Well, I can offer some basic rules. Now, so far dGeek has been fairly small, so we've been pretty loose with rules and there have been a few kerfluffles but nothing too crazy. Yet. I've noticed that since David has announced that he wants to overhaul and expand the site, that there has been a lot more traffic. Some people have been coming back after being away and some "lurkers" signing up and posting. (A big YAY! on both counts I say). So, keeping that in mind, we are going to need more structured rules if the site is going to continue to grow (which I think it has the potential to grow very big).

1) Absolutely no explicit sexual references is allowed on the forum. (At lot of members already here are underage. If a forum is created for subject matter of an adult nature, this rule can be expanded and clarified) Profanity guidelines would need to be up to David. Certain words are much worse than others (ie, h*** and d*** are a bit more common place than the big f bomb, or use the George Carlin rule, the 7 words you can't say on TV).

2) Disscussion of downloading or any similar copyright infringement should be prohibited. (With the execption of fan vids)

3) Threads need to stay on topic. (A lot of the threads get side tracked quite a bit with off topic chatter, which only clutters the thread and fills the inbox of people who subscribe to threads)

4) Trolling and spamming are prohibited and violators will be banned.

5) There should be some limits on the size of images posted. (I'm on broadband and sometimes it takes forever for some images to be downloaded. That really isn't fair to people who are on slow internet access.)

6) A limit of the size of the forum signatures. Again, for the same reason as #5

7) Respect the personal lives of David, Jane, Baz, and any other actor/actress that is discussed on the board.

8) Threats of violence is prohibited and violators will be banned.

9)Flamewars and insults will not be allowed or tolerated. Please be polite and respectful in posts. Everyone has a right to their opinions.

10) dGeek has members from all over the world and a wide variety of backgrounds, therefore, no comments that can be construed as sexist, homophobic, or racist will be allowed. Also any comments that can be construed as demeaning to any group or individual on the basis of disability, age, political affiliations or religion are strictly prohibited. Moderators and Admin will have the ultimate decision on what can be construed as offensive.


(Kimber, I cribed a bit of one of your rules for rule #9)

Some of these are common sense, but sometimes it's nice to have them written out in plain sight as a reminder. These are rules that I see most common on high traffic sites and they seem to work well. Wording can be changed around as the mods and admin see fit.


I'm sure I can come up with more, but I don't want to come off as an ogre. LOL! Again, remember, the site is and will be growing, so the need for structured (and in some cases a bit more strict) rules will be needed.