To help ROG stay a friendly community where all can feel comfortable participating we have enabled a feature of the forum on a trial basis that allows members to let other members know when they are crossing the line of civil and courteous behavior.

WHAT IT DOES

It allows you, the users to anonymously (or not - your choice) put another member on notice that you find one of their post s inappropriate for one of the following reasons:

- Off-Topic - A post that has little/nothing to do with the Thread/Topic as originally intended by the thread starter
- Rude/Offensive Language - A post that contains offensive language which can include sarcasm, profanity or just plain rudeness.
- Insulting to another member - A post that is clearly intended as an insult to another member

HOW TO USE

Every post will now have a small icon in the upper left corner of the post that looks like a red rectangle lying on top of a yellow rectangle (supposed to represent yellow and red penalty cards like in soccer). When you click on this icon you'll be taken to a window that shows the users total infractions and a list of infraction types you may issue.

To issue an infraction, click on the yellow/red penalty icon then select the infraction reason and optionally click the "WARNING" box (to issue an anonymous warning). Then click on "SEND INFRACTION". A message will be sent to the offending user notifying them they've received an official infraction. If you clicked "WARNING" they will receive only a system generated message as a warning indicating they've received an infraction and why and nothing more.

If you leave the "WARNING" box un-checked 1 point will be added to the total of infraction points issued by others. If this total reaches 10 infractions within 3 days the offending user's group title will change to "TEMPORARY INFRACTION" and he will lose posting privileges until enough infractions expire to reduce number of infraction points below 10 at which time the users privileges will be fully restored to original.

Individual infractions expire 3 days from the time/date they are issued and are automatically subtracted from the offending user's total as they expire. The longest period a user will lose posting privileges is 3 days if all the infractions were issued at the same time and no new infractions are issued later. The shortest is 1 day.

At your discretion you may also send a PM to the offending user as part of the "INFRACTION". Unlike a simple infraction, this will NOT be anonymous and will be sent to the offending user from you. Therefore, if you wish to remain anonymous do not fill out the message section.

WHO CAN ISSUE AN INFRACTION AND WHO CAN RECEIVE THEM

To help ensure responsible use, only Donating and Lifetime members may issue an "INFRACTION". Any user may receive them.

Please use this system responsibly and use the warning feature except for repeat offenders who clearly deserve a "cooling off" period. Again, it's all totally at your discretion so please use responsibly.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE AN INFRACTION

If you receive an infraction it means you've offended someone. Read the notice you've received and the reason the infraction was given and take action to correct your behavior. If it's for rude behavior then start being courteous. If it's for off-topic posting then make sure you are posting in the correct forum (discussion postings in the Classifieds section is a big no-no) and start your own thread discussion - don't hijack someone elses. The bottom line here is to take the infraction seriously and as feedback that you should tune your behavior. Otherwise, do nothing. Infractions are not a permanent part of your "record". All record of them go away after a few days (unless you provoke more of them) so just relax and take positive action. As well, don't start posting that you received an infraction, start complaining or try to justify it. Such posts will only result in another infraction and will be deleted.

__________________
Ron Curry
R.O.G. Founder/Administrator