If some felt I missed some things, please add them in below for consideration.
* Poor spelling/grammar
(annoyance level: 1 to
: this one is variable since the level of poor grammar and spelling is also quite variable. Simply put, if others have a tough time understanding what you're saying, your post becomes useless.* Short posts lacking useful information
(annoyance level: 2 to 9): while there are times when short replies are permissible (e.g. offering "Congrats" to someone who won something), in the end, this is a forum, not a chatroom.
* Lack of capitalization and punctuation and/or USING ALLCAPS
(annoyance level: 1 to
: similar to poor spelling and grammar. We don't over enforce grammar and spelling here, but again, if a post gets too illegible, it may just end up considered as spam and wiped. Capitalized words are often considered 'shouting' online. An entire post done in all caps makes it appear that that member is just yelling out their words and not taken favourably.* Overuse of smileys
(annoyance level: 5 to 10): depending on how many smileys are used and how often a particular members chooses to use them, others find it very pointless/childish to use extraneous amounts of smileys. Smileys are provided to help convey emotion with the words and aren't meant for pushing up just for the sake of adding in a bunch of random graphics. Posts containing almost nothing more than smileys are considered spam.
* Multiple-postings in a short span of time
(annoyance level: 6 to 10): Putting up a reply when you're the last one to post in a thread is often frowned upon unless you happen to bring a LOT of new information/ideas into a thread. Multiple short posts in a short amount of time is considered spam. All members have access to the 'Edit' button. 'Edit' your posts if you forgot to say something instead of pushing up a series of posts in the same thread.
* l337/LEET/Elite-speak
(annoyance level: 6 to 10): The occasional 'l337' word is forgivable, especially if used as part of a joke or humourous point. However, whole posts/threads containing large numbers of abbreviations and internet slang makes for poor legibility and serves no real purpose on this discussion board. As with spelling, grammar, and punctutation, if a post is felt too hard to understand due to the large amounts of abbreviations and 'leet' terms, it may be deleted.
* Real name use
(annoyance level: 7 to 10): if you happen to know another member and choose to use their real name on the board without their consent, this often leads to confrontations and a lot of flaming. As this board is publically viewable, no personal information should be posted anywhere in the forums. Breach of someone else's confidentiality is a bannable offense.
* Posting in the wrong forum
(annoyance level: 2 to 6): this set of forums is divide into various general-topics. Sometimes it can be hard to decide which forum a particular topic deserves, but some threads are definitely more obvious to categorize than others. The forums are sorted to keep similar topics together. It also reduced the likelihood of double-threads since similar threads are grouped.
* Posting an already existing topic
(annoyance level: 2 to 9): this can be forgiveable if the previous thread is ancient and not easily viewable, but if a thread on the same topic appears within the same screen, it shows that a member hadn't taken the time to see if something was already being discussed. Annoyance level increases depending on how frequently a member makes such repetitive/duplicative threads.
More to be added...
