The rules of this forum (& some tips and guidelines)

In order to make this forum an enjoyable place for everyone there are some things that might help us all to achieve this. There are several rules that must be taken into consideration and we like to give you a few tips to help you find the answer to your question quicker. The rules: We do not allow, nor condone any messages containing:

• Language that is obscene, vulgar, sexually orientated, hateful, threatening or violate any laws;
• Requesting for or posting of serial numbers, direct links to cracks or any other information that violates copyright laws or any other laws protecting intellectual property;
• Requests for downloads of anything that is not freeware, shareware, trial versions or copyright-free material (hence, no ISOs, Warez or MP3s that are protected by copyright). Any references to such activities will also lead to deletion of the topic;
• Offerings of products (tangible or intangible) and services that you do not have legal disposition over.

We do not allow:

• Spam (Spam is unsolicited e-mail (or news postings and Private Messages) pushing a point);
• Referral Programmes or Pyramid Schemes (links to websites through which you have a personal gain);
• Cross posting (posting the same message in more than one forum (one posting per language is permitted in certain circumstances));
• Rude and disrespectful behaviour, whether it is to fellow members of this forum or the staff of this forum.

If you want to advertise your products or services, you can contact MP|3 for prices of banners and other sponsorship options, please do not use our forum to advertise this, this is considered spam and is not allowed. The tips:

• There is a search function available for you to search our forum. By searching this forum you can perhaps find the answer to your question sooner and you save others the time and energy to answer the question all over again (not mention save them the aggravation);
• Next to the search function on this forum, there is a huge archive of news items and in-depth articles on various subjects to be found at our main page (www.cdfreaks.com). There is a search function available there as well;
• If you want to leave someone a Private Message not intended for anyone else, you can use the Private Messaging that is available on our forum. Private Messaging can also be used to contact the administrators in case you feel you have been done injustice (do not contact the administrators for questions that are better left on the forum, so others can answer them and/or benefit from the answers as well);
• When you receive no answer to your question it may be possible that no one has the answer. Instead of posting the question again you can reply in your own message and the topic will again appear on top of the topics listing
• If you notice a user breaking the rules, please do not bash the user. Please contact the responsible moderator(s) of that forum or an online administrator through Private Messaging or use the 'Report Bad Post' function (click the orange exclamation mark in the bottom left corner of the particular post, just below the user's details) and have him close or delete the thread, this will prevent an unnecessarily negative atmosphere (and the mods won't get the feeling that someone else is doing their job ).

Several questions are asked frequently and the answers are always the same. A list of frequently asked questions regarding this forum can be found here http://club.cdfreaks.com/faq.php?:

• What user levels are there and what do they mean? When you have posted a certain amount of posts your user status will automatically change. You will get no extras on this forum when you attain a new user status, it is in name only. However, a user status may indicate how involved you are. However, please be aware that, as the user titles are only linked to the number of posts, the user status gives little indication of the user's technical merits (people with a few posts may still be a technical expert, whereas people with many posts may simply be chatters in the Living Room forum). The more you have posted and participated in discussions on this forum, the more we expect of you to abide by the rules and guidelines of this forum. You can not edit your own user status, this option has been disabled. Certain users have been granted custom user titles on the basis of their contribution to CD Freaks (not by request).
  
  
• When can I become a moderator or an administrator? Becoming a moderator for a specific forum is usually rewarded to users who are particularly helpful and knowledgeable in the subject of the forum they are moderating. When the administrators need a new moderator they will contact the person of whom they feel would make a good moderator. You can not apply for this 'job'. Even more so applies to the 'job' of (senior) administrator. Certain members who have shown to be helpful to the forum and know how things work may be asked to join the administrative team. Again, you cannot apply for this, if the management needs a new administrator they will contact the person of whom they feel is up for the task.

To make this forum enjoyable for all of us there are some things you should consider:

• The use of images through the [img] tags should not be excessively used, not everyone has a high speed connection. Excessive use of images will result in long loading times which can be very annoying for modem users in particular. Instead of using the [img ] tags you can also link to an image using the [url ] tags, especially when you have several images or when the image(s) used are very big in size.
• Quoting other people's post(s) can be very convenient to reply to certain things said. Instead of using the entire post to be quoted, restrict yourself to that sentence or (part of) sentences that you want to reply to and reply outside the [quote ] tags. This way it is clear for everybody to what in particular you are replying and again saves unnecessary loading time;
• The use of caps (upper case typing) is considered shouting and very impolite, so please beware of this and make sure caps lock is disabled when typing your post;
• With smilies you can express emotions (http://club.cdfreaks.com/misc.php?action=showsmilies). This can help prevent people from misinterpreting your message (especially when irony/sarcasm is involved)

The administrative staff (moderators and administrators) reserves the right to edit, close, move or delete threads, edit signatures and remove avatars, when necessary. In case of repeatedly violating forum rules a member may be deleted or even banned from this forum. When you disagree with any decision taken by a member of the administrative team you can contact the administrator in question through Private Messaging or email to ask for an explanation. Do not start a new thread when you want to enquire about the reason for an action taken by the administrative staff, but contact the responsible forum moderator(s). CD Freaks has become a real community over the last few years. The administrators (including the moderators) spend a lot of spare time in maintaining this forum and don't get paid for this. We are trying to keep things running smooth and make this an enjoyable place on the internet for everyone. Respect is something you have to earn, so please respect our rules and we will respect your opinions. Thank you for being a member and we hope you enjoy your stay, may you find great use in our forum. Visit us on IRCNet at #cdfreaks-int as well, here you can chat live with many of our members and any question you may have. You can learn more about our chat through here or go to www.ircnet.info and click webchat, enter your nick and #cdfreaks-int as the channel. You can also read more here. CD Freaks