How to Deal with Grammar/Spelling Rule Breakers?

[DaemonCorps]

I figured this would be something relevant to the forum since the rule has actually worked well here (for the most part).

Well, I became the moderator for a certain Death Note forum a while back, but it wasn't until last week that I started to get some backlash for deciding to have a Grammar/Spelling Rule for the forums. It hasn't been that big of a backlash, but it's a backlash nonetheless mostly in the form of (apparently) angry non-readable PMs.

The big problem is that my forum is part of a community of forums, so having a set of rules that's somewhat different from the standard rules is well... not the easiest thing to do. Don't get me wrong, though. The handful of people who post actually type correctly and all that. It's just the three or so other posters that have me feeling kinda down.

Now, whenever I spot someone out on the forum constantly misspelling things (that's right, I give them a couple chances to post correctly), I PM them saying straight out that it's a forum rule which you've gotta go by. But it wasn't until I actually took the time to write out more than that that I started to get more civilized responses. I basically try to be nice about it starting off with something like "I know it's a pain but..." and try to get on their good side by including stuff like "I'm sure you've got some good things to say, but not many people will get you if you keep typing like that."

So, do you think I'm doing the right thing by doing that, or am I putting too much effort into something that I shouldn't be? As mentioned, since we're actually in a forum that has a Grammar/Spelling Rule, I thought I might see what you guys think about it.

[Kaboom]

So, do you think I'm doing the right thing by doing that, or am I putting too much effort into something that I shouldn't be?

Yes and no, in that order.

Horrid spelling is a terribly all-too-common trend on the internet. I mean, taking a few shortcuts here and there when I'm-ing or in a chat room is one thing, since it's live, at-the-moment contact with others, so speed is of the essence in those situations.

But in a forum, there's absolutely no excuse for having terrible spelling and grammar. People need to be able to acknowledge and respond to your posts, and they won't be able to do that if they can't understand what the hell you're saying. On a forum, you have, and should use, time to carefully and concisely form your post.

The strict spelling and grammar rules are one of the biggest things that attract me to DaizEX. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to type well. Neglecting to do so just makes you look like a retard, even by internet standards.

You can quote me on this, if you'd like.

[VegettoEX]

I see what you're getting at, but this is really off-topic for this particular site's forum .