The Official Reporting Guide:


How To Actually Report A Bad Post:
By reporting a post you make the Moderators' (and above) job a lot easier. But many people just use the Report Function to reply, comment on a post, communicate with the staff, or a way to get back at people that make them angry. This will get you warned or in extreme circumstances, banned.


Things to consider before reporting and/or replying to a rule-breaking thread:
1. The Moderators don’t care about your petty arguments. They wouldn’t break out if you all would stop spamming in the wrong places anyway…

2. If you want to ask the staff a question use the Support & Suggestions Section (be sure to search first though in case your question has already been asked). Your questions will always be answered there by either the board staff or a dedicated member.

3. Don't simply reply just to say that a thread is a dupe. This does not help anything and does not contribute to the topic at all. It just makes you look bad.

4. Also if YOU are going to post in a dupe thread, remember to include the link to where you found the original topic. Most Moderators will not close a topic until they know that the topic has actually been started before.

5. If a topic is posted by a new member don’t just criticize them for not knowing what to do or putting it in the wrong place. Instead, give them some advice so they know better or a link to the Rules and Regulations topic so they can learn what to do to not repeat the problem in the future.

6. If a topic does not break any rules then do not Report it. Reporting is intended to inform the staff that a rule was actually broken. This function is not to be used for alternative purposes such as trying to get members in trouble when they have done nothing wrong. Basically YOU could just end up getting warned.

7. Do not report any Banned members. They are already gone so why do you need to bother the Moderators with a report? It’s not making you look good…

8. Do not report posts older than 1 week, unless they are repeat topics: Many seem to like reporting old rulebreaking posts without realising that by one week, the posts would have been acted upon by a mod (1 week's the time limit given by tm24 in a support and suggestions thread sometime back).


How To Use the Report Function:
All you have to do when you click on the Report Button, type your report explaining what rule a member has broken, and then click "Submit Report" to send it to the appropriate Staff members.


Here are some common reports:
1. If a topic is a dupe thread just put: Topic done before. Should be closed.

2. If you are reporting a member that spamming the forum simply put: Member is putting Spam all over the forum. Should be Edited or Warned.

3. If you think that a post should be deleted because it does not apply to the topic: Post does not apply to topic and should be deleted.

4. If a post has a lot of vulgar language in it: Post is full of vulgar language should be deleted.

5. If a topic needs to be moved to a different section of the forum: Topic should be moved to (insert section here) and give a reason why.

6. If a post is overly short(one word): Post is overly short and should be deleted.
NOTE: Don't worry if you made a wrong report by accident and do not PM the staff and/or make another report to apologize for that. From what I know, many members think that they somehow have to apologise if they have reported a non-rulebreaking post by accident. However, do not worry for even the best of members make errors sometimes and I assure you that the dgemu staff will certainly forgive honest mistakes.

How To Post Dupe Threads And Topics:
1. If you are going to post a dupe thread make sure it applies to the topic that you think it is the same as.

2. Also if it is a new member tell them that it is wrong and why. Don’t make them feel bad about themselves because you were there once too…

3. It’s a good idea to give the link to the Search Function anytime you post a Dupe Thread. Then that member can find the answer to their problem/question then and there.

4. Another good link to give to a new member is the link to the Rules & Regulations.

5. The best thing to remember about posting Dupe Threads is to be kind to people that don’t know any better and too be thorough in your posts. Moderators will always pick up on that and it will make you look a lot better on the website.

6. Most importantly, ALWAYS follow up with a report after you post in these types of threads.

In Closing:
Reporting posts well can make you look very good in the eyes of the Staff. But if you do it wrong then you just look stupid. So don’t abuse the right to do it or you’ll get warns and eventually get banned. Otherwise if you do it right you’ll look good and eventually get negative warns which make DP’s cost less. Just goes to show you don’t have to spam to get gp's.

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