This post contains examples of common spam but does not encompass everything. It is up to staff discretion to determine if the post was spam regardless of whether it is listed here. Please avoid spamming otherwise you may receive penalties such as a board warning.
Our rules for the site and forum can be found here: Forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4410814
Forum Spam Guidelines
The following is considered spam:
- Random chat topics – All threads on CS must have a clear point of discussion. This means the topic must have something relevant to discuss and not just be a basic statement or comment that has nothing for others to add onto.
- Multiple topics for the same thing - (Ex.posting five threads all saying “Trade with me!”). Please use the search feature to determine if a topic already exists.
- Posting topics in the wrong board - 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. If you are unsure where your topic might belong please send in a help ticket so staff can assist you.
- Advertising – Threads may not exist just to advertise another thread, and posting advertisements in other people’s threads is rude. Sending random advertisements via PM is also not allowed. You may keep advertisements in your signature only.
- Clickables or requests for clicks – Clickables are not allowed anywhere except in your signature and in the appropriate topic stickied on the top of the Adoptable Collections & Clickables board.
- 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.
- Excessive bumping - Threads may only be bumped once they are off the first page of the forum board they are located in. Some boards may have specific bumping rules so please check before posting.
- Making off-topic posts - Posts with random off-topic irrelevant content (ex. posting “I love cheese!” in a thread about horses), chain mail (ex. “You will get bad luck if you don't repost this!”) or posts that have no purpose (ex. posting just “lol!” or a smiley).
- Gravedigging personal topics (ex. art shops, auctions, RPs, etc) - Posting on personalized threads that have been inactive for a long period of time to bump them up. We do allow the bumping up of generalized topics (ex. fanclubs, discussion topics). Please ask staff if you are unsure if a topic should be bumped up or not.
- Quoting or replying to spam posts - This only adds to the spam, please report the post for staff to deal with and ignore it.
Oekaki Board Spam Guidelines
The oekaki boards are also subject to following Chicken Smoothie's forum spam rules located above. Please keep in mind one-word responses on Oekaki topics are acceptable (ex. "cute!!").
Some examples of spam specifically on the Oekaki boards include:
- Drawings with little/no effort - We do not allow random scribbles, simple shapes, or empty/solid color canvases. Drawings should show intention and a modest amount of effort.
- Posting canvases with just words - The Oekaki is for drawing, not for writing. Using the Oekaki to advertise things like trades, streams, other threads, etc. is spam. You can advertise these things in your signature.
- Posting the same drawing multiple times with minimal changes - Please make sure your drawings are different enough from one another that they aren't the same thing being posted multiple times.
- Contests that encourage spam - This includes topics that offer adopts/prizes to users who make the most posts, reach a certain number of posts, post many times, or otherwise spam the topic.
- Asking users to post multiple times to enter for adoptables/competitions - Users are limited to one entry post every 24 hours. This is to ensure topics are not lagging the boards or creating excessive spam.
- Not following the Oekaki Cover Rules for sharing off-oekaki artwork - Off-oekaki artwork not following the cover rules is considered spam. The cover rules can be found here. Alternatively you can post your off-oekaki adopts in the Character Sales and Design Shops board.
General Spam
Spamming also includes adding unnecessary things to an otherwise-acceptable post, such as:
- Excessive punctuation - (ex. !!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/emojis - (ex.
…) Just a few smilies/emojis are enough to get your point across. - A large amount of unnecessary writing - Ex. Copying and pasting the bee movie script.
- Repeatedly quoting posts for the purpose of bumping a topic - Posting the same text/images over and over makes it difficult to use the search function and is considered spam (ex. quoting your trade topic's first post and reposting that to bump your topic). You can just post "bump" and users will know to look at your first post to find your topic information.
- Intentionally making your post hard to read - If you use excessive chatspeak, vibrant multi-coloured text 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 to make threads easier to view and load quicker. 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.
Private Message Spam
Sending spam PMs is not allowed on CS. Spam PMs include things like:
- Advertising - Advertisements for trades, oekaki adopts, other websites, clicking your clickables, etc. are not acceptable to send via PM.
- Pointless messages - Spam content like “lol!” or “I like pie!”
- Sending repeated unwanted messages - (Ex. "Hey, did you see my trade?" "Have you seen it yet?" "You seen it yet?"...etc) Posting or PMing someone unwanted messages repeatedly is considered spam and can be seen as harassment.
Please block any users who are bothering you with spam PMs. Do not respond and report them to staff using the "report" tool on the top of the PM.
Please report any spam posts that are piling up on one topic, or report the user if one particular person is causing a lot of spam. For random advertisements or spam topics please use the 'report' button on the post.
Additionally it’s always good practice to review the first post(s) of a topic carefully before posting. 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 or use the 'search' tool in case its shared elsewhere in that topic.
If you have any questions regarding our spam rules please send in a help ticket so staff can assist you.
