JoelFan.com Forum Community Standards
The forums on JoelFan.com are provided to let Billy Joel fans interact with other fans in a civilized manner. If you adhere to the
following guidelines, your experience will be an enjoyable one, and the discussions will be safe, lively, and productive.
Simply said, there is one golden rule that you should keep in mind when posting on the forum: think about what you're saying before you post it!
Just because you can say something doesn't mean that you should say it.
Provided you don't post anything disruptive and your opinions are expressed in an intelligent way, chances are your posts will
not be moderated and you will not likely be banned.
These Community Standards are meant to serve as an example of the style of posting we encourage here and do not limit the
action we may or may not take in a certain situation. They may be modified at any time for any reason and without notice at the discretion of the administrative staff.
Please refer back to this page from time-to-time to "brush-up" on these rules and to become familiar with any new additions or modifications.
- Edited, Moved, or Deleted Posts/Threads:
By posting, the user acknowledges that their post may be edited, moved, or deleted at the sole discretion of the moderators.
Freedom of Speech does not apply here, only these guidelines and how they are interpreted by the moderator staff do.
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- Explanations for Edited, Moved, or Deleted Posts/Threads:
If your post is edited, moved, or deleted and the moderator responsible does not leave an explanation, you may ask about it in the Ask a Mod forum or by PMming one of the forum moderators. » Link
- Flaming/Bashing Other Users, Trolling, etc:
Any user who flames, bashes or insults another user, either directly or subtly using avatars, comments in signature files, custom user titles, coded messages or any other means, is in violation of the community standards, and may have their posting privileges revoked without warning.
Likewise, trolling is not allowed since it is basically an attempt to get other users to bash or flame and is subject to the same remedial actions as someone who flames or bashes.
Please DO NOT respond to flames or trolls! You'll only make the situation worse. » Link
- Respect Everyone's Opinion:
Please treat your fellow forum users with respect. Just because you disagree with another user's opinion doesn't give you the right to insult or otherwise demean someone. An opinion different than your isn't necessarily a wrong one nor does it mean that the other person is lacking in intelligence because they don't see things your way. We want our users to feel comfortable posting their opinions, even unpopular ones, without fear that they will be slammed for it. No matter how crazy or outlandish an opinion is, it is still that user's opinion and they are entitled to it.
Insults, whether direct or indirect are not permitted. For example, posting "Only an idiot would like [insert item here]," might not directly insult a specific user but is still a violation of our community standards. » Link
- Reporting Posts to a Moderator:
Don't take it upon yourself to chastise or "moderate" another user when they do not follow the guidelines. Leave that duty to the moderators. You may, however,
kindly direct the user to this page to let them become familiar with these rules.
If you see a post that is inappropriate or a user that is violating the Community Standards, please feel free to contact a moderator regarding the topic in question;
you may inform a member of the moderator team either by a private PM or posting in the Ask a Mod forum. You're not being a tattle tale, and if you use the private PM system, the person you're reporting won't know who reported them. » Link
- Keep Threads/Posts On Topic and in the Right Forum:
Posting something that doesn't relate to the intended topic of a thread or forum is not allowed. Expect your post to be moved, deleted, or split into its own thread. » Link
- Creating New / Duplicate Threads:
Before creating a new thread, please search the forum(s) to make sure the topic hasn't already been started. This is a lively place; you may be starting a
conversation that was discussed in-depth before.
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- Descriptive Thread Titles:
Please use descriptive titles for your threads so people know what it's about. With the sheer amount of threads on our forum, be courteous to other users by using descriptive thread titles. If you're worried about people seeing your thread and wanted to use an ambiguous title to increase your views, don't worry about it -- you'll get the views anyway, maybe more. » Link
- What Threads Belong Where:
Please be sure you're posting in the appropriate forum. Meaning, don't post an article that has nothing to do with Billy Joel in the Billy Joel forum.
Doing so will most likely result in your post being moved or deleted.
Obviously, there are some gray areas. But please, use your best judgement. » Link
- Contacting Other Users via PM or Email:
Any user who sends obscene, threatening or insulting messages, or any other unsolicited correspondences in a repetitive manner to any other user via PM, Email or forum post will have immediate and revocation of their posting rights. Any other abuses of the private messaging system or the forum will also not be tolerated.
If you feel that another user is abusing the PM system by sending you repetitive and unwanted PMs, you must keep the offending PM message(s) as evidence before you contact the administrator to report an incident. Without the actual message(s), the administrator or moderators cannot take action solely on your word that abuse is taking place. » Link
- Discrimination:
Racist, sexist, homophobic or any other kind of discriminatory remarks or sentiment will NOT be tolerated in any way, shape or form. You will be banned. » Link
- "Adult" Material:
Sexually explicit pictures and or discussion is not allowed in any forum on this site. » Link
- Getting Banned:
Any user may be banned at any time by name, IP address or other identification without any prior warning and without any explanation given. However, we will usually oblige the offender with an explanation if asked nicely. » Link
- Linking to your Homepage vs. Spamming:
If you have a related website, feel free to include one simple, basic text link in your signature. Oversized images used for the sole purpose of advertising
another website are not permitted. Remember, this forum is not your personal promotion channel.
It should not be used to drive traffic to your site. Threads or posts that are considered to be spam or advertising will not be tolerated and such posts
will be promptly deleted. The offending user will also be subject to being banned. » Link
- Posting Copyrighted Material:
If you feel you must copy and paste an entire article in your post(s) to emphasize a point, please provide a link back to the original location where that article came from. It would
be better, however, for all of us if you just post excerpts from the article you are referencing. » Link
- Posting Personal Information:
We urge all of our users to use care regarding the personal information, including photos, that you post. Please be aware that if you choose to post personal information you do so at your own risk and we assume no responsibility for any information you choose to share. » Link
- Posting Other User's Personal Information:
You may NOT post another user's personal information in a public forum. People who choose to remain anonymous must have their rights to do so protected. Revealing another user's real name or other personal information--true or not--is grounds for immediate banning or suspension.
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- Multiple UserIDs:
Posting under multiple IDs by a single user is not permitted. Aside from being deceptive, there is no practical purpose for a single individual to post with more than one user ID. If a user is under suspicion of posting with multiple IDs, all IDs in question will be subject to banning. IP addresses, while not 100% failsafe
when determining if a user has multiple IDs, will be the sole determining factor if a user is abusing this policy.
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- Posting Affiliate Links:
Posting affiliate links to third-party websites selling products or services is prohibited on this website. Linking to affiliate programs other than those where this website is an active participant should not be posted in the forum, chat room, or any other page on this site. Posting such links repeatedly may result in a user ban.
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Please adhere to these policies to the best of your abilities. Doing so will make your stay a pleasant one. Users should also behave like adults. This isn't the 2nd grade; please don't ask a moderator to protect your feelings. It is not the responsibility of the moderators to be your "mommy." If another user calls you an objectionable name or strongly disagrees with your opinions or posts, try to deal with the situation yourself. The moderators will step-in if the issue gets out-of-hand.
We will not hesitate to be heavy-handed if that's what it takes to keep things under control and civil. That will probably make some people unhappy who feel that we are being too harsh or trying to stifle certain points of view but the moderation team will do what is necessary to ensure that this forum remains an enjoyable experience for our users.
All Moderators are instructed not to argue over actions they take. They will be more than happy to explain the reason if asked nicely, but are not required to justify their decision or debate the merits of their decision with you.
If you have any issue with forum moderation, please post in the "Ask a Mod" forum. But don't expect all request to be answered as our moderators are generous volunteers who do their best at keeping this a sane place to play. They are not robots who can respond and react to all requests or every instance of every kind of behavior.
User Agreement:
To refresh your memory, this is the user agreement you must agree to before becoming a member of the JoelFan.com forums:
While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every message. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster (except for posts by these people) and hence will not be held liable.
You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed). The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit. As a user you agree to any information you have entered above being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised. As an added precaution, please do not divulge any private or personal information in messages on this or any other public forum. This includes, but is not limited to, real name, address, phone number(s), or any personal preferences that you wish not to be disclosed on the Internet.
This forum system uses cookies to store information on your local computer. These cookies do not contain any of the information you have entered above; they serve only to improve your viewing pleasure. The e-mail address is used only for confirming your registration details and password (and for sending new passwords should you forget your current one).
By [deciding to] Register...you agree to be bound by these conditions.
- Last updated: February 16, 2008
- Special thanks to NYYFans.com for providing the foundation for these community standards.
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