2.1 The Basics

By maintaining an account and posting on the Croydon Chess Forums, you hereby agree to abide by these rules.

Breaching these rules can result in post or thread deletion, and continued breaches can result in your bulletin board account being either suspended temporarily or banned permanently.

2.2 Scope

The rules apply to all content posted on the Croydon Chess Forums, including, but not limited to:

• thread titles
• post contents (including quoting of others’ post contents)
• web links to inappropriate content on other websites (including personal pages)
• usernames and personal signatures
• email addresses

2.3 What are the Rules?

• no abuse, insults or personal attacks
• no foul language
• no trolling
• no inappropriate or illegal material
• no personal or business advertising
• no cross-posting
• no spamming
• no "religious" debates
• no defamatory or libellous comments
• no threats of legal action against another user, moderator or system administrator
• no public complaints about moderation
  • you can complain by sending a private message or email to either the moderator or to the system administrator

2.4 General Netiquette

The following general guidelines were originally adapted from Netiquette; and the One to Many Communications section of RFC 1855: Netiquette Guidelines.

• Please read and search before posting a question – it may have been answered already in either another post 
• Thread titles should be meaningful to other users, both now and in the future. Thread titles are how you make a first impression on other users. A vague or meaningless thread title may result in users deliberately ignoring your thread. Use a title that summarises your situation, without being melodramatic or insulting. Also note that meaningful thread titles make searching the forums much easier for others
• Be aware that a large audience may see your post and your words may come back to haunt you. This audience may potentially include past, present and future employers, staff at your place of study, friends, family, etc. Unlike the spoken word, your written posts will exist on the Croydon Chess Forums for a long time
• If you are responding to someone else's comments, try to include a brief quote or summary of their post, to provide context to other readers
• We prefer it if you do not post personal messages (such as personal greetings, etc) into a thread – send them an email instead
• Do not attack other people, attack their argument - and this does not mean changing "you are an idiot" into "your comments are idiotic". If you take issue with someone else's position, try to explain why you disagree with them in a polite and professional manner, providing suitable supporting evidence as required
• Do not start or perpetuate flame wars. If someone insults or attacks you, do not respond in kind – "they started it" is an incredibly lame argument when your post lands you in hot water with a moderator or the system administrator!
• Do not shout. EXCESSIVE USE OF CAPITALISATION and exclamation points!!!!! is considered shouting and shows that you are unable to adequately express yourself through the use of normal language. Small amounts of capitalisation, when used to emphasise a particular point, is considered acceptable - although please note that the board offers other ways to add emphasis, such as through the use of bold and italics in your posts
• Try to avoid making multiple consecutive posts. If you are responding to several different posts, please try to consolidate your response into one post (e.g. by copying and pasting your response between browser windows)

2.5 Zero Tolerance Policy

Our moderators may employ a policy of zero tolerance" for certain kinds user behaviour. Rules which can attract an immediate zero tolerance response are identified with the phrase: 

Breaching this rule [will / may] attract a Zero Tolerance response from the moderators.

Repeated breaches of any rule by an individual can also attract a zero tolerance response. In cases where such breaches occur, one or more of the following actions will be taken (at the moderators discretion):

• the post or thread will be removed, regardless of whether or not the rest of the post or thread is "valid"
  • note: copies of removed posts/threads are often retained by moderators in case they need to be produced as evidence at a later time
• the user's website account may be banned for a period of time, ranging from 24 hours up to a permanent ban
• if the breach is particularly serious, the club's legal counsel may be notified and further action taken

2.6 The Golden Rule

When in doubt, or when something is not quite clear, keep this one simple rule in mind:

MODERATORS RULE

They have the power to edit and delete your posts, the power to ban you, and the power to refer you to the club and its legal counsel for further action.

We respectfully suggest that if you respect the moderators, their actions and their opinions, you won’t go far wrong.