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Forum rules and guidelines

Posted by administrator 
Forum rules and guidelines
June 30, 2009 09:17PM
The Teenagers and Young Adults Group Forum consists of a friendly community of people.

However, there has to be some rules and we would ask contributors to act in a responsible and respectful fashion.

Posting on the forum signals that you have read and understand the rules and agree to be bound by them. Any member found to abuse those rules could have their membership revoked.


Thank you for reading this document. If you have any problems with these rules/guidelines please feel free to email steve.potter@autismnz.org.nz

Contents

· Starting Topics
· Be Kind to the Server
· Linking to Other Sites
· Signatures
· Star Posting
· Shouting and Crazy Text
· Obscenity
· Attacks on Other Contributors
· Trolls
· Anonymity
· Stay Safe


Starting Topics
Before you start a thread, check to see if a similar thread has already been started. Duplicate threads will be closed or merged. Please make your title descriptive, reflecting the topic you're addressing, rather than a generic title such as "Question" or "I Need Help." Please do not post thread titles in ALL CAPS (the only exception to this rule is for moderators or admin who need to draw attention to an urgent site issue).

Be Kind to the Server
Please help keep forum server bandwidth limits down by exercising some restraint with quoting, posting images, and using smiles. Please don't quote a whole post to simply add "I agree" or "Lol," or a smile. Please don't "quote" images when you reply to a post, which makes the image appear over and over again on the same page.

Show restraint in the number of images you use; pages with many images are very slow to load for some users, particularly those with dial-up modems, and are a strain on forum server. Do not post very large images that exceed the width of the page; this makes viewing the page difficult for everyone.

Please do not use more than a few smiles per post; excessive smiles are a drain on the server and can be an eyesore for many posters. Likewise, show restraint with the number of animations you post per page.



Linking to Other Sites
Please do not use the forum to advertise your own competing message boards or website. There is a facility to put a websites on your profile.
Posting Referrals links for personal gain is strictly prohibited.

Any scheme which offers a prize/reward/cash for you queuing up and referring other people is not permitted on this site and will be deleted. e.g Pyramid schemes, lottery based pyramid schemes, Ipod bidding schemes etc.



Signatures
One Image maximum, which must be no bigger than 300 x 60 and does not exceed 4k in file size.
Text lines which should be no more than 4 lines long and should use the normal size font.

Please do not use avatar images located on this server in your signatures.


Star Posting
Please do not post when you have nothing to contribute to a discussion, but simply want to increase your number of posts. Please try to not post twice in a row; if you have something to add, edit your last post to add your new comments.

Please do not "bump" a thread up on the board, or simply post to say, "Good morning," "Goodnight," "I sent you a email etc., without adding anything new to the discussion.


Shouting and Crazy Text
Please do not post in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS; this is the Internet version of shouting, and is irritating to many posters. PlEAsE dO nOt PoSt LiKe ThIs (it makes posts extremely hard to read), and don't get carried away with excessive punctuation (posting dozens of exclamation points, etc.). It's also a good idea to run long posts through a spell check; doing so demonstrates respect for your fellow posters, which will make them more willing to listen to what you have to say. Please post in plain language avoiding the use of text abbreviations.

Obscenity
Contributors are prohibited from posting obscene language including swearing or images on the forum. Please use polite alternative words. Admin have an obligation to prevent obscenities from appearing on the site, and moderators will remove any obscene language or images that the board filters do not catch. Links to websites that contain pornography of any kind will also be removed. If you find a posting offensive then please report it to the administrator by private message or by email.


Attacks on Other Contributors
Vicious attacks on other contributors will not be tolerated. Disagreements between contributors are fine, but personal attacks on character, intelligence, etc. are not. Attack the post, not the contributor. Any personal disputes between contributors should be taken to private email messages. If you are attacked by another contributor, please do not retaliate; let a moderator aware of the posting , and let him/her handle the problem.

Trolls
A troll is a contributor whose sole intent in posting is to be a disturbance to the community. Trolls may post excessively inflammatory or offensive messages with the intention of upsetting people, "flame" or insult, crash an appreciation thread to attack the subject being appreciated, or post the same message repeatedly on multiple boards to take up space and disrupt the forums. Posters engaging in this type of behavior lose their rights of membership and will be removed.

Anonymity
Public forums are often abused by users who post behind a veil of anonymity. It is commonly thought that if you do not leave your email address, nobody knows who you are, and therefore (by some people's logic) you can say whatever you want. However, this sense of anonymity is misguided. All posts in this forum are branded with the IP address (Internet identification) of the originating computer. This provides recourse for tracking down those who consistently choose to misuse this service.
Please refrain from allowing anyone else to use you account.


Stay Safe
The Forum is a great community filled with wonderful people. It's easy to feel as if the people you talk to every day online are friends whom you can trust. However, not everyone is trustworthy.

Don't give out personal details, photographs, or any other information that could be used to identify you, such as information about your family, where you live or the school you go to.

Never arrange to meet someone you've only ever previously met on the Internet without first telling someone else of your plans, getting their permission and taking a responsible adult with you. The first meeting should always be in a public place.


Steve

Forum Administrator
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