Rules - Therian Guide: Forums

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Rules
Rules to be followed.
Here on Therian-Guide, we expect all of our members to conduct themselves with maturity and respect. To keep this space as safe and drama free as possible, we require all of our members to read and agree to uphold the following rules. Violation of the rules will result in disciplinary action at the discretion of staff. Thank you for helping to keep TG a calm and peaceful space. --TG Staff

Section A - Joining Credentials:

1. You must be at least 13 years old to join this site.
This is very strictly enforced, as it is required by CoPPA law. Accounts under 13 will be automatically declined, and accounts that attempt to falsify their age will be banned. If you are declined for being underage, you may appeal once you turn 13 by emailing us at staff@therian-guide.com.
2. You must take therianthropy seriously, whether you consider yourself a therian or not.
3. You must be joining our community in good faith and with good intentions.
You must also agree to conduct yourself in a mature, honest, and respectful manner.
4. You must follow the activation instructions given at account creation to get activated.
The activation instructions can be found at the top of the page. These include making a thread in the Introduce Yourself forum, and responding to welcomes so that we can get to know you. Do not comment on other people's threads until your account is activated.
5. You must create only one account per person/body, and the account must not be shared with others.
If you have lost access to an account, please follow the instructions here: Please Read Before Posting. Do not attempt to make a second account unless instructed to by staff.

Section B - General Conduct:

1. "Be excellent to each other" - Be polite, respectful, and mindful of your fellow peers on TG.
This includes:
- a) Keep profanity to a minimum, and do not direct hate towards other members.
- b) Keep discussions and debates civil. We are a varied community, so differing opinions are to be expected. If you believe a discussion or opinion to be in violation of the rules, please disengage and make a report through [Write to TG Staff].
- c) Refrain from venting, complaining, or excessive negativity in public spaces. Please utilize our Life Issues & Support channels or Journals for this purpose.
- d) Harassment, stalking, bullying, or other actions which cause harm or distress to another member will not be tolerated. This includes (but is not limited to): doxxing, spamming, or attempting to contact someone repeatedly when asked to stop.
2. Engaging in inappropriate conversations with, or as, a minor is unacceptable.
“Sexting" (exchanging explicit media, or roleplay) with underage members is strictly prohibited, even if both members involved are minors themselves.
3. Discrimination, hate speech, or the encouragement of extremist beliefs will not be tolerated on TG.
This includes (but is not limited to): racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, fascism, pedophilia, or pro-contact zoophilia.
4. TG is a private community; copying/sharing anything from TG spaces without express consent of the author is prohibited.
This includes, but is not limited to, sharing text, posts, and screen shots from others.
5. Speak as you would to others in real life, without intentional misspellings, typing quirks, or font generators.
This is to keep TG accessible for those with visual or reading impairments, or those with English as a second language. (Journals are an exception to this rule).

Section C- Topic Guidelines:

1. Keep posts on topic within the appropriate forums and chat channels.
Where a topic has its own dedicated space, please utilize it. Team channel discussion is at the discretion of the staff member who owns it, and journals are completely exempt. If you believe you have misplaced a post, use [Write To Staff] to ask for help.
2. Discussions involving politics are not allowed anywhere on TG.
The exception is for team chats in which the staff member allows it. You may vent about politics as it affects your life in the Life Issues & Support.
3. TG is not a platform to seek medical advice or diagnosis.
No member is qualified to give you any sort of diagnosis, and should not be relied upon for advice.
4. Discussions around bestiality are not allowed, while discussions around zoophilia must be limited and non-condoning.
For example: seeking support resources, or sharing experiences of attraction / romantic feelings towards non-humans is permitted. Promotion of zoophilia or zeta ideology, discussions of animal consent, and discussions around sexual acts with animals (bestiality) are not permitted under any circumstances.
5. Pups (users under 16 years old) are not allowed to discuss romantic relationships (whether with other members, in their real lives, or fictionally) anywhere on TG.
It should go without saying that inappropriate relationships (like an adult and a minor) should be brought to staff attention immediately.
6. Claiming that you have physically shifted, claiming to have a recipe to enable one to physically shift, or claiming to be physically/biologically non-human is not allowed.
Offering to share or sell methods or recipes for physical shifting will result in a ban.
7. If you wish to advertise on the Discord or forums for any reason, you must contact staff for approval.
This includes the advertising of other communities in TG spaces, and applies to comments, threads, user signatures, etc.
8. Advertising for, or seeking advice on how to create or join packs or fringe ideological groups (cults) is not allowed.
Talking about your pack is discouraged. Discussions regarding one's experience in, opinion of, or conversation about packs in general are allowed.

Section D - Forum Rules:

1. Do not spam.
This includes posting with excessive caps-lock, excessive emoticons, or posting many (2+) times on a single thread in quick succession. If you have more to say, edit your existing post. This applies to all TG spaces, including the shoutbox, Discord, etc.
2. Do not abuse the reputation points.
They are to be given as thanks to a member who has helped you or the community in some way, such as for a helpful post. They are not to be given just because you’re friends with someone, etc.
3. Images posted on TG, including profile pictures and signatures, must be appropriate for all ages.
This applies to all TG affiliated spaces, including Discord. An exception to this is in the [Adult Board]; please see the rules of the individual subforum for info.
4. Minors must not post images of themselves where their faces and/or bodies are uncovered, or have any identifying features shown.
Additionally, photos (regardless of age) must not be suggestive in any way, and must be appropriate for all ages. This applies to all TG affiliated spaces.
5. AI generated or assisted writing is not permitted on the forums, and any images created with generative AI must be labelled as such.
Spell-checkers and translators are acceptable, but generative AI is not. Generated images cannot be sold for any currency, whether it be forum points or real life currency.
6. To change your username, make a thread in the Write to TG Staff forum.
You may only change your username 2 times per calendar year. Names which use many symbols may be declined as these can interfere with the bots we use to integrate the discord with the forum chat.
7. Posts on the forums can only be edited within 2 weeks from the date of publishing, and cannot be deleted.
Staff are able to edit or archive older posts if they cause distress or a safety risk to you; please use [Write to Staff] to ask for help. Note that we will not mass archive all posts unless you intend to leave TG permanently.
8. Adult members who have made less than two posts in the last 6 months will be classified as Inactive.
Inactive members do not have access to the adult forums or the points store. You will automatically become an active account again after posting twice.

Section E - Shoutbox, Discord, and Telegram rules:

1. Keep shoutbox media relevant to the conversation.
This includes all links, YouTube or other videos, and pictures. If you have something to share but it's off-topic, please use the Discord #memes room.
2. Refrain from excessive roleplay or chatroom games.
Short ‘emotes’ are fine, but they should not be the focus of the discussion.
3. Do not flood the shoutbox with one-sided conversations, or attempt to derail ongoing discussions.
The public chats are a shared space; try to include everyone in discussions and give others a chance to speak. Personal or 1-to-1 conversations should be moved to PM or the private shout function (/PS).
4. Shoutbox is not a place to vent.
Please use the Life Issues and Support channel, or make a thread in the corresponding subforum.

Section F - Additional Notes:

1. The spirit of the rules will always overrule the literal wording.
When enforcing rules, staff are concerned with what the rules mean rather than what they say word for word. This means that you cannot use a loophole or intentional misinterpretation of the rules to evade punishment.
2. If you have concerns about the way something is handled on TG, please use Write to Staff to speak with us.
Don't go elsewhere and write demeaning, slanderous things about TG without first giving us a chance to resolve it. We will always strive to improve TG, but accusations made in bad faith will not be tolerated.
3. If a staff member asks you to stop doing something, you must follow their instructions first.
If you disagree with a staff member’s decision, you may use [Write To Staff] to appeal, but do not ignore their instructions while waiting for an answer. Where possible, reports and punishments are always handled via vote and group consensus.
4. Staff have discretion to act in protection of TG and to ensure a safe environment.
Because we can never know what situations will arise, this discretion applies even in situations that are not covered by the rules.