The Vancouver Southsiders Board Rules

piltdownman

Vancouver Southsiders Board Rules

The Vancouver Southsiders Message Boards are a public forum and, while we encourage a free flow of information and ideas on the boards, we also ask that you follow a few basic rules. By using or participating on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards, you agree to the Rules of Conduct as stated below, as well as the Vancouver Southsiders Charter and Vancouver Southsiders Bylaws.

Moderation

The Vancouver Southsiders Message Boards are a moderated forum. However, the moderators cannot be everywhere and see everything. Because of this, please use these rules as a guideline as to what is and is not allowed, rather than the content of other users posts. If you see something that is against the Board Rules, please report it by flagging it or posting to the Contact Moderators Thread. Note that the moderators have the final say-so in any situation that you report to the Contact Moderators thread. They will evaluate the situation on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action where needed. If you feel a moderator did not handle the situation, please contact the Vancouver Southsiders Ombudsman.

What Is A Moderator?

A Moderator is a volunteer chosen by the Vancouver Southsiders Board of Directors from among the userbase who gives of his/her valuable time to help keep the boards a fun place for everyone. They try hard to be fair but cannot be everywhere. Because of this, please use these rules as a guideline as to what is and is not allowed, rather than the content of other users posts. If you see something that is against the Board Rules, please report it to the Contact Moderators Thread. Note that the moderators have the final say-so in any situation that you report to the Contact Moderators thread. They will evaluate the situation on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action where needed. If you have an issue or question about a moderator, moderation, ban or the board rules, please email the  Vancouver Southsiders Ombudsman.

What Do Moderators Do?

Moderators monitor board posts and respond to complaints to keep posting free of undesirable content as described in the Board Rules , Vancouver Southsiders Charter and Vancouver Southsiders Bylaws. They enforce the board rules, and can delete posts, edit posts as well as remove any user's ability to visit the boards. Please respect and adhere to moderators warnings, both public and private. Likewise, if your thread was deleted or locked by a moderator, do not repost or unlock the topic. They deserve respect and appreciation for their time.

 

Bans

If you log onto the Vancouver Southsiders message boards and receive a message that you have been banned, please submit an unban request and wait for an Vancouver Southsiders Board Moderator to get in touch with you. Bans are private matters between the Moderators and person banned and will not be discussed publicly or through third parties. It is not acceptable to return to the boards under another username. If you do, your ban time may be extended. 

 

What If I Disagree With A Moderator?

Moderators are not perfect and are only human. Disagreements occur. Try to communicate with them first on a respectful level and settle your disagreement. They are not targets for your obscenities, flames or general insults. If you do not agree with a decision, you are not entitled to start a thread arguing about the verdict or flaming any of the moderators. Any such messages will be removed. This extends to Private Messages and unban requests as well, and you are not entitled to insult moderators via either of these methods. Also note that bans are between the user banned and the moderators, and moderators cannot respond about bans publicly. Any correspondence about ban length and reason will be handled through unban requests.

If you feel a verdict or ban was unfair, please contact the Vancouver Southsiders Board Ombudsman before anything else and he will work with you regarding your situation.

piltdownman

Following are some things you'll want to keep in mind while posting on the Vancouver Southsiders Message Boards. Please read the rules so you will be familiar with them:

Flaming & Bashing

Hate posts and personal attacks against other forum users or members of the Whitecaps playing, managment or office staff will not be tolerated on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards. Treat others on these message boards as you would expect them to treat you. Talking trash about another user or posting topics specifically to provoke a negative response from an individual, a group or an entire community is not acceptable on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards. These posts will be deleted and will result in a ban.

Board bashing is also not allowed on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards. Please respect the various communities on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards system. If another board is not your favorite, there's no need to complain about it. Simply refrain from visiting it. Board bashing posts will be deleted.

 

Pornography & Sexually Explicit Content

Absolutely no forms of pornography or overly sexually suggestive imagery are allowed on the boards, this includes links and/or posting a name of a porn site. Please see these guidelines for more detailed information on what is acceptable to post. Note that pornography is not limited to images - descriptive sexually explicit posting is also not allowed on the boards. This includes describing sexual acts in a profane manner or using sexual slang terms for body parts or actions not related to a member of the oposite team's WAGs. We allow mature discussions of sexuality, but the boards are not your bedroom, local bar, porn shop or back alley. Please keep all discussions on this subject mature and use proper terms.

 

Pedophilia

Content that in any way depicts or implies sexually explicit/suggestive/provocative/nude imagery of seemingly underage persons (under 18 years of age) is not allowed at the boards for any reason. Violators will be permanently banned and their accounts will be terminated. This includes but is not limited to all images, "friends" pictures or pictures taking from social networking sites, school sites, any joke-style images, written stories, jokes or remarks.. Any hint of pedophilia or related content will be dealt with harshly with the added possibility of Vancouver Southsiders contacting your ISP and local authorities. Also note all these types of content can be subjective and Vancouver Southsiders holds the right to make a judgment on what can fall under pedophilia related content. When in doubt -- leave it out.

 

Other Explicit Content

Explicit images/videos, which include but not limited to death scenes, death pictures, torture, mutilation and human feces, are not allowed. Explicit written descriptions of these acts is also not allowed on the boards.

piltdownman

Trolling

We are all entitled to our opinions and that may included negative opinions about a team's form/managment/anything else, but if you are knowingly or purposely posting to incite anger/negativity on the board or from the community, you will be banned for trolling. These boards are meant for meaningful discussions and debates, not a place for you to start trouble. Be mindful that many of our players and their families read our boards so if you are going to say something negative about one of our own players ensure that it is constructive and to the point and not personal. 

 

Profanity

Excessive offensive language is unacceptable. While the forum is NOT language moderated, there are limits. Remember, you don't have to use excessive profanity to get your point across, and it's usually better to avoid it altogether. Excessive  profanity in posts may  be edited out, and repeat offenders or those who use excessive profanity will be warned and then banned. In particular, be careful when quoting outside sources or other users as you are responsible for your own post and everything inside it. When linking to external sites that contain profanity, please include a warning.

Note that as thread titles are more visible than thread content, they are held to a higher standard. Vulgar, obscene, sexual terms, slang terms for body parts, etc. that might otherwise be allowed on the boards should not be used in thread titles.

 

Criminal Activity

No discussions of illegal activity will be tolerated on the boards. Any instruction on how to carry out illegal activity or admission of illegal activity will be dealt with harshly. This includes but is not limited to discussions about how to obtain drugs illegally, how to steal, fraud, how to kill someone, rape (including statutory rape), abuse of humans or animals, and auto theft. To sum up, if it's against the law, don't post it ... take it to facebook.

 

Spam

Purposely spamming a message board with senseless, vacuous, or empty messages is highly frowned upon! This includes such things as party posts, chain letters, two-word "I agree" or "me too" responses, merely posting an icon, one word replies, bumping old topics, +1, "didn't read" or "old", continually posting the same topic or post, posting the same question across several boards and using the Quote feature without contributing anything new to a thread.

On a similar note, participating in spam attacks (post riots, etc.) on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards or planning a spam attack on the Vancouver Southsiders Message Boards or any other Website is unacceptable, and these actions will be reported to your ISP.

 

Circumventing a Ban

Creating an alternate username and logging into the boards to continue to post will result in added ban time to your original banned account and the new username will be permanently banned.

piltdownman

Posting "Real Life" Information

Posting any real life information about another user/person is strictly prohibited. This includes such things as full names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Purposely posting links to users social networking pages, websites, school, etc. for the sole purpose of harassment will be severely dealt with and can result in a permanent ban.  The one exception is if this information is about an player or public figure from another team for the use of match day  banter.

 

Racism/Hate

Vancouver Southsiders will not tolerate hate speech in any form. This includes but is not limited to racist slang terms, hateful comments based on skin color or background, religious bashing or intolerance, gay bashing, sexist or misogynistic material, faith based prejudicial statements, derogatory remarks, and all poor taste jokes about these topics. Also note that using the word "gay" to describe something as stupid/lame/dumb is stupid/lame/dumb. Remember, these boards are open to all walks of life and with that comes the need to respect them all. So leave your hate at the door please.  Unless its against another team in  the league, then a little hate is encouraged.

Forum Wars

Forum wars benefit no one. We encourage intelligent discussions about the merits and flaws of each supporter group, but senseless bashing on other forums should be avoided. 

Copyrighted Material

Vancouver Southsiders board users agree not to post any material that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner(s) of said copyright, trademark or other proprietary right. This includes but is not limited to magazine, book and newspaper scans, television broadcasts and copyrighted photos and pictures.

If you wish to post an article from an online source please only include the title, source, and a single paragraph.  Also include the link to the source so people can read the entire article. 

Advertising & Solicitation

Posting for the pure purpose of driving traffic to your own website or selling a product or service is not allowed. This includes any pyramid schemes, free offers, other board systems, money making ventures, etc. These boards are not an advertising platform for you to use. Spam advertising via the Private Message system will result in immediate termination of your account. The one exception to this is links to your blog,  which are acceptable ONLY if they have been cleared by the Director of Internal Communication.  Posts to relevant blog post which you have no relation to are allowed.  Your signature may contain a link to your website, blog, or business only if they the moderators do not judge them to be an ad. Your signature may not contain a banner ad unless you are a pre-approved advertising partner.

Impersonating Other Users / Accessing Another User's Account

You may not impersonate another board member or create an account specifically for the purpose of provoking other users. Also, accessing or using someone else's account or attempting to access another poster's account is strictly prohibited. If you engage in this type of behavior, you will be barred from the boards permanently. 

 

Altering Board Code

Altering or changing Vancouver Southsiders code and/or exploiting code bugs for purposes other than what the message boards were intended to do is strictly prohibited. On a similar note, using automatic scripts on any part of Vancouver Southsiders is also not permitted. Hacking, altering board code, exploiting code bugs and using scripts are all grounds for an immediate and permanent ban. 

piltdownman

Off-Topic Posts

Please try to post suitable subjects on each of the appropriate boards. Off-topic posts will most likely be deleted or moved, and further action may be taken against repeat offenders.

Duplicate Threads

Please do not start a new thread on a subject if it already exists. Duplicate threads will be closed or deleted, and further action may be taken against repeat offenders.

Spoilers

Be considerate of the other users who may not have seen a match you're talking about, and don't give away spoilers in subject lines that everyone can read.   Any thread that contains results or scores must include a (R) in the thread title.  Spoiler posts may be deleted.

Posting Large Images

Out of respect for other southsiders, please let them know if your thread contains a number of large images. A simple **56kers Beware!** in the subject line will go a long way in helping those who are broadband-challenged or on a mobile device know not to open a thread that might take a long time to load.

  

Ticket Exchange

All ticket exchanges, either requests for tickets or offers of extra tickets should go in the ticket exchange thread.  Since this is for the Community, all offers should be not above face value. This is for the group, and the face-to-face trades are definitely encouraged; Please be clear if you NEED tickets or HAVE tickets, and for what game the tickets are for.

Vancouver Southsiders is in no way involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. These boards are only meant as a means for users to sell, trade, and buy tickets, and Vancouver Southsiders accepts no responsibility for the legality, safety, accuracy, or legitimacy of the items listed on the board. Since we cannot guarantee that a buyer or seller will complete a transaction, both parties accept full responsibility for any transactions transpiring through the Vancouver Southsiders message boards. 

Taboo Subjects

Religion, Sex and Politics can be discussed on these forums only if in a civil manner. However threads will be moderated more heavily and will be locked as soon as anyone crosses that line  Which means that these subjects should be avoided.

 

Questionable Content

Since we can't have a rule to cover everything, this is the rule to, well, cover everything. These are public boards, so act like you would if you were in a public place. Vancouver Southsiders reserves the right to choose the guidelines of objectionable content based on its knowledge of users, the Vancouver Southsiders Charter and Vancouver Southsiders Bylaws. These issues are left to the discretion of the individual moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, misleading, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, racist, sexist, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy or that otherwise violates any law or encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense.

Also note that the Board Rules extend to all areas of the Vancouver Southsiders Message Boards system, including but not limited to Private Messages, Vancouver Southsider Signatures, and Unban Requests. This also includes asking for or offering anything against the Board Rules via Private Messages.

Vancouver Southsiders is not responsible for messages posted on the Vancouver Southsiders Boards or the content therein. Unless expressly stated otherwise, this includes messages posted by Vancouver Southsiders members, board members, moderators et al. Vancouver Southsiders reserves the right to reveal the identity of or whatever information we know about any user in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by said user.

The Vancouver Southsiders  Board of Directors has the right but not the obligation to monitor and/or moderate the Vancouver Southsiders Boards. The Vancouver Southsiders  Board of Directors reserves the right to change any or all other parts of this User Agreement at its sole discretion and without notice, including but not limited to implementing Rules of Conduct, Terms of Service and/or other measures.