RULES: Read the Signs Before You Post!

[Ayin Es]

Hello and WELCOME!

So, in case you missed the ABOUT page, here are some of the rules and expected etiquette of our community. A couple of people have mentioned that they were unaware of the rules, so here they are.

Though Creative Spark is a discussion community for artists and creative people, it is run by a very small staff of three volunteers in our spare time. We pay for it and support it along with help from donations from our contributing members. All we ask is that you abide by a few rules, which were implemented for good reason--like making moderating life easier, keeping arguments to an absolute minimum, and making this a safe place that will pertain solely and simply to art.

That being said, while foul language and nudity are not censored here (have at it "tastefully"), we'd like to clarify that we have to implement some rules. People can't run amuck or we'll become an animal zoo.

NOW, HERE ARE THE ACTUAL RULES:

• We ask that you first introduce yourself in the Welcome Center Forum. Tell us generally where you hail from and what kind of art you do. If you'd like to expand on what you hope to gain from being here, by all means, do!

• This is an English-speaking forum regardless of which country you might be from. Please don't post in other languages.

• Do not discuss any politics, religion, conspiracy theories, or divisive topics. Those things are not welcome here and we will quickly shut down posts provoking any kind of discord.

• Posting lengthy excerpts from other sites (including Wikipedia) is not allowed. We respect the copyrights of others. Too much text from other sites can land us in hot water with Google. And we must not anger the Google Gods! That's usually always internet rule number one.

• Please don't overdo the self-promotion. You're welcome encouraged to add your website and contact information to your signature, and members who participate in the community can certainly promote things from time to time. But please don't promote your non-art activities.

• We are a human rights, LGBTQ+ friendly community. If you are not, or have any anti-gay, anti-trans views you want to express, do not express them here. Furthermore, any hate speech, posted images and/or references to Naziism, Hitler, disparaging language against physically/mentally disabled people, or any other groups of human beings will be taken very seriously and you'll be swiftly and permanently banned.

• We realize a lot of members from another forum have recently joined here. You may see a bunch of your friends from that forum. Fun! There's no harm in saying hello to them, but please know that there's no need to constantly use that site's exclusive jargon among your friends leaving out the rest of the membership here. It's rude. We get your undying loyalty to your old forum and how they'd saved your life. But the people who started this forum were banned at that other forum simply for inventing this one. Please start anew here.

We have decades of combined experience running community forums. The rules were not made to censor or avoid offending anyone, but to make the forum operation - and our lives - easier. Thank you for understanding

 

[Hannah]

And here's a link to a post everyone should read when they have a chance. It expands on the human rights rule above and deals with the terminology we use when talking about fellow humans. Specifically, about the kind of terms we want to avoid using, in order to continue to be able to call this a welcoming and, more importantly, inclusive place.