Chat (December 2016)


 * A. General
 * 1. All policies in this general section apply to all ESB-related chat rooms: ESB chatroom on Fandom and Skype chat rooms including "SpongeBobia Chatroom," "SpongeBobia Chat Moderators," "ESB Administrators," and "ESB Bureaucrats."
 * 2. All ESB policies and Wikia Fandom policies apply in the chat room. ESB Chatroom and all ESB Skype chat rooms including "SpongeBobia Chatroom," "SpongeBobia Chat Moderators," "ESB Administrators," and "ESB Bureaucrats."'''
 * 3. No spamming. This includes blank messages, gibberish, and other examples listed here.
 * a. Do not make words by spreading them out into multiple messages.
 * b. Writing anything else that is spam can result in a kick or ban by the discretion of the banning moderator or administrator in a Skype chat room.
 * 4. English is the preferred language in the chatroom. It is recommended to not use other languages. Using other languages to spam, troll, or to swear is not allowed.
 * 5. No trolling.
 * a. If anyone is disturbing the chat room environment and not providing anything useful to the conversation which may be considered trolling, chat moderators and administrators can ban the user from chat immediately. In Skype, users continuing to troll will receive a kick. Administrators can block them infinitely from ESB at their discretion if they feel the user does not provide any positive engagement to the community.
 * b. Anyone trolling in the ESB chat room will result in an immediate ban. The administration may infinitely block the user from ESB.
 * 6. Profanity
 * a. No profanity including use as an acronym or censored. (except for the words "damn" and "hell," which are allowed if they are used in context and not against another user)
 * b. Any use of profanity (except hell and damn) after a user is issued a warning will immediately result in a temporary ban from chat.
 * 7. Be respectful toward all users, their views, and their opinions. Do not discriminate against or harass anyone. Doing so can result in a kick or ban by the discretion of the moderator.
 * 8. Do not pose as a user of a higher power if you are not.
 * 9. Do not post anything inappropriate or links to inappropriate sites. This includes links content not suitable for children under the age of 13, including sexual content. The chatroom is to remain clean.
 * 10. Do not ask users for personal information. (age, phone numbers, addresses, ASL (age/sex/location), religious beliefs, etc.)
 * 11. If you are going to exchange social networking information, do it in a private message (such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.).
 * 12. Do not argue or get into a heated debate. Friendly, civil debates are allowed.
 * 13. Do not create drama.
 * 14. Refrain from saying things that are not useful to the conversation and continue to interrupt those having a conversation. If more than one person is doing this, those people must take the conversation somewhere else.


 * B. ESB Chat room (ESB:Chat)
 * 1. The policies in this section apply to the ESB Chatroom on Fandom.
 * 2. Specific rules
 * a. No chat flooding (coming in and out of chat). Anyone flooding chat shall be kicked. It is understandable if you have a bad connection, but note you may be kicked to stop the flooding. Anyone doing this on purpose shall be temporarily banned.
 * b. No chat invasions, that is, inviting a large group to chat, normally to troll and/or spam.
 * c. ChatTags are also enabled on ESB's chatroom. You may have fun with them, but you may not misuse them. i.e., using colors for every message you send.
 * d. All moderator orders must be obeyed unless said otherwise by an administrator or someone of higher power.
 * e. Do not abuse the chatbot (username: SpongeBobiaChatBot). It's okay to have a little fun with the chatbot sometimes, but if it gets excessive, a chat moderator can kick or ban you at their discretion.
 * 3. Underage users on Fandom
 * a. It is against Wikia Fandom policy for a person under the age of 13 to use Wikia Fandom. It is against ESB policy for persons under the age of 13 to reveal their age.
 * b. Any user who is underage or claims to be underage will not be blocked or banned.
 * c. All underage users will be dealt with by Wikia Fandom Staff, not by ESB staff.
 * 4. Moderators
 * a. All administrators and bureaucrats are chat moderators. A selected few chatters are granted chat moderator status because they are active in chat and trusted to keep the peace.
 * b. Do not kick or ban users for no reason.
 * c. Any abuse of chat moderator powers will result in immediate demotion. Any continued abuse may result in a block.
 * d. Chat moderators have no jurisdiction over what happens in a private message. If someone bothers you, ignore them. There is no definite way to prove what is in a private message.
 * e. There is a hierarchy in the chatroom. Chat Moderators are outranked by Moderators, Moderators are outranked by Administrators, and Administrators are outranked by Bureaucrats. Therefore, if a user is breaking a rule in chat, the users highest in command will deal with them. If they are unresponsive, the responsibility goes down the chain of hierarchy.


 * C. Skype chat rooms
 * 1. The policies in this section apply to the ESB chat rooms on Skype.
 * 2. Adding users
 * a. Any user is allowed to add other users to the chat. However, users can only be added if they are:
 * i. A current member of ESB. Any users who have retired from ESB or left Fandom altogether are not allowed into the Skype chat.
 * ii. The user is not blocked from ESB or Fandom (meaning they are not globally blocked from the network). Users who are unable to edit on the wiki or even enter the chat room are not to be allowed into the Skype chat rooms.
 * 3. Kicking policy
 * a. Kicking users from the Skype is much different from being kicked in the regular Fandom chatroom. When a user is kicked from the ESB Skype, they cannot come back in until another user (or the admin that kicked out said user) adds them back.
 * b. Users who are kicked can then be immediately added back unless they misbehave again and are kicked once more.
 * c. If a user has received a third kick from the administrator, they will not be allowed back into the Skype for 24 hours. If the user is added back but continues to misbehave, then they will be kicked from the Skype for seven (7) days. Any users who continues to misbehave even after those kicks will recieve longer kicks from the Skype depending on the severity of their actions.
 * d. Do not add any users who are kicked from the Skype for 24 hours or more until the kick ends and then they can be added back.
 * e. Make sure to listen to the Skype administrators. Any user who ignores warnings will be temporarily kicked from the Skype.


 * D. Reporting
 * 1. If you see anything in the chatroom that is a violation of any policies, please report it.
 * 2. You can report it to the following places:
 * a. Report user - list your report here.
 * b. Private Send a message an administrator or bureaucrat. You can find a list here: ESB:Administration. You report to administrators on Skype. See a list here.