andrew_nixon
Chairman of Selectors
After substantial discussion in the staff forums, the PlanetCricket staff have come to an agreement on how we can move forward from recent problems.
I, and the other staff, are using this announcement to modify and clarify a few things with relation to the forum rules.
1: Off topic posts
PlanetCricket thrives on discussion of cricket games and of cricket itself. However, we would appreciate it if people will stick to the topic.
This is not to say that we do not want threads to go away from their original topic however. For example, look at this thread. The original topic was a discussion of the rights and wrongs of Australia's (now cancelled) tour of Zimbabwe, but it evolved into a discussion of the rights and wrongs of South African racial quotas.
Whilst this is little to do with the original topic title, each post in the thread is a reply to a previous post. The thread has evolved off topic, not gone off topic. Had someone started talking about South African racial quotas straight away, that would have been off-topic. Had someone started talking about what they had for breakfast that morning, that would have been off-topic.
If the PlanetCricket Staff think a thread is going too far off-topic, we will first post at least two warnings before we take the last resort of deleting posts or closing the thread. Posts that are completely off topic and bear no relation to the original thread are likely to be deleted on sight.
2: What gets deleted?
The following is likely to get your post deleted:
1. Discrimination. PlanetCricket is a forum for everyone regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or religion. We have a zero-tolerance policy on posts that incite discrimination on these, or any other, grounds. Posts that contain such discrimination will be deleted, as will those which contain words related to such discrimination.
2. Swearing. PlanetCricket is a forum for all ages. Whilst many of us swear in real life, we want to keep this site as clean as possible. You must remember that some people will access this site from schools that block sites with swearing on, or even from countries that restrict access to the internet based on such things. So please do not swear. Posts that contain swearing will either be deleted or edited depending on the severity of the situation. Disguising swear words through the use of an asterisk (*) or any other symbol(s) will not be allowed either.
3. Piracy. We have a zero-tolerance on software piracy. If you say or imply how one might obtain an illegal copy of any piece of software, the post will be deleted.
4. Copyright infringement. PlanetCricket wishes to stay on the right side of the law. Whilst we can all debate the rights and wrongs of copyright holders removing their videos from Youtube and similar services, there is little doubt that many videos are on these services illegally. We would therefore not allow links to such videos. Please note that this is not a ban on links to youtube videos, and if you wish to share any non-copyrighted youtube clips, please do so. This also applies to illegal feeds of live matches.
5. Advertising. You are only permitted to advertise your website in your signature or in the "Forum for the web" forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted. If you create an account for the sole purpose of advertising, it is likely to be banned.
6. Complaining about moderators. If you disagree with a moderators actions, this MUST be done in private. First PM the moderator concerned. If you do not get a satisfactory response, PM a global moderator. If you still do not get a satisfactory response, PM an admin. We do listen to all complaints despite what you may think.
3: Signatures
Several people are currently serving signature bans, either temporarily or permanently. Due to the new forum software making it harder to have an illegal signature, PlanetCricket is willing to grant a one-time amnesty to all those currently serving signature bans. Your ban will be revoked, and members will have 1 week to ensure that their signature is brought into line with the rules as they stand.
I, and the other staff, are using this announcement to modify and clarify a few things with relation to the forum rules.
1: Off topic posts
PlanetCricket thrives on discussion of cricket games and of cricket itself. However, we would appreciate it if people will stick to the topic.
This is not to say that we do not want threads to go away from their original topic however. For example, look at this thread. The original topic was a discussion of the rights and wrongs of Australia's (now cancelled) tour of Zimbabwe, but it evolved into a discussion of the rights and wrongs of South African racial quotas.
Whilst this is little to do with the original topic title, each post in the thread is a reply to a previous post. The thread has evolved off topic, not gone off topic. Had someone started talking about South African racial quotas straight away, that would have been off-topic. Had someone started talking about what they had for breakfast that morning, that would have been off-topic.
If the PlanetCricket Staff think a thread is going too far off-topic, we will first post at least two warnings before we take the last resort of deleting posts or closing the thread. Posts that are completely off topic and bear no relation to the original thread are likely to be deleted on sight.
2: What gets deleted?
The following is likely to get your post deleted:
1. Discrimination. PlanetCricket is a forum for everyone regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or religion. We have a zero-tolerance policy on posts that incite discrimination on these, or any other, grounds. Posts that contain such discrimination will be deleted, as will those which contain words related to such discrimination.
2. Swearing. PlanetCricket is a forum for all ages. Whilst many of us swear in real life, we want to keep this site as clean as possible. You must remember that some people will access this site from schools that block sites with swearing on, or even from countries that restrict access to the internet based on such things. So please do not swear. Posts that contain swearing will either be deleted or edited depending on the severity of the situation. Disguising swear words through the use of an asterisk (*) or any other symbol(s) will not be allowed either.
3. Piracy. We have a zero-tolerance on software piracy. If you say or imply how one might obtain an illegal copy of any piece of software, the post will be deleted.
4. Copyright infringement. PlanetCricket wishes to stay on the right side of the law. Whilst we can all debate the rights and wrongs of copyright holders removing their videos from Youtube and similar services, there is little doubt that many videos are on these services illegally. We would therefore not allow links to such videos. Please note that this is not a ban on links to youtube videos, and if you wish to share any non-copyrighted youtube clips, please do so. This also applies to illegal feeds of live matches.
5. Advertising. You are only permitted to advertise your website in your signature or in the "Forum for the web" forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted. If you create an account for the sole purpose of advertising, it is likely to be banned.
6. Complaining about moderators. If you disagree with a moderators actions, this MUST be done in private. First PM the moderator concerned. If you do not get a satisfactory response, PM a global moderator. If you still do not get a satisfactory response, PM an admin. We do listen to all complaints despite what you may think.
3: Signatures
Several people are currently serving signature bans, either temporarily or permanently. Due to the new forum software making it harder to have an illegal signature, PlanetCricket is willing to grant a one-time amnesty to all those currently serving signature bans. Your ban will be revoked, and members will have 1 week to ensure that their signature is brought into line with the rules as they stand.
