Forums

Site & Forum Guidelines

The following guidelines were written so that you, the general user, can get an idea of what you can expect and what is to be expected of you during your time on the forum and other parts of MyAnimeList.net.

These have been written as general guidelines only and are superseded by any more specific rule threads on a particular section of the site written by a staff member that say otherwise. The administrators and forum moderators reserve the right to make exceptions to any of these rules whenever they feel it is necessary to do so to maintain proper decorum.

Failure to abide by these rules will result in various consequences, ranging from PM warnings to temporary to permanent bans. Recurring, willful transgressions will result in a permanent ban.

If you have any questions regarding any of the aforementioned rules, feel free to message one of the forum moderators. If you find any content that does not meet these criteria, please report it using the Report links (in the case of forum posts, comments, or PMs) or report them here.

Section I: General Site Guidelines

The following rules are secondary to the Terms of Use.

1. Providing or requesting links to copyrighted, non-fair use material is not allowed.
   
2. Do not upload any NSFM (Not safe for MAL) images to the site (including user and club images).
   
3. Trolling, abuse, and/or harassment will not be tolerated.
   
4. Impersonating another member of the site is not allowed.
   
5. Do not spam or advertise on MAL.
   
6. Please report rule violations to the moderators using the Report links or this form. Do not attempt to address or correct the situation yourself.

Section II: Signature Restrictions

Images placed in forum signatures must not:

a. exceed a total area of 600px width by 150px height.
b. exceed a total file size of 300 kB.
c. be NSFM.

Section III: Forum Guidelines

1. All posts in the main forum must be in English.
   
2. Posts which fall into MAL's definition of spam may be removed without notice.
   
3. Stretching the forum layout with text or images is not allowed. Please use spoiler tags, or your post may be edited or removed.
   
4. Spoiler tags should also be used when discussing key plot elements (spoilers).
   
5. Double posting is frowned upon. Please edit your first post unless a second post is absolutely necessary.
   
6. NSFM pictures may not be embedded into forum posts. However, a link to the picture may be posted in spoiler tags and labeled;
   i.e.: NSFM: [spoiler]URL link[/spoiler]
   
   
7. Before making a new thread:
   1. Use the search function to ensure your topic has not been created before. If the topic exists and is:
      - factual, you should post in the original thread.
      - conceptual, you should post in the original thread, unless:
      a. the possibility of unique discussion exists, and
      b. the last post is more than one month old.
   2. Ensure your topic is in the correct board by reading the board descriptions on the forum index.
      
   3. Read the specific rules of the board where you are going to post your topic.
      
   4. Give your thread a clear title, without typos.
   
   If you have not followed the previous steps, your thread may be moved to a different board, locked, removed, merged with another thread, or have its title edited. If you are unsure, please ask a forum moderator before posting the new thread.

Section IV: Club Guidelines

1. The following clubs are not allowed under any circumstances:
   a. Racially/ethnically offensive clubs.
   b. Hate clubs for specific individuals, MAL users or groups of people.
2. Anti-anime/manga/character/genre clubs are allowed. If you disagree with it, then don't join.
   
3. Clubs with 18+ themes must be set to Secret and the club admins must ensure all members are not underage. Failure to do so may result in the removal of the club and/or temporary bans.
   
4. Clubs in honor of specific MAL users will be removed if the user requests it.
   
   
5. Please report threads that reach 10k replies.
   
6. Do not upload NSFM pictures or embed them into the club information section.
   
7. A creator who has left his club will always be re-admin'd upon request. For other admin requests or club problems, please see here.

Section V: User Profile Guidelines

1. Refrain from participating in cyber sex in profile comments. No one needs to read this.
   
2. Cybering with users under 18 will result in permanent bans.
   
3. NSFM pictures may not be embedded into profile "About Me" sections or blog entries. However, a link to the picture may be posted in spoiler tags and labeled; i.e.: NSFM: [spoiler]URL link[/spoiler]
   
4. Offensive usernames are unnecessary and will be changed.
   
5. One account per person. Duplicates will be banned and/or removed.

Definitions:

NSFM: Content that might be considered offensive or too sexually explicit for the wide range of age groups on MAL's user base. This includes, but is not limited to, erotic, excessively violent, bigoted, and harmful content.

• Erotic: Nudity, implied sexual acts, bodily fluids.
  
• Violent: Gore, disembowelment, dismemberment, torture.
  
• Bigoted: Irrationally hateful content aimed at or relating to any group or individual.
  
• Harmful: Seizure images.

Spam:

• Content without any purpose, coherency, or relevance whatsoever.
  
• Off-topic posts that derail a thread from its original topic.
  
• Chatting with other users. Please use your profiles, PMs, or our IRC channel for this purpose.
  
• Reaction images/videos and other images with no relevance to the discussion.
  
• Quote-chaining (with or without +1/I agree/this/yes/lol/ type comments).

Advertising: Posting content with the intent to attract visitors to another location, either an external site or another location on MAL (e.g., Clubs).

Trolling/abuse/harassment: Intentionally angering specific members or social groups.

Impersonation: Intentionally posting as another user or staff member, copying their signature, avatar, or profile picture, choosing a username that may be confused for another.

Spoiler: Any remark, comment, summary or description of a series that reveals one or more plot elements which will give away the outcome of an episode within the series, or the conclusion of the entire series. (Source: Wikipedia)

Factual Topics: These threads discuss topics limited to an individual's experience and are unlikely to promote new thought or ideas. They do not expire and new posts may be added to the original discussion.
E.g.: What is your favorite xxx? What is the best/worst xxx? What was your first xxx?

Conceptual Topics: These threads contain topics larger than oneself and may promote new thoughts or ideas. If the possibility of unique discussion exists and the last post of the existing thread is more than one month old, the thread may be created anew.