World Championship Wrestling
Plagairism
Your posts and thread topics must be your own. Don't try to take credit for other people's work. If you "borrow" a thread topic from another site, say so. No need to say what site but make members aware that the work is not your own.
Advertising Websites
Advertising websites is prohibited in posts and new threads. Anyone who makes a post JUST to advertise a website will have that website URL banned from Wrestling Forums. (To clarify, if the URL to the site is not needed and you can post the contents, don't try to force users to go to that URL.) This means that everytime you post or try to link to that website (in a post or signature), it will appear as an asterisk.
However, you may place a link to a website in your signature, providing it does not break the signature rules. If, however, a website is blocked from Wrestling Forums (as described above), you may not try to place an image or text linking to the website, and your banner or avatar may not include the URL to that website. Any user trying to bypass our system will be banned.
NOTE: This not only applies to threads and posts, but to 'Private Messages' (PMs) as well. If you PM a user or many users, and an admin is informed somehow, you are liable to be banned. If need be, an administrator may read a PM if he feels it is against this rule, or the receiver feels the admin should read the PM contents.
Spam
Spam is classified in a number of ways. It can be:
Useless posts
Reviving a dead topic (something older than a month and on page 3, for instance)
A short, uneducated reply
A reply agreeing with someone, yet posting no actual opinion
A post that breaks a rule
Those are some common spam posts. Basically, do not break a rule and do not post ignorant messages and make your posts HAVE a point. Don't start a new thread asking a question you could easily find by yourself. Don't start new threads asking others their opinion when you don't answer it yourself. Don't make new threads posting a news story (this especially goes for the wrestling and sports forums) and then having no opinion on it -- why post something you don't actually care about? You should also give a source NAME, but not necessarily a link.
NOTE: Any of the above type of posts may result in warning points. More on that below.
Double Posting
A double post is what it means: a user has posted twice in a row. To avoid this, use the edit button. Right now, if you make a double post within an HOUR (60 minutes...) the post will automatically be edited for you. Thus, if you make a reply and no one else replies for 61 minutes and you return and want to add something to your previous post, you MUST edit it as it is past the hour. Remember that -- double posting is a form of spamming (see Spamming above).
NOTE: Double posting will likely result in warning points.
Flaming
A "flame" is when you insult someone. Here at Wrestling Forums we try to have a community where you can freely express your views without too much moderation, but at the same time we do not want your views if it can offend another member. Thus, if you flame someone outside of the Rants forum, you are risking being banned. Now, we do not read EVERY single post on the forum, but we try. If a flame is nothing to do with race, sexuality, family members, or threats (such as killing) chances are it's probably not a bad insult. Flaming, especially in the Wrestling Section, will not be tolerated. Users shouldn't abuse other users just for posting an opinion. that's the whole idea of a forum - to post opinions. If you don't like it then post a valid argument as to why. No need to call a user a faggot, or tell them to fuck off and die just because you don't agree. Remember, try to keep all your "flames" in the Rants forum.
NOTE: Flames outside of the Rants forum could result in warning points.
Insulting staff
Insulting a staff member may result in a ban. Some staff members do not care if you insult him or her, but others do, so don't try to insult a staff member because you don't know what the outcome will be. It's highly discouraged to insult anyone outside of the Rants forum, both members and staff. Remember this.
NOTE: Insulting a staff member outside of the Rants forum will likely result in warning points.
Staff editing rights
Any staff member has the right to edit any post he or she feels is inappropriate (against the rules, for instance). If a moderator edits your post and you feel that it was in no way "harmful" to anyone, you should contact an administrator. (More on that below.) If you disagree with this, you shouldn't have signed up (it's on the registration page, so if you didn't read it, that's your fault).
Warnings, Infractions and Banned Users
Those who don’t follow the rules may receive a warning or an infraction. A warning is exactly that – a warning. No further action is taken and there are no infraction points added to your account. If a warning is ignored it may become an infraction if a member of staff decides.
If you receive an infraction you get infraction points added to your account. If you get 5 points you get banned. Each infraction is calculated differently and points and bannings vary depending on the offence.
Most bannings via infractions points are temp bans for a certain period, whether it be 5 days or a month. If you find you are banned do not rejoin or use another account. If we pick up on that then that account will be banned and your original banning will be extended. Those users who continue to do that will find themselves permanently banned from the forum, and their IP address may be banned as well.
Allowed images
There should be no nudity whatsoever on Wrestling Forums. Naturally, this includes any sexual content. All images from rotten.com or any website that contains any such images shall not be posted. Anyone posting these images are liable to be banned. Also, sites that are made to contain disgusting images, such as "Tubgirl," are forbidden. Anyone who posts ANY disturbing images such as the aforementioned will be banned.
SECTION: User Options
Signature limits
Most people have signatures with an image or two. This is common, so there must be some rules regarding signature size:
Image width should not be more than 500 pixels
Image height should not be more than 400 pixels
If you have an image that is 500 x 400 (width times height, in pixels), you cannot have another image in your signature
If you have an image or images that have a total of 500 x 400 (width times height, in pixels), you cannot have any lines of text in your signature
You may have two or more signature images if the height of both does not exceed 400 pixels in height
Preferred (but not required) image size: 470 x 150
Maximum file size of any combination of images: 700,000 bytes
You cannot have more than 25 lines of text in your sig if you choose to use no images
You cannot have more than 8 total lines on a drop-down menu
You cannot use an image that shows violence if it is not wrestling related in your avatar or signature.
Embedded youtube videos in your signature are not allowed
NOTE: Lines of text is based on the screen resolution of 1024 x 768, which is currently the standard size for the average user.
If your signature is within those guidelines, you should be okay.
NOTE: Nudity is not allowed in signature images.
Signature advertisements
Recently Wrestling Forums has undergone some changes. As a result, members are trying to capitalize by advertising sites as having nudity or hardcore pornographic content. This is not acceptable and all signatures relating to such cheap advertisements will be removed. If complaints, arguments, or disrespect of this rule is presented, your site and your account could be banned from Wrestling Forums. No wrestling related sites are allowed to be advertised in sigs.
Signature text
Signatures and their content is shown after each of your posts, and therefore the text must not be offensive. Like posting, it cannot involve racism, sexism, or insults towards someone's sexuality.
The amount of text you are allowed to have in a signature is not by character limit, but by size. If your signature contains no images, you can use a maximum of 25 lines (example shown above). However, with an image or images, you cannot exceed the 400 pixels limit, including the lines of text your sig includes. Each line of text is about 16 pixels in height. (Example: You have two images that take up 300 pixels in height, you would not use more than 6 lines of text.)
Avatars
Registered users may have avatars up to 125 x 125 (width times height, in pixels) with a maximum size of 35,000 bytes. Avatars with nudity, whether completely or semi-nude, or offending content (racism, offensive towards religion, criminal behavior, etc.) will be removed. Be considerate of others -- just because nudity doesn't bother you and you post in the WOW forum, that doesn't mean people outside the WOW forum want to see it.
Profile fields (IMPORTANT)
"Profile fields" are found in your User CP Edit Profile area, under "User CP." One particular problem many people have is not putting a space after their comma in the "Favorite Wrestler(s)" profile field. This is a problem because it is displayed on the left of every post you make, and if you don't have a space after the commas, then the table is stretched and the layout becomes messed up. If you do not do this, an admin will have to do this for you.
SECTION: Advertisements
Advertisements
Advertisements are on Wrestling Forums for one reason: to bring in money to cover costs for the server, hosting, forum software, and domain. Revenue collected through these advertisements are critical for the sites ongoing survival.
Advertisements Complaints
Too often there are complaints posted across various forums complaining about the advertisements, both pop-ups and banner ads or text, here on Wrestling Forums. As mentioned before, they are to maintain maintenance costs for the server, hosting, software, and domains. Before you make a thread complaining, you should try searching the forums for previous threads with complaints. Ads are easy to avoid, but we would naturally prefer you to keep them on. However, as a result of lack of participation, there are more pop-up ads. If people would actually click on the pop-up ads or ad banners, there would be less pop-ups and banner ads. Just a thought.
SECTION: Rants (forum)
Rants basic rules
The Rants forum was designed for users who need to vent at anything he or she wants to vent at or towards. You are allowed to make a "rant" about a poster or staff member but it can still be moderated by an administrator. Do be careful. Blatant abusing of staff will not be allowed. "Ranting" and "abusing" are two totally different situations. It is up to you to know when to draw the line. Some staff will tolerate it, some will not. Certain amount of respect should be shown to all staff members. If the post is completely useless and an administrator feels it is no good, he can lock the thread. Even though it is not heavily moderated compared to other sections, it is mildly moderated, and thus you should not make racial comments. Remember, being a racist can result in a ban. If you make a joke and other members do not take offense towards the joke, that is acceptable, but just remember not everyone is expected to know when you "joke." So:
You can insult any member you want
You should not bring up race
You should not insult someone's family member if he or she is not a registered user (insulting someone you don't know is a bad idea -- he or she could be sick, dying, or even dead)
You may insult nationality (to a certain degree -- i.e. don't bring up 9/11 to insult the U.S., etc.)
You may not insult sexuality
You may insult religion (to a certain degree -- i.e. don't stereotype about a religion such as Muslims)
You may not tell someone to go "kill themselves".
All debates or threads which could end up "heated" should be placed in Rants
Rants spam
Because the Rants forum does not have points enabled, spam is not that much of an issue. However, people think just because points are disabled that it is okay to post short, simple messages. This is acceptable SOMETIMES, but not constantly. If 20 per cent or more of your posts are spam posts in Rants, that is terrible and you could be given warning points for repeated spam. Thus, you SHOULD strive to make your posts, even in Rants, have meaning.
Admin rights (Rants forum)
As previously stated, just because the Rants forum is not heavily modded that does not mean it is a free-for-all. Most content is allowed (see above) but not all content is accepted. If an admin feels like a topic should be locked, then the admin will lock that topic. Super moderators have the ability to edit all forums, including Rants, but administrators are the final overseers of the Rants forum (and all other forums). Any pointless threads made in Rants will be removed.
SECTION: WOW Section
Age
Recently, Wrestling Forums has removed nudity from being posted in the WOW section. Subsequently, the entire Stories and Celebrity forums are gone, and no nudity is allowed in the Women of Wrestling forum. As such, all content posted in the WOW section is currently safe for anyone old enough to watch WWE television.
Appropriate & Inappropriate content
Appropriate (or allowed) content is as followed: WWE Divas (in its appropriate forum) clothed ONLY. (WWE television or PPV caps, photo shoots and other magazine images with the exception of nudity.) Inappropriate (not allowed) content: Female nudity (including WWE Diva Playboy images if nudity is shown), male nudity or clothed, sexual intercourse, other sexual acts, lesbian acts, and any "disgusting" type pictures (mentioned before under "Allowed Images")
Rating posts
A lot of people complain because people reply with "10/10" or "nice post" to threads with images. This IS allowed. Would you prefer to have NO replies with thousands of views, or thousands of views with some replies? Face it: The WOW section is not made for intelligent posts or conversation, so don't make it out to be that. It's spam, but it is on topic and allowed (because nothing else is expected from WOW posters, who usually stay in the WOW forums...).
Image credits
Too often I get asked by webmasters to stop hotlinking images because the user does not post a link to the source. That is why from now on, at the end of your post, you should include a link to the PAGE you got the images from.
Mods' rights
Moderators of the WOW forum help out posters a lot. If a mod closes your thread, chances are it has been posted before or the images did not hotlink (in other words, appeared as a red x). Just because YOU see the images does not mean everyone will -- you probably have it in your cache. By now, everyone should know about the [pic]URL HERE[/pic] tag. If you do not use it and use the [img] tag, a lot of times the picture does not work. So moderators often edit posts to fix this problem. If your thread has been edited because an image breaking the above rules, do not try to argue with a moderator. Likewise, do not argue with moderators or administrators if your thread has been locked -- there WAS a reason. If you have an issue with someone who locked your thread, please PM that individual. Do not just repost what was removed.
SECTION: Expected from the staff
Who is the current staff?
For a list of all administrators, super moderators, and moderators you can check out this page: Staff.
What can staff do?
Administrators have the power to do anything -- see your IP address, IP ban, appoint moderators, make new forums, edit forums, edit threads, edit users, ban users, and a whole list of other things.
Super moderators are allowed to edit, move, lock, and delete threads, as well as seeing your IP address. Super mods can also ban users.
Moderators can only edit, move, lock, and delete threads in forums they moderate, as opposed to administrators and super moderators who have control of all forums. To see what moderator moderates what forum, you can look on the index page or check the Staff page mentioned above. Some mods, but not all, also have the power to ban.
NOTE: All staff members who can ban can do so for any reason he or she wants, whether it is breaking the rules or a dislike in attitude.
Warning points
One other thing staff can do is give out warning points. Warning points, which are shown below everyone's signature, are a way to keep track of offenses a user has done, such as spamming or insulting. Once a user has reached the limit of 30 warning points, the user is automatically banned. Warning points are NOT reduced without good reason. The best way to reduce warning points if you have them is to stop getting them. (Contact an admin to see what you did to deserve them if the PM from the mod is unclear.)
When should I contact a staff member? Who should I contact?
First off, there should be a legitimate reason to contact a staff member (if it is board-related). If a moderator or admin locks your topic and the explanation in the post is not clear, you are permitted to PM him or her and ask why. Do not try to debate too much, though, as most threads are locked for a reason.
If you need help with your account, contact an ADMIN. If your account password has been forgotten and you cannot login, please click the Contact Us button (or alternatively e-mail me at Administrator Email) and I will fix your account.
What if staff abuses their rights/powers?
If you feel a staff member has abused his or her powers, you should contact Administrator via PM.
Staff who are cut
Staff members are chosen by administrators. In most cases, no reason is given as to why they were made moderator. For that same reason, a moderator may be cut from the staff for whatever reason an admin wants, and there does not have to be a reason. If the admin WANTS to give a reason, he may do so, but it is not required. If you think this is unfair, you are not forced to be a moderator, and thus if you are ever offered a spot, do not accept.
That just about covers all the rules. Rules are likely to change, but chances are if they are changed, an announcement will be made. If you feel something should be added to these rules, please PM what you think to Administrator.
* The rules were updated to reflect upon the recent changes of Wrestling Forum. Such changes include the removal of nudity, the Celebrity and Stories forums, advertising sites in sigs claiming they have nudity or hardcore pornographic content, signature file size limits, and drop-down menu limits for signatures.
Subject: Rules On Rules ! 
Sat Aug 28, 2010 5:59 pm
