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Rules of the Pound / Newbie Primer
SECTION I: THE BASICS
FORUM CONTENT
There are currently 4 regular forums in which posters can post their thoughts in for discussion by the board members.
PURE FOOTBALLExactly what the name indicates. This is where posts should be made to discuss the game of professional football. Please note that posts about NFL players getting arrested, fantasy football, and strictly rah-rah posts should NOT be in this forum. This forum is strictly for the discussion of the game of football. This forum is the most strictly moderated of all the forums; if a moderator feels that a post does not belong here, it will be moved/deleted. The Pure Football forum is not the "TV GUIDE" or satellite channel locator, nor is it for congratulatory posts from other team's fans or to other team's fans. It is not the "Welcome Committee" forum either; introducing yourself to other members of the board is better served in the "Lighter Side" forum. Football posts only, please.
THE TAILGATE LOTThis is the place to discuss less serious things outside of the grind of pro football. Feel free to discuss other sports such as MLB/NBA/NHL, NCAA sports, NASCAR, events in your life you wish to share with fellow board members, politics, religion, etc. Threads that are deemed to be "woof-woof rah-rah" posts will more than likely be moved here by the moderators if they are posted in the "Pure Football" forum.
SMACK SHACKThis forum is for the tossing back and forth of "smack" between Browns fans and fans of opposing teams. Feel free to put the smack down on anyone that dares tread in these waters. Keep it "above the belt", no personal attacks or name-calling.
REF'S CORNER/FAN FEEDBACKHave a question on how the board operates? Not sure about something concerning the overall site? Ask your questions here. Keep in mind this relates mainly to the message board portion of the website itself. Although you may ask other questions here, if they are not related to the message board, they may go unanswered by the moderators.
OTHER FORUMS:
ARCHIVESThese are "classic" threads that are deemed by the moderators to have further value after they have lived their regular "life" on the message board; threads that users may want to look back upon at a later date.
THE NFL DRAFTForum for discussion on NFL draft. Discuss team needs, players to look at that may be able to be selected to fill these needs, as well as most other aspects of the draft. This forum is “seasonal” and is only available from the time the current NFL season ends until around the time of the first spring rookie camp.
GAMEDAY/LOOKING BACKDuring the season, there is a "GAMEDAY" forum that appears weekly on the message board. This forum is devoted to discussion on that particular week's opponent during the season. A couple of days after the game, a new gameday forum is opened for the upcoming opponent and the previous week's "Gameday" forum is turned into a "Looking Back" forum for further discussion on the last game.
INFORMATIONThis forum is a "work in progress", with posts being added to it as often as is deemed necessary. As the name indicates, it's an informational forum. There, fans will find info on the salary cap, FA rules, Practice Squad rules, etc. Topics that normally come up as periodic questions in the regular forum.
OTHER "SPECIALTY" FORUMSOther forums can and will be added as needed. For example, we had a special college forum for the Bowl games for the first time during the 2002 bowl season. If a life-altering event occurs, more than likely a forum will be created temporarily for discussion during the duration of the event. For example, a special forum was created after 9/11 for discussion of that catastrophe.
SECTION II: POSTING ETIQUETTE
HEATED DISCUSSIONSFirst and foremost, respect your fellow board members. Always try and keep in mind that opinions are being presented, opinions that you may or may not necessarily agree with. If you don't agree with someone, you generally have 2 options. One, of course, is to just ignore it and move on. The other would be to say that you disagree, and provide a point/counterpoint to the discussion at hand. Be prepared to back up your viewpoint with stats and/or links. PLEASE do not resort to name-calling, as this does nothing to back up the validity of your point. It's not necessary and is totally out of line for you to call another poster an "idiot" or a "moron", just because they have a different opinion than yours. If it is noted by the board moderators that someone is calling other posters names, and berating others verbally, that person will be "booted" from the message boards and lose their posting privileges indefinitely. Warnings may or may not be given prior to a suspension being handed down.
RUMORSIf you cannot cite a source when posting information to the board, please do not post it at all. Saying that you saw something on television or heard it on the radio is not sufficient as a valid source. Rumors do not lend to valid discussion and will be removed when seen by a moderator.
ALL CAPSOftentimes, people new to the board will type their posts in all capital letters. This is considered "shouting" on the 'net, and is strongly discouraged. Posts made in "all caps" are hard to read, and several people simply bypass them entirely without reading. You are taking the time to present your opinion in a post, and others enjoy taking the time to read these posts about the Browns/football; so please do so in a format that can be read and enjoyed by all.
DUPLICATE THREADSThere are thousands of registered users on our message boards, and a great deal of information is shared here. Newspaper articles, photographs, links to sites, etc. Prior to posting a news item, or starting a new discussion thread, PLEASE take the time to scan the current topics on the board to see if the news item has already been posted; or, if it's a discussion you wish to have on a certain subject, look and see if there isn't already a thread that you can post your thoughts on the related subject. We are only given so much space on the server, and duplicate threads use up space, causing us to "purge" the boards more often then we like to. Posts that are deemed to be duplicative in nature by the moderators WILL be deleted upon discovery.
PROFANITYPlease refrain from using profanity in your posts, there are people of all ages that peruse these boards, and that type of language is not necessary. A word filter is used for some words, and these words when typed will be replaced with "[censored]". Masking of the words is discouraged as well, i.e. "pi$$ed off". Profanity of any kind that is included in a topic title will cause the thread to be deleted. Posts of a sexual nature are also deemed as not allowable. Keep in mind that fans of all ages peruse this site; jokes or posts of a sexual nature are not appropriate for any forum on this message board.
VULGARITY AND/OR OFFENSIVE LANGUAGEAt no time will vulgarity or offensive language be permitted. Any use of such, even conversationally, will result in an extensive suspension of board privileges. What is and is not in this category will be at the sole discretion of the Site Administrators & Moderators. Common examples would include (but are not limited to) racial epithets or slurs, and words or phrases of a discriminatory or demeaning nature.
CUT AND PASTED ARTICLESIf you cut and paste an article from a news source or another site, be sure to include proper credit as to the source of the article. If you didn't write the piece yourself, provide credit as to who did write it. A link is the preferred method, but including the author and the source where the piece was retrieved from is sufficient in most cases. Posts in violation of this will be deleted when observed by the moderators. Additionally, posts from other message boards are not to be re-posted on this forum. Posting articles/info from premium sites that are obtained by subscription (i.e.: ESPN Insider, Bernie’s Insider’s, etc...) is not allowed.
SITE PIMPING/ADVERTISINGPlease note that it is not appropriate to make posts solely for the purpose of advertising your own site or any other site. These are considered to be posts of solicitation, and are not allowed for any reason unless permission is explicitly given by a moderator to the contrary. This includes both within posts as well as within signatures.
IMAGES IN POSTSImages in posts may not exceed 70KB or 200,000 pixels in size. Images of a pornographic, violent, blatantly offensive or otherwise disruptive nature are not permitted. It is understood that this standard is subjective, but it is subjective only to the interpretations of the moderators. Please bear in mind that the viewing audience may be of any age.
FILE UPLOADSFiles may be uploaded with your posts if you so choose to do so. You can do this as a means of hosting a picture on the web or just to share a photo with the other members/viewers. File uploads may not exceed 70KB and MUST be of the .JPG, .GIF or .PNG variety. No other file types are permitted.
AVATARSThe use of avatars is permitted, but only the ‘stock’ avatars. There is a fairly sizable selection of NFL, NBA, MLB & NCAA team logo avatars to choose from. You may select yours by editing your profile’s personal information in the ‘My Home’ area. Remotely hosted or uploaded avatars are not permitted at this time and it is not anticipated that they will be.
SIGNATURESSmack images are not allowed within signatures. Please refer to the FAQ for signature image size limitations. Signatures deemed to be inappropriate or excessively sized will be removed at the moderator’s discretion. If a user persistently uses excessively sized images or inappropriate text in a signature, a suspension will be issued to that user.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION STYLE POSTSIf you desire information on a topic or a player, please do not start a thread solely for the purpose of asking "Does anybody know anything about this guy?" You’re on the internet, utilize the tools available to you to research and then discuss a topic.
SECTION III: PLEASE ALSO NOTE
BOARD MODERATORSAll of the board moderators are volunteers. Long-time users of the message boards that have volunteered to act as moderators in their spare time to help keep the message boards running smoothly, and allow for good, sound football discussion. Keep this in mind if you see a problem that isn't taken care of right away, they aren't on "24/7". Feel free to ask a question in the "Ref's Corner" or send an e-mail to referees@dawgtalkers.net . You may contact the supervisor of the moderators by using the "CONTACT US" link that is available at the bottom of any forum page. You may also contact any moderator by utilizing the "Private Message" option. Keep in mind that moderators have the authority to remove or modify any posted message at any time.
FAQ SECTIONPLEASE take the time to read the FAQ section. Most questions that are commonly asked in the Ref's Corner and e-mail can be readily answered in the FAQ section.
TICKET/PSL SALESIf you wish to sell tickets or PSL's on the message board, this can be done, but ONLY at face value or less. Please state the face value of the tickets when making a post about selling tickets. All posts that do not conform to this will be deleted from the message board. Browns tickets are the only tickets that can be offered for sale on the message board.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I BREAK THE RULES?In most cases, a single violation of the rules is not cause for alarm. However, if it is seen by the moderators that a poster is continually violating the terms of service, that poster will lose their posting privileges. We DO NOT send out warning e-mails, as the rules are clearly defined. Everything is looked at on a case-by-case basis. If you find that your posting privileges have been revoked, feel free to send an e-mail and ask why if you are unsure as to why you have been suspended from posting.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY POST?The most commonly asked question in the ref's corner is the preceding one. If you have made a post, and you return to the message board and find that it is gone, there are but a few things that could have happened to it. It either violated the rules, was duplicative in nature, or was blatantly posted in an improper forum. If the post was simply moved to another forum, you will receive a private message in reference to that from the board Referee that moved the post.
FEEDBACKConstant efforts are made in an attempt to keep the message board experience enjoyable for all fans. Please feel free to provide feedback to us in the Ref's Corner and/or e-mail if you ever have a question on anything. You WILL get an answer.
CHAT ROOMThe Chat Room is freely available to all members age 17+. You must be logged in to access the Chat Room. The Chat Room is a non-moderated zone in that there are no language filters in use and the only rules that really apply are to be respectful of your fellow board members, even if they happen to be fans of another team.
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