Do conduct yourself in a professional manner
We support forum members engaging in constructive debate, disagreeing with the opinions of others, or requesting further information or even the citation of references. We do, however, expect this to be done in a respectful manner and without personal attacks. If you don't agree with somebody's post, argue with the post's content, not with the person who made it.
Do not troll our forums
Posting with the specific intent of stirring up trouble or inciting disruption will not be tolerated.
Do not post inappropriate content
We will not tolerate messages or photos containing such things as sexually explicit (or pornographic), obscene, vulgar, hateful, threatening or illegal content. This includes your avatar, signature, and all other content you are sharing with our site.
Do not attack other members
The posting of negative remarks based on age, race, weight, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation is not appropriate.
Do not take it upon yourself to moderate our forum
Allow our moderators to do all the moderating of the forum. It is not your job to outline the rules to other members, admonish them, or discuss their behavior even when they are acting inappropriately. If you have an issue, please send a private message to one of our moderators or to the administrator of the site.
Do not be offended by moderator actions
It is not uncommon for members participating in the forum to have a moderator make a suggestion, discuss behavior, or attempt to steer a topic. Please try not to be offended by such moderation: it is not an attack. Please be considerate of the fact that we try to stay on-topic and keep a consistent culture for our site.
Do not debate or argue against moderator actions
It is inappropriate for you to debate or argue with a moderator’s actions. If you would like to discuss such actions or get further clarification on the matter, you must do so by messaging the moderating privately. Do not clutter the public forum with arguments or disagreements. Doing so will result in administrative action.
Do not make multiple accounts
Each person is allowed only a single account. Any attempt to make multiple accounts will result in the new ones being deleted. Any member making additional accounts with the purpose to act inappropriately or bypass administrative actions will result in a permanent ban.
Posting
Try to stay on-topic at all times
Try not to drift off-topic with a topic's conversation. Please don't join in with off-topic discussion even if others are. Instead, try starting a new topic and linking to it. Off-topic posts may get deleted or split from their originating topic.
Post similar questions together
If you have several questions that are related, it's better to ask them all in the one topic rather than to create additional topics for each one. Make use of the edit feature in your post to add more information.
Try to avoid duplicating topics already discussed
Use the forum's search function to check if the topic you wish to post exists in the forum already. It's very possible that a similar discussion has already taken place.
Use short, concise titles for your topics
When posting a new topic, it's a good idea to use a short, yet informative title, so other members can quickly ascertain its subject matter
Try not to double post
If you post additional identical replies/posts by mistake, please delete the duplicate replies by clicking the delete button found at the top of your duplicate post. Where you need to add more information on to your original reply, click edit at the top of your post and add more to it, instead of clicking reply and creating two replies.
Do not cross-post in multiple forums or multiple topics
Please do not cross-post the same topic to multiple forums or the same message to multiple topics. Post only in the most appropriate and on-topic place.
Do your best to format your posts for easy readability
Please format your posts and your topic subjects so that they are presented professionally and in a polished manner. Use appropriate punctuation and capitalization, proper capitalization, and avoid excessively using font styling such as bold, italics, and color. Typing in ALL-CAPS or all-bold is considered bad Internet etiquette, is difficult to read, and is considered shouting.
Please limit your posts to the English language
We are an English language site and all contributions are to be posted in English so that the large majority of our audience is able to enjoy them. Posts in other languages are difficult for the moderators to monitor. We unfortunately do not have the resources to be able to adequately cover other Other languages.
Do not use the private message system for critical messages
Critically important messages, confidential information, or details of a fragile or timely nature should not be transmitted to another member using the private message system. We can not be responsible for the loss of important messages or the potential of site-wide downtime leading to the unavailability of the system.
Do not abuse the right to advertise
Vendors, makers, and manufacturers are asked to limit their advertisements, announcements, and other marketing information to our "Makers and Manufacturers Talk" forum. To be allowed to post new topics to this forum, you must be a member of our Industry Professionals usergroup. Blatantly using the other forums for the purpose of marketing and advertisement is not acceptable.
