Welcome the Pistons.com Message Boards, and thank you for taking the time to read this very important thread. As the administrators and moderators of this board continue to make improvements for the fans of the Detroit Pistons, it is users who are equally important in making this fan community fun for all. This thread will outline several message board etiquette suggestions, guidelines, and rules regarding the Pistons.com message boards. Also, as a service to the users, there will be an FAQ section at the end. Again, thank you for spending the time reading this post.

General Message Board Etiquette
Many message board communities have general guidelines that help create a friendlier and more dynamic environment. Please review the following guidelines:

Familiarize yourself with the environment. The Pistons.com message boards are a great place to talk about Pistons basketball. However, be aware that there are other message boards besides "Team Talk"! "Around The NBA" provides a great place for fans of the NBA to discuss happenings in the Association that are not necessarily related to the Pistons. Shock fans aren't to be disappointed either! "Shock Talk" provides an excellent location to discuss Bill Laimbeer's 2004 World Champions. Getting tired about basketball? Off-Topic provides all the information you need from Tigers baseball to the new season of American Idol. So, with all these areas at you grasp, we ask that you try to post topics in their appropriate location. Ultimately, it leads to a cleaner board and more developed discussion.

Starting a Thread. Any member of the Pistons.com community is welcomed and encouraged to start their very own discussion on any of the message boards. However, there are some general recommendations that we suggest you follow. These recommendations are to increase the overall quality of the Piston fan community. Before starting a thread, please browse the message board to see if your topic is already being discussed. Don't be afraid to stop there! You can search the entire Pistons.com message board community with the "Find" function located at the top of each message board.

Furthermore, when starting a thread it is generally appreciated when the author puts some effort into their discussion. In other words, many people have thoughts about a certain event, but starting a brand new thread may not be the best way of simply stating that thought. One factor to consider is: "What kind of new and interesting point of view or question am I bringing to this message board."

Another reminder regarding threads. Please try to stay on topic. While sometimes one subject may lead to another, make a conscious effort to focus on the discussion at hand, and do not purposefully change the topic with disregard for the discussion.

Signatures. Signatures are often a great way of showing off your personality. However, there are certain considerations you should make before deciding on what to put in your signature. Entire signature size, including pictures and text, should generally not exceed this size:



This is for several reasons. The first being that the size of signatures often end up exceeding any discussion in a thread. This obviously isn't something we want. Another reason is that these images take time to load, and if everyone has several large pictures in their signature, then pages take exceedingly long times to load.

Private Messaging is another wonderful feature here at Pistons.com. It serves like an e-mail system in which you can send a message to one specific user. No other person, except who you send the message to, will be able to view the message. This includes moderators. To send a Private Message, simple click on the user's name, then click "Invite User to a Private Topic."

Enjoying the game. Obviously the busiest times on these boards are game nights. As been a long standing tradition here at Pistons.com, the "Game Thread" provides an excellent location to discuss the play by play happenings of each game. Because of this, we ask that posters try to discuss game-related plays and actions within the Game Thread, rather than starting a new topic. There will certainly be facets of each game that require a topic of their own, however most game-related topics can usually be discussed in the Game Thread. We ask that you use your best judgement in these situations and to not be angry if a moderator closes a topic and asks you to continue in the Game Thread.

The best reply may be none at all. Being the official message board of the Detroit Pistons often leads to fans of opposing teams exploring our community. Some often post derogatory rants about the Pistons, their fans, or the city of Detroit in general. The best way to deter this type of behavior is to simply ignore the poster. If the post is in extreme bad taste, please utilize the "Report this Post" function located at the bottom right corner of each post. You may also send a Personal Message to any one of the Moderators if you feel the need to. The worst thing to do is resort to name-calling and vulgarity.

Most importantly... Know the Terms of Use. Profanity and name-calling will not be tolerated. Putdowns regarding race, creed, nationality, social class, or sexual preference will not be tolerated. While warnings will be given out for violations, members may be banned without a warning if their actions warrant such a consequence. Please know the Terms of Use!


Thank you very much for reading the post! It is our hope that we can continue to better the environment on these message boards for all users! New Members, feel free to use this thread as a location to introduce yourself, rather than starting a new topic. If you have any questions, we refer you to the Frequently Asked Questions thread, located in Off-Topic.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SoundTheToll,

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