What are good rules to use on a forum?

What are good rules to use on a forum?

www.Rappinlounge.com/lounge3 thats a link to my forums. Are the rules there good?

This entirely depends on what rules you want for your forum and what image you want to create for your forum. It is vitally important that when considering yrou forums and how you want them to appear, that you remember the following "perception is reality".

It is not what you think your forums are that matters... it is what others think your forums are!! If you are really serious about your site and your membership, them you should always consider things from the way they appear to your members, from their perspective.

However, the site is yours and the rules are yours to set up as you wish. Think carefully about these...

It can in at least some cases also be about how you define the vision for your forum, though.

I have a couple of overriding principles for my psychology forum and these are (I hope) laid out clearly in the "Welcome/Information" forums and in the forum rules: http://www.psychlinks.ca/phpbb/rules.php

The link is broken Minstrel.

Doh! Fixed now... should have been a period instead of a slash before the "php".

Rule number one is to rule yourself properly. :eek:

I am talking about administrators that appoint moderators before they really know the moderator, administrators that jump to bias conclusions on new members before they get to know them.

Administrators that do not understand their own membership or even the moderators they have on board that may change the direction of the forum under their nose without knowledge of the administrators by creating bands of members that end up controlling the forums direction instead of management.

Way to many administrators let the members dictate to them out of fear of losing members.

I say that if a member or two are not a fit for the forum just ask them to leave (move on to a forum that suits them better) instead of an outright ban.

If something or someone is hurting the forum, don't just sit back and let it go on, take action before the forum is destroyed.

It can in at least some cases also be about how you define the vision for your forum, though.

I have a couple of overriding principles for my psychology forum and these are (I hope) laid out clearly in the "Welcome/Information" forums and in the forum rules: http://www.psychlinks.ca/phpbb/rules.php

I wonder if we were separated at birth or something :eek: . My rules are quite similar.
http://hfboards.com/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_hf_rules

....but we were supposed to be brothers :o :wave:

Now you guys both know why I can't join either forum :p :p

This is the posted summary of the rulkes on my board.

* Don't be a jerk.
* Keep a working e-mail address that doesn't block mail from cyburbia.org.
* Don't share user accounts or create sockpuppet accounts.
* Don't spam, troll, try to convert non-believers, or post illegal content.
* Don't make ad hominem attacks; flame ideas, not people.
* Avoid post padding and low-content posts.
* Avoid offensive and NSFW posts, images, links and user profile fields.
* Don't steal bandwidth by hotlinking images from sites that don't allow it.
* Don't maliciously hack the board or the site.
* Respect copyright and intellectual property rights.

Because we're planners, we tend to obsess over details, so the actual rules (http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14714) are quite a bit longer. Despite the number, they're organized very logically, and in plain English. We're just trying to cover for most things that might happen, justify most moderator actions, and provide some legitimacy for a form of communication that many planners don't take as seriously as mailing lists.

Hey man, I break all those rules but two :mad:

Can you ban my IP before I join :confused: :o :wave:

One rule to remember - your the boss - the rules are subject to change or arbitrary application. You dont 'have' to have a specific broken rule to remove a disruptive member. Its your site, run it as you choose. Although, I recommend you be lienient and excessively reasonable.

You dont 'have' to have a specific broken rule to remove a disruptive member. Its your site, run it as you choose.
Excellent point.

I just deactivated a new member this evening. He hadn't quite got to the point where he had broken a rule but he had certainly tested the fences for voltage and it was clear to me where it was all going. Frankly, I didn't want to waste the time or energy monitoring his posts until that happened. I just emailed him to say I wasn't happy with the fit and suggested he might find another forum more compatible with his viewpoints and style.

Boot the jerks quickly is the best policy before they ruin the forum!

I hate it when administrators make me do the job they never did, when I end up constantly attacking idiots on their boards! :eek:

We are a sports board actually quite a small niche inside a big sports board industry, we are a fan site of a cricket team. Anyways for that reason alone we had to have our rules drafted by a lawyer and do not regret it one bit, he charged a bit but it gave us a big comprehensive ground to what we can do and what we cannot. If you are serious about your community and have regular trolls I suggest you do the same.

ive pretty much compiled a set of rules and i use them in all the forums listed in my signature..

http://www.torontostreetracing.com/online/rules.php

these are the categories

Signatures
..:: POINT SYSTEM ::..
Personal Attacks
WTB (want to buy)
Trolling
Threats
Sponsor Bashing
Spamming
Racism
Controversial Topics
Commercial Posters
Classifieds


in all fairness. I instruct my mods to be very strict on my one site, 6000+ members and a bit more leniant on the smaller ones. But, anythings XXX on 2 of the sites is a NONO regardless... but youll get an idea of what ive done.. feel free to adjust and make yours.

One rule to remember - your the boss - the rules are subject to change or arbitrary application. You dont 'have' to have a specific broken rule to remove a disruptive member. Its your site, run it as you choose. Although, I recommend you be lienient and excessively reasonable.

Agree totally with Joey.

We have a 3 warning level status:

1) First Warning
2) Second Warning (Ban for seven days)
3) Third Warning (Permanent Ban)

Our forum rules - http://forum.cricketweb.net/showthread.php?t=6154