On the Heartland Forums you will find a variety of people.

Admins are responsible for the forum itself. On this site Quiff Boy is the the sole Administrator. He has been known to temporarily promote Moderators to the level of Admin if he is likely to be away for any length of time.

Moderators have roles specifically related to the message boards. They check that things are running smoothly, and make sure people are not breaking the rules. If a moderator tells you not to do something, then it's wise to heed their words. (Moderators will usually make it clear when they are speaking officially, but in the case of Chairman Bux it's pretty safe to assume that whenever he makes a comment, he means it.) Administrators also have the power to moderate.

Normal Users are everyone else. That's you lot. You people are here to have fun. Apparently. You don't have to worry about the running of the site, and can just post away. It's all right for some! Many users live in The Sisters' and Heartland's spiritual home, Leeds. Therefore there are a few in-jokes and expressions used here that come from living around Leeds and knowing other members in the real world. If you don't understand one, ask! We're not a clique, and will make you feel welcome wherever you live.

Here are the most basic rules for the board, which must be observed at all times:

• Everyone has a right to an opinion. If someone's opinion is not the same as yours, you don't have to agree with them but you do have to respect their choice.

• Spamming the boards isn't approved of. This includes posting just to boost your post count, or posting messages that are devoid of content. ("... Of The Day" threads are exempt from this rule, but see below).

• A post represents the opinions of its author. This even applies to mods and admins, unless they specify otherwise.

• Stick within the law. The site is based in England and hosted in Germany. Don't post anything that is illegal in either country...

• No images in signatures. They look a mess and clutter the forum, make the posts difficult to read and the page slower to load.

• Moderators and Administrators have the right to do whatever they see fit to your user account. This includes banning you, deleting your account, editing your posts to remove unwanted content and humiliating you in front of your peers. Live with it.

• Oh, and no Sheilas.

When making a post, remember these:

• Use an informative subject. Subjects should give a clue to what a thread is about. They should not be IN ALL CAPS or say things like "Click Here!!!".

• Post on the correct board. See the board descriptions on the forum index to find out which one is correct.

• Write in correct English. No txtspeak please! We don't mind common net abbreviations such as LOL, and we don't demand precision typing skills, but abbreviations such as 'u' or 'l8r' are immature and detract from the content of your message.

• Work-safe images. Many people browse this site from work, so please don't post any images (either inline or as your avatar) that could be considered rude or offensive...

• Don't abuse BBCode. Posting a message in mile-high purple letters might seem amusing at the time, but I can guarantee the result will not be as readable as you would like. BBCode is there to help you emphasise specific points. It's not a new artistic medium.

• Don't go too far off topic. Tangents are fine, but please don't take over a thread to talk about your pet cat called Rover, or to insult Mrs RicheyJames. Actually, insulting Mrs RicheyJames is probably ok, but keep it to a handful of "stray" posts and not 3 billion, eh? Thanks.