Common Sense Introduction

• If you willingly choose to use Malmesbury.com, you are welcomed, and encouraged to embrace it.
• Malmesbury.com is a voluntary, community developed project. Proactively seek to give of yourself and bring only benefit to your peers and community.
• When asking for help, read the forums, do your research and provide details for those you are asking for help.
• When offering help, be patient and tactful.

Personal Topics/Rants

Rants and complaints are frowned on and may be closed as they are discovered. Posts of this type are much better suited for a blog or other personal web space and are unwanted on the Malmesbury.com forums. Public posts should be open and inviting to all members. Discussions among a select group of users should take place in private message.

Ineffective Discussion

Threads stating the equivalent of "there is a problem, we need to discuss it" have been repeatedly proven ineffective and inflammatory and will usually be locked after a warning from the moderation team. Malmesbury.com is a Do It Yourself community. If you have a problem, find a solution that works for you, implement it, then post.

Furthermore, questioning or discussing the methods used by the Malmesbury.com team will be monitored closely and locked if deemed unhelpful and/or unproductive. (Harsh, unproductive criticism is also uncalled for.)

If you have a question regarding Malmesbury.com development, please ensure that your topic poses a specific question, and be open-minded to responses. If possible, provide a solution or partial solution. Submitting ideas for discussion is always more pragmatic than asking others to do it for you.

Respect Other Users

Simply put, respect other users and their views, even if you disagree with them.

Respect Other Community Sites

Maligning other community sites, or users thereof is prohibited. The entire Malmesbury.com team is happy to volunteer their time and energy to provide you with the Malmesbury.com site. Kindly show respect toward the volunteers, users and other communities as well. Views, experiences and opinions are always welcome, but unproductive slander is not.

Pasting Pictures and Code

Only post small images.

Advertising/Solicitation

Publicity for a cause or the promotion of goods and/or services will be monitored closely. Generally, if it is related to Malmesbury.com (as a project or community), it will be allowed. Commercial, invites, plugging, or blog-type promotions are typically discouraged, or outright prohibited. Multiple advertisements for a business will almost certainly result in the posts being removed from this forum as we already provide a free business directory for this service. However, we do allow subtle plugging of a business if it's offering genuine support, help or free professional advice to the community. We will actively work to promote your business if we feel that you have contributed to the Malmesbury.com community in a positive manner.

Homework

Do not ask for homework answers, nor post answers. Please understand that it must be your own thinking - that is the point of learning. Topics deemed to be about homework will be closed.

Old Threads/'Necro-Bumping'

Do your part to keep the forums tidy. Posting in old threads, or 'necrobumping' is generally discouraged, since it can potentially create disjointed 'zombie' information; outdated posts with data which is no longer relevant due to Malmesbury.com's rolling nature, combined with more recent posts reflecting more current issues. Further, threads should remain succinct, and multiple pages are to be avoided if possible. If you judge that your information is related, but more up-to-date, start a new thread and link to the old if appropriate. If the information you are providing is already available in the wiki or covered in other topics you should refrain from posting. If you do decide to necrobump, ensure that the information is in fact relevant to the original, helpful, and does not create an excessively long, disjointed thread.

Forum Member Accounts

Please limit your forum membership to one account only. Having multiple accounts is an unnecessary use of resources and will not be tolerated. Furthermore, it may be interpreted as trolling behaviour.

No Trolling

A troll is a person who intentionally attempts to disrupt, cause controversy, incite an argument, and/or receive negative attention by deliberately posting provocative content.

Trolls are generally deceitful and often use ambivalence as a method of covertly insulting, intimidating, or inciting a person or persons for their own sadistic pleasure. They often pick their words very carefully and are therefore able to defend their masked attempts at creating unrest, frequently redirecting the blame onto the community and its supposed failure to understand them properly.

Avoid Controversy/Controversial Topics

There is no explicit list of topics considered to be 'trollish', controversial or provocative but in the past, threads with posts pertaining to Race and Nationalism may be closed. Therefore, specifically avoid these divisive topics on the Malmesbury.com forums! This is a community forum, and is not intended to facilitate such commentary nor the resulting unrest.

No Power-Posting/Empty Posts

Power-posting is best described as posting empty and worthless messages. It is not tolerated. People may have two reasons to do this: to increase their post count meaninglessly, or to lend support to an idea (as if it were a vote). Examples of power-posting include, but are not limited to, replying with '+1', 'lol', 'me too', 'I agree', or ':)'.

When posting or replying to messages, make sure you have something to say. These empty posts clutter up threads and discussion, invalidates the 'Show New Posts' function, and wastes bandwidth and server space.

Threads that degenerate into a series of '+1/-1' or 'me too/I agree/I disagree' with no content will be locked. Individual power posts may also be deleted.

Life is a Two-way Street

A simple, yet profound and undeniable truth. Ensure your thread includes details and information that others will find useful. Share your findings with the community. Share your failures as well. Posting the equivalent of 'Nevermind, I fixed it.' in your thread is not only selfish and useless to the community, but a complete waste of resources and everyone's time. Also, demanding help or showing an obvious impatience toward getting it is unwanted here. Malmesbury.com is provided by a community of volunteers. Get involved. Contribute to the community.

Bumping

To bump a thread on an internet forum is to post a reply to it purely in order to return it to the top of the list of active threads. Posting a single word or useless message to attract attention to your thread is not allowed. Do your own research, continue to troubleshoot, post the results, and be patient with the community. If people are reading your thread without answering or offering help, you may try supplying more details, or ask to be pointed in the right direction. Often, the reason for posts remaining unanswered is due in large part to the sparse details in the original post itself, or, the obvious availability of solutions on the web and the community's unwillingness to point out the obvious.

Cross-Posting

Cross-posting is posting the same question multiple times. This is a waste of resources and is not permitted. Any cross-posted topic may be locked or deleted.

Misplaced Posts

Try to place your posts in the correct forum for the topic. Our forums have been categorized so that most topics fit in one logical location. Any post that is deemed by the moderators to be in the wrong forum will be moved to the correct location without warning. Most users can find these on their own but if you lose your thread, it is acceptable to contact one of the forum advisers asking where it has been moved.

Thread Hijacking

Thread hijacking is the process of replying to an existing thread with a different topic. This is tolerated but generally discouraged. It is better to start a new thread if you have a problem that is related to an existing posted issue but clearly different. On the other hand, it is better to respond to the existing thread with additional information if you have what appears to be the same problem.

Posts that hijack a serious thread with off-topic discussion are also tolerated but generally discouraged.

Spam

Spam is not allowed. Please report the offending post with the forum report function and a moderator will review it for removal. Offending spam accounts and associated IP addresses will be banned.

Do Not Flame

Flaming, in the most common sense definition, is directing negative and/or insulting comments toward someone. An equally or more negative response is often a consequence, further resulting in a cycling exchange of insults. Flaming fellow members (including the Malmesbury.com team) will not be tolerated. Never resort to personal insults and please avoid sarcastic and patronizing language. Discussions can be productive, but arguments are always destructive.

Respect The Malmesbury.com Staff

Members of The Forum Team have been chosen for their ability to exercise consistently good judgment and shall have the final say. Note that this forum is not run as a democracy. The forum staff shall always attempt to implement universally peaceful solutions, but in the end, are charged with the responsibility of maintaining peaceful, civil order for the forum majority. Therefore, they cannot always please everyone with the decisions made. Please do your part to contribute to a healthy community and environment.

• If you feel that an egregious oversight has been made, use the forum report function. Please do not post complaints on the forum.

Warnings, User Locking, Banning

If the Malmesbury.com Forum Moderation Team feels that a member's behavior is unacceptable and warrants intervention, a private warning will typically be issued (unless the occurrence is judged to be especially flagrant, in which case a ban may become imminent). Warnings will not be discussed on the Malmesbury.com Forums, IRC channels, or mailing lists by the Moderation Team. If the warning goes unheeded, further action will be taken. This may range from locking the offending user account, to deletion or banning of the user. Action is generally on a case-by-case basis.

If a user is apologetic, interested in a peaceful solution and wishes to have their account reinstated, a general consensus will be formed by the moderation team for, or against, such a request.

How to Post

• Choose clear, informative subjects. This is more likely to elicit response from experienced users who have knowledge about that particular topic. It also makes the topic easy to reference and find in forum searches by future users with similar problems.
• When asking questions, provide as much information as possible.
• Choose one topic per thread. Long threads are typically discouraged. Try not to post multiple questions in a single topic -- this makes it difficult to search the forum for specific problems.
• Post your question in only one subforum; pick the most relevant, and post there.
• When responding to an existing thread, always read the original post and attempt to focus on the original topic.
• 'Bumping' a thread is not allowed (see above). Use time wisely and update the thread by providing details of other steps you have taken to resolve the issue, rather than calling further attention to the thread without adding any further useful information.

Legality

Criminal solicitation is strictly forbidden on this website. In this context, 'criminal solicitation' shall mean, "To actively or passively inform about, or facilitate, incite, move, or persuade others to some act of lawlessness or illegal activity."

Therefore, do not post discussions about or link to criminal solicitation in any form. This includes, but is not limited to, information or links to facilitate illegal drug use, theft, network intrusion, creation of malignant code, prohibited software copying, prohibited use of copyrighted/patented material, 'warez', or sites which provide torrents or links to such content. Illegal content will be removed swiftly and dealt with in full accordance with known applicable law.

Freedom of Speech

The free and open exchange of assistance, ideas, and opinions is highly regarded and encouraged on the forums, but it must be noted that the freedom granted to forum members is relative freedom. It exists within the boundaries and constraints of the above guidelines and principles. Complaints of 'censorship' are therefore baseless and unfounded, since this necessary framework must simultaneously provide reasonable limitations.

Disclaimer

All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of Malmesbury.com, nor Mindvision Media Limited (developers of the site) will be held responsible for the content of any message. The action of posting a message onto this forum implies that the user is happy to publish the content into the public domain. Neither Malmesbury.com nor Mindvision Media Limited have any responsibility, legal or otherwise, to remove any posts made by users on this forum.