Welcome to the bodybuilding.com forums! We have some simple rules for our members, so everyone can have a more useful and enjoyable time here. Please read through these rules carefully before posting. If you have any questions about them, please PM(private message) a moderator.
By being a registered user on the bodybuilding.com forums, you agree to these rules. These rules can change any time, without notice. These rules apply in this section of the forum, as well as all other forum categories.
Repeated warnings of any of violations of any of these rules can result in a ban. Please use the "Report this Post to a Moderator" function if you see anyone violating these rules, or find an offensive post.
Above all, we want you to have a pleasant experience on bodybuilding.com so you can learn how to achieve your fitness goals. If you have a question about any of these rules, please PM or email a moderator.
1)Be respectful of the other members. Racism, bigotry & sexism will not be tolerated. We do allow frank discussion with the other members, and like to have a laugh, but some things are not appropriate. Repeatedly flaming, insulting and attempting to cause fights with other members will not be allowed. Please be respectful to the board, the members and moderators. Trolling (posting disgusting, nonsense, or attention getting threads) with false accounts, with the intention of disrupting this forum, causing harm, or aggravation of the members or the mods is not allowed. This includes long cat, logout links, browser hijacking links, and any other post intended to cause problems for another member. If a troll posts sick/disgusting/porn/etc pictures or threads, please report them. DO NOT reply to these threads or posts, and do NOT quote the post. Also, do not make new threads calling out or discussing the trolls. You are only giving them the attention they want, and making our job to clean up their mess more difficult. If you have a problem with another board member, please PM a moderator about it. This also includes sending rude or harassing PM's.
2) Posting SICK or DISGUSTING pictures/movies/websites will result in AUTOMATIC BAN! Pictures of tubgirl, goatse.cz, etc will result in an IMMEDIATE ban. This includes images of death, gore, sexual pictures, or anything just obscene or gross.
3) Do not register multiple usernames. This is self explanatory. If you are caught using multiple usernames, all of your accounts will be banned. Registering using an IP proxy is frowned upon, as are disposable email accounts. These are viewed as potential activities of a troll and if we see these, you could be banned outright. We can tell the difference between ISP proxies and other proxies, as well as suspicious email address. If you are a legitimate poster, you should have no problem. When temporarily banned, you may not create a second username to post with. A ban is for YOU, not for a username.
4) No adult/explicit nor any illegal material is allowed to be posted. This means no posting, quoting, attaching, linking to, or embedding images and/or videos of any form of nudity, pornography, & sexually explicit/graphic content. Posting passwords to pornographic sites or making threads to PM porn is also not allowed. This includes drill threads and posts. Also, no posting of illegal items such as pirated software or torrents, where to buy fake ID's, where to find heroin locally, etc. This is due to varying legal standards. Basically, no threads on porn or illegal things. Also, no posting other users private information or anyone's phone numbers for the sake of harassing them or pranking them.
Do not ask others to PM you porn/nudes.
5) There is no advertising allowed on the forum, and posting links to outside vendors is not allowed. You are welcome to post links to our cyberstore, but we do not allow discussion of other supplement store sites for obvious reasons. Although you are welcome to discuss any manufacturer's products, you may not publicly post links to other places to purchase these products. You also may not make reference to these places by nickname or initials. Basically, if it's not a brick and mortar supplement store, don't link it, make mention of it, or tell others to PM you for it. Advertising commercial sites, referral/affiliate sites are not allowed.
We also do not allow links to online auctions or advertisements (for anything).
If you want to post your referral/affiliate links there are two designated threads for this: The
free stuff thread or the
make money thread (please be cautious and research any claims made). Other types of links are not allowed. If you're trying to sell something, please use a free service such as
craigslist, not the forum. If in doubt, please ask a moderator before posting it.
6) Signatures Just keep your signature around 10-12 lines. See rule 5 for advertising restrictions. You are allowed to post links to your personal home page, blog, fitness log, myspace/bodyspace page, and things of that nature are fine.
7) No posts about RACE. We do not allow posts asking about preferences or functions of various races, ethnicities or creeds. This always end up turning bad and will be closed or deleted
8) Do not post "SPOILERS" unless CLEARLY MARKED! Posts that do not adhere to this policy will be deleted or closed, and the offender(s) will be warned and or banned depending on the circumstances. If you are unsure if something is ok to post, mark it with spoilers or PM a mod first.
9)There is now zero tolerance for abuse of other members pictures. We request that no threads will be started that ask you to edit/modify individuals pictures from Bodyspace, avatars, Myspace, or any other sites, with an intention to harass or make fun of that person. All threads like this will be deleted or closed and the offender(s) will be warned or banned.
10) Do not place "Banned" under your username. This is annoying and we have enough to worry about having to deal without this nonsense. If you place the word "Banned" under your username, expect to become banned.
11) Don't abuse the rep system. No gang-negging is allowed. Please only rep based on post quality. Reps are meant to portray a user's helpfullness or knowledge level, not to be a popularity contest. Please do not be obscene with rep comments either. "Rep trading" threads are not allowed. No "stretch negging"
12) All Moderators decisions are final. Our moderators are all unpaid volunteers who are looking out for the best interests of our members. We want to help each and every member get the best experience possible on our board, but there will always be individuals who choose to break the rules and be banned. THERE IS NO PUBLIC DISCUSSION ON THIS. If you have a problem with a decision a moderator makes, please PM a mod and discuss the issue with them. We can address it there, if possible, but starting threads about it is not allowed. These threads will be closed or deleted, as will O/T posts in other threads about the issue.
DO NOT FLAME MODS.
13)Be respectful of women. Please do not refer to women as bitches, whores, hoes, sluts, skanks, etc. These are offensive terms and threads containing these terms (in reference to women) will be edited, closed or deleted. Repeated warnings will result in a ban.
Do not participate in threads that are against the rules.
If you have any questions about these rules, please PM a mod to discuss them
What happens if I break a rule?
In the past, we had no recourse other than banning. However now new features have been introduced. Note that some exceptions will exist for flagrant offenses, as listed in the above rules. However generally these will apply.
Most rule violations will first be enforced by an "infraction."
Infractions are basically a warning system. There are "warnings" and "infractions". As of the moment, there are auto-bans set to the points. Basically, these are an automated PM system to mark a rule violation. Please read the entire infraction, as in the middle between the dash lines is the only part mods can customize, which will contain the reason for the infraction. These simply serve as a warning reminder of the rules.
3 infractions = 3 day auto ban
A second method of enforcing violations(or worse violations) is a
neg rep. If you are negged by a mod, a reason will be given in the reason box.
A third method is a
temporary ban. These range from 1 day to 2 years. Again, a reason will be given. The bans are lifted automatically by the system, and tend to have a delay. Please be patient with unbanning if you experience this.
Finally, you may be
perma-banned. This typically is reserved for massive repeat offenders, trolls, or major offenses. This will permanently ban your username.
Generally for most users, first offenses or minor offenses will be dealt with by editing/deletion of post, closing of thread, and/or an infraction.
Thread title tags
There are a few suggested tags to add to your thread titles to help make the forums run smoother. These are words you can add in parenthesis to help others with your thread.
1) (Serious):
If you want to have a serious discussion in a thread that you make, and the topic is of a serious nature, please add (serious) to the end of the topic. Some topics are not meant to be joked about (common sense and decency tell us what these are). If you put (serious) in the thread title, it better be something important. If you post in a (serious) thread, it better be an on-topic, civilized remark.
Example:
My grandmother died (Serious)
My grandmother has hiccups (not worthy of serious tag).
2) (Spoiler):
This is for threads which are talking about or giving results of sports/movies/etc. Basically, to respect those who have not seen the event yet, please do not put anything showing results in the title. Simply mark it with a (spoiler) and a neutral description of the event. Please see rule #8 for further discussion.
example:
Good: The Smith-Jones fight!!! (spoiler)
Bad: Smith KO'ed Jones! (spoiler)
3) (NSFW):
NSFW = "not safe for work." This is used for anything which is allowed under our rules, but isn't appropriate for a work computer. For example, threads with bikini pictures, etc. This is pretty self-explanatory. If you shouldn't open it at work/school for others to see, add this tag.
**********New MISC Rules (Read before posting)***************************************
Hybrid Mode
