Read first! Red, yellow & blue cards

[mundaire]

I thought it might be be appropriate to explain the "carding" system followed on the board.

Red card - can be issued by a site moderator/ admin to any member. This is done in the most extreme of circumstances where a member has been determined to have crossed all bounds. Issuance of a red card results in an automatic ban from the group. Bans can be of the duration of 24 hours, 1 week or in extreme cases PERMANENT BANS!

Short term bans are intended as a "cooling off period" where in the errant member is given time to reflect on his transgression. Hopefully when the member returns to the group on expiry of this "cooling off period" he would stay within the site rules from then on. Failure to do so, may result in a longer ban OR a PERMANENT BAN!

Members trying to circumvent a temporary ban by posting under a different ID will be issued an immediate PERMANENT BAN.

If a member feels he has been "red carded" in error - he is free to contact one of the moderators/ site admin to offer an explanation.

Yellow card - Yellow cards will no longer be used on this site.

Blue card - can be issued by ANY member to REPORT an offending post to moderators. We strongly discourage any member trying to "moderate" discussions. In case a member spots a violation of group policy/ rules, they should use the blue card button on the top right hand corner of every post to report the offending post to the moderators.

When I say members should not take it upon themselves to moderate discussions I am especially referring to the temptation of responding to posts which you may find offending. The reason for asking all members to refrain from this is simply to prevent discussions from disintegrating into name calling matches! Report the offending post using the blue card button and send a PM to the moderators explaining which part of the post you find offending and why? Rest assured the moderators will give each complaint due consideration, and take action as required.

PLEASE NOTE: the decision on whether to take action, and what action to take resides completely with the moderators.

We have currently have FIVE moderators on our team (including me), and in normal circumstances at least one of us should be able to take the appropriate action within a few hours. However, do understand that this group is a volunteer run effort and the moderator team cannot be held responsible, in case of any delays.

For those of you who have not yet read the rules, please take the time to read them here>>

For those of you who are not familiar with where to post what, please take the time to read the guidelines here >>

Cheers!
Abhijeet

P.S. - Please feel free to post any comments/ feedback on this policy document.

[sat]

I drifted down memory lane for a moment... the cards reminded me of boarding school....

red card if you got caught for 'breaking bounds' - expelled from school...

[Mack The Knife]

If you wish to go down memory lane a bit further, I could oblige.....

[antismuggler]

Hi friends,

Is the card issued to the violating member in private at first so that he or she can mend his/her ways or is it generally made known to the group as to who has been issued with "abc" card?

How is a member who finds a particular topic offending and has waited for six hours or more for the moderators/admin to take suo moto action, know whether or not action has been taken?

Cheers
antismuggler

[mundaire]

Once a card is issued, it is visible under that members name on each of his posts (left column where the avatars are visible) and on his profile as well.

As I mentioned, for minor infractions we usually at first send a gentle warning via PM. If a member does not mend his ways upon being warned, he can be issued a yellow/ red card - as may be deemed appropriate.

As to someone finding a particular topic offending, well once he/ she has notified the moderator team (using the blue card & PM), he/ she will have to wait till one of us gets around to evaluating the post and deciding what further action to take.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a volunteer effort on the part of the moderator team, and we DO NOT offer any QoS (Quality of Service) guarantees and disclaim any and all liabilities in this respect!

If action has been taken, you would possibly see part of the offending post edited or even deleted. A moderator may also take time to reply via PM to the person reporting the infringement - but this is entirely up to individual moderators.

If a person has been sent a private reprimand, this too may or may not be communicated to the person reporting the issue. If it is a public reprimand (yellow/ red card) - then pretty much everyone will know...

It may also be that the moderator team does not see fit to take any action at all. In such cases, we would in most cases try to communicate the "why" to the person reporting the issue.

The card system is in place, because many people forget their manners while interacting on the Internet. If a group of 4 people, in your drawing room, are involved in an intense discussion on (say) the .30-06 cartridge in comparison to the 7mm Mauser, few of us would barge in and start talking about how to import a crossbow or an air rifle! Similarly, if we don't agree with someone sitting down at dinner with us, we don't start calling him/ her a complete idiot! The anonymity the internet offers, sometimes makes people leave their best behaviour at home, we wish to simply discourage this, and make IFG a place where everyone can come and enjoy interesting discussions with other members ? without having to put up with boorish behaviour!

Also, since gun ownership is a legal minefield in India, we are particularly careful about NOT allowing any member to post anything which alludes to any illegal activity.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[arshad_ahmad48]

Hello mods

please help me out.

I need to discuss something with you

[eljefe]

Arshad,
Ok, what is the issue? Please PM if you dont want to post in open forum

[arshad_ahmad48]

Thanks for all your co-operation mates.

But my problem got solved