[Rules] Official WF Rules

[SkullTraill]

Alright, so it's finally time to add some rules. Not that we actually genuinely need any yet, just that I have been putting off implementing some moderator tools until the rules were finalized, and I want to get them wrapped up, so I need to set up some rules.

This post is going to be divided into 2 sections: Rules, and Etiquette.

Rules​

These are the guidelines that you MUST follow. Not abiding by these will result in immediate corrective action being taken against your account directly.

1. No spamming or advertising — Do not excessively post to gain attention. Do not post about other forums or marketplaces (see rule 6). Do not post for the express purpose of advertising other websites. If you are posting a link to another website, be sure that it follows all the rules below, while ALSO being of significant value to the discussion at hand.
2. No malware — Do not post links to, or upload attachments of files/websites/URLs that are intended to infect anyone else with malware/computer viruses.
   • Unfortunately, this rule also prohibits the user of URL shorteners on WF. Due to the nature of such tools allowing the creator of a link to retroactively modify the redirection URL of the shortened URL, it's trivial then for a malicious actor to propagate a shortened URL throughout the site, and then modify the redirect to a malicious URL. Therefore, all shortened URLs are prohibited.
3. No pornography — Do not post content to any content that is pornographic or sexual in nature. Remember, this is a PG-16 environment.
4. Do not attack WF — Do not attempt to, or threaten to hack, DDoS, gain unauthorized access to any part of WF.
5. Do not attack WF members — Do not threaten any WF member with physical or otherwise grave harm. This includes occult threats.
6. Be aware of the Market Rules and Guidelines — Read here: Market Rules and Guidelines
7. Be aware of Sectional Rules in the sections you are going to post in — It is your duty to check the section you are about to post in for the respective Rules thread. It will be marked with the following prefix: . You must follow those rules within the section they were posted in.
8. Stay on Topic — Your replies to a thread must be relevant to the original post. Unhelpful replies such as tangential opinions, non-answers, vague and cryptic assertions are not acceptable. This also applies to the original poster when replying to their own thread. If you are about to reply something that is not extremely relevant or at least helpful to the original topic, then make your own thread in the relevant section.
   Do not try to circumvent this rule by making an attempt to poorly "connect" an off-topic or irrelevant post to the original topic.
9. Post in the correct section— Read the descriptions of each section, and post your thread in the correct section. Here is a non-exhaustive list of common violations of this rule:
   • Website Help – is for website related problems, NOT Occult questions
   • General Occult Discussion – is for open-ended discussion type threads, that do not fit in the other, more specific occult discussion categories in 'The Order'
   • Occult Q&A – is for questions which have a concise, somewhat objective answer, not for open-ended discussions. For example: "What are the qualities of the fixed star Aldebaran?" fits in Occult Q&A whereas: "Do you do any regular ritual cleansing near your altar?" DOES NOT fit in Occult Q&A.
   • Journals, Thanksgiving & Success Stories – Should be fairly obvious, but I want to note, that if you have some random tirade to go on, do so as a Journal.
   • Book Discussions and Reviews – ALL threads relating to discussing, reviewing or otherwise sharing information about a book should go in this section, and NOT in any other section of the forum, except for:
   • Book Shares – Use this section to share links to books. Do NOT use it to discuss books, and do NOT use it to request books.
   • Book Requests – Use this section to request books. Do NOT use it to discuss books, and make sure to search before requesting.
   • All other sections – it is your duty to read the section description, and refrain from posting in the wrong section.
10. Do not troll — If you repeatedly display patterns of skirting around rules, and low quality posting to elicit a reaction, or post clearly fictitious, nonsensical, unwanted ramblings, or repeatedly disregard rules and/or staff instructions, you will be deemed to be trolling.

Etiquette​

These are guidelines that you really should follow. Not abiding in these will result in your content being removed, thread locked, etc. Repeated and consistent violations will result in corrective action being taken against your account directly.

1. Don't be a dick — Behave yourself. Do not needlessly attack, or be overly aggressive with other members. Having a bad day, or problems in your own life does not excuse you to treat people with disrespect and anger. Remember, anger breeds more anger, and no one has as much of a deep, bottomless, eternal pit of burning anger than I do. Flamewars will result in both parties being penalized.
2. Don't be crass — This includes posting images/video that contains nudity, or posting content that had excessive swearing. Use common sense, if it's an occult illustration that has some demon's bare breasts exposed, that's fine. If it's some shock video like meatspin or some screamer, it's not OK.
3. Don't make low quality posts — Strive to be as clear, concise, meaningful and relevant in your postings. Take the time to think about what you're saying, and proof read your posts before submitting them. If you have something of low value to say, it's better if you simply don't say it at all.
4. Don't be an elitist — WF is for everyone, from the most advanced occultists to people who don't even know if any of this is real, let alone dabbled in the occult. Do not look down on anyone, and do your best to educate rather than belittle or dismiss.
5. Don't be an anti-occultist — If you are, keep it to your damn self. This website is for discussing occult practices. You may not believe it, and even a little healthy scepticism will be tolerated, and of course, you are free to believe in your specific branch of the occult and not be interested in anyone elses'. But repeated protests on the validity of the occult topic as a whole, or unbecoming attacks, accusations and demeaning disbelief will not be tolerated for long. Have an open mind.
6. Don't leech — In the future, there will be more protections for content to exclude leechers, but for now, if anyone is found to be taking content from WF and using it or sharing it for personal gain elsewhere, while not contributing equally to WF will not be very welcome here. Even if you are a newbie, do your best to contribute in some way.
7. Don't be stubborn — This relates mostly to relates to requests and warnings from Staff or senior members. They know the rules and culture of WF very well, and you should heed their advice on matters pertaining to your conduct on the website. Ignore at your own peril.
8. Don't break the law — Avoid posting copyrighted material, or discussing illegal activities. At best, your post will be removed. At worst, you will be reported to your local authorities.
9. Please be active — This one obviously is more of a request than something that can ever be enforced, and even if it could, I wouldn't. But please. Be active. Contribute. Post. Not just in other peoples' threads, but make your own, be they questions, tutorials, opinions, debates or even suggestions for the site. We're a young site and we will be relegated into the lost pages of history that no one gives a shit about. Don't let that happen to WF man, we're one of the last few open bastions for sharing occult knowledge.
10. Stick to English — Wizard Forums is an English-speaking discussion board, meaning you must stick to English when posting threads and replies (you may use any language in PMs as long as all participants are OK with it).

Corrective Actions​

This is a list of some potential actions that will be taken against your account:

1. Verbal warning by a staff member
2. Official warning added to your account
3. With 1 warning point, your account will be marked as 'Warned'
4. With 2 warning points, your account will be marked as 'Probation' and every post you make will have to be approved by a Staff Member
5. With 4 warning points and above, your account will be banned for as long as you remain above this threshold

Note that most warnings only apply 1 point, for as short as 3 days, to as long as 1 month, however there are some special ones that apply 2 or more points, for much longer. Staff can also adjust the points and duration within reason, to account for the severity and recurrence of the infraction.

 

[SkullTraill]

Rules updated. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the Suggestions section!

 

[SkullTraill]

10. Stick to English — Wizard Forums is an English-speaking discussion board, meaning you must stick to English when posting threads and replies (you may use any language in PMs as long as all participants are OK with it).

Added a new rule. If you have suggestions and/or would like a non-english section of the forum, please make a thread in the Suggestions section.

 

[SkullTraill]

Rules updated:

6. Be aware of the Market Rules and Guidelines — Read here: Market Rules and Guidelines

 

[SkullTraill]

Rules updated:

11. Stay on Topic — Your replies to a thread must be relevant to the original post. Unhelpful replies such as tangential opinions, non-answers, vague and cryptic assertions are not acceptable. This is especially true for the occult section (The Order) and less strict for the recreational areas (The Tavern). This also applies to the original poster when replying to their own thread. If you are about to reply something that is not extremely relevant or at least helpful to the original topic, then make your own thread in the relevant section.

 

[SkullTraill]

Significant updates (2024-04-15)​

Rules section​

Modified​

1. No spamming or advertising — Do not excessively post to gain attention. Do not post about other forums or marketplaces (see rule 6). Do not post for the express purpose of advertising other websites. If you are posting a link to another website, be sure that it follows all the rules below, while ALSO being of significant value to the discussion at hand.

Definition expanded to include advertising

8. Stay on Topic — Your replies to a thread must be relevant to the original post. Unhelpful replies such as tangential opinions, non-answers, vague and cryptic assertions are not acceptable. This also applies to the original poster when replying to their own thread. If you are about to reply something that is not extremely relevant or at least helpful to the original topic, then make your own thread in the relevant section.
Do not try to circumvent this rule by making an attempt to poorly "connect" an off-topic or irrelevant post to the original topic.

Definition expanded, and moved from Etiquette -> Rules

10. Do not troll — If you repeatedly display patterns of skirting around rules, and low quality posting to elicit a reaction, or post clearly fictitious, nonsensical, unwanted ramblings, or repeatedly disregard rules and/or staff instructions, you will be deemed to be trolling.

Adjusted and moved from Etiquette -> Rules

Added​

7. Be aware of Sectional Rules in the sections you are going to post in— It is your duty to check the section you are about to post in for the respective Rules thread. It will be marked with the following prefix:

. You must follow those rules within the section they were posted in.

9. Post in the correct section— Read the descriptions of each section, and post your thread in the correct section.

• Website Help – is for website related problems, NOT Occult questions
• General Occult Discussion – is for open-ended discussion type threads, that do not fit in the other, more specific occult discussion categories in 'The Order'
• Occult Q&A – is for questions which have a concise, somewhat objective answer, not for open-ended discussions. For example: "What are the qualities of the fixed star Aldebaran?" fits in Occult Q&A whereas: "Do you do any regular ritual cleansing near your altar?" DOES NOT fit in Occult Q&A.
• Journals, Thanksgiving & Success Stories – Should be fairly obvious, but I want to note, that if you have some random tirade to go on, do so as a Journal.
• Book Discussions and Reviews – ALL threads relating to discussing, reviewing or otherwise sharing information about a book should go in this section, and NOT in any other section of the forum, except for:
• Book Shares – Use this section to share links to books. Do NOT use it to discuss books, and do NOT use it to request books.
• Book Requests – Use this section to request books. Do NOT use it to discuss books, and make sure to search before requesting.

Etiquette section​

Added​

3. Don't make low quality posts — Strive to be as clear, concise, meaningful and relevant in your postings. Take the time to think about what you're saying, and proof read your posts before submitting them. If you have something of low value to say, it's better if you simply don't say it at all.

Added to replace 'Do not Troll' which was moved to the Rules section

Corrective actions section​

Added info for clarity

 

[SkullTraill]

2. No malware — Do not post links to, or upload attachments of files/websites/URLs that are intended to infect anyone else with malware/computer viruses.

• Unfortunately, this rule also prohibits the user of URL shorteners on WF. Due to the nature of such tools allowing the creator of a link to retroactively modify the redirection URL of the shortened URL, it's trivial then for a malicious actor to propagate a shortened URL throughout the site, and then modify the redirect to a malicious URL. Therefore, all shortened URLs are prohibited.

Added section on URL shorteners.

9. Post in the correct section— Read the descriptions of each section, and post your thread in the correct section. Here is a non-exhaustive list of common violations of this rule:

• Website Help – is for website related problems, NOT Occult questions
• General Occult Discussion – is for open-ended discussion type threads, that do not fit in the other, more specific occult discussion categories in 'The Order'
• Occult Q&A – is for questions which have a concise, somewhat objective answer, not for open-ended discussions. For example: "What are the qualities of the fixed star Aldebaran?" fits in Occult Q&A whereas: "Do you do any regular ritual cleansing near your altar?" DOES NOT fit in Occult Q&A.
• Journals, Thanksgiving & Success Stories – Should be fairly obvious, but I want to note, that if you have some random tirade to go on, do so as a Journal.
• Book Discussions and Reviews – ALL threads relating to discussing, reviewing or otherwise sharing information about a book should go in this section, and NOT in any other section of the forum, except for:
• Book Shares – Use this section to share links to books. Do NOT use it to discuss books, and do NOT use it to request books.
• Book Requests – Use this section to request books. Do NOT use it to discuss books, and make sure to search before requesting.
• All other sections – it is your duty to read the section description, and refrain from posting in the wrong section.

Elaborated for clarity.