The Lockerroom
This is a the place to discuss the site, community issues, discuss ideas for opinions, and other things related to the community but not specifically about sports. You can add something to the locker room by clicking the link.
BigPPup and JuTMSY4 Propose the ArmchairGM Code of Conduct
As you can see, BigPPup and JuTMSY4 are proposing the following Code of Conduct for the site. This CoC is not meant to simply be an honor code, but a a guide to how users should conduct themselves.
Please read over it and make edits through the comments. Please do not edit the document itself, as we'd like every user to see it in it's original form. Once everyone has had their opportunity to read it, we will then propose a final copy that will be approved by the users.
Please note, that Cornfed78 wrote the Personal Attack section.
As always, if you have any questions, please let any of us know:
[edit] ArmchairGM Code of Conduct
[edit] Introduction
While we are a wiki, and do value freedom, and no matter what the status of a user is, they have agreed to uphold the Terms of Service that they agreed to when they first started. Users should be reminded that no matter their true intent, it is the duty and decision of an Administrator to decide any consequences for questionable actions. Users are expected to respect the decisions of the Administrators, and Administrators are expected to not make decisions on events that they were involved in. Questionable content, as listed in the Terms of Service (ToS), includes: [content] that is tortuous, threatening, harmful, hateful, unlawful, libelous, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent, vulgar, obscene, contains viruses, or is otherwise objectionable or potentially damaging, as reasonably determined by ArmchairGM.com and its Administrators.
With that said, presented below are the five (5) major points of which all ArmchairGM user's are expected to abide by:
Special Thanks to: Users: Tylersalt, The Beast, False Prophet, Kelsdad,Sasha as well as Wikipedia, who's framework we utilized and numerous other forums, such as ESPN (as cited).
[edit] User Accepted Practices:
Please see Terms of Service.
Since inception ArmchairGM has been a sports wiki dedicated to “All Sports, All You.” But ArmchairGM has grown beyond simple editing and writing and has become what you've decided to make it.
Because of this collaborative culture please note the following Principals of User Accepted Practices:
1) The Good Faith Assumption - Much like Wikipedia, ArmchairGM assumes all users are attempting to becomes better, more involved or more informed writers. No user should be here to damage, destroy or break apart the community
2) The Golden Rule - Treat others the way you expect to be treated
3) Civility - We are all fans. We (most of us) all have favorite teams. We all will argue over different sporting concepts, but keep civility in mind. There may not be one true answer. Maintain logical arguments, do not use ad hominem attacks and focus on the issue at hand. Do not resort to personal attacks. If no agreement can be reached, please agree to disagree. While arguments, disputes and challenges are welcome, keep them focused on the issues at hand and not each other. In maintaining civility, it's important that you always be the proverbial “Bigger Man (Or Woman).” No matter what level the other person takes it, always try to keep the issue more civil, so that you do not contribute to it. If an issue gets out of hand, let the other user know right away, rather the reverting to “fighting back.” If this does not work, contact an administrator.
4) You're Not Always Right - No one is, so be prepared to apologize.
5) Forgive and Forget - If something happens and the issue has been handled, move on.
6) Understand Yourself - You are who you are. You have your own biases, agendas and thoughts, as do other users. Know that when an issue comes up that you have an opinion on, others probably will too and they may be different. Understand this. If you're in a heated debate, consider taking a break. Many users have done this and have mediated discussion successfully.
7) Be a Mediator - You will see other disputes. Do your best not to stop them, but to ensure they remain focused and fair.
8) Follow Larry Sanger - Larry Sanger was a Wikipedia founder who provided a few words of advice prior to leaving Wikipedia, consider some of them:
- Be open and warmly welcoming, not insular,
- Recognize and praise the best work, work that is detailed, factual, well-informed, and well-referenced.
- Treat your fellow productive, well-meaning members of ArmchairGM with respect and good will,
- Attract and honor good people who know a lot and can write about it well
- Show the door to trolls, vandals, and wiki-nihilists, who, if permitted, would waste your time and create a poisonous atmosphere here.
- Be Part of the Solution
- Don't play games and utilize the policies to damage the community
- Ensure the community runs smoothly
- Don't attack specific users
9) Keep it closed - If an issue has already been handled, leave it be
10) Stay away from users you don't like - If you don't like someone, don't talk to them
11) Disputes - Try to avoid heated arguments with other users. Whenever possible try to settle your disputes privately with the party involved. If a solution can be made than it is encouraged that you discuss this with an administrator.
12) The Kelsdad Corollary - "If you would not submit your article and/or comments to a future employer, or to any other journalistic medium, then do not submit it here."
13) Welcome All New Users - You were once new too. Welcome each user with open arms, as he or she could become a valuable editor, contributor or commenter. Bring them, welcome them, help them, integrate them.
Appealing to (or claiming support from) the policy for some action or stance, which the user knows does not reflect the true intent and spirit of the policy, or Misrepresenting policy in a way which the user knows will harm ArmchairGM or its users will not be tolerated
Remember, ArmchairGM's ToS allows for members 13 years of age and older, therefore, if you would not want your 13 year old child, sibling, cousin or related person seeing what you wrote, than do not write it
[edit] Commenting:
Commenting on articles, topics, links, polls and so on has become an integral part of ArmchairGM. Commenting is also the easiest way to display a point, argue a topic, promote a thought and develop ideas. It has also become the easiest way to: "flame" "spam," "flood," "troll," and any other synonym for such items on the internet. None of these will be tolerated.
Comments related to spamming, advertising or illicit in nature will not be tolerated
The following types of comments will also not be tolerated:
(a)Defamatory, abusive, harassing, insulting, threatening, or that could be deemed to be stalking; (b) bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive; (c) vulgar, obscene, or overtly sexually explicit (language or images); or that (d) encourages or advocates illegal activity or the discussion of illegal activities with the intent to commit them. (e) copyright, patent, trademark, or other proprietary rights; (f) right of privacy (specifically, you must not distribute another person's personal information of any kind without their express permission) or publicity; (g) any confidentiality obligation. Remember, this applies to the degree of which a thirteen year old could witness. [1]
If a user finds a comment to be:
- abusive in any way
- off-topic
- an ad-hominem attack
- promoting hate of any kind
- excessively foul language
- blatantly spam
Then the user should request to remove the comment if s/he deems it necessary. This should be directed at an Administrator, who will then attempt to handle the situation.
[edit] Articles:
Articles are the basis of the Armchair GM community. They are the place where users can express their ideas, voice opinions and show their wit and knowledge on any variety of sports and sports related topics.
- Articles should be original content created by an AGM user.
- Articles should contain proper citations if an outside source is referenced.
- ArmchairGM's ToS allows for members 13 years of age and older, therefore, if you would not want your 13 year old child, sibling, cousin or related person seeing what you wrote, than do not write it
- While most users on Armchair GM are amateur writers, articles should be written with the user's own level of professionalism
- Articles should be sports related; they are not a platform to attack other users or Armchair GM as a web site.
- Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any potentially plagiarized article should be noted by a user, referenced by an administrator and deleted. The plagiarizing user will then be subject to suspension and repeated offenses will result in an infinite ban.
[edit] Encyclopedia Entries
Other than sports articles, no feature is more vital to the success of Armchair GM than the Encyclopedia. The sports encyclopedia is the place for AGM users to find every detail of every team, athlete and any sports related question they may have.
- The Encyclopedia is a reference tool.
- Users can update and add any factual needed to a profile.
- The Encyclopedia is to remain neutral at all times
- The only agenda of the Encyclopedia is to spread knowledge.
[edit] The Locker Room
The locker room is a place for ArmchairGM members to discuss among themselves community issues, sporting news that does not warrant a full article, and other issues of the day. Like the locker room of any sports team, we expect members to treat each other with civility. While inevitably, minor disagreements will occur, we expect you to do what anyone else would do: keep it in the locker room, and keep it from becoming a full-blown war.
The locker room is the community's clubhouse. As such, it is everyone's responsibility to ensure that the locker room remains a hospitable place for community members. It is is a place to express ideas and opinions that may not be full blown articles or ideas that may not be completely sports related.
- Caption contest, name games and other such ideas fall into the locker room category.
- The Locker Room is a place where non-sports related debates can play themselves out.
- The Locker Room is not a place for a flame war to play itself out.
- Like all good locker rooms, what is said in the locker room stays in the locker and does not spill out into other sections of the web site.
[edit] Hot Links
The Hot Links section is a place to link to other web sites that have interesting, funny, rumors, etc.
- Hot Links are used when another site is reference but no original content is generated.
- Hot Links should be submitted to link administrator for review before posting.
[edit] Editing
Because Armchair GM is a wiki, every user has the ability to edit articles, news, headlines, encyclopedia and many other aspects of the web site. Editing should be done with the intent of improving the overall quality of Armchair GM. Every Armchair GM user has the ability to edit, and should look at that as a privilege that should not be abused.
Acceptable Edits:
- Wikifying keywords and terms
- Correcting spelling or grammatical errors
- Correcting formatting errors
- Adding a related picture to an article
- Updating or adding an encyclopedia entry.
- Helping another user to enhance a project.
At no time is it acceptable to edit any part of Armchair GM with malicious intent. Destruction of another user's work will be considered a violation of the policy. When editing, only edit an article to the degree you would like someone to edit your article.
[edit] Violation of the Code of Conduct:
1) Violation Layout
- A Singular Egregious Violation of one of the above issues, noted by a user and verified by an administrator will result in a verbal/written warning directly to the user via private message only. The noting user may or may not be identified or told of the warning.
- A Second offense (after the warning) over the same issue will result in a twenty-four (24) ban from the site. This includes additional flaming, fighting, picking, etc as well as bringing issue to other areas (such as a lockerroom post) or continuing to be a concern after the warning. This also includes repeat offenses that are not directly related, but similar in nature.
- A Third Offense will result in a one (1) week to one (1) month ban depending on the severity of the issue, the history of the user and the damage to the community.
- A fourth Offense may result in a ban from one (1) hour to an infinite ban, at the discretion of an administrator. Any ban of more than one month, must be corroborated by at least two administrators and a permanent ban must be corroborated by a founder/high level administrator.
Multiple egregious violations in a small time period will be considered a singular violation (i.e. a flame war on a single article). The administrator reserves the right to enforce a one (1) hour to twenty-four (24) ban, as needed, to end a flame war and/or calm a user. This ban will be used judicially.
Any ban beyond 24 hours will require a second administrator's (non-affiliated with the issue) corroboration of the concern.
When reviewing a violation, the administrator will take in to account previous violations (regardless of type) when considering a punishment. This does not mean that a user who once caused a significant issue will be elevated to a second offense, but rather the timing, type and regard to the previous issue will be considered.
These rules do not apply to non-registered users, whose rights are at the discretion of the administrators.
2) What do you do it you see a violation?
If you notice a situation that is or develops into a violation, you may wish to diffuse the situation yourself. As a self-directed wiki, ArmchairGM encourages this, but please be aware of that participation in such an issue may result in personal/user harm. If you wish not to be involved, but are concerned about the issue, please contact at administrator.
If the violation is directly related to you, private messages are the first defense in controlling an issue with administrator alerts being an alternative option. Please be aware that once an administrator is involved, s/he will consider the violation/issue as a whole and punishment may be forced upon all involved.
As a general rule, please consider whether you'd like an administrator to act/react on all actions of the violation. If it is a clear and egregious violation on one users part, then the fact will stand for themselves.
3) Disputing a Violation
Administrators are people too. They make mistakes and they also have difficulty understanding the entirety of the situation. If you are accused of a violation, the administrator's goal is to ensure the community remains intact, not to punish you or promote the other person. If you feel the punishment is unfair, contact the administrator. If you still disagree contact another administrator or optionally a founder, who will be glad to hear your grievances.
[edit] What is a Personal Attack:
Personal attacks are a rhetorical strategy of attacking one’s opponent personally rather than attacking their views, argument, or stance on an issue.
Threats of violence, including death threats against other users and members of a users family (this includes posting pictures of violence or links to websites related to violence).
Posting personal information about a user or a user's family (names, addresses, phone numbers, photos, email addresses).
Racial, sexual, homophobic, ageist, religious or ethnic epithets directed against another user. (Disagreement over what constitutes a religion, race, sexual preference, or ethnicity is not a legitimate excuse.)
Profanity directed specifically against another user.
Continued ill treatment and berating of users who have previously been punished/banned/disciplined by the Administrators in cases where the user has changed their ways and learned from their mistakes.
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