Forum Rules and Guidelines

[DougO]

The JMSNews forums have grown over the past year and I thank all of you for being a part of this great community.

To help keep the forums running well I have put together a set of rules and guidelines. I feel fortunate that the forums here have attracted users who are intelligent, respectful, and mature. Inappropriate behavior has been rare and I’ve received very few complaints about abusive users. Even so, I think it’s important to have a list of rules so everyone will has the same understanding of what’s acceptable behavior on the forums.

Here we go:

Rules:

• Respect the rights of others to have differing opinions.
  
• Expressions of hatred based on race/ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, and religion will not be tolerated.
  
• Keep it civil. Discussion may get heated, but that's no reason for personal attacks or seriously inflammatory remarks.
  
• Do not spam the forums (e.g., no commercial advertising, trolling, get rich quick schemes, etc).
  
• Do not post fan fiction. This will keep the forums JMS-friendly if he happened to visit.
• Use appropriate spoiler warnings and tags as described here.
• Respect the requests of the forum Moderators and Administrator.

Guidelines:

• Feel free to challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully.
  
• Use basic common sense and online etiquette when posting (e.g. do not post in all CAPS).
  
• Please start new discussions in the appropriate forum. Use the “Off Topic Discussion” forum when unsure.
  
• Do not reply to your own post. If you forgot something in your original post, please use the edit feature to modify the original message rather than posting a new one.
  
• Insulting others and/or poking fun at someone is okay as long as it is done in good fun and there is no harm intended. Generally this would be among users who have gotten to know each other and understand the humor. Doing so to a new or unsuspecting user is discouraged because it could be taken the wrong way.
  
• Foul language *is* permitted, as long as it is not personally directed at a user or violates the second “rule” above. Just don’t be too obscene or vulgar.

Adherence to these rules will help the forums remain a place for positive discussion and open expression of ideas, thoughts, and views. Posts found to be inappropriate may be removed or altered at the discretion of the Moderators and/or Administrator.

Thank you for your support.

-DougO

[Jan]

bumping to show in forum listing