Well, let's have a look-see at them ol' SA rules.
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General Conduct
Lurk before posting! We cannot stress this enough. Each forum pretty much makes it clear from its name and description what is acceptable in there or not. Be sure you have the appropriate forum before posting. If there is no forum dedicated to the topic you wish to discuss, use General Bullshit. Do NOT post porn or any "questionable" material in GBS; if you would be uncomfortable viewing it at work, do not post it there. Keep all disgusting pics in FYAD. Additionally, please check to see if your post is a redux (it has already been posted before by another forum member).
Before you post: Before posting, please ask yourself the following question: "Am I making a post which is either funny, informative, or interesting on any level?"
If you can answer "yes" to this, then please post. If you cannot, then refrain from posting.
Before you reply: Before replying, please ask yourself the following question: "Does my reply offer any significant advice or help contribute to the conversation in any fashion?"
If you can answer "yes" to this, then please reply. If you cannot, then refrain from replying.
Obviously, the specific references to GBS, FYAD, etc., don't apply, but it seems generally in keeping with the idea of having some forums NSFW and some SFW that's been tossed around. The admonitions to lurk more and not post stupid garbage seem to be pretty good guidelines.
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Posting Rules
Low Content Posts: Please do not make posts containing no content (ie, "first post," any catchphrase, "hello, I'm new here," or something else completely void of meaning). These just litter up the forums and with over 90,000 registered users, we need to eliminate these as much as possible. If you do not like a thread, then just vote it a "1" and move on; replies consisting solely of trolling fall into this category.
This would proabably obliterate about 90% of the posts in Unrelated... but probably for the best.
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Worthless Posts: We do not care if you are drunk or high; please do not inform us of either. Please do not register gimmick accounts and make posts as a gimmick, as they are not funny. Please do not post crap asking us to vote for you on some website, give you referrals for free iPods / flatscreens / spare tires, or any other semi-spam things.
The few gimmick accounts we have seem pretty restrained, but not linking dumb pyramid schemes or posting about how drunk you are seem pretty reasonable.
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Forum Fuckery: Don't fuck up the forums or any user on the forums. If you post a malicious link (any URL with spyware or code designed to annoy people) you will be banned. Do not vote spam a thread with your friends because you don't like the person who posted it; this makes the voting feature useless. Do not make plans to annoy / destroy other forums.
Fair enough.
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Stay On Target: Try to use the appropriate thread tag for your post. This helps people find your thread and makes the forums more user friendly. Do not use the mod-only tags or you will be autobanned by the server.
No thread tags here, so not really applicable.
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Contained Conflict: Keep all flamewars and other arguments in FYAD.
I guess this is out of date since there's Helldump now, but it poses an interesting question: do we want a forum where the rules are relaxed, like FYAD? Do we want a Helldump? Right now #en more or less serves as our Helldump. Is this a good thing?
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Respect the Mods and Writers: The moderators are here to keep the forums safe, sane, and secure. Please do not harass or intentionally annoy the mods or insult the front page writers. If they ask you to do something, please do it. If you do not like the mods or the moderation, feel free to not post here.
well duh
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Harass and Sass: If somebody is harassing you on the forums then discuss it with them over PM or email before contacting a mod about it. Flames and insults do not constitute harassment. Please do not post others' personal information (phone number, addresses, emails, etc.). Try to stay out of other peoples' personal lives as well. Keep in mind there's a good distinction between the Internet and real life.
equally duh
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Account Ability: Only one person may use a forum account. Account sharing is a bannable offense, so please keep your password secure.
Since accounts here are free, and any schumck can get one at a moment's notice, we don't really need thhis one.
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Crazy Catchall: Please do not try to cleverly circumvent some rule listed here. These rules are general guidelines and are very flexible.
Fair enough.
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FYAD Freedoms: You cannot post illegal material, harass others by posting their personal information or nude photos, spam thread subject lines to break the forum tables, harass any admins or mods, or start forum invasions in FYAD.
See above comments Re: FYAD.
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I Hate Speech: Offensive terms such as "faggot" or "nigger" may or may not be bannable based on context of the sentence. If they were meant as humor with absolutely no offensive slurs meant, the user may not be banned or probated. This rule is completely, 100% subjective and is based on the mod reading the post at the time. Use at your own peril.
Do we want to make this more harsh? Less harsh? I dunno. I've reprimanded people in The Forum Formerly Known as the Midlands for this kind of thing before, and would probably ban if it became a problem, but I'm not sure what our forum-wide policy ont his ought to be.
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Keep all images work-safe. If you feel the need to post any pornographic or disgusting images, do it in FYAD. Please do not post any illegal (child porn, bestiality) images or else you will be banned. As a general rule, ask yourself "would my mother and boss be comfortable viewing this image?" when posting outside of FYAD.
Image size and linking. Keep all images smaller than 800 pixels horizontal and 600 pixels vertical. Make sure all images are hosted on your own webspace. We do not approve of bandwidth leeching and forcing other people to pay for your images.
No warez. No warez, no cracks, no CD codes, no illegal programs that are used to either crack software or perform any malicious activity. Don't post links, ask for links to download, or otherwise discuss illegal copies of copyrighted works, including movies, books, software, etc. 45-second "sampler" mp3 files are acceptable, within context. ROMs are only allowed if they are out-of-print and unavailable for purchase.
Your sig file and you. Keep in mind that everybody on the forums has to see your sig file over and over every time you post. Please make your sig file under 30k in size with less than three lines of text. Do not use images larger than 400 pixels wide and 125 pixels high.
Except for the bit on work-safe-ness these all seem pretty fair. Some people here havve giant goddamn signatures, but all of those signatures are pretty dumb. Do we really need "CULT OF PERVERSION LOL" everywhere?
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What If I Get Banned?
If you break a semi-minor rule, you will be put on Posting Probation, where you will not be allowed to post threads for a specified amount of time. If you break the rules again after being put on probation, you will more than likely be banned. If you are banned, then your name will appear in the Leper's Colony followed by the rule you broke. You may re-register your account unless you have been perma-banned, which is rarely done and only for serious cases (such as child pornography). If your email account matches that of your banned account, you can register your account again, but if they do not match then there is nothing we can do. This is to prevent fraud and user impersonation.
Since we don't charge for accounts, I assume that every ban is a permaban. Do we want probation? I'm pretty sure the new mod panel thing supports it.
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I Don't Agree With a Mod or Admin Decision!
If you would like to inquire about a particular mod or admin action, we welcome any questions in the Questions, Comments, and Suggestions forum. Please be civil, explain your point, and detail your opinion on it. You may question any mod or admin you like as long as you are not rude about it.
This seems fairly key. There should be some sort of venue to question, appeal, or seek clarification on moderation decisions.
All in all, despite the huge disparity in size and structure between Kyhm's and SA, these rules seem general enough that most of them could apply anywhere.