★★★★★ Discussion Forum Netiquette & Rules (MUST READ) ★★★★★

MazdaRoadster.net
Forum Netiquette & Rules

Registering an account is an acknowledgement that you intend to follow the rules and decorum of the MazdaRoadster.net (MR) forum. What follows are rules created by the MR Administration. The Administration reserves the right to alter, enforce, add, or waive any rules for any specific member at any time.

1. Respect Your Fellow Members. Everyone has their own tastes, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how wrong it may seem to you. Everyone is entitled to voice their opinion in a constructive manner. Don't be snappy or a know it all. People don't appreciate such an attitude and it leads to a cold-feeling forum.

2. No flaming or foul language. Flaming makes for a negative atmosphere and it will not be tolerated. That means you should avoid yelling at and needlessly criticizing other members cars, opinions, tastes, etc. Race/Religion and gender/sexual preference bashing are NOT tolerated on this site. We are here for the love of our cars, not negative attitudes !

3. No Unacceptable Material Any images posted on the site, including Avatars, file attachments, profile images, gallery images, and signatures must be appropriate for a work safe environment. Our standards for "appropriate" mean:

* No full nudity xxx posts
* No profanity or vulgarity
* No illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia
* No strong sexual suggestiveness
* No explicit violence (suicide, death, etc.)
* No Spam (advertising a company or service)

Basically, if you think your image may not be appropriate for someone to view in front of their mother, don't post it. Remember, this site is designed for Miata enthusiasts to help each other with their cars, not a repository for explicit imagery. Any image that does not comply with our standards will be subject to review by admin/mod staff for removal.

4. No Fighting over the internet. Its lame. Don't do it. If you have a problem with someone, take it to private messages or email. Nobody wants to watch people argue online. Members are not allowed to attack other members or groups of members by means of ; insults, arguing, ridiculing, of other members. Such behaviour will not be tolerated and may lead to a warning and the offending posts removed or the topic locked. Personal attacks will get you a warning and possibly banned.

5. No Post whoring, or posting messages for the sole purpose of increasing one's post count, is not allowed. If you need to test your signature, please use the test area in the forum. Any user who excessively post whores will have their post count deducted by double the number of "whore" posts.

6. Images in your signature Are allowed but required to be no larger than 500x100 pixels and no larger than 20Kb in size.
In addition, images cannot contain company or commercial links unless you are an authorized vendor. Signature use is a privilege, but not a right. As with posting privileges, signature privileges are subject to Administrators' & Moderator review and may be suspended or revoked with or without notice.

7. Please post in the correct topic areas. If a message doesn't fit that topic it will be moved to the correct location. If you have non-Miata related discussion, please use the Off-Topic areas.

8. Use descriptive subject lines and "key" words your post. Example: "New suspension XYZ installed on my Miata." and not "my car has moar looow" It makes it easier for people to find what they do/don't want to read, and helps the "search" tab work properly.

9. Do not cross post. Posting the same message in more than one topic area is not welcome and multiple posts are subject to deletion.

10. Selling on the forum. If you have a item you want to sell please post it for sale in the "Classifieds" section. Any posts found outside of this area will be moved or deleted. NOTE: If you are a business owner advertising your products, we ask that you sign up for a sponsor account and offer your products for sale in our Vendor Marketplace. If you are not an authorized vendor and post products for sale without permission your thread will be deleted and your account can/will be banned.

11. NO COMMERCIAL SIGNATURES. This is reserved for "PAYING" Sponsors of this forum. Any member who links to a commercial related or non-forum sponsor site in their signature profile will be warned and have this signature removed by admin/mod staff. This action is necessary due to a large number of spammers linking to sites with inappropriate content as well as vendors trying to "loop hole" the system.

12. No "Post Jacking". Post jacking is replying to a thread with something that is completely off the topic of the thread.

13. Please use the SEARCH feature before you post a question. It is very likely that someone has already posted your question. Feel free to resurrect old threads to ask more questions if you feel you did not get the answer you need, but do not bring up old threads just to be silly. At the same time if you see someone asking for help to find information do not attack them with "use the search noob" comments. Everyone was a new person at one time or another, and sometimes folks are looking for more than what the search feature offers. So be courteous to your fellow members.

14. Do not share account info And do not under ANY circumstances give your login information to someone else. Any use or abuse of your account by someone else will be treated in the same manner as if it were you using your account. If you believe that your user account has been compromised, notify a moderator immediately and change your password.

15. Only One Account is Allowed Per Person. Every person is granted one MazdaRoadster.net forum account. A person is not permitted to have more than one account. Administrators (Admins) have the ability to find out if a person does have a dupe or excess account, and if such is discovered, a penalty can be issued such as a infraction and/or ban. Creation of multiple accounts will result in probation of original account, and termination of additional accounts.

16. NO Baiting/Flaming/Trolling. Trying to get members into an argument for no good reason is not allowed.

17. Respect those in Authority here. The Administrators and Moderators here at MazdaRoadster.net work very hard for the Miata community for no gain to themselves, they do their best to help here so please respect their efforts.

18. Don't be a prick!

Our moderating staff typically works on a three-strikes-and-you're-out basis. However if the staff deems the offense great enough you will get banned outright with no warning. This is a privately owned and operated site so don't abuse the site, or we will show you the door. Users violating forum rules may be issued a warning via forum notification / infraction or a Private Message from a Moderator. If there is a second offense, the account can be put on probation ban for a period of a few days or weeks. If a third offense occurs, the account will be subject to increased ban length. Creating another user account during probation is grounds for a permanent ban. Your ban is a "cooling off" period, and not a "how can I get around the system" period. If you are caught manipulating the system we can/will ban your IP address and/or delete access to your account.

These rules may be updated at any time. If any changes are made to these rules, a notice will be posted in the Site News area on the forum.

Roles of Officials

Administrators: Administrators screen Names will appear in Blue. There are the 4 Administrators of this site.
(Phatmiata), (MazRoadAdmin), (FooSchnickens), and (YellowYata). Administrators each run sections of the forum, and work to maintain it. Decisions affecting the entire site are made by consesus of all the Admins. We consider each Admin to be an equal member of the team. If a Admin makes a decision, do not go running to another admin looking to have the decision reversed – it’s not going to happen. Once an Admin issues a judgment, it is as good as written in stone should they want to stick to it.

Moderators: Moderators screen Names will appear in green. Moderators are here to help in the enforcement of the Discussion Forum Netiquette & Rules. When a Moderator posts a warning in the thread or PMs you a warning an infraction could also be following. (it's up to their discretion). A Moderator’s decision will rarely ever be reversed by a member of the Administration team. Moderator decisions are not permitted to be reversed by another Moderator, so don’t bother pursuing that avenue either. Should you have a problem with a decision a Moderator makes, calmly discuss it with the moderator via Private Message.

Moderators - Moderators are the key to the success of any board. They are expected to live up to a higher standard and as such we expect you to treat them with a higher standard. Any rule broken against a Moderator could result in a temporary suspension of posting privileges. Publicly disrespectful behavior from a member toward a Moderator regarding Moderator actions or decisions may also result in a summary suspension of that member's posting privileges.

Please note that the moderating team is under no obligation to read every post. Occasionally, inappropriate posts will slip by unnoticed by the Mod Teams. If you see one of these posts, please report it immediately by using the "report post" button under the offenders avatar.

Moderator Actions - If there are any concerns over Moderator actions, the only way to officially address them is with a private message (PM) to that specific Moderator, or site Admin. Your feedback and concerns are very valuable to the success of this board. Each and every PM will be read and investigated. However, until specifically told by a Moderator of a reversal, the Moderator action is considered official.

Methods of Forum Policy Violations

When a member violates these guidelines action can be taken. These are some (but not all) of the methods of action:

1. Verbal Warning by a Moderator or Admin. This is just a simple talking-to via Private Message or a note posted in the thread to stop whatever violation/rule you are breaking. No points are assesed, and it is basically a warning not to repeat the offending action.

2. Infractions These can carry points, just like on your drivers license, If mods & admin are constantly having to pull you aside you may get a ticket (infraction) with points, just like real life.

3. Temp-Ban. A break or "cooling-off" time from posting because of a blatant rule violation or too many infractions. Suspension can last anywhere from a few days, weeks or to indefinite suspension. (depends on the offense)

4. Perma-Banning. Perma-Banning means that you are no longer invited to participate in the MR forum. Once a member has been perma-banned it is just that, "permanent" and cannot be reversed by anyone except the Administrator who preformed the banning.