This is my Forum

This is my Forum. There are many others like it, but this is mine.

Please treat it like your favourite pub. Be nice to each other, don’t pee on the floor and don’t pick fights. Respect other people and their pronouns.

These are not hard and fast rules. They are guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a kind, friendly place for civilized public discourse.

Improve the Discussion

Don’t just write willy-nilly. Add something positive to the discussion, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.

A good way is to read first, then read some more, and only then post.

Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.

Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree

You may wish to respond by disagreeing. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:

• Name-calling
• Ad hominem attacks
• Responding to a post’s tone instead of its actual content
• Knee-jerk contradiction

When in doubt, don’t critizise

Your Participation Counts

Keep in mind that what you write is read by others, and tells them how to write things themselves.

Be a helper!

If You See a Problem, Flag It

Moderators have special authority; they are responsible for this forum. But so are you. With your help, moderators can be community facilitators, not just janitors or police.

When you see bad behavior, don’t reply. Replying encourages bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just flag it. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken, either automatically or by moderator intervention.

Post grownup, not adult things

This is a public forum, and search engines probably index these discussions. Keep the language, links, and images safe for family and friends.

Keep It Tidy

Make the effort to put things in the right place, so that we can spend more time discussing and less cleaning up. So:

• Don’t start a topic in the wrong category; please read the category definitions.
• Don’t cross-post the same thing in multiple topics.
• Don’t post no-content replies.
• Don’t divert a topic by changing it midstream.
• Don’t sign your posts — every post has your profile information attached to it.

Rather than posting “+1” or “Agreed”, use the Like button. Rather than taking an existing topic in a radically different direction, use Reply as a Linked Topic.

Post Only Your Own Stuff

You may not post anything digital that belongs to someone else without permission. You may not post descriptions of, links to, or methods for stealing someone’s intellectual property (software, video, audio, images), or for breaking any other law.

Powered by You

This site is operated by your friendly moderator team and you, the community. If you have any further questions about how things should work here, open a new topic in #site-feedback and let’s discuss! If there’s a critical or urgent issue that can’t be handled by a meta topic or flag, contact the moderators.