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Poasters Guidelines

Started by Admin, May 22, 2004, 18:34 hrs

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Admin

Poasters Computer Forums
Rules and Poasting Guidelines
version 1.0
These rules and guidelines are intended to clarify the acceptable use of and participation in the Poasters Computer Forums. Poasters is run by a group of volunteer administrators who are the sole authorities to maintain the standards of our community. Violation of the standards and rules can and will result in poast editing, deletion or the banishment of the participant if necessary. 


Moderators are selected by their knowledge, participation, attitude, willingness to help, professionalism, and ability to troubleshoot. When we need a new moderator, we implement our moderator selection process to appoint a new one.

As explained on our home page, we spell *post* poast, in honor of our heritage.

Poast  n.  
   An electronic message sent to a bulletin board or newsgroup.

   v. poast-ed, poast-ing, poasts
   To send an electronic message to a bulletin board or newsgroup.

Poaster n.
   One who poasts a poast to Poasters Computer Forums.


As we do in the forums, we will use that spelling here in explaining the Poasters Rules:

1. Agreement. The terms of member registration to Poasters Computer Forums must be respected and obeyed in full. All members must accept the terms of the Registration Agreement, by clicking the "Register" button. The Registration Agreement may be seen here.

2. Unique and true identity. Poasters are limited to one account, and must provide a valid email address as a condition of registration. A current, frequently read email address must be maintained in the internal forum profile, to facilitate communication with moderators. Note that this internal email address (which is separate from "Display email") can be hidden from non-administrators, who do not have access to it.

3. Format of help requests. Please make requests for help clear; include as much information and background as possible, including attempted remedies. State the make and model of your computer, hardware and software involved, and include a brief description of the problem to help pinpoint the trouble. Use a descriptive subject line instead of a general "Help my computer won't work" type of heading.

Please do not ask the same question in more than one topic or poast the same question in more than one forum; keep follow-up questions in the same thread. Poast your request in the proper forum according to its topic; if you're unsure, please don't hesitate to poast your message. Someone will move it to the correct area if necessary.

Research your poast. Use our Search function, to at least scan the subjects of the last several days' poasts to reduce the chances of duplicate poasts.

4. Courtesy. Please be considerate of other's feelings. This is especially true of new computer users. Remember that our mission is to educate and assist, and we all started with zero knowledge.

When poasting in the technical forums, please stay on topic. Members seeking help should receive the courtesy of an orderly discussion.

5. Graphics. Graphics poasted to Poasters Computer Forums must not depict nudity, explicit sexual content, vulgarity, violence, or bigotry. We may remove any image that the community deems unacceptable.

Personal avatars are allowed, but must be no larger than 100x100 pixels. 

Refrain from the excessive use of emoticons (smilies) and other nonverbal symbols. They are allowed; however, poasts containing only emoticons may be removed.

6. Language Content. Poasters welcomes readers of all ages; therefore all content must be suitable for family and the workplace.

You agree, through your use and participation in Poasters Computer Forums, that you will not poast any material that is sexually explicit, obscene, profane, abusive, hateful, harassing, threatening, defamatory, or otherwise in violation of any law. Substitution of odd characters that mimic or suggest obscenities is not allowed.

Jokes poasted in the Funny Bone forum must not be of a sexual nature or insulting to any ethnic group or people.

Please keep messages as readable and meaningful as possible: avoid the use of internet acronyms and other abbreviations. Poasting in all upper case is considered shouting and should be avoided.

7. Harassment. You agree to refrain from excessive verbal assault upon the character or person of other poasters (flaming). Personal attacks, excessive taunting or other inflammatory poasts made to harass or cause outrage are prohibited.

8. Piracy. Do not poast links to, requests for, or ask for help with software piracy, as no help will be given. This also includes the illegal sharing of files, music, movies, etc.

9. Advertisements. Advertisements are not allowed without the written permission of the administration of Poasters Computer Forums. Spam, flooding, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other solicitations are never allowed.

10. Copyright. You agree not to poast any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright, or you have consent from the owner of the copyrighted material.

11. Linked Content. You agree that, to the best of your knowledge, all links that you place in Poasters Computer Forums contain linked content that complies with our usage guidelines. This includes your personal signature.

Clicking on a link poasted in this forum will open a new window and may take you away from this site. Poasters Computer Forums is not responsible for content you may see on other web pages.

12. Message removal. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information presented. The messages express the views of their respective authors, and not necessarily the views of Poasters Computer Forum. Anyone who feels that a poasted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. Objectionable content will be removed within a reasonable time frame, however the real-time nature of this bulletin board makes it impossible to remove or edit messages (or member profile information) immediately.

13. Indemnity. You are solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless this forum, any entity associated with this forum, and their agents and representatives.

14. Information ownership. Poasters Computer Forums reserves the right to reveal your identity (or any information we have about you) to the full extent of the law in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any information poasted by you. This includes your IP Address as recorded at the time of the poast, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. 

Poasters Computer Forums reserves the right to reproduce, edit, remove, or distribute any poast contained in the forum database. All poasts become the property of Poasters Computer Forums, except when copyrighted material is poasted (and hence properly cited).

15. Privacy of our members. You agree to respect the personal privacy of all members. Do not poast phone numbers, addresses, pictures, etc., without the definitive permissions of all involved people.

Your privacy is important to us; Poasters Computer Forums will never sell, trade or reveal your email address unless ordered to do so by the proper legal authorities.  We do however reserve the right to contact you in the event the situation warrants it.