Questions for moderators

I have some questions for the site's moderators regarding the rules of forums and chat. I have read over them, but I want to be absolutely 110% sure that I am not overlooking anything. I'm sorry if this ends up coming off as distrustful or rude. That's definitely not my intention. I just really like talking to this community and would be very sad if I were gagged.

1: What are the rules on grammar, punctuation and spelling on this site? I saw Lark reply to a forum recently, stating that common online abbreviations are against the chat rules. The chatroom guidelines say no excessive caps-lock or "camel-caps", but I didn't see anything about abbreviations. I'm assuming I either missed something or the guidelines are in the process of being updated. Is there anything else I should know about?

2. Can I be gagged for using a preposterous-sounding title for a thread? Are moderators required to read threads before taking action against them? I am asking because I would like to post a thread titled "Shapeshifting" or "How to shapeshift" sharing personal experience and guidelines for astral and mental (not physical) shapeshifting, and I want to use a title like this to attract people who desperately want to shapeshift and might benefit from these alternatives. However, I am worried that, based on the title, people might think I am breaking the rule against making claims of impossible feats.

3. How many threads can I start in one day before it is considered spam? I am guessing that it is two. Can you clarify this for me?

4. Am I breaking the no-advertisement rule if I direct someone to a website for info or spellcasting instructions, assuming I do not own the site and the content is free?

5. If I ever break the rules, will I receive a warning or "strike" before I am gagged? Also, what rules are the most essential? Which are the ones I can never get a warning for and that I have to make sure I never, ever forget?

6. If I ever become gagged, will I be issued a statement describing which rule(s) I have broken?

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Also, I checked the FAQs and could not find answers to these questions.

1. In terms of grammar and abbreviations. - The rules clearly state that English is the only language used on this site. Text speak such as using "u" instead of "you" is not considered to be English. Remember that many of our members here do not speak English as their first language. Text speak is confusing and makes it difficult for them to read a post, hence the rule. There are two exceptions to this rule regarding text speak. "brb" and "lol" are permitted.

2. A thread titled Shapeshifting or How to Shapeshift would not be cause for gagging. The Mods always read posts for content to see whether a post is a discussion or a magical topic or a case of role-playing. Only role-playing is against the rules in a case like this.

3. You may start as many different threads as you wish on any given day. Spamming the Forums or Chat would be if you were to make the same thread over and over again. As an example, if you were to post "I need a love spell" in multiple Forums, of if you were to keep repeating it over and over in Chat. The Chat rules make this pretty clear in 10. I understand that if I spam the public chatter I will get gagged and the gag will not be removed. Spam includes, but it not limited to; flooding the chatter with lyrics, repeating the same message multiple times without allowing people time to reply, and the stretching of wooooooooooords.

4. No, that would not be breaking the advertising rules.in most cases.

5. Again, the posted rules are very clear about warnings -I understand that the Moderator's decision is final and if I argue with a warning or other person's gag, I too will be gagged and the gag will not be removed. Rule 11 - Moderators do not gag members at random. If someone was gagged it was because they broke the rules. If you get a warning the moderator is being extremely nice and arguing will just get you gagged. . All of our site rules are important and need to be followed.

6. In general, if you are gagged you will not automatically be issued a statement as to which rule was broken. It is assumed that you are responsible for having read and followed the site rules. However, if you ask a Moderator politely you can find out from them what happened.

And just to clarify one thing which I think is unclear in the rules, the same rules apply in Chat, the Forums, Spells, Articles, and Covens.

I would also like to add on to what Lark said. I am not a moderator or anything, but I do notice & ask about the rules myself.

4.) You can direct someone to a different website for information via Mail or a Thread (often to share sources). The chatter does have an auto-block feature that prevents a non-moderator from sharing links so trying to bypass that would be against the rules. A moderator or higher are the only users who can share links in the chatter. You can even message a moderator (Mail or pm) asking them if you can mail them a link to share in chat if it goes along with the magical discussion. They are free to decline if they don't find it relevant.

Another thing I have heard is that covens are more lenient when it comes to the chatter rules. The leaders of a coven can decide on the rules being followed in the chat & coven forums if those rules do not violate the Terms of Use. Those rules are either stated on the coven bio or are private in the forums.