RULES

These are the forum rules. Please read them before contributing to the forum.
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Andy
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RULES

Post by Andy »

BetaArchive Rules
Before posting on BetaArchive, please familiarise yourself with our rules. The rules are here to protect you and us. Our moderators' favourite past-time includes polishing their favourite ban-hammer and waiting on the chance to use it. Please don't give them any reason to use it, it only makes you look bad. (But honestly please don't, it leaves horrible marks on the furniture).

Language
- Posts should be in English language only.
- Swearing is not permitted under any circumstances, this includes profanity filter evasion. We have minors that browse the site.
- Posts should use correct grammar and spelling.
- Avoid non-obvious abbreviations.
- Think before you post!
  • Remember that sarcasm doesn't come across well through text.
  • Ask yourself if your post comes across arrogant, unnecessarily argumentative, condescending, derogatory, etc. If it does, consider re-writing your post.
  • Don't be argumentative for the sake of it. It gives the moderators headaches and they'll be more than happy to hand out warnings/bans.
  • If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all.
Posting
- Advertising is not permitted if it detracts from the value of BetaArchive. You may post links to such relevant sites if applicable to your post but blatant advertising will not be permitted.
- Do not spam the forum. This includes short posts such as “OK!”, “Thanks!”, “Great!”, etc. that add zero value.
- Stay on topic. Keep off-topic posts to the off-topic forum.
- Do not hijack another users topic.
- Keep double posting to a minimum. Edit your last post instead.
- Upload all images used in posts to our image uploader in order to preserve the image. Other image hosts go offline leaving a gap in our archive. This rule does not apply to animated GIF files.
- Keep your signatures short and sensible. They may include images. Signatures must adhere to all other rules.
- Report any post or user that breaks the rules to a moderator or admin.
- Do not bump topics over 90 days old unless you add significant value. Start a new topic otherwise.
- Do not bump your own topics unless your last post was over 3 days ago.
- Do not post or request illegal material on the site, this includes but is not limited to: Warez, erotic content, shock material, illegal torrents, cracks, key generators, copy protection hacks, activation patches, source code, and abandonware licenses. This list is not exhaustive.
- Do not post fake screenshots or content, even for the sake of informing they are fake. Do not give these creators any more attention.
- Do not post inappropriate content of pornographic, political, or of any controversial nature. Any topics widely outside of the scope of this community will be a subject for purging.
- Do not discuss unleaked material that you possess unless you are willing to share it with the site.
- Do not post "custom operating system" type project topics. This is not the place for them and their legality is dubious.
- Do not offer trading on the forums. This is a free sharing community, either through public links or the archive.
- Do not make requests for files without a minimum of 10 approved forum posts.
- Do not copy-paste content from other sites; anything you write on the forum should be in your own words. Instead, link to the page in question. Plagiarism is not permitted.

Archive Access
- Archive access is an earned privilege and one that can be taken away if you break the rules.
- To gain access to the archive you should follow the contributions requirements.
- Understand and acknowledge the Fair Usage Policy and limit your download amount to reasonable amounts for personal use only.
- We reserve the right to restrict or remove archive access if your usage is deemed to be excessive.
- You may not mirror the archive. Your usage is expected to be for personal use only.
- You may not share your login details with anyone. If you do you will be permanently banned without warning. No second chances. Do not act as a proxy to non-members.

Moderation
- Respect the moderators or admins and their decisions.
- Don't argue with moderators or admins.
- Moderators and admins decisions are final. If you do not agree with a moderators decision, please take it up with them over PM. If you're unable to come to a resolution, PM an admin.
- Back-seat moderating is not permitted. If you have a problem with someone's post please report it using the report button.

Site access:
- Do not use a proxy to access the site (except ISP transparent proxies which are acceptable). Proxies are often used to circumvent bans or blocks, etc. You may receive a ban if found to be doing this and further access to the site will not be permitted.
- Do not register more than one account on the site. Multiple accounts will result in a ban of all accounts and further access to the site will not be permitted.
- We don't permit username changes. Ensure you pick a suitable username when you join!

These rules are not exhaustive! For those that still have any, please use your common sense! This site is for software discussion, not political, religious, or controversial discussions. We will take action if we feel the discussion is too far out of scope.

Warning and banning system:
- We operate a 3 strikes warning system to alert users to their rule breaking before issuing bans.
- Each warning will expire 90 days after it is issued.
- Serious infractions as deemed by the moderator or admin may result in an immediate ban without warning.
- The first ban is usually temporary (though not always). Future bans may be permanent. This depends on the severity of the rule breaking.
- Permanently banned users will not be permitted further access to the site or services.
- You may appeal warnings and bans, but they are usually given for very good reason and are rarely revoked.
- Archive access ban due to excessive usage is permanent, though a ban will happen only if you ignore warnings. Please review the Fair Usage Policy.

Account Pruning:
To keep our database free of clutter and to weed out accounts which simply sign up and never get used, we routinely carry out account pruning. Any accounts with 0 posts that have not been logged into recently (within a month) may get deleted at any time with no warning. This includes accounts that have gained archive access. If your account is pruned then you will also lose your archive access (if you had it). You will need to create a new account and upload something new to get access again. We cannot restore deleted accounts or restore archive access to previously pruned accounts. To avoid this, ensure you have at least one approved post on the forum.

We may add to, update or delete parts of the rules without notice. It is your responsibility to keep yourself updated with the current rules. You will know when the rules have been updated when the rules forum icon turns orange. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Last edited by Andy on Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:28 pm, edited 25 times in total.

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