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Please Read: New Site Rules

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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Please Read: GMI Updates Site Rules

Although the administrators and moderators of GM Inside News Forum will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this site, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of GM Inside News Forum, nor vBulletin Solutions, Inc. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

The owners of GM Inside News Forum reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any content item for any reason.





Please read the revised rules below to be an informed poster!
www.gminsidenews.com
July 6, 2009


It has come to the GMInsidenews Staff's attention that our rules were becoming outdated and most of the membership was unaware of what our rules were and the enforcement we have in place.

Current Problem Areas

We do have a few issues on the site that stand out as problems more so than others, so I would like to address them. The first is name-calling. We have handed out a very high number of infractions for people calling each other moron, idiot, dumbass, etc. ALL of that is a VIOLATION of our Site Rules and you WILL be infracted for it!

Another trouble area is signature sizes. We have had a lot of members with over-sized signatures. Please make sure that your signature is within our size guidelines. We have the limit in place for people that have slower Internet connections or view the site on mobile devices, where screen real estate is a premium.



Posting Guidelines for GMInsidenews’s Forums:

GMI’s forums were established to create a fun, friendly community to interact in. In order to foster this friendly interaction and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable posting and hanging out, we have created a set of rules and guidelines which all members are required to follow. GMI aspires to maintain a professional website image, one that is above your average website forum. These rules are general in nature, as it is impossible to spell out every possible offense that may result in a thread being locked, deleted, or edited.

The rules are as follows:


1. Expletives (such as *****, *****, c*nt, motherf*cker, etc) are not allowed (These have been *’d out here b/c this is the forum rules page). Please refrain from using such words on this forum. Any term that is in the forum's filter should be filtered when used. Circumventing the word filter is considered a VIOLATION of this rule. Please let the forum software handle such language or do not use it at all. typing "*****" is considered circumventing the filter.

2. Spamming or unpaid business advertisements is not allowed. Threads or PMs determined to be "spam" will be deleted or forwarded to the Administration. This type of posting could possibly result with privileges to our board restricted or denied without notice. Lottery schemes being advertised on this board are considered Spam.

3. Flames or derogatory insults will not be tolerated. If you disagree with another member's point of view, do so in a mature and civil manner. If someone posts to discuss their personal problems or seek help from other forum members, please do not respond unless you have something positive or helpful to add. If you find yourself being flamed or insulted by another member, please do not dignify that person with a response. Report the offensive post so that a staff member can handle it. All forms of name-calling (moron, ass, idiot, etc.) will result in an infraction.

4. Threads or replies promoting or expressing racist or sexist views will not be tolerated. The posting of hate or racist comments will be grounds for an automatic 10-day ban.

5. Porn or other 'risque' content is not allowed. There are plenty of websites for such material. This isn't one of them. All material on the site must maintain a PG-13 rating.

6. Avatars and Signatures: the same rules that apply to your posts apply to your signatures and avatars. Please keep this in mind when selecting your avatar and/or signature.

7. Free posts, or posting solely for the purpose of boosting your post count will not be tolerated.

8. Please post your topics in the most appropriate forum (i.e., tech threads only in tech forums). If you post a thread that would be more appropriate in another forum, a moderator will move it for you. However, please do not make the moderators do this for you. Use your judgment to determine which forum(s) best suits your topic. If you are dealing with a TECHNICAL topic and it could appropriately fit in more than one forum, you may post it in multiple forums. Multiple posting or X-Posting should be held to a maximum of 2 forums.

9. Controversial topics, such as retardation, racism, sexism, illicit drugs/narcotic, etc., will NOT be tolerated. The posting of hate or racist comments will be grounds for an automatic 10-day ban.

10. Threads/replies encouraging other illegal/unethical action (like "Best way to kill neighbor's dog?") will not be tolerated.

11. "Trolling", or making posts with the sole intention of creating problems on the forums is obviously against the forum guidelines. This includes registering an alternate account for the sole purpose of creating problems on the forums. "Troll accounts" will be locked immediately and permanently, and can be locked without notification to the offender. We define trolling as a member that appears to have the sole purpose of posting just to spite the majority of the site or cause flame wars in threads they participate in. PLEASE respect differing opinions on the site at all times!

12. Threads/replies against or attacking GMI’s policies will not be allowed. Please contact a GMI Staff Member to relay concerns regarding policies.

13. Posting a thread or reply to question or criticize moderator or administrator actions is not appropriate in a public forum. Please utilize the board's Private Message function, or e-mail, if you wish to discuss these issues. As long as you bring up your concerns maturely and civilly to the moderator or administrator in question, we will do our best to address your concerns fairly and promptly.

14. Posting of copyrighted information on GMI is strictly forbidden and will be removed. GMI will cooperate with any copyright owner who requests contact/other information about a user who posts their copyrighted information.

15. Political topics will be limited to discussions about the automotive industry only. Any political discussions outside of the industry are not allowed and will be deleted without notice.

16. You must be 13 years of age or older to post on GMInsidenews.com's forums. Any user who provides info, or gives reason to believe that they are not in compliance with this rule will have their account and prior posts deleted. This is not a rule, this is a U.S. law.

17. Signature images should not be any larger than 600 X 150 pixels. We have this limit in place for users that use slower connections and mobile devices to view the site, so please respect this rule. If the staff finds someone with an oversized signature, we will contact that member via PM and ask them to remove it. We also have the right to remove the signature if the member does not comply in a timly manner.

18. Avatars are limited to 120 X 120 pixels. The forum software will not allow any image over that size to be uploaded/linked to as an avatar.

NOTE: If you are argumentive toward a GMI Staff Member after they have infractioned you for a violation of the above policies, chances are you are just digging yourself a deeper hole. Our staff has NO problem working with you on issues, but we ask that you treat us in a respectful manner. If you do that, a common ground will undoubtedly be met.

Disciplinary Action:

GMInsidenews now uses a User Infraction system of enforcing site policies. Please review the below chart to see the various infractions we have and the penalties that come with such.



99% of the time GMInsidenews Staff will utilize the User Infraction System to enforce "Site Rules." This allows for a fair enforcement and consistency in how the rules are carried out. Please note that we do not have verbal warnings. The User Infraction System is setup to be the entire means of rule enforcement; from first offense to ban. Each time an infraction is administered, the forum software FORCES the Staff Member to send a PM to the offending member explaining the infraction.

Review the above screen-shot of our User Infraction System carefully. Note that each offense is worth so many points. When a member hits 15 points, they will be automatically banned for 10-days. The ban is carried out automatically by the forum software, so it WILL happen if 15 points is met. It is also important to note that if a member gets the "Discrimination" infraction, they will instantly be at 15 points and get a 10-day ban. All of the infractions have a time frame in which they are valid, that is under the "Expires" column. For example, if someone has the "Insulted Other Member(s), Name-Calling" infraction, exactly two months later that infraction is "off the record" and a clean slate is obtained. However that infraction stays noted on that user's account for good, but the point value disappears after two months.

Threads or replies that do not comply with our guidelines may be locked, edited, or deleted, depending on the nature of the offense. GMInsidenews Staff will utilize, in addition to the User Infraction System, other means of rule enforcement. If members are turning a thread political or are deemed to be causing problems, we will use the "Ban From Thread" feature and remove posts as we feel are needed.

The above rules and guidelines are necessary to make GMI’s forums comfortable and enjoyable for everyone. If you feel you can not comply with the rules above, please refrain from using GMI’s forums.

All information and images posted on this site by it's staff and users is/becomes the property of GMInsidenews and it's owners.
Site Rules can be viewed, at any time, by clicking "Quick Links" at the top of every page and clicking "FAQ" in the drop-down menu.
 
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