Rules and Protocols of your forum

[Enchant]

It has been asked that we have a discussion on Rules of a Forum. Rules are a part of the foundation of a forum. It provides universal structure throughout it. But when is it too many rules? And how do you know you have enough. And what about what rules should one implement into thier own forums. well hopefully we can share and discuss your many options here.

First off, sometimes too many rules can give a feeling of overwhelming dread. If you are going to have alot of rules, you might want to keep it simple and short. Long reading for rules can be seen as a task and some might not even bother to read them at all out of sheer laziness.

If you are having a very short list of rules,make them a bit more longer, by giving them a description of what you mean..make it seem like you do care about the rules, and didn't just throw up a standard list of them up...Often at times, I see things like

- No swearing
- no spamming
- no net speaking


in some cases, people do not even know what netspeaking is...and what qualifies as spam...etc...to me, I see this set up of rules, and it doesn't have an authoritive feel on it..it feels that it is up just because if you ever need it ..it is there...but that is my opinion.

Then comes what kind of rules should you have. This is based on what the admin feels is needed and what type of forum they are running. Of course there is the rules that fall under ToS.


So the questions to you are:

When do you consider a forum has too many or too little rules and what do you think these rules should consist of?

[britt86]

Personally, I'm one of those that has a few rules (6 for the forum) but it looks like I have a ton because I'm thoroughly detailed on each of the rules and what they entail. That being said, if you're going to be detailed, you need to have a second set of rules (same rules) but in a more summarized form so that they don't appear to be too much. That way you can appease those that like to have strict guidelines because they can read the detailed version and those that just want to bare bones know what they can and cannot do.

I think each forum might have its own way of doing things so there's not really a universal method to do rules. The only thing I highly suggest is not to go to another forum and take their rules and their set up. People take time to come up with rules and it's stealing when you just take someone's rules tailored to their site because someone is too lazy to come up with their own.

[Gamoc]

I don't have a whole lot, i have a couple(around 6 or 7), and i give a clear definition. When rules go too far, though, is when people start saying things like, no using the phrase cheese and peanut butter sandwhich, or even spamming in general. I think there should be a board specifically made for people to spam in, and turn off the post count, that way they don't have to obey any double posting rules, either. Rules are what helps the forum function, but without rules, the forum would just go down and die, like the millions of others i have seen. Oh, and one more thing, just because you are the main admin, doesn't mean you don't have to obey the TOS or your own rules, they are there for you too.

[Enchant]

I have around 17.....but most I call are common sense rules and normally wouldn't needed to be posted. However....as well all learn one time or anouther...you get those few who will argue that because they were not listed then it wasnt a rule...so I list them all...I try to brief ad to the point and try to cover all bases...They are not dificult rules..but ones I enforce..

[Bretty]

I knew this debate would come around someday

Over on my forum, I organised rules into little parts (like graphics and advertising). I make sure not to have too many, but I do add some when I think of them.

I think that there shouldn't be too much rules or too little. Just a nice set of around 4-10 should do it!

[rehy]

In my most active board, the rules are rather simple and straight to the point. But then in my general talk board, I have more detailed rules about the talk. I allow some netspeak like lol, cus, and brb, I just don't let them use it excessively.

I have never had any big problems with rule breaking, sometimes, someone will forget and I remind them, but normally, it's all okay.

[Gamoc]

Yes, same here, i usually don't have that problem. I don't, however, see the problem with netspeaking in most boards, there are some boards that i don't want it in, but not a lot. Some boards in my forum, however, do have different rules, i have made a rule that only are given to that categories boards, and do not effect the rest, but they still have to listen to the regular rules, though.

[Daydream]

Maybe I am lucky in that I have some very mature responsible members and although I posted the basic rules to follow they are only what anyone would normally expect as board etiquette.

[rehy]

pikablu said:

Yes, same here, i usually don't have that problem. I don't, however, see the problem with netspeaking in most boards.

Well there are a couple reasons for this rule on most forums. 1 it is very hard to read if you do it excessively, it is okay if you just have stuff like lol and cuz once in a while, but if you go: gss wht i jst 8 a donut, it is very hard to read.

The reason for this rule on my forum, is that we are a writing community and promote good grammar skills.

[Gamoc]

rehy said:

pikablu said:

Yes, same here, i usually don't have that problem. I don't, however, see the problem with netspeaking in most boards.

Well there are a couple reasons for this rule on most forums. 1 it is very hard to read if you do it excessively, it is okay if you just have stuff like lol and cuz once in a while, but if you go: gss wht i jst 8 a donut, it is very hard to read.

The reason for this rule on my forum, is that we are a writing community and promote good grammar skills.

well, yeah, i get what you are saying there, and i strongly agree. No one should make sentences like that, i beleive in proper grammar, but i only require it in the fanficts board and discussion boards. I do not like a whole lot of improper grammar, and i have even modified posts cause they had so much improper grammar.
I do get what you are saying, so don't think that i meant i would allow that type of phrase to come up.

[Daydream]

rehy said:

Well there are a couple reasons for this rule on most forums. 1 it is very hard to read if you do it excessively, it is okay if you just have stuff like lol and cuz once in a while, but if you go: gss wht i jst 8 a donut, it is very hard to read.

The reason for this rule on my forum, is that we are a writing community and promote good grammar skills.

I couldn't agree more. Even if it is not a writing community the use of good grammar is something that is absolutely necessary when you face the real world. Every time you net text you simply ingrain that method and if I were a human resources person and received a resume written that way it would be tossed immediately.

Please don't give me the argument that you wouldn't do this in situations like the above because if you COULD write a decent resume and respect that potential employer, then you can take the time and respect the board and its members and staff.

I certainly hope that these people that net text are not holding their breath and expecting the next poster to be galloping just around the corner and beat them to a reply, because if you are, then a break from the internet is suggested.

[zathura]

I only have five serious rules- I leave the rest up to common sense. Cursing is fine on my forums, but the eff word is just kind of unanimously frowned upon, and I seldom curse myself. I let the rules be determined by the other members of the forum, I don't really censor anything, and spam and flaming have their own board.

[Black Angel]

At our forum, we make up new rules as each situation arises..

Starting off, they will be loosely based off the TOS of our forums' host (i.e. no porn, warez, copyrighted stuff etc..) as well as a rule or two based on COPPA.

We had someone make 5 other accounts after they had gotten into trouble.. we later banned them.

Then we put a new rule in place regarding Duplicate Accounts.

We turned on Email Validation, and we had pending members registering like 5 or 6 accounts..

We posted a notice to guests and validating members that activation can take from 1 to 48 hours, and they were warned not to make more than one.

And that making more than one account would not accelerate activation, and that doing so would result in an ip ban.

We had gotten a flux of new members asking to be admin, and so, we posted a notice stating that we were fully-staffed, and that anyone asking to be a mod or admin, either openly or via pm, will receive a warning.

Mind you, this is not to say that every time something happens we add a new rule..

It's just that anytime something major happens, or happens very frequently, and we get tired of repeating ourselves, is when we add a rule, based on the situation..

We also have an FAQ..

As it stands, we have 14 rules (number 15 just tells them to have fun.. ) and 47 FAQ's..

The FAQ covers anything that isn't in the rules, or has been asked frequently on the forum.

[Gamoc]

Wow, pretty good, i do have people who make more than one account, but that is only for things like if their profile gets hijacked, but it doesn't happen anymore. You have some pretty good rules, the "Don't ask to be staff" one is very common, it used to happen to me, but now i tell my members when i am looking for a new staff member. I always have elections for staff positions too. I always have a rule at the end that says have fun, too. That is the best rule there. A FAQ is also a pretty good idea.

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

enchant said:

It has been asked that we have a discussion on Rules of a Forum. Rules are a part of the foundation of a forum. It provides universal structure throughout it. But when is it too many rules? And how do you know you have enough. And what about what rules should one implement into thier own forums. well hopefully we can share and discuss your many options here.

First off, sometimes too many rules can give a feeling of overwhelming dread. If you are going to have alot of rules, you might want to keep it simple and short. Long reading for rules can be seen as a task and some might not even bother to read them at all out of sheer laziness.

If you are having a very short list of rules,make them a bit more longer, by giving them a description of what you mean..make it seem like you do care about the rules, and didn't just throw up a standard list of them up...Often at times, I see things like

- No swearing
- no spamming
- no net speaking


in some cases, people do not even know what netspeaking is...and what qualifies as spam...etc...to me, I see this set up of rules, and it doesn't have an authoritive feel on it..it feels that it is up just because if you ever need it ..it is there...but that is my opinion.

Then comes what kind of rules should you have. This is based on what the admin feels is needed and what type of forum they are running. Of course there is the rules that fall under ToS.


So the questions to you are:

When do you consider a forum has too many or too little rules and what do you think these rules should consist of?

Hey Enchant,

Nice work on bringing up the topic

As for the question:

When do you consider a forum has too many or too little rules and what do you think these rules should consist of?

A forum could ONLY have *too many* rules if it...

• ...uses WAY TOO MANY boards with different rules. I think sometimes it would be best to make use of sub-boards or just make a sticky-locked thread which covers the majority of rules for it's sub-boards.
  
• ...the admin is so wound up tight he'd/she'd prevent anyone from having a say in anything.
  
• ...is somewhat cluttered. Meaning that there is about 3 or more rules squished into one.
  

A forum could ONLY have *too little* rules if it...

• ...allows ToS violations to occur (i.e. Swearing or speaking in another language).
  
• ...includes a main administrator who would not care if members violate the ToS but wants to have more members instead.
  
• ...is somewhat cluttered. Meaning that there is about 3 or more rules squished into one.
  

I personally, check to see if a member violated my GLOBAL rules first, violating the board rules doesn't bother me that much but it does indicate something obvious

Overall, if an admin of a forum, makes ANY rules at all, then first and foremost:

• They must be clear and easier to read (even the most obvious of the rules could have the slightest grammer error which could lead members to believe that they could do the opposite of what that particular rule is asking)
  
• They must be enforceable (not every rule can be enforced like the bumping rule, however a forum should be able to responsibly enforce their rules if they appear to be out-of-date, so-to-speak).
  
• Must cover ALL important aspects of the ToS (i.e. speaking 100% english and no excessive profanity)
  
• Their meanings MUST be covered in some sort of FAQ section (The FAQ doesn't necessarily have to be in question then answer format, but that's been proven to be the most clarified version on the majority of most sucessful forums).
  

Without these above points (and maybe more which I haven't mentioned yet), a forum could risk quite a bad reputation.

...and that's my 0.02 cents as they say

~*£†. Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®*~