Warnings, suspensions, bans and appeals

[Jim Burton]

MAP Forum has a simplified process for users who violate its rules:

1. Assuming the violation is in good faith and no law has been broken, the user will receive an initial warning about their conduct. This is a moderator/admin action, requires no consensus, and will be "in effect" for 30 days.

1a. A locked thread will be opened in the announcements forum concerning the user's warning, making the justification and process transparent. This is the user's chance to appeal their warning, and they can do this by reporting the warning post privately. We will discuss all appeals in private, ideally involving administrators as well as a range of moderators. The outcome will be appended to the post.

2. If a second violation is found by a moderator or admin before the user's 30-day period of effect has elapsed, a suspension or ban must then be applied to the account.

The length of the suspension may be between 3 and 30 days, depending on severity of the violation. This will be decided in private by moderators and admins. The user's announcements thread will be updated with this action, and the justification.

The user is not allowed to appeal the second violation, nor the term of their suspension.

When the suspension is lifted, the user has a clean slate. Repeated violations may still be taken into account when deciding upon permanent bans. Abuse of multiple accounts to evade suspension or a ban is a permanent banning offense.