General Overview
These are the NG Forum rules. If you don't agree with them you can leave this section of Newgrounds or refuse to register an account. Upon breaking a rule you might receive a warning, but this is not mandatory. You can be banned for your first offense of breaking these rules.
NOTE: We often refer to our forums as the NG BBS. The term BBS is an acronym for "Bulletin Board System", which is the traditional name for what most people now refer to as "forums".
Why are there rules?
Newgrounds is the original and largest community of Flash artists on the planet. We work tirelessly to make NG the best site it can possibly be, only to have the mood brought down by users with bad attitudes. These rules are here to maintain order and keep users civil, so that when people visit Newgrounds they don't remember it as a rotting cesspool full of morons.
The "BIG ONES"
If you break these rules, you'll earn an instant ban regardless of which moderator sees the post(s).
* Using racist, sexist, homophobic or hateful language.
* Posting pornographic (including cartoon porn) or NSFW (Not Safe For Work) material. Exceptions include NG staff or if you're posting to the Art Forum and it's relevant rather than downright perverted.
* Linking to pornographic or NSFW material without a clear warning.
* Linking to viruses, referral sites, or maliciously coded websites either in your signature or in your post.
* Discussing illegal activities - including, but not limited to: ROMs, cracks, warez and hacking.
* Instigating or discussing malicious attacks on other websites
* Posting with an alternate account whilst banned or your main account while an alt is banned. Both accounts may be deleted.
* Posting any member's real life information without permission.
* Impersonating Administrators, Moderators, or Newgrounds regulars.
* Bumping any old topic without a good reason and new information.
* Making multiple short posts (five words or less) over a short time period.
* Attempting to smartass your way around these rules.
The OTHER RULES
If you break these rules, you're definitely risking being banned. Think before you post.
* Remaking or complaining about a locked or deleted thread by creating a new thread.
* Complaining or boasting about any ban, including comments in signature text.
* Backseat modding: pointing out what needs to be deleted, banned, locked or destroyed.
* Posting flashing or strobing images, or picture spamming: repeatedly posting the same picture or posting irrelevant / overused images such as the FAIL picture.
* ALL CAPS posting.
* Chasing / harassing / flaming other users, regardless of who instigated it.
* Harassing other users by having a continuous negative or bitter attitude towards them.
* Insulting or harassing the moderators or administrators.
* Trolling: cruising the boards looking for a fight.
* Sniping or knocking established NG groups, such as the Clocks, Locks, IWP.
* Repeatedly advertising your website.
* Recreating a thread that has been created recently. Use the search bar before hitting "New Topic".
* Posting excessively in a language other than English for the sole purpose of excluding the majority of the users.
* Making "Hi, I'm new", "I'm back", or "I'm leaving NG" threads without significant content pertinent to your situation.
* Creating parody threads or posting with gimmick accounts.
* Making stats threads.
* Posting "Use the search", "Use Google" or similar messages without providing relevant links.
* Posting lame chat conversations. No one cares. Seriously.
* Attempting to smartass your way around these rules.
Forum-Specific Rules
These rules are open to interpretation by individual moderators.
* General Forum - No Sig Threads.
* Where Is / How To - Before posting, check the NG FAQ and NG FAQ II.
* Flash Forum - Collab Thread Rules.
* Audio Forum - Do not start a topic to advertise your music. Use the Audio Advertisements thread.
* Clubs & Crews - Before starting a new Club/Crew, read the C/C Advice Thread.
* Art Forum - Posting requires you first read the Official Art Forum Rules.
General Conduct
Before making a topic make sure you are posting in the correct forum. The moderators don't have tools to move your topic, so if it doesn't belong it will be deleted. It should be pretty clear where to post since each forum has a description. When making a topic in the general forum, try to keep it somewhat NG-related, too. We don't need to know what you ate for breakfast!
Give your topic a good title! This is often overlooked, and "WTF?" gives no clue as to what your topic will be about.
Before posting a topic, please ask yourself the following question: "Am I making a post which is either funny, informative, or interesting on some level?" If you can answer "yes" to this, then please post. If you cannot, then refrain.
Before replying, please ask yourself: "Does my reply offer any significant advice or help contribute to the conversation in any fashion?" (As a side note, posting "Use the search bar" is never helpful. First, if you have used the search bar and have found something relevant, just post the relevant link instead. Next, how can you presume that the person posting comments hasn't already tried the search bar and didn't find what they're looking for?)
Some simple guidelines:
* Use proper punctuation and grammar.
* Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse not to follow them.
* Lurk first, post second. Read the entirety of every thread you post in before you post.
* If you're about to make a post that you're not sure is OK, whether covered by the rules or not, don't.
* If you can't make a positive contribution to a topic, don't post.
* If you're not here to have fun, go elsewhere.
* Read, re-read, and respect these rules.
Final Thoughts
We want to keep this Forum clean, and we want to see people engage in intelligent conversation. Use common sense: if you don't have something interesting to discuss, don't post a topic! Remember, these are private forums.
Also, we're not perfect. Contact us if you have a question or general comment. We'll do our best to get back to you, but please be patient!
Thank you to Tanner Centerwall for putting the initial rules together. Additional thanks to Denvish, JoS, Evark, Jonas and the rest of the mods for updating them.
