People seem to need a post with forum rules in order to know what to do and what not to do.
The following rules aren't that hard to get, as they are things you should've learned already.
Anyway, the rules are separated into 2 sections. A general section which applies everywhere, and a per-forum part that discusses a few rules about those forums. For instance, when posting challenges, put it in the Challenges Forum etc...
Often a sub-forum contains an "About this board"-topic that is stickied. Make sure to read such.
Rules in general: - Be friendly towards everyone. Regardless what other people say to you, I'd like to ask you to be friendly whereever possible. It will make this forum a nice place to be. :)
- Respect everyone's opinion. Everyone has the right to have their opinion. If you don't agree with someone, then it's okay to say what your opinion is as long as you repect theirs.
- Do not curse using bad words. It is not allowed to excessively curse using bad words, particularly those that are aimed towards other people. You can say "damn" or "shit" when you do something wrong etc, but not: "you are a @#$##$^#". I also don't like the extensive and usually unnecessary use of words like fuck.
- Do not provoke a conflict that could lead to cursing. Do not say something where your aim is to upset the other person. That person could get mad, and start to curse (see above point).
- Speak english where possible. Everyone should be able to understand what you are saying. If you can't avoid speaking another language, then always add an english translation. If you don't want that, then either PM the user or send an e-mail.
- Administrators and Moderators always have the final word. When it comes to a conflict between 2 members, regardless their status, an admin or moderator always has the final word.
- An Administrator can overrule a moderator. If a dispute becomes big, and a moderator says something, an admin can still overrule that if it is deemed necessary.
- Do not mention someone's postcount. Even if it's yours or anyone else's, don't. Failing to respect this can result in your postcount being altered.
- Spambots do not have the right to register or post on this forum. Their posts will be removed instantly and the user will be banned.
- Don't post about mortgages, drugs, sex or illegal stuff, mp3s (from commercial artists) included. You'd be considered to be a spambot (see above note).
- Do not follow links of spammers, do not post in their topicsJust use the report button.
- Don't post things that are obviously not suitable for children. This forum is visited by a lot of young people, so please respect that fact and don't post things that can be disturbing for children. If you post something which we can't allow in this forum out of concern for our younger visitors, your post may be altered/removed without warning.
- Do not write an ALL CAPS POSTS or ALL CAPS TITLES. All Caps is seen as shouting which is being seen as rude to many people.
- Don't post topics with nondescript titles. Topics with titles like "Help!" or "I have a noob question..." are often pretty useless. When you have a problem, give as much information about it as you can, so people know what you are talking about and give it a helpful title so that people who might have a similar problem can easily find your topic via the search.
- Don't post random things in a topic. Do not post something that is completely irrelevant to that topic. This is being seen as not caring for that person or their subject. Doing so can result in a deletion of that post without warning whatsoever.
- Don't go off-topic by posting that you noticed a change in someone's profile/avatar/signature. This is one of the most seen ways of going off-topic. If you find someone's avatar change to be great, please create a new topic in "About Nifflas' Website & Forum" or PM them.
- Don't bend to off-topic chatter too much. It can happen that someone says something that you find funny and want to comment on. This is okay, but it should not start a new discussion. Try to avoid that.
- Don't continue a discussion that went off-topic when someone tells you to stop. If someone says: "Please stay on topic", don't continue the off topic discussion. Ignoring that can lead in posts being deleted/altered by a moderator/admin.
- Don't do back-seat moderating. If you see that someone has done something that you think is against the rules, please use the "Report to moderator"-button. Sometimes people can sound somewhat unfriendly when they tell others what not to do and sometimes they're wrong. A moderator will look into it and make a decision.
- Don't edit your post to change the subject. If you started a topic, and the questions has been answered which makes the topic useless, do not alter your post even if it's the first post, so you can bend the topic. Create a new topic instead and optionally link to the current to explain your posting.
- Don't make a post in a topic that already died if you have nothing to add. If you just reply to a topic to make it active again, while not adding anything to that topic, your post will be deleted without warning. Doing it too often will result in a ban because you'll be seen as a spambot (they do that too!).
- Don't add text to your post that is unreadable on purpose (unless its part of a forumgame's rules). This includes small text (like 6 px and smaller), and different colors that match the background color. If you don't want something to be easily read, use a spoilertag. Unreadable text will be removed on sight without warning.
- Do not use formatting BCC tags that aren't necessary in a post. When you apply formatting tags, like color, bold, size, etc... be sure that it adds value to the text you're applying it to. That means, if you removed the formatting, the goal wouldn't be met anymore. Do note: adding color, and fontsize changes, and bold usually is overkill. Clarification doesn't need a lot of tags, people will read it anyways.
- Don't make your signature higher than 200px. Usually a small post (which are most) is about 100 px big. Having a signature that is way bigger makes things unnecessary large. You can use [ table ] and [ tr ] [ td ] tags to put things next to eachother so it doesn't become that large vertically. Also the spoilertag may assist you here.
- Don't edit-out moderator edits. If a moderator has edited your post, do not change anything that the moderator has added/changed. Failing to respect this can result in losing the ability to edit your own posts.
- Don't make multiple accounts. Users with more than one account will receive a warning and will have all but one account deleted on sight.
- Don't hand out your account details to anyone. If you hand out your account details to anyone and they post/send PM's/shout/etc under your name, you'll still be responsible for those actions. If you get banned for it, then note that it won't be an excuse to get you unbanned. If someone hacked you and you find out, change your password ASAP to prevent them from getting you banned. If you cannot login anymore, notify an admin to get it sorted.
- Don't post links referring to the old forum. Because it will not stay online forever, please don't add links referring to the old broken forum to your posts. If you want to "save" things that were said there, copy & paste/quote from it.
Rules about Nifflas' Website and Forum:- Keep the discussions related to this forum, the main site or issues with #niffchat. You can chat about other members, or problems you experience, but only about issues that are related to this forum. Avatar = yes, new car = no.
- Announcing your arrival, leave or return. You are allowed to announce when you first arrive, leave or come back, so don't think that this rule prevents that. Although, since these topics previously have lead to spamming, a moderator will lock the topic. This means that it is just a notification to everyone.
Rules about Forumgames:- Do not post a game that can lead to simply spamming posts. This means: Don't make a topic where the aim of that topic is to just post. It must have a game element.
- Competitions cannot be about posting alone. It's not allowed to make a competition that requires you to post a lot of posts. This is a serious waste of forum space.
Rules about Development Showcase:- Show your own creations. You can show your music, your games, your images, etc. as long as you made it and it's original. For example: you can show your website, but only if you wrote it yourself, and aren't using someone else's system.
Rules about Knytt Stories Level Editing Support:- Make sure to read the stickied topics. They contain answers to the most commonly asked questions. If they don't help you with your problem, feel free to post a new topic about it.
Rules about Knytt Stories Level Previews:- Post previews of KS levels or present an idea you have about that. You can post screenshots or a story outline here, for example. You CANNOT post a playable level here, The Knytt Stories Level Archive (http://knyttlevels.com/) is for that.
Rules about the Arcade:- Don't Cheat! Cheating in the Arcade is not tolerated. Anyone caught tampering with highscores, abusing glitches or otherwise manipulating the system will have their scores erased and/or their arcade access revoked.
For reference, I'll post the content of the Registration Agreement here:
Don't spam. Do not post illegal content. Be nice to people!
For the whole set of rules this forum has, read this topic (http://nifflas.ni2.se/forum/index.php?topic=5.0). A link to these rules can also be accessed at the top of the screen. Make sure to read them, because by using this forum, you agree that you will follow our rules in whole and not in part, and shall except any punishment for doing otherwise. Hacking, spamming, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are not tolerated on this forum.
There is also a FAQ (http://nifflas.ni2.se/forum/index.php?topic=30.0), a list of frequently asked questions. It's a very good idea to read this too.
If you have questions about the level editor of Knytt Stories, check this forum (http://nifflas.ni2.se/forum/index.php?board=36.0) and its stickies to get answers to the most commonly asked questions. Should you then still not have found the answer to a question you have, then feel free to post your question in new topic with a descriptive topic title.
We also have a [search] button on top of the forum. This can help you finding out if your question already has been answered if used properly.
Well, that's basically the list of rules. Please check this topic from time to time to see if anything changed. When a change to the rules is made, a reply to this post will be made by the person that updates the rules, and will state what was changed.
If something is not clear or missing, feel free to ask/tell Miss Paula or SiamJai by sending a PM.