and our site, or your breach of the provisions of these rules.

19. Rule Additions & Revisions

The administrators reserve the right to modify existing rules and/or add additional rules as they see fit. In many ways, this board is like a living thing, subject to change. Situations sometimes arise which cannot be anticipated, and thus, rules must be added to accommodate them.