LMU Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) CCSLC CODE OF CONDUCT 1. KEEP IT CIVIL — No Aggressive Language, Insults, Flaming, Name Calling or Harassing Our No. 1 goal as moderators is to make the CCSLC a welcoming, inclusive place for sports logo/uniform and graphic design enthusiasts. Aggressive and/or uncivil language will not be tolerated in any area of the forum or in any artwork posted to the forum. Personal insults directed at other members or excessive profanity, either direct or implied, in any post or artwork will not be tolerated. The forum has a text profanity filter that is regularly updated. Any artwork that contains profanity that would otherwise be filtered out of text will be deleted by moderators. Aggressive and/or uncivil language, personal insults and excessive profanity may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 2. No Trolling Posts or artwork intended solely to antagonize and provoke other CCSLC members or to throw a topic off course in an inorganic fashion are not permitted. Trolling will be determined at the moderating team’s discretion and may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 3. No Racist, Sexist, Homophobic or Other Hateful Language and/or Artwork Language and/or artwork that is derogatory or hateful against others — whether directly against other board members, or against people or groups in general outside the forums — is not permitted. This includes but is not limited to hateful language and/or artwork based on: age; gender orientation; sexual orientation; religion; race; ethnicity; physical ability; or mental ability. Hateful or derogatory language and/or artwork will be determined at the moderating team’s discretion and may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 4. No Graphic or Sexual Content No images (photos or drawings), descriptions, or links to graphic content are permitted. This includes but is not limited to: depictions of blood, gore and severe injuries; depictions of bodily functions (e.g., feces, urine, vomit); depictions of excessive violence; and depictions of drug use. No images (photos or drawings), descriptions, or links to sexual content are permitted. This includes but is not limited to: pornography; depictions of sexual acts (implied or otherwise); and depictions of genitalia. The CCSLC is intended to be suitable for all ages, and any potentially offensive material will be reviewed on a per-case basis by moderators. Posting content the moderating team deems graphic or sexual may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 5. No Politics Posts and artwork of a political nature or referring to politics, whether explicitly or implicitly, that are not relevant to the topics of sports or graphic design are expressly prohibited on the CCSLC. This includes but is not limited to: jokes; links to news stories; concepts depicting political figures or using partisan political symbols; or any other content the moderating team deems to be of a politically incendiary nature. Such content also may not be used in members' signatures, user titles, avatars or profiles. Posts and artwork referring to politics that are relevant to sports or graphic design must not be overly partisan or incendiary. Posting politically incendiary content may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 6. No Discussion of Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples Team Name Controversies The discussion of Native American, First Nations or Indigenous Peoples team name controversies, like various political topics, often devolves into name calling, straw-man construction, and other assorted "tactics" not suitable for intelligent, mutually respectful debate. Team name/identity changes that have officially been announced may be discussed, but will be heavily moderated to ensure they remain civil. Beginning a discussion on Native American, First Nations or Indigenous Peoples team name controversies without a sufficient reason or news source, or injecting inflammatory language or artwork into an existing discussion, may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 7. No Alternate ID's - One Account Per Individual The CCSLC operates on a one-account-per-person policy. Creating an alternate account may result in both the original account and the alternate account being permanently banned. Moderators may review alternate accounts on a case-by-case basis and permit the merging of multiple accounts into one if no malicious intent is found. Sharing an account among a group of people is not permitted. If you have forgotten the password to your account, DO NOT create a new account. Please use the “Forgot Password” option on the login screen. New accounts that are found to use similar information as existing accounts (e.g. similar email address, similar username, matching IP address) will not be approved by administrators. 8. Account Deletion In general, CCSLC policy is to NOT delete accounts, unless there are very exceptional circumstances. This preserves the integrity of the discussions on the forums and holds members accountable for comments they post. Members are free to edit their profiles to remove any personal information they have supplied at any time. The only exception is email addresses, which are required to log in to the forums as an enhanced security feature. 9. Do Not Post on Behalf of Banned Members Banned members have been banned for a reason. Once they are banned, they are done with this forum. Assisting a banned member in getting back on the forum will result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. This includes, but is not limited to, posting concepts and requests on behalf of a banned member. 10. No Outside Advertising Any posts or threads created solely to promote a store will be removed. This includes making posts with the intended purpose of promoting your own listings or shops on sites including but not limited to: eBay; Craigslist; Kijiji; Etsy; and CafePress. No outside advertising is permitted for members’ personal off-board ventures. This includes but is not limited to: websites; blogs; YouTube videos; streaming channels; podcasts; companies; and fantasy leagues. Exceptions may be considered by the moderator team in cases where outside websites will inherit material removed from the board. Advertising an outside venture on the CCSLC may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 11. Do Not Steal Bandwidth Use a photo hosting website, such as Imgur, to host photos that you’d like to share on the CCSLC. Photos cannot be uploaded directly to the CCSLC due to server costs. A tutorial on posting photos can be found below in the FAQs. 12. Keep Off-Site Drama Off This Site If you had a disagreement or falling out with someone on another site or in real life, don't bring it here. Leave your grievances at the door. Do not derail normal board discussion with drama in your personal life. The board is not meant to serve as your personal therapy couch. Arguing with other members about off-site issues or derailing threads with personal drama may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 13. Do Not Post Private Conversations Private conversations between members — including but not limited to: forum private messages; instant messaging chats; and emails — are private and should not be posted publicly. If you feel threatened or harassed by messages sent through forum PMs, you can report it to the moderating team using the Report feature. Click on the “...” button in the top left corner of the message and select “Report.” Do not pursue methods outside of posts on this board to insult, attack, or harass other members. Posting private conversations and threatening/harassing other members through private conversations may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 14. No Spam Any account determined to be posting spam messages will be flagged as a spammer by administrators, resulting in the account’s content being deleted and the account being permanently banned immediately. 15. Age Minimum You must be at least 13 years old to sign up for an account on the CCSLC. While we operate on the honour system with regards to age at signup, if moderators find evidence that you are under 13 years of age, your account will be suspended until your 13th birthday. 16. Concepts Forum Guidelines In addition to the rules set out here in the CCSLC Code of Conduct, anyone posting in the Concepts forum is expected to adhere to the Concepts Forum Guidelines, which can be found here. The Concepts Forum Guidelines provide guidance on posting constructive criticism and the acceptable use and posting of artwork. Please familiarize yourself with these guidelines before posting in the Concepts forum. Failure to adhere to the Concept Forum Guidelines may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. 17. Reporting Posts to the Moderation Team The report button is a tool to report posts that contravene the Code of Conduct to the moderation team. DO NOT abuse the report button with insignificant issues that don't disrupt the day-to-day flow of the forum. This includes but is not limited to: bad jokes; unconstructive criticism; and opinions you don't agree with. Do not use the report button to request an update to a topic or artwork. Do not use the report button to request an edit to a thread’s title or content that does not contravene the Code of Conduct (e.g. double posts, updates to thread titles). These housekeeping duties will be carried out either by the original poster or by the moderating team in their own time. Abuse of the report button may result in a suspension, up to and including a permanent ban. While submitting a message along with your report is marked as optional by default in the forum software, please note that reports without messages will be discarded. Please include as much information as you can with your report to help moderators deal with it more effectively. 18. Board Discipline Significant infractions of the above rules will result in a vote by the moderation team. Each active moderator will cast a vote between zero and 10. Punishments are determined by a sliding scale based on the number of active moderators at the time. Please note that, regardless of the number of moderators, a permanent ban is ONLY enacted when EVERY moderator submits a vote of 10. The point system is as follows: INDIVIDUAL MODERATOR VOTES10 - Ban9 - 1 Year8 - 9 Months7 - 6 Months6 - 3 Months5 - 2 Months4 - 1 Month3 - 2 Weeks2 - 1 Week1 - 3 Days0 - No Punishment CUMULATIVE MODERATOR VOTES100 - Ban90 to 99 - 1 Year80 to 89 - 9 Months70 to 79 - 6 Months60 to 69 - 3 Months50 to 59 - 2 Months40 to 49 - 1 Month30 to 39 - 2 Weeks20 to 29 - 1 Week10 to 19 - 3 Days0 to 9 - No Punishment After at least half the moderators have cast their votes, a punishment based on the current point total will be assigned. This will be adjusted once all votes have been tabulated. After at least half the moderators have cast their votes, the remaining moderators will have 72 hours to cast their votes. At the end of 72 hours, the cast votes will be averaged, with that average assigned as the votes of the absent moderators and the punishment will be increased based on the final point total. In cases where a ban is mathematically possible, the ban will only be carried out once all moderators have voted, regardless of the length of time it takes for the vote to be completed. There is no appeal process for suspensions and bans. Moderators will NOT contact members to obtain additional context or explanation prior to a suspension or ban being enacted. If moderators feel strongly enough to act, they will do so based on what was posted on the forums. Once a suspension has ended the suspended member will be on probation for a period of two weeks or the length of the original suspension, whichever is longer. While on probation any subsequent disciplinary votes against that member will require that each moderator cast a vote with the assigned points exceeding that of their previous vote against that member. Please note that the moderator who enacts a suspension or posts a public announcement of a suspension is acting as a representative of the moderator team and in no way holds any personal power or bias. DO NOT contact any member of the moderation team outside of the CCSLC to argue a suspension or ban. This includes but is not limited to: Facebook; Twitter; text message; phone call; Skype; and email. Such messages will not be answered, and the offending account and any associated IP and email addresses will be automatically banned. NOTE: This disciplinary process does not apply to spammers or to accounts proven to be circumventing board suspensions. Such accounts will be immediately banned upon discovery. After two years, banned members may apply for the opportunity to be reinstated. Details on the reinstatement process are available here. 19. No Circumvention of Moderation Team Imposed Punishments Any member who exhibits behavioral issues that are noticed by the moderator team or are reported to the moderator team and are issued an official warning, will be subject to an IP check. Any member served with a suspension or a ban will immediately have his/her IP address checked. Accounts that have been suspended or banned are subject to periodic IP address checks in the interim period after a suspension/banning has been enacted. An IP check will only be conducted after the initiating moderator has consulted with at least one (1) other moderator to determine if it is an appropriate course of action. Members who are found to have created new accounts in order to sidestep punishments will have both their original account and the new account(s) permanently banned immediately. All new members will automatically have their IP addresses checked as part of the account approval process. Any user who flaunts the use of IP masking software or trolls the moderation team in a way that indicates that they were previously banned or suspended will face disciplinary action. 20. Rule Changes The moderator team retains the right to update these rules as necessary. CCSLC FAQ Table of Contents: What program do I use? Vector images vs. Raster images? How to create a logo or uniform How do I link to logos from Sportslogos.net? What colour is…? Adobe Illustrator tips Adding images to your post Embedding social media into your posts What the font? I can't start a new topic or use the search function, WTF? Legal information How do I get a custom title under my avatar? What the heck are warning points? Why can't I get a fantasy team? Can I change my username? Requests Why are there so many ads on the forum? What do I do if I forget my password? Can I delete my account? Why are there no Premier League logos on SportsLogos.net? I see a logo is missing from SportsLogos.net. Who can I contact about that? A thread I want to post in is locked. Can it be unlocked? 1. What program do I use? The vote is still out on that. It depends on what you want to output, and how much money you have to spend. For raster images, Photopea (free, web-based), MS Paint (free), Paint Shop Pro ($) and Adobe Photoshop ($) are the main ones. Adobe Photoshop is going to give you the most tools, be the best for converting paths into vector images, and also cost you the most. For vector images, Inkscape (free), Adobe Illustrator ($) or Corel Draw ($) are likely your best options. Different people are going to have their opinion on which is the best, and there really is no definitive answer. If you can get your hands on a demo copy, or if a friend has one, try it out. 2. Vector images vs. Raster images There are two types of digital images: Raster and vector. Raster images use colored pixels to display the whole image; file formats include .gif, .jpg, .bmp and many more. If you open a raster image file, when you zoom in, you can see it becomes "pixelated". Those pixels only contain a certain amount of data and can't re-insert new data when you increase its size. Rasterized graphics can only be scaled down, not up, without much distortion. Vector images are graphic files based on a Bezier curve. It's difficult to describe the Bezier system without a visual aid, but basically, it creates curves and lines based on a series of continuous points. These vector files are fully scalable, which is why almost all logos you will see are made in vector format. This allows companies to print them as large as a house or as small as a dime without distortion or pixelation. Vector images aren't dependent upon pixels for data; the series of points can be recreated and formed at any size. Photoshop vector files work well with any vector-based graphics program. The exported vector paths do not retain any color or layer effects, but that's why Adobe has Illustrator. If you only had Photoshop and used the pen tool to create a logo, the exported file would be a empty path that you can import into any graphics program and assign necessary color information. This is not the intended use for Photoshop, as it is primarily used for raster-based (pixels) photo manipulation/creation. If you want to learn more about vector format from Photoshop, do a Google search on "paths", "layer masks", or "exporting paths to Illustrator" for Photoshop. There are plenty of tutorials on this on the web. Vector graphics are pretty much the parent file you can always refer back to and use at any size you need — teeny tiny or billboard big. It's mathematical and coordinate-based. Once you have that, you are golden. You can do anything with it. But it has to be created manually. There is no "save as vector" drop down in the menu of any program. 3. How to create a logo or uniform concept A basic overview: Step 1: Get template. Step 2: Open template in a graphics program. Step 3: Go nuts. Step 4: Save as .jpg, .gif, or .png. Step 5: Upload to an image hosting website. Imgur is the recommended website on the CCSLC. (See FAQ #7 below for tips on posting images.) Step 6: Post it in the concepts forum following the guidelines (LINK). Step 7: Repeat from step 3 as necessary. Step 8: Go outside. Makes 1 serving. Please create responsibly. If you create more than one concept for a series or for the same team or sport, please post them in one thread to reduce board clutter. Always remember your 3 R's: Practice, Practice, Practice. There is no direct way to tell you how to create a logo or uniform. You know the basics: pick a team name, city, and colors. From there, it's up to you. Do research on the city for a good name that relates to the community. Normally, you wouldn’t choose the name “Penguins” for a South Florida team, but if you have a good reason, go with it. Play around with the colors and designs. Most would agree that their first attempt at something was probably not the finished product. Most people here would also tell you that the way they learned is through practice — just opening up the program and starting to draw. There are sites online that can give you pointers and ideas, but I don't think you are going to find a book on “how to create vector images.” There are so many different ways to go about it, that it would be hard to sum up in a book. Get an image, open it in Illustrator, and trace it with the pen tool to learn how it behaves and how to get the effect you want. Search through some of the posts here on the site; there are lots of pointers on vector images. 4. How can I link to logos from Sportslogos.net? Please link to the URL of the page containing the logo, rather than linking to the image. Linking to images on sportslogos.net eats up bandwidth and drives up server costs. 5. What colour is … ? RGB, CMYK, hexadecimal and/or Pantone colour values for numerous North American sports franchises and leagues can be found at TruColor.net. 6. Adobe Illustrator tips Draw all the suits in a deck of cards (hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades) with the pen tool. This will help you learn to create lines, curves and merge a line together to make it look right. Download raster images from the internet and trace them with the pen tool. The pen tool is your best friend when trying to make vector images. DEFINITELY learn how to use the keyboard controls and shortcuts as it will save you a ton of time in Illustrator. Draw a straight line by holding the shift key. There is an option to set the angles, so you can change them if you don't like the standard 45 & 90 degree angles. 7. Adding images to your post If you want to add an image to your post on the CCSLC, you must first upload to a third-party image hosting site, like Imgur. Images cannot be directly uploaded to the forum as it drives up server costs. Images also cannot be directly linked from your computer’s hard drive. Once the image is uploaded to the hosting site, right-click on the image itself and select “Copy image address.” Do not use click on the “Copy link” button on Imgur, as that will give you a link to the gallery, not the image, and it will not embed properly on the forums. Paste the image address (it should end in .jpg, .gif, .png or another raster file format) into the compose or reply box on the forums and it should automatically embed the image into your post. This helpful YouTube video explains how to post pictures hosted on Imgur. The steps are similar on other hosting sites. If your image does not automatically embed when you paste the address into the reply box, click the "Insert other media" box in the lower right hand corner of the window, select "Insert image from URL," and paste the image address there. 8. Embedding social media into your posts Twitter: Copy the URL for the tweet either from the address bar in your browser or by right-clicking on the date/time link and selecting “Copy link address.” Paste the URL in the forum’s reply box and it should automatically embed. If the URL contains a “?”, only copy the URL before the “?” and paste that. YouTube: Copy the URL for the video either from the address bar in your browser or by clicking on “Share” and copying the URL that appears. Paste the URL in the forum’s reply box and it should automatically embed. Reddit: Copy the URL for the post either from the address bar in your browser or by clicking on “Share” and then clicking on “Copy link.” Paste the URL in the forum’s reply box and it should automatically embed. Facebook and Instagram: Currently, neither Facebook nor Instagram posts are compatible with the forum’s software and cannot be embedded into posts. 9. What the font? Numerous websites offer fonts for download — some free, some paid. If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, many fonts are included and available to instantly activate in your apps. We would encourage you to find fonts other than those pre-loaded onto your computer at the time of purchase and use them in your concept artwork. Some free font sites include: 1001freefonts.com Fontparadise.com Sharkshock.com Abstractfonts.com dafont.com 10. I can't start a new topic or use the search function, WTF? To reduce the amount of robo-spammers popping up on the boards — as well as members who sign up just to request work and then vanish — we have implemented a rule that prevents new members from starting a new topic or conducting searches until after you've made three (3) replies in other topics around the boards. 11. Legal information If you didn't create a logo you see here on the forum, then you have no rights to use it for your sports team or fantasy team or anything else unless the creator of the logo gave you express permission to do so. Do not tweak or incorporate any other member’s design without seeking their permission first via private message. 12. How do I get a custom title under my avatar? Click on the arrow next to your username where it appears in the top right corner of every forum page to open a drop-down menu. Click on “Profile.” Click on the “Edit Profile” button. Under “Profile Information,” fill in the “Title” field. 13. What the heck are warning points? Warning points are a means of informing members of rule violations and for moderators to keep track of past infractions. The number has no official purpose for determining punishments. 14. Why can't I get a fantasy team? Fantasy teams are perks for members with at least 500 posts and six (6) months on the boards. Leagues have their own rules in terms of applications and voting processes. Your reputation on the boards will weigh heavily in your likelihood of being selected. Fantasy league forums are not visible to members until they accumulate 500 posts. 15. Can I change my username? Members with at least 100 posts may change their usernames in their account settings. Usernames can only be changed once every 365 days and cannot be vulgar, overtly offensive, or be so close to the username of a current or former CCSLC member that it causes confusion. 16. Requests Members must have 100 posts in order to view the Requests forum and request design work. Requests must be made in the Requests forum. Requests made in other forums will be moved to the Requests forum. If the member making the request has fewer than 100 posts, it will still be moved to the Requests forum and the moderator who does so will add a note asking anyone willing to help to contact the original poster via PM. 17. Why are there so many ads on the forum? We get it — nobody likes ads on websites. However, the revenue from ads helps to pay server costs and keep the lights on here at the CCSLC. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s a necessary evil. That said, if an ad is particularly intrusive or redirects you to a spam site, we would encourage you to report it here. You will need to provide the URL of the page you were looking at when the ad popped up. As an alternative, an ad-free version of the forums is available for a small monthly fee. Details on how to sign up for the ad-free version are available here. 18. What do I do if I forget my password? If you forget your password, DO NOT create a new account. Please use the “Forgot Password” tool on the login screen to reset your password. If administrators find a new account in the approval queue that uses similar information as existing accounts (e.g. similar email address, similar username, matching IP address), that account will not be approved. 19. Can I delete my account? In general, CCSLC policy is to NOT delete accounts, unless there are very exceptional circumstances. This protects the integrity of discussions on the forums, and holds members accountable for what they post. If you’re concerned about personal information you have supplied, you are free to delete that information from your profile at any time. The only exception to this would be the email address you used to sign up to the forums; that is still required to log in to the forums as an enhanced security feature. If you’re convinced that you’re done with the forums and never want to return, our suggestion is to open up your profile, mash your keyboard to create a new password you’ll never remember, and log out. Then maybe go outside and get some fresh air. 20. Why are there no Premier League logos on SportsLogos.net? To make a long story short, the site was threatened with legal action by the Premier League several years ago. Their logos have not been on the site since. 21. I see a logo is missing from SportsLogos.net. Who can I contact about that? If you have a logo that is missing from SportsLogos.net, you can leave a comment and the image in this thread. Please note, however, that the moderators of the CCSLC are separate from the admins at SportsLogos.net, and CCSLC moderators do not have the access or permissions to add logos to SportsLogos.net. If you post in that thread, the logo may not be added to SportsLogos.net for some time, especially if it is not from a major professional franchise. 22. A thread I want to post in is locked. Can it be unlocked? Threads are automatically locked after two years of inactivity. In general, CCSLC policy is to NOT unlock such threads. If you want to restart the topic with new information, ideas or artwork, you are welcome to start a new thread. Other threads may be locked due to a CCSLC Code of Conduct violation. These threads will NOT be unlocked. Edited May 4, 2022 by officeglenn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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