TERMS AND CONDITIONS 2009

1. Respect For Other Users

All members of this Forum will respect the opinions and presence of other members of the Forum. You are welcome to engage in challenging and spirited debate with other users, but rudeness will not be tolerated. Name-calling, disrespecting other users or throwing personal insults against them will not be tolerated, either from an instigator -OR- from anyone who feels like they should respond to such instigation. Flaming another user because of their spelling or word choice will not be tolerated, either. Personal attacks of ANY kind are not allowed and users who violate this will have their access removed. If you have an issue with another user, contact a moderator or administrator, and let them handle it; do not take matters into your own hands in public.

2. Respect For New Members

Flaming new members for their ignorance on proper posting procedures, their grammar or spelling issues, or the content of their messages is expressly forbidden. You are welcome to debate and question them, but not to attack them for being new and unsure of our rules. We appreciate our members' concern for new members and invite everyone to welcome them as they arrive in the "NEW MEMBERS" welcome section.

3. Respect For Other People

Disrespectful personal comments about others, including public personalities (either involved in the production of THE MAGAZINE or not), are not tolerated. You are welcome to discuss their work, criticise their abilities as writers, etc., and comment on their merits, but personal attacks against them -- anything regarded as a personal affront -- is expressly against our rules.

4. Respect For The Forum

Trolling (purposely posting messages designed solely to alarm other users) will not be tolerated. The staff -- not the users -- will determine if someone is trolling. Members are also asked NOT to take moderation into their own hands by picking on other users; there is a "report post" button and our members are welcome to click it and let us know there is an issue so that we, the staff, may take care of it. (Vigilante moderation is not permitted by our users.) Additionally, our members will practice common courtesy in dealing with the staff, other users and the administrators of this Forum, and likewise the staff of the Forum will treat its members with respect. It is important to remember that this Forum is run solely on a volunteer basis.

Constant and willful pushing against the limits described herein - what some would call "almost breaking the rules" - will not be tolerated.

5. Respect For THE MAGAZINE

There are times when you might be upset to see a certain thing appear (or not appear) in THE MAGAZINE, but please remember that someone out there worked very hard to produce the material. Criticism of THE MAGAZINE is not disallowed, but please choose your words carefully so as not to hurt the feelings of the many young writers from across Canada whom work at THE MAGAZINE. Not all of them have accounts but many of them read the board. Constructive criticism is helpful, but there is a fine line and any posts or comments which are considered hurtful or lacking in civility will be deleted.

6. Respect For The Staff (Administrators and Moderators)

The MagBoard is a privately-owned and operated discussion website and community under the sole authority of its Administrators, and run with the aid of Moderators who act on the authority of the Administrators. At all times will members of this Forum follow the instructions of staff members, including these moderators and administrators. They are acting on behalf of the Administrators; questioning their actions or motivations in public messages is not welcome. Instead, should you have an issue with the way a staff member is behaving or disagree with their judgment, you are asked to please contact one of the Administrators via email or private message to express your concerns, instead of taking matters into your own hands. Our staff is entirely volunteer-based, and deserves the freedom to be able to do their volunteer jobs; at the same time, we recognize that not every decision is infallible, though we would like to be able to discuss the matter with you freely.

Also, while we grant our users the utmost discretion and freedom, there is no guaranteed right of free speech (or right toward anything else, for that matter) in this community, and we make no guarantees at all about its operation, its moderation or its policies; the Forum is operated solely at the leisure of the Forum administrators, in their free time, and no user is guaranteed the right to be here as a participant.

7. Additional Forum Rules and Regulations

Multiple Accounts: The MagBoard requires all members to use ONE and ONLY ONE account, for all circumstances. Anyone using multiple accounts without the express permission of the Forum administrator (only in special cases) are at risk to have ALL their handles banned from use in our Forum.

Profanity Filter: Some profanity will automatically be edited by the software. Deliberate attempts to get around the profanity filter (for example, using special characters or spacing so the word is not filtered) are a violation of our terms of service and members may be disciplined. Please understand that the profanity filter is not intelligent. Do not get offended or complain if an innocent word gets partially censored because of filtering. There's nothing we can do about it - the filter allows "includes" but not "excludes".

Graphics: Member Avatars: We not only allow but also encourage people to use avatars, the small pictures below a person's handle on their messages. We do, however, restrict avatars to exclude those featuring nudity, harsh language, those that feature visual suggestions of hate (such as swastikas), and those that otherwise violate regular forum rules. Should your personal avatar be found unacceptable, usually the aforementioned examples, a change of avatars will be required (and will often be done by the staff).

Administrator's Prerogative: While we do have established rules of behavior, it is important to remember that this Forum is not a public community. It is a private discussion group completely owned by the Site Owner and operated by its Chief Administrator. Any requests and/or demands made by the Site Owner or Chief Administrator in this Forum AT ANY TIME must be obeyed, including those that countermand other established rules and regulations including those displayed in this FAQ. Failure to do so will result in termination of one's user account.