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Staff Rules and Guidelines

Remy

Rules

This section is the authoritative source of over-arching Staff rules. Each team or class may have other specific procedures or ways of working. However, these are the unbreakable rules that apply to everyone. No exemptions. No excuses. No warnings.

Behavior & Work Ethic

  1. We operate on trust: our members have to trust us with their information, and we have to earn and maintain the trust of our fellow staffers. All Staff have an implied level of trust from our members. Don't let your actions or behavior break the trust you've earned; if you can't be trusted you can't be a Staff member.

  2. Follow our values; don't be rude to ANY BTN member, ever.

  3. Staffing is a privilege, not a right you earn once; if you are no longer able to commit the time, or lack the motivation to be here, step down.

  4. If you are going to be unavailable for a period of time due to work or other IRL issues, let your team leader know as soon as possible, so alternative arrangements can be made to cover your position while you're unavailable.

  5. Don't bring BTN into disrepute through your behavior on other sites or forums; this is a fast ticket to demotion.

  6. If you're able to do something (support, disabled, staffpm, fix a torrent etc), do it. Don't palm it off because you don't feel like doing it or because you think it's someone elses job.

  7. Keeping BTN running smoothly is everyone's responsibility; you may have other specific additional responsibilities depending on your role: these dont exclude you from taking action in other areas where needed.

  8. You're expected to be on IRC when you are Staffing, it is how we communicate. You are required to be in the following channels based on your role:

Class Channels
Everyone #BTN, #BTN-Support, #BTN-Lowerstaff
TVTechs #BTN-Techies
Moderator+ #BTN-Staff, #BTN-TechMod
Teamleader+ #BTN-TeamLeaders

Privacy

  1. Never give out any personal information from any BTN member to any other user or random staff from another site. We are trusted to keep OUR members' information safe. Always err on the side of caution. If you're unsure about giving out information, ask before taking action. It's better to confirm/deny the information another site has supplied, rather than just give them our members information during an investigation (hacking, trading, selling, cheating etc). There is zero tolerance on this, if you inappropriately give out a BTN members personal information you'll be removed from BTN.

  2. Keep BTN internal business private; as a staff member you have access to a lot of sensitive information (staff IRC/forums) and a lot of info on how we operate BTN. This information has value to us, and others. There is zero tolerance on this; if you break our trust by leaking or otherwise giving out information, you'll be demoted back to your original user class or removed entirely.

  3. Only access personal information when you have a legitimate reason to do so (support, security etc). No looking up friends, celebrities or whatever else, unless it is necessary to perform your staff duties. Staff Edit activity is logged and regularly monitored by Sysops.

Support

  1. #BTN-Support - Don't leave people alone or ignore people. It's fine if you don't know the answer; let them know we're here and we'll find the answer or find someone who knows.

  2. Use IRC highlights (or other scripted alerting) so you know when someone needs to talk to you, the following must be implemented:

    1. Everyone has to have their own username on highlight in at least the channels described within Behavior and work ethic: Rule #8.

    2. JOIN event trigger (highlight or script) for #BTN-Support for ALL members of the Support Team.

    3. Class highlights appropriate to your user class. (!FLS, !MOD, !TL, !ADMIN, !SYSOP)

  3. If someones request for help goes unanswered (in #BTN-Support), someone from the Support Services team MUST followup with an IRC or SitePM.

Staff Hires

  1. All promotions to any Staff class MUST be approved by a SysOp. This includes promotions from one Staff class to another Staff class, and promotions from user classes to Staff classes.

  2. All prospective hires MUST be properly vetted. This means verifying information they supply with other sites; doing a background check on them; verifying they are not involved in any activities that may bring BTN into disrepute. This is to be done PRIOR to seeking SysOp approval for any promotion.

  3. Exclusive Staff. Staffing BTN means you just staff BTN. If you want to staff somewhere else, then don't staff here. This rule will NOT be applied retrospectively. This means:

    1. If you're a current BTN Staff member and staffing at another site, you are required to notify any Admin/SysOp about it.
    2. Do not start Staffing another site while you are Staffing BTN.
    3. We will not promote people that are Staffing other site(s).

Staff Promotions

There is no set formula, no time frame, no checklist. The best way to get a promotion is to do the job you want; demonstrate clearly that you're both capable and passionate about it. Promotions arn't given out lightly or impulsively.

Trust

If we don't trust you, we can't promote you. You need to earn the trust of senior staff to be considered for a promotion. Higher staff classes are privy to a lot of sensitive information, that if compromised, could cause serious problems for BTN and the individuals that run it.

Respect.

We don't promote people that don't show any respect to themselves, BTN's members, their peers, management or BTN as a whole.

Ethic.

We promote people that have an excellent work ethic, that willingly take on responsibilities, tasks and activities. People that inspire and motivate others, set their own goals and achieve them, are the types of people we promote.

Productivity.

We promote people that consistently perform their roles and go above and beyond what's required as a bare minimum.

Contribution.

We look favorably on people that consistently contribute to BTN.

Skill.

You need to have the skills, or have demonstrated an ability to learn the required skills for a more senior role.

Communication.

You need to be a great communicator, you need to be able to clearly articulate yourself and have demonstrated the ability to listen to and understand BTN members and peers from highly diverse cultures and people from all stages of life.

Ideas.

More senior positions are more about setting the direction of BTN and directly contributing to the achievement of objectives and goals. We need creative people with abilities to turn ideas into actions.

Want.

Not everyone wants to be promoted, not everyone is able to do every role well. If you want a promotion, then get about earning it.

Guidelines

The following guidelines and/or decisions set out how we consistently operate BTN. Guidelines differ from rules as there may be some variation in their application, depending on the circumstances. However, these guidelines are here to guide your actions / behavior while operating BTN.

Special User Classes

  1. Torrent Celebrity Class (TC):

    Is only assigned to admin/sysops of respected trackers, or by a BTN Admin or SysOp. Respected sites are to be agreed with the Admin/Sysop group prior to adding any 'new' site.

  2. VIP (VIP): Can ONLY be assigned three ways:

    1. By assignment by a Sysop
    2. Through A Staff VOTE
    3. Demoted/Resigned FLS or Community Staffer meeting the criteria defined below.

Demoted / Retired Staff Class

The following class assignment only apply if the person was actively performing the role for longer than 6 months, otherwise they are to return to their previous class prior to promotion.

  1. VIP

    FLS

  2. LEGEND

    Moderator+, Developer, Admin

  3. LEGEND + % in #BTN

    SysOps and Lead Developers that have stepped down

In the event that a Legend or ex-Staff VIP is regularly behaving in a manner contrary to the Values of BTN, they will be demoted to their original user-class, or the highest regular user class available, depending on the nature of the behavior. This must be done in consultation with a SysOp.

Where Staff are demoted due to bringing BTN into disrepute or breach of trust; they may be removed from BTN or demoted to their original (pre-staffing) user class.

IRC

  1. IRC Operators are not permitted to interfere in BTN official channels unless they are BTN Staff performing their assigned Role.
  2. A BOT will automatically assign voice for users meeting the criteria for it.
  3. Some leeway to the IRC rules (including these) is allowed, so long as its generally within the spirit of the Values.
  4. Non excessive or abusive trolling is allowed.
  5. Act on complaints; take them seriously.
  6. Users should not be given channel-ops (! ~ & @ % etc) in official BTN channels.

If you need to BAN a user from IRC or a specific channel, you must put a note in their staffnotes (or have a mod do it). Bans without notes will be removed.

Staff Invites

Staff can give invites to individuals per the regular invite rules.

Staff are not permitted to open or run recruitment threads, or other giveaways, unless it is specifically their role to do so.

If you think there is a site we should be recruiting on, talk to myr. Recruitment is a managed process and is one of our strategies for adjusting user numbers.