The Main Rules of the KryptonSite Forum - UPDATED 11/2/09 (Please Read)

[KryptonSite]

Welcome to KryptonSite, a multi-fandom community that houses some of the most active discussions about Smallville, Heroes, The Vampire Diaries, V, Merlin, Lost, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Supernatural, Chuck, Flashforward, GLEE, Superman movies and comics, superhero movies, and really, just about any TV series or other topic you'd feel like discussing.

There are thousands of people communicating on this board, so please take a moment to read the rules BEFORE you start posting. Please note there are some newly posted rules (as of 4/7/09, 7/29/09, and 11/02/09). The new rules will be in green.

YOUR SITE MODERATORS ARE:
KryptonSite (SITE CREATOR)
Atomic girl
CallMeClark
Chiriru
Ginx
HalJordan4184
last man of krypton
Lexgirl33
LovelyLoisLane
Mysticlies
Novak Fan
number8
Randy G.
savingpeoplething
Shadowlord367
shansgrl
STFanatic
superhippie2000
TW1977
WickedJenn
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Listen to the moderators.
Please listen to what the moderators tell you and comply with their requests on the forums. Ignoring a moderator's request will get you warned. Repeatedly ignoring a moderator will get you banned.

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THE RULES OF THIS SITE:

1) Do NOT link to other message boards, online communities, and unofficial websites.

a) Posting links to other message boards or other online communities is NOT allowed without permission from the moderators. Please DO NOT mention, link to, or post information, including spoilers, from other unofficial web sites and message boards. Linking to official movie and show sites is permitted ("official" is a site approved and developed by the show/movie's production company).

b) Drama, flamewars, controversies and other events occurring on other message boards are NOT to be discussed on KryptonSite.

c) Linking to personal sites such as your fan fiction page or LiveJournal is permitted within the normal course of a discussion. Please DO NOT create a thread just to advertise your personal site. Please DO NOT post in a thread just to advertise your personal site.

d) Anyone caught using our private message system or our userbase in order to harass other members, or actively recruit members for their own online communities, message boards, or mailing lists will be banned without warning.

e) Please do not post spoilers or images from other fan sites for shows covered here on KryptonSite. Posting from sources such as TV Guide or Entertainment Weekly ARE okay; however, if there is ever any question, please contact a moderator.

2) Absolutely no profanity or explicit sexual references are allowed on Kryptonsite. The sole exception is in those forums specifically marked for adults only. Please see the specific rules for the adult forums for details, however the following are a few guidelines:

a) All subject matter rated "R" or "NC-17" need to be posted in the adult only forums. Such subject matter includes graphic violence, repeated use of profanity, description of any sexual body parts or bodily functions, description of any sexual acts, explicit discussion of torture, rape, abuse, death, or use of drugs.

b) Kryptonsite follows the MPAA guidelines. If you're not sure about something, please check out these guidelines.

c) The board-wide language censor needs to remain in place, which means that "the 7 words you can't say on TV" (George Carlin) will probably still appear as asterisks when you type them out here.

d) The following subjects are disallowed outright here on Kryptonsite in ALL FORUMS:
- Incest - sexual situations between family members
- Pedophilia - sexual situations between adults and minors
- Pedo-erotica - sexual situations between characters under the age of 16, even if they are both consensual
- Bestiality - sexual situations between humanoids and non-humanoids
- Links to other sites that contain the above topics

3) Threats or insinuations of violence are NOT permitted. We do not allow threats or insinuations of violence directed at anyone, including the actors and production teams of the shows/movies discussed on these boards, as well as posters or moderators on this site..

4) Since there are members on this board from a wide range of backgrounds, all posters must refrain from making comments that could ordinarily be construed as sexist, homophobic, ethnocentric, racist, or significantly demeaning to any individual or group on the basis of disability, age, political inclinations or religion. What is construed as demeaning or hateful is up to the ultimate discretion of the moderators.

5) Threads about politics are STRICTLY NOT ALLOWED. Threads regarding religion, sexual orientation, gender issues, ethnic/racial issues are allowed on a limited basis. Please get the approval from at least one of the moderators before opening such a thread, and post the moderator’s approval in the thread.

6) OUR SPOILER POLICY: Spoilers are references to anything that will happen in future episodes. Posting information about a future episode of any show outside of the spoiler forum is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Even if you think the information is "common knowledge," it is still considered a spoiler. Please read the additional spoiler rules in each spoiler forum before posting in the spoiler forum. Please keep ALL spoiler talk in the respective Spoiler forums and/or Spoiler threads ONLY! As a last resort, please use the spoiler tags when discussing spoilers in the main areas of the board.

7) ONE WEEK RULE: We have a one week rule for any new episode that airs of a show we feature. This means you cannot discuss anything about that particular episode on any forum or thread not specifically devoted to that episode for one week after airing. For some series, we have an entire discussion sub-forum per episode; for the other shows, we have one sub-forum for the entire season, with one thread per episode. DISCUSSION OF THE DETAILS OF THESE EPISODES SHOULD NOT TAKE PLACE ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE BOARDS FOR A WEEK AFTER ITS ORIGINAL AIRDATE. Incorporating information from these episodes outside these boundaries can start the following week (i.e., if the show airs on a Thursday, the following Thursday).

8) We do not allow the sale of ANY goods, nor distribution of goods on this board.

9) Discussion of downloading or any similar copyright infringing activity is strictly prohibited. Do not post any references to DOWNLOADING ANYTHING on this message board. This includes discussion of finding downloads, watching episodes by downloading, software used for downloading or any sites that illegally stream copyrighted content. PLEASE do not request or share links to full streaming episodes on sites such as Youtube. The "one week rule" for clips also stands when it comes to posting clips. (See rule #7) Any discussion of downloading will result in immediate closure of the infringing thread and banning without warning.

The ONLY exception to this rule is "fan vids," which are derivative works, and links to them should only be available in the respective fan art sections.

10) DISCUSSION ON THIS BOARD SHOULD AT ALL TIMES BE ABOUT THE SHOWS THEMSELVES OR THE FORUM TOPIC AT HAND.. To that end the following threads or discussions are strictly prohibited:
- Threads or discussions designed solely to insult another group of fans, such as threads about why people like one character more than another
- Insulting fans of a character, ship, or differing viewpoint, including couched insults hidden behind jokes, sarcasm, silly banter, or Emoticons
- Psychoanalyzing other fans or posters views, which includes any remarks regarding another members frame of mind or sanity. At ABSOLUTELY NO time is it appropriate to tell another poster that they are in denial or delusional
- Discussion of the Kryptonsite boards
- Making generalizations regarding fandom as a whole without citing official sources (such as a poll or article)
- Name calling and other similarly offensive remarks
- Abusive use of Emoticons, including couched insults hidden in Emoticons and overuse of Emoticons [No more than 5 Emoticons per post, no more than 1 Emoticon per paragraph]
- Usage of character nicknames with the intent of infuriating other fans is prohibited. If you use a character nickname in order to mock, bait or flame other posters on the forum, you will be edited for a #14/10 violation. Examples of these would be: Nois, EDLois*, "Cat Grant," Chlone, Chloogle, St. Chloe, Lanazilla, Lana Fu Fang, EDC, Big Dumb Alien (BDA), and Squirrel. * Please note that EDLois is acceptable in the context of "Hex" or when comparing her to other Lois Lanes such as Margot Kidder (MKLois) or Teri Hatcher (THLois), but again, is not meant to be used as an opportunity to infuriate. Some names may not be on this list; use your own judgement.

11) If your post was edited by a Moderator, DO NOT re-edit out the moderator's remarks.

12) Leave the moderating to the actual Moderators. DO NOT attempt to "put another poster in his/her place." A gentle one-time reminder of the rules is fine, and we appreciate the spirit of this board where so many people rush to help newbies out. However, if there is a troll in the forums or a problem poster, we prefer that you use the Report Post link or notify a Moderator. Please note that there are only so many Moderators, and some reported posts may take up to 24 hours to be taken care of. Please also refrain from "tag teaming" or recruiting other posters to report the same posts in hopes of getting it expedited; one report will suffice. Please do not abuse the Report Post function by reporting posts that do not visibly break the rules.

13) Please take all issues with a poster or moderator directly to PM. If you feel you need to discuss a matter with a particular moderator, please do so via PM. Please refrain from commenting (even agreeing) in a thread to a Moderator's warning as it does not add to the thread but to make it off topic. Any thread started ABOUT a moderator or complaining ABOUT KryptonSite itself will be immediately deleted and the poster immediately banned. If you have trouble with any particular moderator's decisions and private messaging them doesn't seem to work out the problem, please contact KryptonSite, site creator, directly and he will try to address your concern.

14) Flamewars and insults are strictly prohibited. This board is for the discussion of anything about the shows we cover, whether it is positive or negative. Everyone has a right to their opinions, so please do not flame or insult any user, even if you disagree with their point of view. Statements such as "how can you all think this way" or "why does everybody hate" or "you're all just jealous" are prohibited.

15) At no point should anyone tell anyone else, "If you don't like it then stop watching." People are allowed to have their opinions, even if that opinion is that Smallville, or any other show we cover, is a terrible show.

16) We do not allow double aliases or "sock puppets" on this board. Anyone found posting under more than one name is subject to being banned without warning - under both names, along with their entire IP range.

17) Please direct all technical questions to the Help Desk Forums and all other questions to a moderator via PM. If you have technical questions or questions about a specific feature of KryptonSite, please post on the Help Desk forums. However, if you have any questions about the way the board is run or feel the need to argue a moderator's decision or a board rule or policy, please PM a Moderator instead of addressing it on the message board.

18) This is an English-only board. All posts must be written in English. We do allow international threads in the Discussions forum, but we do not allow "international" threads to be in any language other than English, as that makes it impossible for us to moderate them as a group.

19) Trolling and Spamming the message board are not allowed.

20) All threads must meet the thread guidelines. Any thread not following these guidelines will be deleted and closed.

Your thread will be deleted if it meets any of the following criteria:
- It has a really vague, irrelevant or egregiously misspelled subject line.
- It starts with "I'm not sure this is the right forum in which to post this, but..." because chances are good that it's the wrong forum. Please ask a moderator where it belongs first.
- It abuses punctuation marks.
- It belongs in any of the subforums.
- It is asking a specific question that can be answered in one shot. These types of questions should be made in the Frequently Asked Questions thread.
- It is a duplicate of a thread we already have. Please look through at least the last 3 pages of threads to see if your topic is already being discussed.
- It is making a general commentary or merely venting, instead of initiating a discussion.

Your thread will be renamed if:
- The thread is a valid topic, but it is needing capitalization.
- You misspell a word or character's name
- The thread is a valid topic, but you gave it a vague and unclear subject header, or we think it might be more useful with a more general subject header.

Kryptonsite Guidelines For Starting a New Thread:
- Spell all names correctly in the subject line.
- Read through AT LEAST the last 3 pages of posts to make sure there isn't already a thread about your topic.
- Do not put in punctuation marks in the subject line
- Use proper spelling and capitalization in your posts.
- Capitalize all proper nouns and at least the first word in the subject line
- BE SURE that you post your thread in the proper forum or sub-forum.

21) NO FAN CAMP/CAMPAIGN/PETITION THREADS ALLOWED. A fan camp thread is when fans on the site set up a love or hate thread for a character or ship for the sole purpose of gathering like-minded fans, and by implication, the exclusion of differently-minded fans. This board is here to facilitate discussions, not setting up warring camps between fans. If you start a thread like this, it'll either be closed or renamed to a more neutral topic. Please do not post links to "save our show" fan campaigns and petitions.

22) RULES FOR POSTING IMAGES:

a) Please DO NOT post large images on any forums. Images should not be wider OR taller than 200 pixels. All large images should either be posted with URL tags that link to the photo or with IMG tags to a thumbnail size photo, which many image-posting services provide automatically. If your image hosting server does not provide thumbnail size for message boards then you must either reduce the size of the image yourself or only post a link to it.

b) Please do not hotlink any images from other sites, as this steals valuable bandwidth from other sites.

c) Please DO NOT post any images that contain another site's name or their watermark.

d) Please DO NOT post images of any private individual (for example, other posters on this forum) without their EXPRESS permission. Please carefully consider the decision to post your own personal image on this site, to post links to personal pictures of yourself, or to post any other personal information on this site.

23) Please respect the personal lives of the actors, producers, and other individuals involved in the production of the shows covered on this site. Because this forum discusses real human beings with real private lives PLEASE use judgment and respect in posting. In addition to abiding by all the regular site rules, please refrain from discussing the following topics regarding an actor’s:
- Personal relationships
- Family members
- Personal contact information, such as home address and phone number, unless it is public knowledge already
- Where you can meet an actor (unless it's in official capacity such as a signing or a con)
- How to best stalk an actor
- Blind items that you think might be about the actor(s)
- The personal lives of an actor’s spouse or girl/boyfriend
- Speculation on an actor's sexual orientation that has not been made explicit and public by the actor him/herself
- Demeaning discussion regarding an actor’s physical appearance and/or surgeries
- Other types of rumor-mongering

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*** NEW MEMBERS *** If you are a new member but cannot seem to post on the boards yet there are two possible reasons:

1) You have yet to validate your email address. Please check the email address you registered with to see if you have a message from KryptonSite. Remember to check your bulk mail too, as your email program might think it is spam. If you fail to find the message, please contact one of the board Administrators via PM or email. We can look up your user name and re-send the validation.

2) Please be aware that due to the number of posters on the board, and because we do not want to disturb the flow of the postings, we do not delete KryptonSite accounts. If you are not comfortable with this you should think twice before registering.

3) We do not allow multiple accounts for the same IP addresses, to prevent "sock puppets."

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*** FAN FICTION RULES ***

(1) You may post fanfic, fanfic challenges/ideas (if you don't like to write but want to see a certain story written), poems, songfics, comments about fanfic, round robins, and other fanfic related things. Don't post song lyrics, no matter how perfect they may be for the show, unless it is within a fanfic, or you have modified the lyrics to fit the show or something.

(a) Post all fanfic in the appropriate fanfic section on the board aka Smallville fanfic in the Smallville Fan Fiction sub-forum.

(b) All fanfics should be rated G to PG-13 or YOU MUST POST THEM IN THE ADULT SECTION.

(c) SLASH IS ALLOWED. That means that you may come across stories here that have same-sex romantic relationships between characters. Anyone caught flaming (insulting) the author, people who enjoy such stories, or homosexuality in general will be warned and possibly banned.

(d) All characters in your story must be strictly fictional. Because the actors and production team of the show visit this board, for legal purposes we do not allow RPF (real-person fic) of ANY kind to be posted on this board. This includes inserting yourself, a real person, into the story.

(e)The following subjects are disallowed outright here on Kryptonsite in ALL FORUMS:

incest - sexual situations between family members

"chan" or pedophilia - sexual situations between adults and minors

pedo-erotica - sexual situations between characters under the age of 16, even if they are both consensual. This is still ILLEGAL to read in many countries, including Australia.

bestiality - sexual situations between humanoids and non-humanoids.!

links to other sites that contain the above topics.

(2) Be nice to each other. That means constructive criticism only. Criticize the work, not the author. Also keep in mind that there are different writing styles and levels here, as well as people who may not speak English as a first language. You are not required to be Shakespeare to post your work here.

(3) By posting fanfic here, you are saying that the fanfic (unless clearly noted) is WRITTEN BY YOU. If you are posting someone else's work you MUST have permission from the writer, and it must be noted in the body or subject line of the post. PLAGIARISTS WILL BE BANNED WITHOUT WARNING.

(4)All stories should include as the first part of their first post the following template:

Title/Link:
Author:
Pairing: (if any)
Rating:
Warnings (if needed):
Spoilers (when applicable):
Short summary:

(5)The subject of each thread should AT LEAST include "Story Title (Rating)". It can include more details like "Story Title (Rating, angst, drama, crossover)" but the title and the rating should be first to make it easier for people to find your stories.

(6)All stories MUST be rated in the template and in the subject line of the post.

(7)All ratings must be appropriate to the story. We follow the MPAA guidelines for rating stories. If you're not sure how to rate your story, check out these guidelines. There are gray areas, but any story found to be rated grossly inappropriately (example: rating it G when it's hardcore porn) will be *removed* and the user will be banned outright.

(8)All R and NC-17 fics must go in the Adult section, regardless of pairing or genre.

(9)You can post either the actual text of the story, or a link to another site where your story is linked. There is one exception illustrated below.

(10)Do NOT link to a story on another message board. We'll allow links to any static archive or people's personal sites. If you need a place to host your stories, here are some suggestions in order of preference:

- Wild Coyote (het fic archive) - (link)
- The Smallville Slash Archive - (link)
- The Level Three Archive (all ratings, pairings and genres) - (link)
- FanFiction.Net (link)
- Any author's personal web site or story archive
- Any author's personal blog or journal
- Other Smallville story archives such as "Smallville Under Covers"

Check with us first if you're not sure. It bears repeating: YOU MAY NOT LINK TO A STORY POSTED ON ANOTHER MESSAGE BOARD.

(11)You may only start a new thread for YOUR OWN stories. If you'd like to recommend someone else's story, please do so in the Story Recommendations thread tacked at the top of each forum instead.

SOME SUGGESTIONS:

(1) If you want feedback, let the readers know what you want, ie grammar help, characterization, dialogue, etc. If you just want comments, say that too.

(2) Run your fanfic through spell check.

(3) Write your fanfic offline in a word-processing application. Save it. Copy the entire text (control + A). Open up a "New Message." Title in the Subject line. Control + V (Paste) in the Comment field.

(4) If you are posting your story in installments, please post all your chapters to the same thread so latecomers don't have to hunt all over these boards for the earlier sections. There is an Edit function if you want to post the entire fic at the top of the thread as well.

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The use of signatures have been removed from this board indefinitely. Please do not start any threads about ideas for getting them back.

Thank you all for helping to make the KryptonSite community one of the most successful online fandom discussion boards on the Internet! We look forward to many happy years of nitpicking, obsessing and analyzing right along with you!! =)

If anyone has any questions regarding these rules, please either email or PM one of the moderators or administrators of the board. It may take us a couple of days to get back to you, but rest assured, we will!

We advise everyone to check their board's Inboxes every day for messages. You cannot receive or send messages once your mailbox is full, so please delete any old messages from both your Inbox and Sent boxes.