• One account per person. We don't change usernames. Each person is completely responsible for all content posted using their account.

• NO PERSONAL ATTACKS, PERIOD. Report it to a Moderator, do not reply to it. This means that you are not to insult, harass, belittle, threaten, accuse, or spread slander about another member, non-member, shop, website, organization, etc - either directly or indirectly - nor are you to reply to someone who has done so. This applies to all public and private posts in all sections of the site, private messages and email. No elitist, smart-ass, or negative attitudes. Be welcoming and friendly to all.

• No Trolling. A "troll" is a person who posts content for the sole purpose of baiting someone into a hostile confrontation - they do this for entertainment, to make themselves feel more adequate, and to get attention. It can be blatant or subtle. Do not reply to troll-like threads. If a message is posted that looks like the person is trying to get a rise out of someone, just report it and move on. The best remedy for keeping trolls away is just ignoring them. Do not reply to their baiting messages. Ignore them and they will go away and take their senseless agendas with them. Take the bait and they will stick around and keep posting.

• No Flame Wars. A flame war is where a debate ends and an emotional argument begins. The intention is to get the last word in. Though it might not contain direct personal attacks the people involved are rarely civil and end up disrupting the discussion in progress with their back-and-forth banter. These arguments will be removed from the discussion and the members involved are subject to account banishment.

• No offensive or not-work-safe content should be posted on our site. Other things we would rather not see posted here include, but is not limited to: spam, self promotion, commercial posts (see our Vendor Policy), politics, religion, nudity (hot chick threads), racism, drugs, street racing, illegal activities, etc.

• Public complaints and accusations about classifieds transactions, other members, or shops are not welcome in our forums. We have a Buyer/Seller rating feature for our classifieds in place of forum complaints.

• Please do not use the Private Messaging and/or the Visitor Messaging features to ask members tech questions - use the Tech Forums. The point of the Tech Forums is to allow everyone to see the questions and benefit from the answers that are posted in response to those questions. If you send private questions to members, you're going around the system in terms of the way it was meant to be used. Sometimes the PM and VM features make sense, but for most of your technical questions, use the Forums.

Warnings, Suspensions, Account Termination
We don't ban users, they ban themselves. If you're suspended, it means your account is temporarily frozen - you will not be able to post content on our site or use various site features. Most account suspensions last 3-7 days. If your account is banned you are permanently restricted from the site. Do NOT attempt to re-register under a new account name. Do not publicly complain about a Moderator action in the forums, as they're only enforcing the site guidelines that we've posted. Do not take out your frustration with our site policies on them. If you feel you've been treated unfairly by a Moderator, contact the Site Administrator.

Chances are you'll receive a private warning from the moderators to help you correct your behavior before you're suspended or banned. If the violation is severe enough we'll bypass the warning. If your participation on our site is deemed disruptive, inappropriate, or troublesome, you can be banned without directly violating a specific rule. Again, use good judgment and things should be fine. Don't cause trouble and contribute in a positive way.

Again, it's simple - contribute 30 useful posts in our Newbie and/or Maintenance forums and be registered for 30 days and you will graduate to Proven Member status and will be able to post in all of our public forums and the Classifieds section. We require this to encourage an environment where people help each other as much as possible and provide a basic level of security in our Classifieds section. It's sort of like a right of passage. Become a helpful, contributing member and we will give you more access to do more things on our site. Padding your post count with short and/or unhelpful replies in the Tech forums or posting bad information can get your posting abilities revoked.

2. Proven Members:
Once you have been a member for 30 days, you've posted a total of 30 helpful posts in the Newbie forum and/or Problem Diagnosis forum, you will be automatically moved from New Member/Lurker status to Proven Member status the following day. You'll now be able to post in all of the public forums and participate in all public areas of the site, including the Classifieds. By now, you should already know the basics of modifying DSMs, how and where to reference tech info when needed, and the guidelines and policies of the site. You don't post common questions and you don't post misinformation. You will receive more private message storage, the ability to use signatures and avatars, permission to post Classifieds, and the ability to post events in our Event Calendar. Entry to this new group is fairly easy, as it only requires a little common sense, courtesy, and contribution to the site.

2. Supporting Members:
Members with this title have elected to pay for an optional Membership Upgrade which affords them special recognition and extended access to site features, including a private "anything goes" forum. Their membership helps support the site's operating costs. Get more info on Upgraded Memberships here.

3. VIP Members:
Members with this title have elected to pay for an optional Membership Upgrade which affords them special recognition and extended access to site features, including a private "anything goes" forum. Their membership helps support the site's operating costs. Get more info on Upgraded Memberships here.

4. Supporting Freelancers:
Members with this title have elected to pay for an optional Membership Upgrade which affords them special recognition and extended access to site features, just like the optional memberships above. The main difference however, is that they receive access to post offers for products they make and/or services they provide in the new Freelancer section of the Classifieds. These members are not vendors, but private parties who make products or provide services to the DSM community as a hobby or side business. They do not represent a shop and are not retailers of products they do not manufacture themselves. Their membership helps support the site's operating costs. Get more info on Upgraded Memberships here.

5. DSM Wisemen:
Those who have the DSM Wiseman title are members of the DSM community who have been around the block and are knowledgeable in various areas of DSM performance and they typically go above and beyond when helping others on our site. They are considered the resident experts in the subjects they offer help in. They represent what this site is all about. They are to be treated with respect, as they've earned it with their contributions to the site and to the DSM community in general. Debate is fine, but insulting a Wiseman will not be tolerated. If you have a problem with a Wisemans' post, Report the post to a Moderator. Do not get into a pissing match with them publicly. They volunteer their time to help inexperienced members on our site and will not be hassled or subjected to ridicule by members who have made fewer contributions to the site than they have.

6. Moderators:
We have a number of Moderators on our site that help enforce the rules and keep order. Though these members might also be, but aren't always necessarily Wisemen, chances are they're just as experienced in various aspects of DSM performance. The Moderators have the difficult job of deleting posts, locking threads, moving posts to the correct forum, keeping an eye on problematic members, and overall just enforcing the spirit of the site. They are quickly criticized for their actions by people who usually haven't read or don't understand or have no regard for the policies of our site. If a Moderator locks or deletes your post or issues you a rule reminder, chances are you violated our policies somehow. Instead of publicly calling them on it, go back and read the rules and keep your mouth shut. Moderators are not power-hungry babysitters, they just offer their time to clean up messes when necessary. If you have a problem with a moderator, keep it offline and bring it to the attention of another Moderator or an Administrator. Complaining publicly about the moderation of the site will do nothing to help you prove a point.

7. Supporting Vendors and Non-Supporting Vendors:
Many sites like ours have Vendors who post in the forums. We invite all Vendors to participate in our forums to help share their knowledge and experience with our members. However, we have a strict Vendor Policy that states what is, and is NOT allowed to be posted by Vendors in our forums. Any person who appears to be affiliated with a shop or selling products or services for profit will be identified as a Vendor. Those Vendors who help contribute to the operating costs of our website will receive the Supporting Vendor title and will receive special privileges. Those who do not contribute to the operating costs will are considered Non-Supporting Vendors. All Vendors are to keep all product and self promotion out of our public forums as specified in our Vendor Policy. Only Supporting Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services in our Vendor Announcement forum.

8. Site Founder:
The primary person responsible for the creation and operation of the site.

• Post in the correct forum, no cross posting in multiple forums

• Use proper grammar, spelling, capitalization, etc. No texting/instant messenger lingo

• Use a descriptive thread title

• Give as much info as possible and make sure your profile is filled in.

• No bumping threads (replying to your thread in an effort to get more exposure without posting additional information). If you do not receive a reply to your question, reply to your thread with additional information that might help others answer your question easier. Do not just reply to the thread repeating the same request for help. Thread bumps will be removed by the Moderators.

• If you ask a question and get the problem solved, be sure to reply to your own thread and let everyone know what solved it. If someone helps you with a tech problem, be sure and return the favor by giving that member reputation points for their helpful reply.

• Stay on topic - do not reply to an existing thread with a new question or topic. Start a new thread.

• Do not reply to a thread with "Use the Search" - answer the question, link to the answer, or don't reply at all.

• No elitist or smart ass replies to what you may consider a "dumb" question.

• Explain your answer in detail. If someone is asking about which clutch is best for their application, don't just reply with "ACT 2600". Explain to them why you think the ACT 2600 is the best for their application, or link to the answer.

• No Guessing - if you don't know the answer for sure, don't reply - we don't need you spreading hearsay and/or misinformation. If your reply contains phrases like "I think", or "I've heard", or "everyone else does it", or "my brother's uncle's friend did it and had no problems" - it is not useful. Only post a reply if YOU know the answer from YOUR own first-hand experience. Instead of replying with a guess, post a link to a thread where the answer can be found, or the same discussion already took place.

• Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation/capitalization - no texting or instant messaging lingo (in our Tech Forums). It makes your post easier to read and understand, and it helps our search feature find your post. If you use Internet Explorer please download and use the "iespell" feature (spellcheck). Firefox users have it built in.

Common or Repetitive Questions

Be sure you've done research on the question before you ask. This site has been around a while now, and most of the basic questions and topics posted by newbies have already been covered here and in other DSM resources. Nobody wants to answer the same questions over and over again. We've put together a list of links that should answer 95% of all DSM questions you might have in one of these areas. Read through them before posting a question:

Frequently Answered DSM Questions Forum
Tech Guide & Upgrade Paths
Tech Articles & Tutorials
Parts Catalogs
Forums Keyword Searches
How to Use the Search Feature Effectively

If you post a question that is answered in one of the above areas, your thread will be moved to the Newbie Graveyard forum (a read-only forum) to let you know you didn't do the necessary research before you posted the question. We also suggesting doing a Forums Keyword Search. Be sure to read How to Use the Search Feature Effectively. If the moderators come across two or more discussions about the same topic the threads will be merged together. This is done to keep the forums clean and to ensure the Search function works better.

We'll have two types of vendors on our site, Supporting Vendors and non-supporting vendors. Supporting Vendors are the businesses who invest in our community and help us pay the costs of running this site in exchange for the opportunity to market their products/services to our members. Non-supporting vendors are the businesses who do not invest in our community and are not to post anything in our forums that would be seen as commercial or promotional. See a list of our Supporting Vendors here.

Supporting Vendors are granted special privileges because they support our community. They are able to discuss their products (pricing, availability, and list contact info) in the public forums where members are asking about their products or are discussing similar products. They also receive access to post special announcements in our Vendor Announcement Forum. We only choose vendors who we believe to be trustworthy to be on our Supporting Vendor list. Click here to find out how to become a Supporting Vendor.

All vendors who are not on our Supporting Vendors list are not to post anything in our forums that could be seen as promotional. This includes but is not limited to; new product announcements, pricing, availability, market feedback, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, URL's, links, group buys, etc. This applies to new threads, replies, signatures, private messages and emails on our site. They are not to reference their business, products or services anywhere on our site, including in their profile. The information will be removed and the member will be warned, suspended or banned depending on the severity or the repetitive nature of their violation. Unless you are a Supporting Vendor your posts should not reference any commercial content whatsoever. Our members should not be aware of the fact that you're a vendor at all by your participation on our site.

Though we don't mind our members occasionally discussing non-supporting vendors, we may choose to remove contact info, links, URL's, etc, for that non-supporting vendor if we feel that there is any hint of spam taking place. If we find a member posting repeated references to a non-supporting vendor or their products we tend to be suspicious. We also don't allow Group Buy threads in any forum except the Vendor Announcement forum, and they should only be posted by Supporting Vendors.

The signature area should only be used for your first name and a short description of your car. That's it. If it's anything more than that, your signature will be removed or edited. We'd prefer that you just used your first name in your signature. When we say "short description of your car" we mean:

1. A short summary that quickly describes your car - your mod list should be posted in your profile, along with your 1/4 Mile Time and your Dyno info - don't use the signature area in place of your profile. Examples of acceptable signatures would be "16g-powered 91 TSi" or "11-second 97 GSX" or "2005 SCCA Class Champion 95 GST". If you are unsure whether your signature is acceptable, please just use your name for your signature and nothing else.



2. Absolutely NO text that doesn't describe your car or isn't your first (or last) name. Our Supporting Vendors are the exception - they will be allowed to post their shop name (and/or domain name) in their signature if they choose. There should be no addresses, email addresses, or phone numbers, etc.

Avatars

Avatars must only consist of a photo that clearly depicts your DSM - this means any 1990-99 Mitsu Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, a 91-92 Galant VR-4, or any 4G63-swapped car. If you don't own a DSM, and only if you don't own a DSM, you are welcome to use a photo that clearly depicts the vehicle you do own. If you do not have a photo of your vehicle please do not use the Avatar feature. The photo should be 170 pixels wide or smaller. Please, no photos with car show models posing with your car. New Members are not able to use the Avatar feature.

By using our Classifieds section, you acknowledge and agree that DSMtuners is not involved in or a party to the actual transaction between buyers and sellers and cannot enforce or be involved in settlement of transactions. Whilst DSMtuners has policies in place and advisors and mentors to review activities on DSMtuners , DSMtuners has no control over the legality, quality or safety of items or content posted by members on our site, the truth or accuracy of listings, the ability of or legal right of sellers to sell items or the legal or financial ability of buyers to buy items. DSMtuners cannot ensure and does not guarantee that a member of DSMtuners will actually complete a transaction or act lawfully in using DSMtuners. Any transaction you enter into is at your own risk.

The only assistance we can offer are these tips to help protect yourself.

• If you do not have access to post in our Classifieds, you are not to have someone else post for you, nor are you to post something for another member who does not have access.
  
  
• List your ad once. Do not relist the same ad multiple times - this is a bannable offense. Do not list your email address in your ad.
  
  
• Do not post Classified Ads in the Tech forums. They will be removed.
  
  
• No Group Buy posts or commercial advertisements in the Classifieds or any of the other forums, period (vendors must contact us for special privileges). This is a private party classifieds forum for individuals, not shops to sell their personal items. Vendors/shops should also refrain from promoting their products in the WTB (Wanted to Buy) category. Vendors should not use this section as an opportunity to market their products to our members.
  "Vendor" is defined as: anyone who sells parts for a profit on an ongoing basis. If you're buying and selling parts or cars for profit, you are a vendor. If we determine you are a vendor, and are posting your parts for sale in our Classifieds forum, we will restrict your access on our site.
  
  
• Transactions are your responsibility, not that of DSMtuners. We will not be liable for any losses as a result of your transaction, nor will we assist in tracking down a fraudulent party, nor will we ban a user at your request. Do not contact us asking us to help you resolve an issue with a buyer or seller. We recommend that you use an escrow service like Escrow.com to help prevent a fraudulent transaction and do as much research on the Buyer/Seller as possible. Resolve all transaction issues outside of our forums. And follow all of the advice given here when buying or selling things online: Tips for buying/selling online
  
  
• No complaints should be posted about buyers and sellers in the classifieds section or anywhere else on our site. You are to use the Buyer/Seller Rating feature in the User Profile area to tell people about your dealings with another member. It is your responsibility to resolve transactions offline. New Members are not able to use this feature. We strongly suggest you become a Proven Member before using our Classifieds system - and we also suggest you avoid entering into a transaction with a New Member (or be extremely cautious before doing so).
  
  From time to time we will go through the Buyer/Seller Ratings ourselves and will look for trends. If we find too many negative ratings for a particular member or if we receive an alert from Moderators or Admins from another community site, we may choose to restrict a member's access to our site (or our Classifieds) in the interest of keeping our community safer. We'll take care of it on our own though, no need to post public complaints in our forums or notify our site leaders.
  
  
• If you've posted an ad, and the parts have been sold, please edit your your ad and delete it.

  Most transactions will likely turn out fine, but protect yourself and don't be naive. There are some people out there trying to make a quick buck by ripping people off. Take every precaution possible when doing business with other people online. If you experience any errors with the Classifieds system, you can post about it in the Site Feedback Forum.

Do not post about non-DSM related topics or about your personal life - use the Hangout forum for that stuff. Your blog should not contain any accusations, personal attacks, or insults towards other people or organizations. It should also not be used as a place to ask Tech questions - use the Forums for that. The basic Site Rules still apply here. No complaints about Classifieds transactions, and none of the usual controversial topics like politics, religion, war, drugs, nudity, street racing, etc. Vendors are not to post commercial content (anything about products or services they sell) in the Blog area.

If you don't quite understand when to post a Blog or a Thread, think of it this way - are you looking to start a discussion or write an article? If you're looking to get a question answered or start a discussion around a specific topic, you'd start a thread. If you want to post information in an article format to share with others, you'd post a blog. Questions can still be posted about the information you posted in your blog, but those questions won't get in the way of the content like they do in a thread.