Spam Rules

Unlike chatrooms where people talk to each other in real time, forums need to follow some guidelines so conversations stay comprehensible at all times and everyone can find what they are interested in.

In the following paragraphs we have compiled lists and examples of posts and PMs that we consider spam and we want you to refrain from creating on CS. Doing one or more of the things listed underneath can result in a board warning.

Spam in Posts

Spamming is what it's called when someone posts off-topic or pointless posts/threads such as:

• Random chat threads – All threads on CS must have a clear topic of discussion.
• Chain mail threads/posts – Things like “You will be kissed next Friday if you repost this!” are not permitted on CS.
• Advertising threads/posts – Threads may not exist just to advertise another thread, and posting advertisements in other people’s threads is rude as well as spam.
• Clickables or requests for clicks – Clickables are not allowed anywhere except in your signature and in the Other Adoptables Board.
• Multiple threads for the same thing (e.g. posting five threads all saying “Trade with me!”)
• Posting multiple times in a row - If no one has posted after you and you have something to add, please edit your earlier post rather than double-posting.
• Posting threads in the wrong board (e.g. posting a trade thread in General Discussion) - If you happen to have posted your thread in the wrong board, you can report it and ask for it to be moved to the correct board.
• Excessive bumping of a thread - Threads may only be bumped once they are off the first page of the forum board they are located in.
• Making off-topic posts (e.g. posting “I love cheese!” in a thread about horses) or posts that have no relevant content (e.g. posting just “lol!” or a smiley).
• Quoting or replying to spam posts - This does only add to the spam and makes us delete or edit even more posts.

Spamming also includes adding unnecessary things to an otherwise-acceptable post, such as:

• Excessive punctuation (e.g. !!1!!????1!!!?????!!1?1!!???!!??!2!!...)
• Page-stretching – This is either posting a continuous string of letters/numbers/symbols until it goes off the page, or posting a *chain of letters/words/symbols downward to make your post very long.
• Excessive smilies (e.g. :) :) :) ;) ;) ;) :o :o :o…) - Just a few smilies are enough to get your point across.
• A large amount of unnecessary writing (e.g. pasting “Waiting waiting waiting waiting...” fifty times in your post)
• Intentionally making your post hard to read - If you use excessive chatspeak or anything else that makes your post very hard to read or understand, it does not add anything useful to a discussion.
• Decorative images – If the image is not directly relevant to your post or the thread, please do not add it to your posts. This includes adding images to every post (e.g. having your RP character's image in all of your RP posts), using Fontmeme writing, adding art/photos as an in-post 'signature', using fancy header/footer images, etc. The exception is in the main post(s) of a thread, where these decorative elements are only used in a few posts that set up information for the rest of the thread, and in application forms for characters/art shops/etc.
• ASCII art - Small emoticons (e.g. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻) along with an on-topic post to emphasize your feelings is acceptable, but please refrain from posting big pieces or adding them as a decorative element to all your posts.

Not all spam posts need to be reported unless several posts of that kind are piling up in one topic, there is a user who seems to produce such posts a lot or the post seems to be completely random or advertising something. Also note that one-word posts like "cute" in the Oekaki boards are fine.

Please always make an attempt to carefully read the first post(s) of a topic. Often you will find rules or helpful information there. If you have a question, please make sure that the answer is not already included there as to keep the thread clean and not to interrupt discussions with unnecessary questions.

Spam in PMs

As with posting in the forum, sending spam PMs is not allowed on CS. Spam PMs include things like:

• Advertising for a thread or website - Advertisements should only be in your signature.
• Pointless messages like “lol!” or “I like pie!”
• Asking for clicks on your clickable pets.
• Chain mail (e.g. “You’re a true friend if you pass this on to five people!”) - Anything that encourages others to ‘pass it on’ or is just reposting a copy/pasted message is chain mail spam and not allowed.
• Sending repeated unwanted messages to someone (e.g. ten messages of "Hey, did you see my trade?" "Have you seen it yet?" "Are you gonna answer my trade?" "You seen it yet?" "I'm waiting..." and so on) - This can also be considered harassment if the other person has told you to stop contacting them and you persist.