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Trek BBS Rules
 
Welcome to the Trek BBS! The Trek BBS is here to provide the best place for Star Trek fans to discuss the show with other fans. With all large communities it is necessary for all members of the Trek BBS to follow a number of rules. This document lists the rules you will be expected to follow while a member of this community. Continuing to post on the BBS signifies your acceptance of these rules and your consent to follow them. You should also read the board FAQ in addition to these rules.

Things You Can Do

As long as you don't violate the rules below, you're welcome to discuss any topic that you like - there's an appropriate forum for every topic that you could think of. As there's sometimes a bit of confusion over certain kinds of topics, here are a few notes on these:

TypeComments
Multiple ThreadsThere are many registered members on this board. If everyone who wanted to comment on the latest episode had to do so in one thread, no one would be able to access this thread anymore. The amount of threads on a certain topic is regulated by supply and demand, and multiple threads on the same subject will only be closed if they really are absolutely identical to another thread.
Show CriticismIt's fine to say a certain aspect of Star Trek is bad, as long as you don't insult the people who think otherwise, and as long as you actually back up what you say. Jumping in and shouting "Kirk sucks!" is not an acceptable form of constructive criticism.

Things You Cannot Do

Most of the things that you cannot do on the board are pretty obvious. However, on a board this size, it is inevitable that mistakes will happen. For reference, here is a list of the things you cannot do, together with notes on what will happen if you do it anyway.

TypeDefinitionEffects
Account SharingYou should not give out your password to anyone, or allow your member account to be used by another member. You should also not post any messages on behalf of another member.The moderator may decide to edit out the content.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Adult ContentIn order to protect those posters who are minors, you cannot post NC-17 or R-Rated material anywhere on the BBS, or link to such material.The material that you posted will be edited out by a moderator.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

FlamesObviously, you cannot insult other people. You may disagree with someone's opinion, but you may not attack the person themselves for posting that opinion. Don't respond to a flame with a flame. You cannot flame people and then claim to have been just defending yourself. If you have a complaint, notify a moderator rather than responding yourself.The flame that you posted may be edited out by a moderator.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Illegal ContentYou can't post material that contains death threats, or invades a person's privacy, or is posted without permission of the owner. Obviously. Illegal content cannot be posted anywhere on the BBS.Don't expect any moderators to be lenient over this. Your material will be edited out, and the moderator may decide to give you a warning - depending on the severity of what you posted, you may even get two.
ImagesWhen posting images, please make sure you do not post more than 50-60kb worth of photos, as a courtesy to those with slower connections. Also, you should only include an inline images from web space that you own, or with the permission from the web master on which the image is located to avoid what results in costly bandwidth theft to the originating site owner. Instead, please post a link to the image.If you do post images you don't have the right to, or if they are too large, the moderator may replace the actual image with a link.

If you persist, the moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Intellectual PropertyAs a fan site for a television show, intellectual property is an important topic for us. We cannot legally or morally condone tape-trading in episodes or downloading episodes online, and do not allow discussions on this matter. Any other copyright violations will also not be allowed.The content you posted will be edited out.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Multiple AccountsIn order to prevent abuse, you may register only one user name at the Trek BBS. Should you want to change to a different user name, email an admin and they will lock your old account.If you are posting with a second account, the second account will be closed. The moderator may decide to give you a warning, and any warnings you received while posting with the second account will be added to your own account.
PrivacyOn the internet, a person's privacy is very valuable. Unless a poster has made it clear they don't mind, you can't post any details of their real-life identity on the board. You also cannot post material such as chat logs, emails, private messages or messages from other message boards - without the consent of all involved parties.The material you posted may be edited out.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

SpammingYou can't post the same thing multiple times on the board, or post the same thing over and over in a certain thread or forum, or continuously make posts that have no real content or relevance to what is being discussed. Spamming can even just be posting too much - as a general rule, don't post more than two or three threads in a forum within a reasonable length of time. Do not post more than twice in a row in the same thread. If you need to answer more than one person in the thread, please use the quote function.The extra threads that you posted may be deleted or locked by the moderator.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

SpoilersWhile many people want to discuss upcoming episodes, there's also a sizable group of people who don't want to know details about an episode before it airs. Until an episode has aired in the United States, do not post plot info in the subject title of your thread, but only include things like the episode title and very general information. You can, for instance, ask about the "romance plot in [episode name]," but not about "the Janeway/Chakotay kiss in [episode name]." If you want to discuss plot details, include a warning that the post may contain spoilers and several blank lines before the post as a courtesy to other users.The moderator may edit out spoilers from the thread title and add a spoiler warning. The moderator may edit spoiler space.

If you persist, the moderator may decide to give you a warning.

TrollingTrolling is an internet term that means you're not posting to actually start or participate in a good discussion, but simply to anger another member or group of members. Posting in order to bait other users, moderators or administrators will not be tolerated. The message may be edited out by the moderator.

The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Do not attempt to solicit other BBS members: posting to sell or endorse a product or web site will not be permitted.

Of course, the above doesn't mean that if you meet the definitions of any of the above infractions you will immediately get a warning. The best general guideline can be summed up in one phrase: use common sense when you post. You'll be given little sympathy if asked not to do something by a member of staff, you do it anyway, receive a warning and then complain afterwards.

Users who the board ownership believes participate on the Trek BBS to troll, irritate, upset or harm the general BBS population its staff or the board itself may have their accounts locked without prior notice or announcement in order to protect the BBS and its participants.

What Are These Warnings?

If a moderator decides to give you a warning, they will mention this in the thread in question. It will also be recorded in the special warning utility. In addition to mentioning that you received a warning, the moderator will also explain why they did this. Finally, they will include a link to the "Moderator Actions" forum, where this warning can be discussed. The warning, and indeed any kind of administrative action, should only ever be discussed in this forum - otherwise threads would immediately get off-topic and it would not be possible to talk about the original discussion topic anymore.

Warnings are not bans. They are, as the name suggests, a warning that the conduct you displayed in a post is not acceptable under the board rules. Warnings should never be given out in order to ban a user, and more than one should never be issued for the same offense. You need to be warned twice - commit two infractions against the board rules - before you will be banned.

Here is what will happen to you if you have reached a certain number of warnings within a certain amount of time:

NumberTimeConsequences
2 WarningsWithin one weekYou will be banned for one day.
4 WarningsWithin one monthYou will be banned for one week.
6 WarningsWithin three monthsYou will be banned for one month.

One-month bans are given out very rarely at the Trek BBS, and really mean that someone has seriously disrupted the atmosphere at the BBS. When someone gets back from a one-month ban, we really expect them to be on their best behaviour. Therefore, after someone has received 6 warnings the following ban structure will apply to them for the next three months:

NumberTimeConsequences
2 WarningsWithin one monthYou will be banned for an additional week.
4 WarningsWithin three monthsYou will be banned for an additional month.

If a user reaches the end of this cycle, it will be left to the discretion of the board owners whether they will be allowed to return to participate on the forums.

You can see which users are banned - including yourself - and a record of all warnings issued on the warnings and bans utility. All warnings and bans are recorded here by the members of staff who issue them.

Private Messages

Private Messages are just that - PRIVATE. As a result, they are not moderated in the same manner as posts made on the board. Users are expected to manage the feature themselves, making use of the DELETE function to get rid of offensive content. If a user persistently abuses you via PM, don't read any more of the messages they send you.

Please note that some of the staff here does have access to PMs. While we not read them in the normal course of BBS daily life, we reserve the right to examine private messages should we feel a sufficient need to ensure the smooth running and operation of the board. As a result, passing extremely sensitive material through the board PM system happens at your own risk.

Users who abuse the system, including spamming other users and sending offensive content, may find themselves issued a warning and their ability to use the function disabled.

Avatars

The same rules that apply to posts on the BBS apply to avatars. If you use an offensive or otherwise inappropriate avatar, you may be issued a warning. If you do not alter an avatar at the request of a member of staff, the avatar will be edited out from your profile.

Who are these moderators and admins?

There are two groups of people on this board who have been so kind as to spend some of their time to keep the atmosphere on the BBS friendly. Here's a short overview of who they are:

TypeDescription
ModeratorsEach forum is assigned one or more moderators. Their names are listed on the front page, under each forum description, and appear in green when they post. In addition, their names are listed at the bottom of the thread list and the threads within their forum, which you may click to view their profiles.

Moderators are the primary group of people responsible for maintaining the atmosphere in one forum. If you have a problem with something that is going on in the forum, please email one or all of the moderators of that forum. Moderators are only able to give warnings, close threads or move threads from the forum they are assigned to.

AdminsThere are four admins at the Trek BBS. They are the four moderators of the "Questions, Suggestions & Feedback" forum, and the legend under their name says 'Administrator' and their names are shown in yellow when they post. The admin staff is refreshed every month, when the administrator who has been on the staff the longest is rotated out and one of the moderators is asked to join the admin staff for a four-month period. After being off the admin staff for a month, moderators may be asked again to become an administrator.

Administrators function as troubleshooters, helping to maintain the atmosphere in a forum when that forum's moderators aren't there. Administrators are able to give warnings, close threads and move threads in all forums. In addition, administrators implement bans when members have reached the required number of warnings.

The OwnersThe Trek BBS is part of the Trek Nation, which is owned and run by three people. Lisa is in charge of running and maintaining the Trek BBS. She decides what makes up the board rules and who is asked as administrator or moderator. She also serve as an administrator, but she's mostly involved in setting the overall course of the BBS, and thus questions and complaints about individual moderator actions should be taken up with the moderators in question or in the Moderator Actions forum. You might also encounter CharlesCapps. Charles looks after the server the BBS lives on, as well as maintaining the board software.

What can you do to improve the board?

Firstly, of course, you should just contribute your thoughts to the discussions and follow the rules outlined above.

Secondly, however, it's very important to never allow yourself to be baited by someone on the board who is breaking the rules. If you see someone in a forum who is flaming, or trolling, or spamming, or is posting under a dual user name, etc. etc., please do not respond to that on the board itself. This will only lead to a flame war or will drag the entire thread off-topic. Instead, please send an email to the appropriate moderators. Again, it is very important that you do not respond in the same way as someone breaking the rules - even if you are flamed, you should not flame someone back in return, and doing so may result in a warning.

Thirdly, we're always open to new ideas. If you think a new feature should be implemented on the Trek BBS, or indeed if you have any suggestions for sites such as Trek Nation and TrekToday, please post them in the Questions, Suggestions & Feedback forum. Fourthly, there are a number of rules of etiquette that we will not actively enforce, but that we would recommend you follow in order to keep discussions flowing well:

  • Credit the people you quote. Especially in longer threads, keeping track of who said what can be extremely difficult if random quotes are taken.

  • When referring to a member, please write their nick in Bold. You can do this by inserting their name between the UBB-code for bold text, [b]like this[/b]. A full list of UBB codes can be found here.

  • When starting a new thread, keep the title short. Long titles often cause the posts in that topic to go over the page - especially at lower resolutions.

  • When quoting another poster please don't quote the whole of another message, but only the relevant parts. As a general rule, posts should contain at least 70% original material.

Finally, we would very strongly suggest that you read through the Mannerly Art of Disagreement Guide written for the Alt.StarTrek.Creative newsgroup.

Special Forums

While most of the forums at the Trek BBS are fairly self-explanatory, below are a few forums that you may need to know something more about:

Announcements Changes to the board policy or important news concerning the Trek BBS are announced here. Discussion of announcements in this forum can take place either in the Moderator Actions forum or in the Questions, Suggestions & Feedback forum where appropriate.
Web Sites/DesignYou can use this forum to announce your new web site and to talk about web site creation. Please note that if you post to advertise your site in another forum, this may be considered spamming, and your thread may be moved to the Web Sites forum and deleted from the forum you originally posted it in.
Fan Fiction / Trek ArtIn these two forums you may post your own creations based on the Trek universe. Please note that while you may post R-rated material, you should indicate so in the thread subject. Also, if you actively post in this forum please re-read the section on "Intellectual Property" above - it is very important that you not post other people's work in these forums.
MiscellaneousMiscellanious is our community off topic forum. If you'd like to get to know the other posters on the BBS, or discuss the world outside Trek we have a place for you to do that!

Misc handles the community based threads. Post here to have fun, but do try to ensure that your post has some layer of meaningful input behind it. More frivilous threads, such as game threads and chat-like are more suited to the lounges. If they occur in misc, they may be closed or moved by the moderators.

Likewise threads on hot topics and contentious issues are more suitable for the Neutral Zone and may be closed or moved.

The Neutral ZoneThe Neutral Zone is a forum for serious debate.

This is the section of the BBS intended for the discussion of contentious issues and hot topics, such as life, religion and morals, politics, philosophy, and major world news.

The aim of the forum is to be full of lively, entertaining, and, above all, intelligent and thought-provoking discussion. We don't want a forum where debate is drowned out by spam, abuse, or trolling.

The hot topic nature of the forum means that tempers will fray, but please remember that you are expected always to conduct yourself in a manner that is respectful to the other BBS members. Warnings will be issued if you use material that is extremely offensive or threatening. The definition of the above includes (but is not limited to) the following:

1) Flaming or trolling, regardless of the provocation. Personal attacks on other users have no place in an intelligent discussion.

2) Propagating hate speech. As with the case of insulting individuals, unwarranted attacks launched against institutions or groups of people will not be tolerated. For example, an acceptable topic might be: "I am opposed to homosexuality on the grounds of x, y, z..." An unwarranted attack would be "Gays should be killed! Who's with me??"

Sexually explicit material does not belong in TNZ. This includes pornographic images, and sexual topics not likely to be conducive to intelligent debate.

We want to ensure that TNZ is populated by people who understand that debate is the purpose of the forum, and we realise that the potential for abuse in TNZ is higher than in other forums. For that reason, you may only post in this forum once you have made 50 posts in the Trek or science fiction forums. While this might be frustrating, spending some time reading rather than jumping straight into the forum, will lead to a much better TNZ experience for all concerned.

In TNZ the board guidelines on post etiquette are particularly important: they help ensure that debate can proceed in the most user-friendly format. Please pay particular attention to them here.

Moderator ActionsIf you have questions about or disagree with a certain moderator action, you can post so here, and outline your reasons. If you provide good arguments, the moderator may decide to revise their original action. When posting in Moderator Actions, please indicate in your thread title at which mods your thread is directed.

Of course, while you may disagree with moderators, they are still human beings, and need to be treated with respect. Similarly, moderators should be courteous to members, no matter what rules they may have broken, and should also treat members with respect. In order to ensure a good atmosphere in this forum, it has a moderator who in conjunction with Lisa works to objectively judge and uphold the rules in the forum. You should respect any decision reached on an issue in this forum. If you continue to post about an issue that has been deemed resolved or closed by the administrators or the forum moderator, your posts will be locked and you may receive a warning.

Questions, Suggestions & FeedbackThis forum can be used to ask about certain board features, suggest new ones, or comment on board developments. Before doing so, please make sure you have read our list of frequently asked questions.

When making suggestions, please note that they may not always be implemented, and sometimes they may not actually be replied to. This is not because we don't listen to them - all suggestions are read, but sometimes it takes some time to discuss these amongst ourselves and decide whether they're a good idea or not. Sometimes a suggestion you made months ago could suddenly be implemented.

Officer's LoungesAt the bottom of the forum list, you will find a category called Ten Forward, which includes a set of "officer's lounges". Depending on the rank you have (and thus depending on the number of posts you have made), you can access one of the lounges and use it to chat with other users of the same rank. When you are promoted to a new Rank, you can access a different Lounge (you will need to wait 15 minutes for changes to take effect).

We're sorry, but moving back into a lounge you've left isn't possible: part of the fun is making new friends as you move up the chain.

The lounges are the best place for game threads and discussion of a light hearted, more chatty nature.

More on rank can be found in our list of frequently asked questions.

Please Note

Please note that the board ownership retains the right to suspend or modify these rules at any time where they deem it necessary and in the interests of the BBS.

Finally...

Thank you for registering at the Trek BBS, and have fun!


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