Bans

On FrostyArt, there are several forms of bans and warnings that can be imposed on a user by a moderator or administrator. These bans and warnings are officially referred to as account sanctions and range from a simple official warning to a one-day ban to full account closure and even deletion (in extreme cases).

Formal warnings and ban notifications are delivered by the private messaging system and logged for archival purposes. Notices of account closure and account deletion are delivered to the registration e-mail associated with the account. While account closures may be appealed, account deletions may not.

Informal warning (unofficial sanction)
A moderator may informally remind a user of the rules of the site, but this informal reminder is not considered an official account sanction. Informal reminders are not required, but are almost always used for first-time encounters as the moderation team prefers to assume good faith where possible.

An informal warning can take the form of a comment on a post, a forum post, or a private message. There is no standardized basis for what constitutes an informal warning.

Formal warning
A moderator may warn a user that violated any of the site's rules by giving them a formal warning. In this case, no penalty is imposed on their account, but they are sent a warning message and a record of their warning is automatically logged. Although most moderators will attempt to send formal warnings before banning users, they are not required to, and severe violations may result in an outright ban instead of a warning.

Final warning
A final warning is functionally identical to a formal warning, except for the slightly differing message that accompanies it. The tone of this warning is stricter than a formal warning and warns the user that if their behavior does not stop, there will be consequences for their actions. Final warnings are almost always followed by one-day bans (see below) if the user's behavior persists.

The purpose of issuing a final warning is to provide proof that the moderation team have exhausted all possible opportunities for resolving the situation without sanctions and to demand that the user stop what they are currently doing.

1-day ban
A one-day ban is the first and lowest-level account sanction that may be levied on an account by a moderator. The ban may be on one specific area of the site or may be a sitewide ban that prevents all actions except for reading.

A one-day ban from private messages will prevent the user from sending any private messages. They may still be read. A one-day ban from the Forum will prevent the user from replying to any thread. Reactions may still be given or removed but no posts may be added or edited. A one-day ban from uploading will prevent the user from uploading any work. A sitewide one-day ban will prevent the user from doing anything beyond reading.

2-day ban
A two-day ban may be levied on any account by a moderator.

5-day ban
A five-day ban may be levied on any account by a moderator.

2-week ban
A two-week ban may be levied on any account by a moderator.

3-week ban
A three-week ban may be levied on any account by a moderator.

1-month ban
A one-month ban may be levied on any account by a moderator.

Permanent ban
A permanent ban may be levied on any account by a moderator.

Account closure
Accounts that severely or repeatedly violate the Terms of Service may be permanently closed by the staff, in which all access to the account is locked until the user successfully appeals the closure. Closed accounts may be re-opened by the staff, but staff rarely reopen them since accounts are only closed after a persistent pattern of rule-breaking behavior.

Account deletion
Accounts that severely or repeatedly violate the Terms of Service, are spambots, or post content that violates United States law may be outright deleted by an administrator. A deleted account cannot be restored or recovered in any way, nor can account deletions be appealed, as the action is irreversible. Users who have had a deleted account are not allowed to register or create new accounts, and any accounts made by a previously deleted user are subject to deletion if discovered. Visiting a deleted account shows a standard 404 page.

The Atomizer tool automatically performs an account deletion, but it is only usable for accounts with 30 or less posts to prevent it from being abused by the staff.

The total number of account deletions performed is confidential among the staff. However, one recipient of an account deletion was Kyoko, whose infamous saga resulted in the permanent deletion of all of her accounts.