Rules sections

Board rules

These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on Port Chat. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors.

  1. Use Of Portchat

    1. Football forums are well known to be the arse end of the internet, full of nonsense, lies and conjecture. Portchat does not pretend to be any different. User discretion is advised. #
    2. Registration and continued use is subject to adherence to the rules listed below. #

  2. Basic Conduct

    1. Treat every user with a basic level of respect #
    2. Do not make any post or start any thread with the intent to insult or offend any other user on this site. #
    3. Do not make any post or start any thread that abuses or harasses another user. #
    4. Certain forums have a specific purpose. Users posting there have a higher standard of conduct expected of them. #

  3. Specific Conduct

    1. Derogatory language or slurs, including but not limited to language that is particularly offensive to a group of people (e.g. a race, gender, sexual orientation, disability), may be moderated depending on context. Using language or images that use race, gender, sexual orientation or disability to insult or offend is not permitted. #
    2. Signatures and avatars will be held to a higher standard and must follow all rules. Thread titles will also be held to a higher standard. #
    3. Post appropriately to the thread and the forum you are posting in. #
    4. Testing the boundaries of the rules to see what you can get away with will likely result in moderator action. #
    5. Advocacy or the incitement of violence against others, even jokingly, is not allowed. #
    6. Another user breaking these rules does not justify breaking the rules yourself. #
    7. Other content may be inappropriate and will be acted on at the discretion of the moderators. #

  4. Prohibited Actions

    1. The following actions are prohibited on Portchat: #
    2. Spam and Advertisement - Unsolicited messages with the intent to sell something or mislead users. Threads and series of posts that are no or low content may also be considered spam. #
    3. Copyright Infringement - The use of some copyright material is acceptable under fair use. Do not link to or provide pirated media (copyrighted video, music, etc.) without the permission of the copyright holder. #
    4. Malware #
    5. Anything else illegal #
    6. Posting information about a user without his or her permission, or any contact details posted about a minor without his or her guardian's permission #
    7. Posting or linking to particularly gory or otherwise disturbing images (at the discretion of the forum moderators) #
    8. Posting or linking to sexually explicit content. #
    9. Embedded images should be from a reputable source. If you are unsure, copy the image and reupload it to a trusted image hosting site such as tinypic, imgur, imageshack etc. Users are accountable for hotlinks that trigger malware warnings. #
    10. You must not register with fake emails, exclusively use proxies, or use other methods to hide their identity. Doing so will be reason in itself to remove you from the site. #
    11. Do not ask or give your password to another user. #
    12. Do not post on behalf of a banned user. This is considered an attempt to circumvent a ban. #

  5. Moderator Actions

    1. If you feel someone has crossed the line with regards to these rules, use the Report button #
    2. Moderators will view all potential offences both individually and within the context of other recent behaviour. Posts that may not be individually over the line may be moderated when viewed as a whole. #
    3. If you have an issue with a warning or ban given to you or another poster you are invited to start a dialogue with cavjj or Port Chat by PM. Threads dedicated to bans (whether yours or someone else's) may be closed. #
    4. Moderators will generally escalate their punishments the more a user violates rules. However, certain actions may be severe enough to warrant immediate harsher punishment. #
    5. Moderators will make reasonable attempts to be transparent with moderation actions. #

  6. Football Specific Rules

    1. Fans of opposition clubs are welcome to register and post on Portchat, however, posts from opposition supporters are likely to be judged more strictly against the forum rules. #
    2. Please be measured and considerate when discussing Southport FC. The Board, players and staff are professionals who accept that oversight can be fair and healthy, criticism can be valid, but personal attacks on any staff member or volunteer at SFC will not be tolerated. #

  7. Discipline And Bans

    1. The forum will use a WARNING / YELLOW CARD / RED CARD / PERMABAN system. A warning will be publicly issued, remain active on a users account for one week for a first offence and is official recognition of negative behaviour or rule breaking. A Yellow Card is a "final warning" and will remain active for two weeks for a first offence. A Red Card is a temporary ban, with the length to be determined by the admins. A permaban is a permanent ban from the forum. #
    2. The warning system is not linear. Serious offences may result in an instant Red Card or permanent ban. #
    3. Any warning or ban can be appealed by PMing cavjj or Port Chat. #
    4. The decision of the admins is final. #