Liverpool FC Forum

[jonnymac1979]

LIVERPOOLFC-NEWKIT RULES

If you are new to the boards, welcome.  It’s a good idea to read these rules before you start posting.

Threads, Topics and Posting Guidelines

Some gentle advice to our new members

Read around at first, familiarise yourself with the forum, its rules, its customs, its do’s and don’ts.  The most important rule to remember is to have a think before you post.

Quality over quantity is emphasized.

Do not post ALL IN CAPITALS.  Typing in all capital letters usually denotes screaming, yelling or shouting.

Text speak is vehemently frowned upon.  While we understand the users’ English skills are not all William Shakespeare standard, there is absolutely no excuse for text speak.  It is lazy, you are doing yourself a disservice by using it and any posts written in complete text speak will be deleted.  If you must use this language, use it on your Instant Messaging programs or your mobile phones, but make sure you keep it off these message boards.

The forum is broken down into many different sub sections and each sub section deals with a different theme. For example, the main sub section deals with Liverpool: General Discussion. This is a catch all forum for all things Liverpool, but mostly the major things in the news that everybody is interested in.  Threads should be made in the appropriate forum relevant to them and off topic threads posted in LFC:General Discussion etc will be moved by the moderators to more appropriate forums. Members should try to avoid Liverpool: General Discussion as a catch all for everything. Non football threads will invariably be moved to General Chat.

The other forums are more specialized in nature, dealing with individual players (The Players' Lounge), discussion on games, (Games Forum), songs and folklore (the Kop), Hillsborough, Transfer rumours, general Premiership discussion and a General Chat sub section for non football banter.

The Premium Members Area is dedicated to in-depth debate.

All members can apply for Premium Members status which will allow posting in the Premium Members Area however members will need to demonstrate a level of commitment to the site. Please apply by sending a private message requesting Premium Members status to a Moderator.

Premium Members status will be granted at the absolute discretion of the sites Moderators and Admin.

Any Premium Members who makes abusive, racist, annoying and irrelevant posts will be warned and if they persist will be excluded from the Premium Members Area and as with all members potentially banned from the site.

Supports of other clubs will not qualify for Premium Members status.

Before new members post they should familiarise themselves with all of these sub sections.

New members are encouraged to start a topic in the Introductions forum to let us know a bit about themselves and Liverpool FC, and to introduce themselves.  It is the only place they can start topics until they have reached 25 posts.

Members are encouraged to try and avoid multiple posts on identical topics in the same forum. Multiple posting splinters discussion on a topic and its best that only one thread is used for a popular topic. Sometimes where there are 2 identical threads posted at the exact same time as each other (which can accidentally happen immediately after a match or after a news conference) then the moderators may close one of these threads if there is little or no reply to it so as to keep discussion to one thread. 

While everybody is entitled to their opinion we do try to foster a spirit of high quality posting on this forum. If you wish to start a new thread please read the other threads that are already active and see if your point can be made in an existing thread. If you want to start a new thread please take some time to think your point out and try to put a bit of effort into it.  This is not liverpoolfc.tv and we are trying to engage in some decent discussion.  Threads started with one sentence questions or points raised which do not offer debate or opinion will be deleted.  If you don't put in the time and effort into starting a proper thread, how can you expect other members to take time to properly reply to it?  The purpose of this discussion forum is to develop good dialogue on sensible, interesting topics.

Avoid simply opening a thread and copy and pasting articles without offering your opinion on the article.  We are all capable of visiting the BBC or Sky Sports website ourselves.  It is considered lazy and does not encourage any debate.  There is a specific forum for news articles which the moderators contribute to.  You cannot reply to these topics so if any threads are started in this way without your opinion on the article, they will be deleted and re-posted in the News and Articles forum.  Done properly, posting articles and offering opinion can encourage discussion.  When pasting the contents from another site though, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE SITE BY PROVIDING A LINK TO THE STORY AND/OR THE AUTHOR.

Threads which degenerate into long drawn out abusive slanging matches between members will ultimately be closed.  Members have the right to express their opinions without fear of being bashed or flamed.  They also have the right to offer good firm opinions and to debate strongly.  If you do feel the need to spoil discussions with insults and personal arguments, do it by PM or whichever way you wish to settle it, but KEEP IT OFF THE FORUM.  Consistent and frequent abusive conduct towards other members is not allowed and members guilty of continuous abusive conduct will be warned by the moderators.  Baiting other members to start arguments with you will not be tolerated and persistence with this will result in a posting suspension or a total ban.  Please don't waste your time writing obscene or abusive posts as the forum is moderated and such posts will be deleted or at best edited to ensure the universal appeal of the forums content.

Avatars and Signatures
Members should use discretion in choosing their avatars and offensive avatars or those using nudity etc are not allowed. The reason for this is to avoid offending other members, to protect underage members and also for the practical reason that many members log on to the forum at public places, such as work etc, and nude avatars can cause embarrassment if your boss, wife, teacher or children spot them!  The board code dictates that avatars are to be no larger than 70 x 70 pixels. 

There is no limit to signature size although forum etiquette suggests that they should be no bigger than approximately 700 x 200 pixels.  If the users of the forum complain of horizontal scroll bars appearing on their browser, it’s too big.  Again, no offensive signatures are allowed.

Racism
Racist remarks are not tolerated and will be deleted.  Members who are guilty of this will be given an official warning for any complaints we receive.  There is no leeway or flexibility on this rule.

Hillsborough and Hysel
We would also like to point out that new members who join the forum in order to make derogatory remarks about the Hillsborough and Hysel tragedies will be immediately banned.  There is no leeway or flexibility on this rule.

Fans of other teams are welcome provided that they are not here to insult other members or engage in abuse. However, there is no harm in a bit of light hearted and good natured banter but if fans from other teams are here on a wind up, they face instant banning.

Spamming
From Wikipedia
Spamming an internet forum in general, is when a user posts something which is off-topic or doesn’t have anything to do with the current subject. Also, a post that doesn’t contribute to the thread whatsoever is also considered spam in some cases. A third form of Forum Spamming is where a person repeatedly posts about a certain subject in a manner that is unwanted by (and possibly annoying to) the general population of the forum. Lastly there is also the case where a person posts messages solely for the purpose of increasing his or her ranking on the forum. In a broader sense, advertising on forums where it is not wanted is known as spamming and is generally seen as an annoyance.

Spamming is not tolerated on the forums.  This includes all of the above definitions, as well as multiple smiley posting to increase post count, and especially advertising their own forums or websites.  If members must do this, they can enter the URL of their website in the space provided in their Control Panel.  Warnings may be handed out at the discretion of the moderators for persistent spamming.  Links to third party Websites are not allowed in member signatures and/or in posts if this is obviously advertising. If found the member will be asked to remove them. If not adhered to admin will remove links, if members replace removed links then this may result in the member being banned from the forums.

Touting
Touting isn’t really a major problem on this forum, but as Liverpool are consistently reaching the latter stages of big competitions, it appears everybody wants a ticket for the big games.  This is usually when touts appear.  If you have a ticket to sell, by all means offer your spare to the members of the forum. 

If it is even a penny, cent or euro over the face value price of the ticket which you paid for it, the post will be deleted and your account will be disabled.  Touting is totally unacceptable and there is no leeway or flexibility on this rule.  If you are found guilty of breaking it, you can expect to be banned.

Banned Members
Temporary posting bans may be issued at the discretion of the moderators.  They are not permanent, and the user will be welcomed back to the forum at the end of their ban.  These bans can last as long as the moderators see fit.  Depending on severity, members are usually given five warnings before they receive a ban.  Moderators reserve the right to ban members without any prior notice.

Permanent bans are for members who are trolls, members who deliberately post pornography, or someone who has broken the rules of this forum in a way that makes their presence on these message boards intolerable.

From Wikipedia
In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who comes into an established community such as an online discussion forum, and posts inflammatory, rude or offensive messages designed to annoy and antagonize the existing members or disrupt the flow of discussion.

Once you have been banned permanently, you are not welcome back on the forums.  Any member who violates their bans by registering again under another user name faces being permanently banned or IP banned.

Bans are always at the discretion of the moderators and administrator.

Screen Names
Sometimes, members find it easy to use their ISP username as a screen name for message boards and forums.  A name like fhju875676 does not look attractive and doesn’t really give you an identity.  Those who log on to the forum in this way and who want to change their screen name must PM the administrator of the site LFC.  This only applies to new members who feel they’ve made a mistake.  Older members who just feel like a change will not be indulged.  There is flexibility on this rule but it will be at the discretion of the moderators and administrator.

Linking to Liverpool Urchins Website
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT MEMBERS DO NOT LINK TO THE LIVERPOOL URCHINS WEBSITE NOR USE ANY PICTURES FROM THEIR WEBSITE.

PICTURES USED FROM THEIR WEBSITE HAVE THEIR URL'S REDIRECTED TO CHILD PORN AND ALSO TO GAY PORN.

A COUPLE OF MEMBERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN THE VICTIM OF THIS AND BECAUSE THE PICTURES ARE SO EXTREME, THEY UNFORTUNATELY RISK HAVING THEIR POSTS DELETED BY THE MODERATORS UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE WEBMASTER LOGS IN SO HE CAN MANUALLY ALTER THEIR ACCOUNTS.

Linking to The S*n Newspaper articles
DON’T DO IT.  JUST DON’T DO IT.  ENOUGH SAID I HOPE.

These guidelines will evolve as the forum gets bigger.  Expect quite a few over the next few weeks but we have gone over the main points for now.  Members will be notified when updates are made and they will be encouraged to read them.  So please bear with the moderators and admin staff.  We are human and we have our own lives outside the forum and again we want to stress that self moderation is the key to ensure we all enjoy posting on here.

Please remember that we are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this message board. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by the reporting links posted on every message. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this message board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this message board.

The Liverpool FC Discussion Forum is a public system and as such the Liverpool FC Discussion Forum takes no responsibility for the views expressed in messages posted to any discussion.

Any views expressed are those of individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Liverpool FC Discussion Forum.

Use of the Discussion Forum is to be in all respects in accordance with the Forum Rules and in using the Forum you agree to be bound by those Rules. 

Entire discussions will be removed only when they cease to be relevant.

Finally, enjoy the forum.

Thanks.

www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk staff

[Bad Bob]

There has been a call for modest reforms and greater transparency in the administrative functioning of this board.  Whilst we strongly refute the suggestion of moderator bias that accompanied some calls for reform, we acknowledge that the time has come to revisit the forum rules and regulations.  So, after conducting a thorough review of the established system and examining the input made by numerous members, we have come up with some revisions and clarifications to the existing forum rules.  These new guidelines supplement rather than replace the forum rules previously set out by Johnnymac1979 and they are designed to give all members a clearer sense of how the board will be moderated from this point forward.  Over the next couple of weeks we urge everyone to take a careful look at the guidelines outlined below, which will take effect on September 25th 2012.  Please note that the new guidelines will be strongly enforced and members should be prepared to adapt their posting habits accordingly.







REVISED FORUM GUIDELINES


Fundamental Operating Principle

Forum members are reminded that this board is a meeting ground for those interested in engaging discussion concerning Liverpool Football Club, football in general and matters of interest unfolding in the wider world.  In effect, we are an online community drawing on a diverse international membership and, like any community, ours functions best when its members take care to respect other members. As Johnnymac79 has previously said, all members have the right to express their opinions without fear of being bashed or flamed.  They also have the right to offer good firm opinions and to debate strongly.   Disagreement, of course, is part and parcel of any community—particularly one devoted to passionate discussion about the club and sport we love.  Yet, disagreement need not and should not prevent members from showing respect to their fellow community members.  Self-moderation is the key to a successful board.  If everyone keeps this in mind, flame wars can be averted and the board can fulfill its role as a first-rate online meeting ground.


Basic Offenses

Unfortunately, the principle of respect is occasionally overlooked by some members, requiring the intervention of the moderators. There are several infractions that inhibit the smooth functioning of the board and that will not be tolerated by the moderators:

• Persistent insults and abuse directed toward other members or the moderators (see below)
• Persistent baiting or winding up of other members
• Persistent bickering between members in ways that threaten to derail a thread
• Persistent attempts to get other members warned, suspended or banned
• Persistent use of language that could be construed as prejudiced or intolerant toward other races, nationalities, religions, genders, sexual orientations etc.
• Persistent spamming of threads (see below)
• The posting of a Private Message (PM) without the consent of the PM’s author (But note that unacceptably abusive or inappropriate PMs can and should be forwarded to the mods)

Members should make the moderators aware of potential infractions that may have been overlooked but they should not seek to otherwise influence the moderating process.


A Word About Abuse

Not surprisingly, determining what constitutes unacceptable abuse has long been one of the most challenging aspects of moderating this forum. Everyone has a different definition of abuse and a different notion about how much abuse is tolerable on the board. In order to establish some basic common understanding, however, we offer these guidelines:

• Calling someone a c*nt/pr*ck/tw*t/a*shole or similar is abuse and may lead to a warning
• Telling someone to f*ck off aggressively and/or repeatedly is also abuse and will lead to a warning
• Marginally more leeway will be given if the remarks are obviously intended and taken to be more of a joke than a proper flaming (That is to say that the perceived intent is more crucial than the words spoken)
• BUT the written word is notoriously easy to misinterpret and members bear full responsibility if their intended jokes are misconstrued and warnings need to be issued 
• Volume of abuse also matters to a certain extent: a one-off flash of anger might be allowed to slide while a series of low-grade digs might bring a warning if they clog up threads or if the member in question has shown a pattern of abuse

In determining what counts as abuse the moderators will attempt to strike an appropriate balance between permitting passionate expression and upholding a sense of board decorum and mutual respect. As ever, self-moderation is the best way to ensure that abuse is kept in check.


Warnings, Suspensions and Bans


• Members who commit any of the listed infractions may be alerted by a moderator to stop the unwanted behaviour and/or edit the offending comments
• Failure to comply will result in a warning  being issued
• Each subsequent infraction may result in suspension or a ban
• Temporarily suspended members who return to the forum under an alias will be removed from the forum and may have their account deleted
• Suspended members who have been re-instated and go on to earn a further suspension may have their account deleted



Serious Offenses

Certain offenses are more serious than garden variety abuse etc. and will be dealt with swiftly and decisively by the moderators. The following offenses will not be tolerated:

• Overt and spiteful xenophobic, sexist, homophobic or racist remarks
• Insults directed at another poster’s family members
• Insults that mock another poster’s illnesses or personal setbacks
• Threats of violence or hardship directed at another poster in ‘real life’
• Derogatory remarks concerning the Hillsborough or Hysel tragedies
• The posting of images or links that are indecent/pornographic, graphically violent/disturbing or otherwise in very poor taste (the ‘NSFW’ test)

Offensive posts will be deleted and the members responsible for them will be immediately suspended and may face a permanent ban. In addition, supporters of other clubs, members of other football forums and general trolls who join this forum for the purpose of winding up our members face an immediate and permanent ban. Note however that supporters of other teams are welcome provided that they are here to engage in football discussion and/or a bit of light hearted and good natured banter.
Permanently banned members who return to the forum under an alias will have all known accounts deleted and will have their IP address blocked.

Members who are unable to abide by the forum rules and practice self moderation may be temporarily suspended or permanently banned at the discretion of the moderators

An Important Caveat

In order to fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities, the moderators reserve the right to depart from any of the above guidelines as special circumstances dictate. However, such deviations will be rare and explanations will be provided to the relevant poster(s).

Moderating Decisions

Decisions made by the moderating team are done in good faith, with the best interests of the board as a whole at heart and in as even-handed a way as possible.  In light of past difficulties, however, please make note of the following policies:

• Should a member wish to inquire about a decision made by a moderator, they are invited to PM the moderator(s) in question to discuss the issue
• Aggressive or abusive inquiries, however, will not be tolerated
• Responses to inquiries will be reserved for those members directly affected by the decision

Extensive public discussions of moderating decisions will be discouraged. In the past, such discussions have served little purpose other than to derail threads, rehash old grievances and rekindle dormant flame wars. Members are reminded that this board exists first and foremost to discuss football and to share interesting perspectives on the wider world; persistent forum politicking advances neither of these aims and will be shut down. However, broader discussion about the functioning of the forum is acceptable when it is put forward in good faith and when it is not tied to a particular moderating decision.

Spamming

Excessive, repeated or otherwise disruptive spamming of the forum will not be tolerated. Spamming includes, but is not limited to:
• Off-topic posts in a particular thread
• Excessive use of one-line posts, smileys or images, disrupting the flow of threads
• The creation of new threads for topics already being discussed
• The bumping of old threads and polls without adding relevant new comments
• Posts that advertise products, services or other websites
• Posts that seek to sell match tickets for profit (touting)
• Posts or threads that focus excessive attention on board politics in order to air personal grievances (i.e. axe-grinding posts/threads)

The moderators reserve the right to delete spam posts, lock or delete spam threads and issue warnings or suspensions to members guilty of excessive spamming.

Avatars and Signatures

Members should use discretion in choosing their avatars and signatures and should note the following:

• Offensive or ‘NSFW’ (not safe for work ) avatars and sigs are not allowed
• Avatars and signatures specifically designed to insult or wind-up fellow members are also forbidden
• Links to third party websites are not allowed in member signatures and/or in posts if they are obviously advertisements
• There is no limit to signature size although forum etiquette suggests that they should be no larger than approximately 700 x 200 pixels (if horizontal scroll bars appear on the browser as a result of a sig, it’s too big)

Members will be asked to remove offensive or abusive avatars and sigs and failure to comply promptly will result in a warning and ultimately a suspension of posting privileges.

General Posting Tips

• The most important rule to remember is to have a think before you post: read around at first, familiarise yourself with the forum, its rules, its customs, its do’s and don’ts before plunging in

The S*n
• Please refrain from posting quotes from, and links to, The S*n newspaper (if you don't know why, proceed directly to the portion of the forum devoted to Hillsborough and get reading!!!)
• Posting quotes from, and links to, The News of the World is also not advised, due to its close affiliation with The S*n

New Threads
• If you are thinking of starting a new thread you should first read some recent, already active threads to see if your point can be made in an existing thread
• If you still wish to start a new thread please take some time to think your point out and try to put a bit of effort into it
• Threads started with one sentence questions, with cut-and-paste news items or with points that do not offer an opinion or a suitable platform for debate will be deleted
• Threads should be made in the appropriate, relevant forum and off topic threads will be moved by the moderators to more appropriate forums
• In the event that multiple threads on the same topic appear, the moderators reserve the right to merge the two threads or to close one of the threads to keep discussion from fragmenting
• Which thread remains open will primarily depend on which appeared first and/or which is generating the most discussion
• The moderators urge posters not to take thread mergers or closures personally: keeping the board tidy and discussion focused is our primary concern

Quoting Other Posts
• Posters should try to avoid the ‘Russian Doll Effect’ that occurs when a large, unwieldy white box containing quotations from previous posts accumulates over a sequence of posts
• Posters who wish to refer to a single, previous post should quote only that post and should delete earlier posts from their response before posting it
• Posts or portions of posts may be edited or deleted at the discretion of the mods in order to counteract the 'Russian Doll Effect'
• For clarification and assistance please contact a moderator or any board veteran
• Posters should also avoid quoting abusive, obscene or otherwise inappropriate posts in their own posts in order to prevent giving such posts greater publicity than their content merits
• The moderators may choose to edit or delete entire posts or portions of posts that quote inappropriate content in the interests of the board as a whole

Crediting Sources
• When borrowing words and ideas from other members on this or other boards, it is considered good etiquette to give credit to the original author in your post
• When posting whole news items or excerpts from online media outlets please provide a link to the original article somewhere in your post

Multiple Accounts
• Whilst often created for a bit of fun, multiple accounts activated by one member are sometimes used for more negative purposes
• As such, multiple accounts will not be permitted, apart from exceptional and generally temporary situations such as log in problems, forgotten passwords etc. (please inform the mods in these cases)
• Except in rare circumstances, individuals found to be maintaining multiple accounts will be asked to retire their alter egos
• Members found to be using multiple accounts to circumvent forum regulations may have their original account suspended at the discretion of the moderators


An Important Disclaimer

Please remember that the moderators and the board administrator are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this message board. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by the reporting links posted on every message. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this message board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this message board.

The Liverpool FC Discussion Forum is a public system and as such the Liverpool FC Discussion Forum takes no responsibility for the views expressed in messages posted to any discussion.

Any views expressed are those of individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Liverpool FC Discussion Forum.

Use of the Discussion Forum is to be in all respects in accordance with the Forum Rules and in using the Forum you agree to be bound by those Rules. 

Entire discussions will be removed only when they cease to be relevant.

Finally, enjoy the forum.

Thanks.

http://www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk staff