The AHA! Software Salon Rules of Conduct

[ahasoft]

Forum Rules

We hope you enjoy using the AHA! Software Salon, and we hope with your help to build a vibrant community here, a place where knowledge, wisdom, opinion and counter-opinion can be shared in an atmosphere free of ill-feeling. With that objective alone, we announce the following rules:

1. Be civil. In our forums, this is the golden rule from which all lesser rules spring. Dissent is vital to discussion, but so is restraint in its expression. Use temperate language when posting. Refrain from belittling other participants, and from petty disputatiousness. If you have a chance, read your message aloud before sending — the quality of your posts will improve dramatically and you’re much less likely to say something you’ll regret.

2. Swearing, hate speech and gratuitous sexual content are all banned. The scope and definition of each of these terms is within the discretion of the forum administrators. Enforcement of the ban will be decisive if flagrant violations occur.

3. Commercial messages are not allowed. Messages that promote commercial interests are not allowed on our forums. A single website name and URL can be included in the contact information in your membership profile, and you can include a concise commercial description or link in your custom signature text. Do not go overboard with your signature, and do not post short, vapid messages simply for the sake of exposing your signature to the world: the messages will be removed from the forum, and ultimately so will you.

4. Threads are everyone’s responsibility. On the one hand, a message thread — the collection of messages and replies on a particular topic — is an ongoing conversation, and in that aspect one can’t avoid some of the fragmentariness, minor miscues, interruptions and negotiations that real conversations have. On the other hand, anyone rereading the thread in future will benefit if the signal-to-noise ratio in the messages is kept to a comfortably high level. Off-topic posts are therefore frowned upon, and may be summarily moved or deleted. Post and reply freely, say what you have to say, express yourself to your heart’s content, but keep some focus. If you want to start a new topic, do so — don’t hijack an existing one.

5. Crime and punishment. Failure to conform to the rules given here may elicit responses ranging from a friendly reminder, through temporary suspension of posting privileges, to permanent expulsion from the forums, depending on the egregiousness of the behavior involved. All decisions regarding penalties are made solely by the Salon moderators and administrators.

6. Rule updates. These rules are subject to revision without prior notice. Significant changes will be posted on the forums in a general announcement. Member feedback regarding the rules is welcomed, and will be carefully considered when formulating updates.