Chat rules

Grounds for blocking

Users who are clearly disruptive to the chat or who fail to behave appropriately towards other contributors may be blocked. The possible reasons for blocking include (but are not limited to):

1. Personal attacks, harassment, sexual harassment, insults or bullying.
2. Racial bigotry, sexually degrading language, or other hate speech.
3. Extreme use of profanity/cursing or directing it towards another user is not permitted.
4. Violation of personal privacy. This includes revealing personal information about users (e.g. real name, location, age, gender, etc) and violating confidentiality on particular issues (such as issues asked to be kept confidential by other users or administrators).
5. Linking to external sources, such as websites, which violate the aforementioned rules. Notably, publicly linking to websites such as Facebook or MySpace that violate personal privacy, is not permitted without prior consent from the user whose privacy might be violated.
6. Trolling or general irritation or disruption of other users. This often includes, but is not limited to; excessive usage of capital letters, punctuation marks, deliberate distortions of the English language (such as "1337" or "Dolan" speak), and excessive usage of languages other than English. Making arrangements to troll or otherwise disrupt another chat room or service is not permitted in our chatroom. This does not prevent you from joining another chatroom, linking another chatroom, or encouraging others to visit if the topic of conversation is likely to be of interest.
7. Being a dick. As a guideline, don't go out of your way to irritate others. (And especially do not try to test the admin's and/or chat moderator's patience and/or limits.) Vicious abuse is grounds for sanctions.
8. Whining. Users who ask for something from another chat user and are refused it should not stoop to complaining. It is acceptable to be persistent, but in a mature manner.
9. Discussion of real world issues and events is generally permitted. However, before raising any of these points or joining a discussion on these you should remember that your fellow chatters may hold strong views in these areas. Where a particular subject appears to be causing distress, offense, or is otherwise disrupting the ability for others to enjoy chat, a moderator at their discretion may direct that a conversation either be closed or moved into private chat. This may be done either by request to a mod, or by the mod's own initiative, when those factors are present. In the event of mods disagreeing to end a discussion, the decision to ends takes precedence unless there are more active mods who disagree with the decision than agree. Moderators should avoid closing discussions outside of a publicly made request when they are involved in the discussion (unless they are the only active mod).
10. Spamming. The meaning should be obvious. Don't say the same thing six times because no one is responding to you. Don't keep yammering on about a subject nobody cares about. Meaningless and/or random posts can also be considered spam, alongside disruptive internet memes.

Caps

The usage of capital letters and caps lock is frowned upon. Using capital letters to write a word or a whole entry is typically perceived as yelling.

Using excessive capital letters once will often result in a courtesy warning by an administrator or chat moderator, and persistent usage of capital letters may lead to a kick or ban, depending on severity.

Topics of discussion

Off-topic discussions are allowed and are the norm. Discussion is not limited to the Linux, and users should not demand a change in subject matter as this may constitute disrupting chat.

Bots

Any user wishing to bring a bot into the channel should seek approval from an administrator or chat moderator. Unauthorized or malicious bots are prohibited and are to be immediately kicked and banned.

Consequences

Moderators have a wide discretion relating to the issuing of warnings and bans which infringe on these rules.

The content of messages will greatly impact on the severity of the punishment. In certain particular cases, exceptions may be permitted, although these are infrequent.

Typically, the following hierarchy will apply to infringements on the above regulations (with the exception of specifically implied consequences).

• First offense: Warning
• Second offense: Kick

Following this, the block duration is usually:

• Three days for the first offense
• One week for the second offense
• One month for the third offense
• Any additional offenses may result in a permanent ban.

These are just guidelines for usual cases. Blocks and their duration are generally up to the discretion of Nukapedia's administrators and chat moderators.

Further offenses will result in an extended ban, at the discretion of the administrator or chat moderator administering the ban.

Administrators and chat moderators use their discretion when applying these rules, and understanding of the rules depends on the moderator's perception of the rules. Particular exceptions may be granted by specific administrator or chat moderator approval. These rules and regulations, however, should be followed strictly by users at all other times.

Moderators are reminded that they have the freedom to deal with situations with a less firm hand if required... If someone intends a bit of good humour, realises their mistake, and apologises, there may be no need for a kick or ban if the moderator feels the apology is genuine and the lesson has been learned

The use of kicks and bans for "joke" purposes is not permitted.

When you enter the chat, you are expected to have prior knowledge of all these rules. Ignorance of these rules is not an excuse as they cover common courtesy to others.

Chat moderation

The chat is moderated by our active administrators, moderators, and chat-moderators; a list of whom can be here.

Appointment of emergency/temporary chat moderators

Temporary chat mods should, in general, be appointed only when the following criteria apply.

• When three or more chatters are engaged in active conversation.
• When there are no other active users with chatmod rights.
• When attempts to ping any logged in, but "away" chatmod users have failed.
• When to not appoint a temporary mod would either leave chat unprotected, or where the sole remaining chatmod cannot dedicate the time to continuously monitor chat.
• When the last mod has a good faith reason to believe the rights may be required.
• There do not appear to be any chatmods editing the wiki who can visit chat.

The Delegating admin shall

• Only appoint a single temporary chatmod at any time.
• Report usage of this feature to a bureaucrat (or another bureaucrat) via talk page.
• Ensure the rights are removed upon their return.
• Review any corrective measures (kicks and bans) placed by the receiving moderator.

The Receiving moderator shall

• Refresh their familiarity with the rules, and clarify any best practice in enforcement. They should clarify any questions about enforcement with the admin before they leave.
• Upon the return of an administrator to chat, inform them of the situation so the rights can be removed.
• Take a screen capture or log of any bans issued for review later by an appointed mod.

When appointing a temporary mod

• Consider the person's record - Are they clear from chat bans for a reasonable period? Are they a Patroller? Do they have a long tenure with us? How active have they been recently?
• Consider their behavior and maturity level. Are they likely to misuse the powers? Do they play fast and loose with the rules?
• Are they a potential permanent chatmod? A temporary appointment is a sign that maybe a new mod is required. Is this person likely to be interested in the job?

Chat emoticons

The chat emoticons can be found here. While their usage is allowed, please remember that the general rules about trolling and spamming also apply to them, and therefore using emoticons to irritate other users is not permissible.

The maintenance of the list is under the discretion of the sysops. As such, suggestions for inclusions, alterations or removals of emoticons should be forwarded to the Wiki's administrators.

Known issues