Please Read: Updated Forum FAQs

[Loylz]

Alright here's the updated FAQ with a few tweaks added to it. There's info on posting new threads and a few other announcements aggregated together into one document. Make sure you read all of this as it is very important.


Hello and welcome to the Arsenal-Mania.com Forums!

We hope that you enjoy your time on our forums and to help you make yourself at home, we would be grateful if you would take a few moments to read the following guidelines.

For your convenience we will answer the most commonly asked questions about the site. Are you sitting comfortably? Let's begin:

First off the bat, who are we?

We are the Arsenal-Mania.com Team. To take at look at our profiles go here:

• The Team

So what are the roles of a Global Moderator

• The Moderators keep control of the various forums. They can edit posts, ban members, move/delete/lock or unlock topics - as they see fit or if those topics or users contravene the forum guidelines.
  
  Moderators are there to ensure that a member doesn't misbehave whilst he or she is on the forum, ensuring a comfortable and pleasant environment for the other members.

Sounds cool! So can I be a Moderator?

• Whoa, slow down dude! You gotta learn to crawl before you run! See if you become a Trusted or Elite Member first before plotting plans for forum domination!

Trusted and Elite Members? What are they?

• If the Admins/Mods think that a member has regularly contributed to the forum in a positive way they will nominate them for election to the above statuses. If agreed by the current Trusted and Elite Members the nominated members will become either "Trusted" or "Elite", depending on what they were nominated for. In addition to the normal forum features the following are available to them:
  
  Trusted Members:
  
  Access to the Random Chatting Board.
  
  The chance to elect new Trusted Members.
  
  Part of the Promotion/Demotion Committee.
  
  Elite Members:
  
  All of the above, plus:
  
  The chance to elect new Elite Members,
  
  Exclusive private Arsenal Mania player and team content,
  
  and much much more!

So, if I make loads of posts, I will work up through the ranks right?

• Possibly. However when considering someone for election we look more at the QUALITY of the member's post NOT the quantity. We would much rather make someone who made 500 informative and entertaining posts a Trusted or Elite Member than someone with 5000 posts of which 90% were 'I agree' or wishlist-type posts. The posts don't have to be long boring essays as this isn't an English language lesson. So long as you post well and show a bit of personality you'll be well on your way. Being elected is a reward as we are thanking you for your contribution to the site. Best thing to do is to be yourself and keep posting as normal. If you are deserving of election you will get it eventually.

But what if I'm sure I'm nomination material?

• Truth be told, there are always Trusted and Elite members online all the time as well as Moderators and Admins. If you deserve to be nominated, chances are you have been. We are always nominating and voting on an upwards of 20 members at a time for Trusted or Elite member status. Whether or not they are successful is a different matter altogether, but the process is sound and very thorough. Please do not PM the Moderators asking to be nominated as chances are it will just put question marks on your intentions for posting. We want Arsenal Mania to be a community where people can talk to fellow supporters in an open and honest matter and having people act in certain ways just for promotion isn't something we encourage. Stay true to yourself, post well, follow the guidelines and you'll do well here. Abusive PM's will also not be tolerated and any members found to be bombarding Moderators with excessive and rude PM's will be put to the bottom of the pile when it comes to allocating new nominees. Oh, and we will change your username to 'Emile Heskey's *****'. Permanently.

OK, as a Forum Member, how do I start a thread?

• In each forum there is a button near the top which says 'New Topic'. Just click on that and and post away. A couple of guideline before posting new threads. First of all make sure there isn't a similar thread already open by checking through the forum as duplicate threads will be locked. Also make sure it's being posted in the correct forum as if not they will also get locked. Also do not post any threads for Lobby members unless it is a match-day or a match ratings thread. Any other types of threads posted in the Lobby without confirmation from the Moderation team will be locked at their discretion. In opening a thread be sure to put some effort into the opening post. Threads opened with an opening post containing something like "Discuss" or "Go" will not be tolerated and will be locked on the spot even if there are 100 posts by then. This also goes for match-day threads. There is no need for essays or an elaborate and highly stylised graphic intro (however they would be appreciated, especially team crests), but put in the little effort required to open up a thread otherwise it will be locked.

Can I "like" a post I agree with?

• No one's stopping you from liking someone's post but this isn't Facebook. If you want to agree with someone's post go for it, but if you want to comment on the post just to put a "+1" or to say I agree, then forget about it and just leave the post be. It's one thing if you agree with the post and want to expand on it, however any post we find with "+1", "I agree" or one word replies will be deleted without any warning.

As a Forum Member, can I still post in the Lobby?

• It must be noted that The Lobby is not meant to be a separate community of Arsenal-Mania. The Lobby is a filter through which most posters (who prove that they are not here to spam, rant, or make e-friends) can pass.
  
  Once in the Main Forum, there's plenty of space to relax and enjoy the friendly atmosphere which surrounds most of A-M.
  
  There is nothing stopping you from posting in the lobby however we strongly suggest you consider whether or not you want to be able to post in the main forums in the first place when given the oportunity for promotion. The moderation team will make judgement calls whenever we feel it is necessarry and any Forum Members who do not seem to making use of their FM Status and instead decide to spend most of their time in The Lobby will be demoted.
  
  The reason for being granted FM status is to give you access to the main and if you're not making use of it then there would be no point in having a Forum Member status in the first place. We don't want members coming into the Lobby mainly to show off their "clout" and try to throw their weight around. We will be clamping down hard on this to make it easier for us to promote members in a quick and efficient manner.

Are opposition fans welcome on the forum?

• It depends. If you support a team apart from Arsenal and you want to discuss football and interact with our members in a friendly and community spirited way then you are more than welcome. Please note however we will be stricter with your choice of avatar your posts will be more closely scrutinised.
  
  If however you are here solely on the wind-up then don't even bother posting as:
  
  a) We will ban you
  
  and
  
  b) Before we ban you we will make you look like a complete idiot. In fact you will look so stupid that you will be a laughing stock on these boards for years to come. Try us and we WILL make you famous! You have been warned.

So you guys are really strict then?

• Not at all. While we are happy to help with any queries, ideally we don't want to have to tell people off and sort out disputes and problems. We would much rather talk about the club we love. But if action has to be taken then we will do so. It's not for our egos, it is for the sake of the forum community.

But if I am being flamed what should I do?!

• First and foremost please DO NOT flame the person back. If we cannot determine who started the flaming then BOTH members will be held responsible and dealt with accordingly. The best thing to do is to contact a Moderator by Personal Message or by using the Report Post function. We will then deal with this accordingly. In the mean time just ignore the idiot.

So what is your policy on banning?

• There is no set policy on banning as such, it's more on a case by case basis. If you annoy an Admin then you are running the risk of a ban. How many posts it takes you to get there is down to how much of an a-hole you want to be!

So are there any other rules we need to know about?

Yes there are, and here they are in all their glory:

No racist posts will be tolerated

We at Arsenal Mania are a multi-cultural community. In fact, one of the things which makes us such a diverse and popular forum is the wide ranging nationalities of our supporters. As a result no racist comments, whether directed towards other Forum Members or in general are acceptable and repeat offenders will be banned.

Advertising of any sorts without prior permission from the team is strictly prohibited

If you want to advertise anything, be it another site or a service, it is only common courtesy to ask first. If we say we are happy with you doing so, then you may post the relevant advert thread, but any done without our consent will be deleted and the poster dealt with accordingly.

What about match tickets? Can I advertise them?

No sorry afraid not, not even at face value. If we allow tickets to be advertised we run the risk of Arsenal taking legal action against us and shutting us down. Any posts regarding their sale will be amended/deleted accordingly.

No posts regarding obtaining online goal clips are allowed

All Arsenal goal or match clips are copyright and sole property of Arsenal and Granada and their trading without prior permission from either of those two is illegal. Arsenal Mania does not have nor is seeking to obtain such permission and as a result does not condone the trading or downloading of these clips. Any posts regarding them will be deleted and the user dealt with accordingly. Besides you can get goal clips for Arsenal matches by going to Arsenal.com and joining Arsenal TV Online. Is £3.99 a month really so expensive?

General Chat Forums

As we experienced in the past, having a general forum open to the entire forum is out of the question. In the past it was swamped with the most inane and idiotic topics such as "what is your favourite colour?", so we feel by restricting access to it to the Trusted Members and above it will be put to better use. Once you have been made an TM then you can use it, and the picture gallery, as much as you like.

There is no use in arguing that there should be one because our position on this matter is not up for debate.

Iz txt lnguge allwd?

• Pardon?

Sorry I meant, "Is text language allowed?"

• No, I am afraid not. This is a multi-national forum and as a result some posters will not have English as their first language. This means that while you may "get" text language they probably will not so for their sake please do not use it. Any text language will be edited or deleted at the Arsenal-Mania's team discretion, and a ban imposed on the offender if he or she repeatedly ignored warnings.

How do I post an avatar?

• Go to your profile and scroll down to the appropriate section. You can either use one of the default ones by highlighting it, or alternatively use one of your own by ticking 'use personal picture' and entering the web address of the picture.

What if I need help on something?

• If it is urgent contact one of us and we will see if we can assist you asap. If it is more a general query then it would be best to post it in the 'Help' section.

So any feedback or suggestions I have could go in the 'Suggestions' thread?

• Hey you are catching on!

Anything else I need to know?

• We think that is it. However, we encourage you to check out any threads which are in bold and are at the top of various sections. These are usually Forum Announcements and are generally important. Examples of these could be "What is this?" or "Forum Rules".
  
  Other than that enjoy your time on our forums, and please remember that we are here to help make the forum run as smoothly as possible and this is for your benefit. We put a hell of a lot of effort into this place so all we ask is that you are nice to us and in return we will be nice to you

Cheers!

The Arsenal-Mania Forum's Team