Guidelines

I. General Posting Etiquette

II. Basic Forum Dos & Don'ts

III. Suspensions/Banishment Policy

IV. Signature Guidelines

V. Avatar Guidelines

I. General Posting Etiquette


The LetsGoWings.com Forums boast a wide variety of hockey fans from all ages, walks of life, and places around the world. With that in mind, the goal of these forums is to maintain quality hockey discussion for everyone. The Moderator Staff at LGW.com is specifically instructed to help keep the disourse in the hockey discussion areas free of off-topic banter, thread derailment, or posts that don't add anything to the discussion. Members (or potential members) shouldn't be discouraged from posting due to their team affiliation or the posting style of other members. With that in mind, these measures are being taken to keep the quality of the discussion on the forums at a high standard:

· Members are asked to keep the discussion on-topic in threads. If you want to take the conversation off the topic at hand please do so via the PM system with the member you are conversing with or start a different topic in the appropriate forum. Members that continually violate this rule will have their Hockey Discussion posting privilege restricted.

· Members are discouraged from posting in a thread in which you have nothing to constructively add. Such posts tend to simply clutter up and bloat the size of the thread while also lowering the quality of the discussion.

· Members are not allowed to dicate vocally whether or not fans of an opposing team should post here. Members that attempt to discourage fans from opposing teams from posting here will have their Hockey Discussion posting privileges suspended.

II. Basic Forum DOs & DON'Ts


· DO post constructively. If you can't add anything meaningful to a discussion, don't bother.

· DO post a link reference (or cite the TV/radio source) when reporting breaking news, reports, etc. Threads started without this information may be deleted or moved.

· DO post your thread in the correct forum. Have a rumor with no legitimate source cited? Post it in the Rumor Mill. Question about the Red Wings' minor league club? Post in the Grand Rapids Griffins Forum. Prospects? Prospect forum. You get the idea.

· DO respect the moderators. They're regular posters just like you, only their job is to keep the forums a pleasant experience for everyone. If you have a problem with a particular moderator, please do not hesitate to private message Matt, the forum administrator.

· DO refrain from using vulgar language. There is a curse/bad word filter currently on the forum and members that purposely attempt to circumvent this filter will be subject to a suspension of account privileges.

· DO leave your political views at the door. This is a hockey forum, and the only 'Left Wing' and 'Right Wing' topics or comments should be focused on the hockey player position, not on your political one.

· DON'T incite flame wars by purposely baiting ("trolling") other members into an online flame war. Members caught doing so will be disciplined appropriately.

· DON'T personally attack other members. This includes name-calling, flame-baiting, etc.. If you can't discuss your point with maturity then don't discuss it. People that violate this rule will be dealt with swiftly.

· DON'T post false and/or misleading topics. Members caught doing so will be banned IMMEDIATELY with NO chance of reinstatement.

· DON'T post duplicate topics. Before posting your new thread be sure to check the first two pages of the forum to make sure the topic isn't already being discussed. Multiple violations of this rule by a single member is punishable by temporary suspension from the forums.

· DON'T derail threads. When posting in a topic please keep the conversation focused on what it was intended for. Posts that derail threads will be edited and/or deleted. Members that continually derail threads will have his/her posting privileges suspended.

· DON'T POST IN ALL CAPS. This includes individual posts along with Topic Titles. It is considered rude and your thread/post could be deleted or edited.

· DON'T Post or link to objectionable material. This includes pornography, illegal drugs, racially-charged material or religiously-charged material. Ultimate discretion is left up to the moderating staff. If you're not sure about it don't post it.

· DON'T spam the forums. This includes starting threads that link to products/services you sell for a commission, pyramid schemes, etc. If you're looking to sell autographed memorabilia, tickets, jerseys, etc you can do so in the Marketplace ("Tradin' Post" and "Ticket Exchange") Forums.

· DON'T post links to torrent or illegal streaming websites. LetsGoWings.com does not condone the sharing of illegal content on this web site and all links will be removed. (This also includes instructions on how to set up or view illegal streaming feeds without overtly linking to them.)


III. Suspensions/Banishment Policy


· The LetsGoWings.com forums generally follows a Three-Strike Policy for disciplining members: The "1st Strike" consists of a 7-day removal of posting privileges, the "2nd Strike" is a 30-day suspension and the "3rd Strike" is permanent removal from the forums. However, there are certain cases where the "Strike" policy does not apply and the offending member is immediately and permanently banished. Such cases are at the discretion of the moderating staff.

· If you are temporarily suspended DO NOT create a new account to post on the forums with or to "plead your case" with. This results in immediate and permanent banishment from the forums without any chance of reinstatement. If you have an issue with your suspension, please e-mail any of the available moderators or admins on staff.

· Minor infractions (such as offenders of the Signature and Avatar Guidelines) may receive a 3-day removal of posting privileges.


IV. Signature Guidelines


· Signatures are limited to ONE jpg/gif image no larger than 400x100 pixels. Images that are larger than this will be removed by the moderating staff without warning.

· Sigs are also limited to six lines at the default text size. If you opt to use a larger text size you are limited to three lines.

· Members using BOTH an image and text in their signature are limited to one image and two lines of default text size only.

· If you use an animated GIF of a video sequence it will be removed if the file size is deemed inappropriately large. Files such as these can dramatically slow site performance for other members.

· Repeated failure to follow the Signature Guidelines outlined here will be grounds for suspension.


V. Avatar Guidelines


· Avatars are automatically re-sized to 90x90 pixel size and support GIF, JPG and SWF formats.

· The LGW.com Forums do allow members to upload their own avatars for use on the site. (We also encourage hosting your avatar here by using the upload tool rather than remote-linking to other sites and using up their bandwidth.) Members are limited by file size, however, depending on their Member Group.

· If you use an animated GIF of a video sequence it will be removed if the file size is deemed inappropriately large. Files such as these can dramatically slow site performance for other members.