theFretBoard Rules 2.0

Prompted by some recent debates, and 2 years of experience since we had our first attempt at defining rules, we're refreshed and simplified our rules.

The Rules. 

This is a forum, not a courtroom. We don’t want to write rules any more than you want to read them. Help us keep the rules simple by keeping to the rules. 

1. Don’t be a dick. This is the most important rule. Every other rule is just this one in more detail. 
   
2. Don’t be nasty. That means being personally and deliberately insulting, aggressive or vindictive towards any other member or group. This absolutely includes being abusive, and it includes sending direct messages for the purpose of abusing somebody. For more details, see here.
   
3. You are allowed one userID. Signing up with more will result in a perma-ban. 
   
4. Remember the forum is public. Don’t post anything that might get others (or yourself) in trouble if they’re browsing the site from work or a public computer. 
   
5. Do not use the forum for anything illegal or libellous. We really don’t want to have to pass your details on to “authorities” that request them. But we will if they do. 
   
6. If you want to talk about sex, religion or other topic likely to be contentious, do it somewhere else.
   
7. If you think someone else is breaking a rule, flag it for modmin attention. But be aware that won’t always act just because something is flagged. 
   
8. Pitchfork-bearing, vigilante mobs and witch-hunts don’t often help, and neither does carrying arguments across threads. The admin team may well suspend this rule for any confirmed instances of attempts to scam our community. 
   
9. Threatening legal action against the forum puts the whole site at risk; if you do this, you don't get to continue enjoying access to the forum. Ergo...this is a perma-ban-with-no-take-backsies offence (although you'll be given an email address where you can continue the conversation, because we play nice with the law), and we'll probably post in the main forum to that effect.
   
   9b: You should also be aware, if you're thinking about threatening legal action, that any such threats will be posted publicly as an explanation of why any content was removed - consider such actions carefully, based on the Streisand Effect, and decide for yourself whether it might be better to contact the author of any contentious comments directly and come to an agreement amicably.
10. If you want us to disable your account, we'll happily do that. What we won't do is delete your content (and you shouldn't either, because it just wastes everybody's time), unless it's defamatory or otherwise illegal. This is a discussion forum, and it lives and breathes by its ability to present content in a consistent fashion, and so all historical content is required for "processing" (as it's defined under the law). We can, of course, delete your personally-identifiable data (as defined under the GDPR), but only as it pertains to you personally. If you sign up as your business, the GDPR doesn't apply.

Remember that this is just the internets. If you're getting angry, walk away for a bit. Whatever it is, it won’t be quite so important after you’ve had your bit. 

Breaches of the rules will be dealt with by the modmin team and might consist of the deletion of the offending content, moving a thread (to BCD), a warning, cooler time (temporary loss of membership) or a permanent ban. Not necessarily in that order.

There are additional rules that apply to the Classifieds sections.

Prompted by some recent debates, and 2 years of experience since we had our first attempt at defining rules, we're refreshed and simplified our rules.

Additional Rules for the Classifieds

These rules apply in addition to our standard forum rules. 

1. Before you post an ad, look at other ads. Match, or better, that standard. 
2. You must post an asking price or ideal trades. 
3. You should post some good quality pictures. 
4. You should not post your address, email address or phone number. 
5. Do not bump more frequently than every 48 hours.  
6. Flag it if you genuinely think that an ad is dodgy or breaks the rules, don't harass the seller on the thread. Criticising prices counts as harassment  
7. When appropriate, update the thread to include "SOLD" (or whatever is appropriate) in the title and opening post. DO NOT delete the price or any other content. 
8. If you’re listing multiple items in the same section, do it in one thread, not one thread per item. 
9. The Fretboard is not responsible for transactions - the buyer and seller are. Be careful and be sensible. PPG is for use between trusted parties. 
10. Do not post items for sale that are not what they appear to be (fake, counterfeit, etc), or breach copyright, which might expose the forum to legal action or take-down requests. Simply cropping the logo out of your pictures does not constitute staying within the rules. In fact, it's a deliberate breach of the rules and will result in an immediate coolering for your first offence, and a ban for your second.
11. If you advertise on here, post the details on here. Posts that are little more than links to eBay (etc) will be deleted. 
    
12. The Classifieds are intended for personal use only - any business use, unless explicitly sanctioned by the admins, will result in the immediate loss of access. If you are a business/dealer contact me to discuss how you could get involved here. Bedroom dealers are strongly discouraged, and will probably lose classifieds access as soon as we find them.
    
13. Absolutely no pet (or other animal) sales, ever. No exceptions.

Ads that breach these rules will be deleted. Posters that repeatedly breach the rules may be banned.

Not rules, but here's a link to various helpful "how to" and intro threads - including how to post pics.

And another 2 years on from our previous rules update, we're making another major change to the rules and structure of the forum.

Speakers Corner is now re-titled as "Behind Closed Doors".

The intention is the same - keeping Off Topic contentious and NSFW content out of the public eye, or "Behind Closed Doors".  Content in OT will be moderated a bit more actively to keep the subject matters clearly separated.

Replaced the reference to Speakers Corner in the OP (rule 6) with "Behind Closed Doors".

Update to Classifieds Rules:

Persistent breaches of the classifieds rules may result in having your classifieds access revoked. Nominally this will be for a period of six months, at which point the modmin team will review your access (but you need to ask us to review your access). 

Update to Classifieds Rule #10, because people still aren't getting it:

Do not post items for sale that are not what they appear to be (fake, counterfeit, etc), or breach copyright, which might expose the forum to legal action or take-down requests. Simply cropping the logo out of your pictures does not constitute staying within the rules. In fact, it's a deliberate breach of the rules and will result in an immediate coolering for your first offence, and a ban for your second.

If that's not clear enough, I weep for humanity.

Yet another classifieds update, this time #12:

The Classifieds are intended for personal use only - any business use, unless explicitly sanctioned by the admins, will result in the immediate loss of access. If you are a business/dealer contact me to discuss how you could get involved here. Bedroom dealers are strongly discouraged, and will probably lose classifieds access as soon as we find them.

Rule #2 updated.

Added rule #13 to the classifieds - "Absolutely no pet sales, ever. No exceptions."

This also applies elsewhere in the forum - "Hey, my dog's having a litter, PM me if you're interested..." will be viewed as an attempt to get around the rules, and treated even more harshly.