IMPORTANT: You MUST make sure that your email provider allows mail from "allparforums@gmail.com" in order to receive the validation email that will be sent. In some cases, mail from the forum may be marked as "spam" or "junk" and filed as such. In severe cases, mail from the forum may be blocked completely. If you cannot receive and respond to the validation email, your account cannot be approved.The forums come under the general
Allpar terms of service. Please take a moment to read them. These were revised and are effective as of February 28, 2009.
ALLPAR FORUM GUIDELINES (revised 2/28/09)The following guidelines are to be followed when participating in the Allpar Forums. Violation of any of these guidelines is subject to a written warning. Repeated violations are subject to additional warnings and possibly the suspension of posting privileges. The Allpar Forum staff reserves the right to immediately suspend an account without warning.
1. FOUR-STRIKE RULEAllpar uses a 4-level warning system. In some cases, an informal warning may be issued which does not increase a user's warning level. In other cases, a written warning will be issued and a user's warning level will increase. More severe or repeated violations, a flagrant disregard for the warning, or a direct attack against the staff as a result of the warning will result in additional warnings and increases in the warning level. After 4 warnings (or when reaching a 100% warning level), your account will be suspended for a minimum of 48 hours. Depending on the issues, suspensions may be extended. Repeated suspensions will result in a complete revocation of board privileges. In some cases, an account may be suspended without warning and IP information may be forwarded to the ISP of offending accounts. Note that only you and the Allpar Staff can see your own warning level - making your warning level a subject of public discussion is not advised. Warning levels may be reduced at the discretion of the Allpar Staff.
2. GOOD FELLOWSHIPBe civil to each other and have a good time. Understand that someone is going to post something that you may not agree with. Consider the point being made and the topic being discussed. If you do not understand it, or if it is not clear, then ask for clarification. If you must respond, offer your counterpoint or opinion without resorting to personal attacks, name-calling, and swearing. If a certain person's posts bother you, you can always use the IGNORE USER option (located under the My Controls link.)
3. TROLLS AND TROLLINGDefined as "a provocative posting intended to produce a large volume of frivolous responses," the terms can also refer to someone making such a posting ("a troll") or to the action ("trolling", "to troll").
The content of a troll posting generally falls into one of several categories. It may consist of an apparently foolish contradiction of common knowledge, a deliberately offensive insult to the readers of the forum, or a broad request for trivial follow-up postings. The result of such postings is frequently a flood of angry responses. In some cases, the follow-up messages posted in response to a troll can constitute a large fraction of the contents of the forum for a long period of time, wasting network resources and costing money for people who pay for Internet access to read these forums. Troll threads also frustrate people who are trying to carry on substantive discussions.
People post such messages to get attention, to disrupt discussion, and to make trouble. The best response to a troll is no response. If you post a follow-up message, you are contributing to the resulting clamor and most likely delighting the troller. Before posting a response, consider the following questions:
- Have responses already been posted by others?
- Will my post add any information that others are not likely to be aware of already?
- Is the issue resolvable, or will discussion turn into name-calling?
- Should I send private email instead of posting publicly, or should I use the "Report" feature?
- Will I later regret the contents of what I am posting?
Please deal with trolls constructively, and do not participate in trolling, and try not to "feed the trolls." You will help make the forum a much more enjoyable venue for discussion.
4. SPAM"Spam" is an unauthorized posts intended to sell or promote an external website or product, and will not be tolerated. Spam accounts will have their rights revoked without warning. If you encounter what you believe is spam on the forums, please use the "Report" button to alert a moderator.
5. ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR IS NOT TOLERATEDUse of someone's race, gender, religion or faith, sexual preference, or political leanings to berate or otherwise belittle another member is prohibited. Do not threaten others with physical violence. Insulting huge sections of the country through name-calling based on political or social beliefs is not permitted. Insulting large sections of the Allpar readership by mocking their cars is not permitted.
6. BE HELPFULWe get new members every day. Some of them will post questions that may seem foolish to the veterans. You should answer the person's questions to the best of your abilities. If you know a resource exists, then offer a link to it - don't just tell the person "search for it." If it has been discussed before, then post the link to the previous discussion so that it may be continued. There are also over 1500 pages of information on Allpar.com - if they apply to the topic at hand, then link to it.
7. STAY ON-TOPICKeep your replies relevant to the topic at hand. If you have another topic to discuss, then start a new thread. Posts that are taken off-topic will likely be offlined and pruned, split, or merged as required to keep some form of order.
8. AVATARS, SIGNATURES, AND GENERAL FORUM CONTENTThere should not be "NWS" or not-work-safe (inappropriate for younger viewers or people who know your real name) content in posts, avatars, or signatures. Many of our members visit from work or school or home where NWS content is not appropriate nor appreciated.
Note that there are to be no pictures, smileys, etc. in your signature. Photos can be posted in the Gallery or linked from your signature. Please keep your signature lines relatively small - three lines or less.
Small avatars may be allowed for certain groups provided they are hosted on the allpar.com site. Limited-time subscription packages are available for those who wish to upload their own avatars. Avatar availability is subject to change at any time. The long-term plan is to only allow subscribers to have avatars. Even for subscribers, avatars deemed to be in poor taste, hostile, counter to the current forum ethic and morals, or "flame-bait" may be removed.
9. ONE ACCOUNT PER PERSONMultiple accounts are not allowed in any way, shape or form (with the exception of the test accounts created by the staff.) Accounts made to bypass a suspension, restriction, or ban will be result in an immediate revocation of all board privileges. Creating an account to pose as another individual is also not acceptable. If you lose access to your account, you can contact the staff at allparforums[at]gmail.com for assistance.
10. RESPECT THE FORUM LEADERS, MODERATORS, AND ADMINISTRATORSWe have a group of people that work for no pay and that strive to provide the members with a good experience at Allpar. Sometimes they may make a decision that you may not agree with. As long as you can air your grievances and complaints like an adult, we welcome the feedback. Everyone makes mistakes and we are not above that rule. If your avatar or signature is removed because it violates the guidelines, replacing it with a line of text complaining about the decision isn't the right way to go about it and will likely earn you another warning. Repeated instances of such behavior may result in suspension of your board privileges. Also note that although folks are forum leaders, moderators, and administrators - they are also MEMBERS. They participate in discussions, answer questions, and also post their own questions. They are subject to the same guidelines listed here.
Attacks on forum moderators or staff may result in warnings if they are especially hostile, aggressive, or unfounded. However, don't be afraid to open up a discussion with a Moderator/Forum Leader. They are not out to get anyone, nor are they volunteering their time for "power trips."
11. USE THE REPORT BUTTONWhile the Allpar Staff makes an effort to correct issues and problems on the forums, we cannot be everywhere at all hours. On every post in the Allpar Forums is a red button labeled "Report!" If you encounter a member, post, user avatar, or user signature that you feel violates the guidelines presented here, simply click the "Report!" button and fill out the form provided. A message will be sent to the Allpar Staff to alert us to the issue and allow action to be taken if required. Your information will not be made public or revealed outside of the Allpar Staff. Using the "Report!" button allows the forum users to help the staff, and we appreciate those that make the effort to help keep the Allpar Forums an enjoyable place for all.
12. OTHERAllpar may use material you post as part of the permanent (static) pages of any Allpar, LLC web site (most likely allpar.com, valiant.org, acarplace.com, or ptcruizer.com). This right shall pass along to Allpar LLC's successors, if any.
Questions and comments regarding these guidelines can be made in the "Feedback" forum. We appreciate your support.
Key Legal Issues and Agreements - You Must Agree To These To Use This ServiceWe are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The administrators of these forums are not mechanics or engineers and do not represent themselves as experts. Some people may post advice which is incorrect, misleading, or illegal. We cannot be responsible for these posts. Posts are not moderated prior to posting.
Posts and topics may be removed for any reason. Members may be removed for any reason.
While we cannot prevent posts which may infringe upon intellectual property, etc., we will respond to these issues as well as posts recommending illegal, misleading, foolhardy, or otherwise harmful or irresponsible practices, as well as to the abuse of other servers via posts here (e.g. image pirating or pointers to internal documents). People and organizations wishing to have such messages removed should use the "Report This Post" feature or contact an Administrator via Personal Message or via e-mail at allparforums[at]gmail.com.
The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of Allpar, LLC. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by personal message, email, or the "Report" button. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.
Allpar may use material you post as part of the permanent (static) pages of any Allpar, LLC web site (most likely allpar.com, valiant.org, acarplace.com, or ptcruizer.com). This right shall pass along to Allpar LLC's successors, if any.
You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the Allpar forums to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.
You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this forum.
Users may at the discretion of moderators and administrators be warned, suspended, and/or banned for hostile, offensive, or inappropriate language, remarks, or content, or for attempts to bypass filters, or for hacking or attempts at hacking.
Please have a good time and don't hurt anyone, and remember that youngsters may be reading. Thank you.
