PLEASE READ: Common Infractions & How to Avoid Getting Them

[Hostile]

I thought I'd take a few minutes to post something about our Guidelines and explain a couple of things. I hope this will be helpful to everyone. I apologize that this will not be an open thread. This is not posted so that someone can debate with us the merits of our Guidelines. We are not going to change them. They work. If someone wants to discuss any of the Guidelines here we have always had this invitation in the intro to our Guidelines.

The Guidelines and how we enforce them are not open to public discussion. If you question or disagree with the policies please feel free to send a private message to any of the Staff members to discuss it privately. We may not agree with your concerns, but we will respect your right to discuss what you disagree with, as long as it does not disrupt this site, and is done with mutual respect. If you cannot accept the following Guidelines, please logout or avoid posting on this site.

That invitation stands.

By far the most common infraction given out is for bad language. Here is the Guideline. I am going to bold the part that catches almost everyone.

Offensive language will not be tolerated on this site. This includes but is not limited to circumventing the language filter. This means misspelling a word to get around the filter will not be tolerated. You should be able to express your opinions without using vulgar language. If you cannot express yourself without being vulgar this site is not for you. Before you post anything, it is in your best interest to read it back to yourself, and wonder if there will be an issue with it. If you are not sure, do NOT post the content you are not sure of. Violating this guideline may result in your post being edited or deleted and/or your account being suspended or banned.

Let's pretend the word asterick was a bad word and we put it in the filter. None of these would work.

@sterick
a$terick
aster!ck
a******k
Nor any other spelling variation to try and mask the word or hide it.

In the plainest way I can say it, we do not want you to try and sneak the word in. If we didn't care, we wouldn't filter the word. Spell the word out with the correct spelling and let the filter do its job. Creating new ways to spell a word so that it sneaks into your post are not good and will earn an infraction. No exceptions.

I cannot emphasize this enough, posting pictures, URL links, or videos with foul language, nudity, and other things not allowed in this forum will really going to get you in trouble here. That is why some websites such as one social networking website are filtered here. We are not telling anyone not to visit sites with adult content or language. Just please do not post that stuff here.

The next most common infraction is when things get too personal between posters and it devolves into insults. Here is the Guideline.

Personal attacks or insults directed at other members of this site are not allowed. Name-calling and commentary about another user's family, intelligence, etc. may all be considered personal in nature. We understand that some good-natured ribbing will occur. If this good-natured ribbing starts to become personal we will step in and put a stop to it. Discretion on when something becomes too personal is entirely up to the Staff with one notable exception; if you feel someone is becoming too personal with you, report this to a member of the Staff. Under no circumstances should you retaliate in kind. This cannot be stressed enough. We will NOT care who started it. Violating this guideline may result in your post being deleted and/or your account being suspended or banned.

Now this one is sometimes a bit tricky. Some people really are idiots, or say something idiotic. Posting something to show the idea is idiotic is acceptable. Calling that poster an idiot is not.

Another Guideline that people mistakenly break is animated images in their avatars or sig line. This includes our smilies. I happen to love this smilie.

:trophy:

It is not acceptable in the sig line even though it is funny. Animated images are fine in posts. Not in sig lines.

I want to make sure and let you know what we consider to be the most egregious infraction.

Publicly posting messages attacking, questioning, ridiculing, or insulting the Moderators, or the governing of this site itself is not allowed. If you have issues with a particular Moderator please contact another member of the Staff and express your concerns. Publicly posting or discussing private messages sent to or received from a Moderator, is not allowed. In other words, do not announce that you've been warned or given an infraction. Do not invite a member of the staff to ban you, either publicly or in a Private Message. Your request will be most likely be honored. Violating this Guideline will result in your post being deleted and/or your account being suspended or banned.

Breaking this one almost always leads to a suspension. It has led to outright bans.

I cannot stress this enough, we do not enjoy banning anyone. You have probably noticed we do give some people second and even third chances.

The absolute worst thing we ever allowed happened on our previous website. A handful of members publicly questioned and ridiculed the staff at every turn. Every decision made was publicly questioned. The staff was stalked in thread after thread and time after time turned the other cheek. That error in judgment on our part ended with this site. At no time is it okay for the Guidelines, how we enforce them, or the actions of this staff to be publicly questioned. Take it to PMs.

If you believe this staff of volunteer Moderators is perfect, then you are out of your minds. We are human and we do make mistakes. Governing a site this big is crazy hard sometimes. We do everything in our power to be fair. Mocking the Guidelines or the staff is out of line.

When you receive a warning or an infraction, please go look at the Guidelines about that infraction. Sometimes we even include them in the infraction. How you respond to that infraction is entirely up to you. Respond with insults and you are probably going to get a suspension. I banned a Broncos troll just last week who apparently felt I would allow him to hurl insults at me via PM. I would have been content to let the rest of keep on making him look like an idiot. You did a great job of it. He wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Over nothing.

I say this all the time. I am going to bold it for emphasis.

On the site in threads we are not Moderators. We are Dallas Cowboys fans sharing our opinions. If you cannot handle a member of this staff disagreeing with your opinions without making comments about our jobs here then this site is probably not for you.

Newsflash, one reason the people selected as Mods are chosen is they have strong opinions and express them. It does not matter if they agree or disagree with a member of the staff. I promise you we do not agree on every subject. Disagreements do not lead to us imploding as a staff or not getting along. If we can do it, you can do it.

We Moderate in private via PMs 99% of the time. Occasionally we step into a thread and ask for decorum. That is rare.

Please respect the Guidelines here. Take the time to read them. If you have questions, ask. Via PMs please.