Code of Conduct
From Omlet Club Wiki
Contents |
The Omlet Code of Conduct 1.0
The Omlet Club aims to be a friendly place for eglu owners to make friends, share information and get help with their pets.
Why should we have a code of conduct? Most people have a common sense feel for what is and what is not appropriate, however we have created a few set policies for everyone to refer to when the need arises.
This Code of Conduct covers your behaviour as a member of the Omlet Club, in any forum, mailing list, wiki, web site, IRC channel, public meeting or private correspondence.
Section 1 - General Policy
The Omlet Club welcomes friendly discussion, but discourages controversial debates.
While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, we can’t be here 24 hours a day so it is impossible to review every message. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author and not the administrators, moderators or web-master (except for posts by these people) and they will not be held liable.
You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-orientated material or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Any of these may lead to you being temporarily or permanently banned from these forums (and your service provider may also be informed). Posts which violate any part of this Code of Conduct may be edited or moved to a section of the forum which is not visible to general users and the moderators will decide what to do with them.
You agree that the administrators and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any post, topic or thread at any time they see fit following the guidelines outlined below. You agree that the web-master, administrators and moderators of this forum have the right to send a private message with a warning and/or censor any forum user who is in violation of forum policy.
We ask you to bear the following points in mind when posting:
1 Be respectful of all users at all times - Be polite and treat people with kindness and gentleness.
2. Respect the forum staff - The moderators provide a service in their free time to keep the forums running efficiently. We will occasionally ask for input, but in some cases we will not, so we would be grateful if you would please respect our decisions. In moderating the forum, we do occasionally edit for content, if you have an issue with our moderation, please PM a moderator.
3. No Profanities - Please be aware that this friendly forum is family-based and many of the posters are children. When using the forum, please try to keep your language polite and courteous and refrain from the usage of profanities. Explicit profanity/swearing is NOT allowed, and under no circumstances will we allow any profanity to be directed toward another person. A language filter is in place to catch any profanities that you may have accidentally used. Do not attempt to circumvent the language filter by using variations, asterisks or slight misspellings of profanities.
4. Posting deliberately inflammatory messages -
- Inflammatory and condescending messages: Any messages that personally attack, call people names, or otherwise harass another forum member (or any person) along with any other condescending posts will be moved or removed at the moderators discretion.
- If the thread appears to be have been posted to deliberately start an argument or is likely to cause an argument rather than enhance discussion, it will be locked or removed without notice. Individual posts of this nature may be deleted or edited at the moderators' discretion. Any users who continue to post in this manner or engage in other questionable practices, like trolling (posting in an attempt to engage people in arguments) may be subject to more serious sanctions.
- If the thread turns into an argument, it can be locked or removed without notice. Sometimes a moderator may split the thread or delete certain portions in order to keep the discussion going, but that is not always possible.
5. Spam
- If a post or thread contains spam (unsolicited advertising) it will be removed from the forum and the poster may be banned. Forum members are allowed to have discrete links to personal websites in their signatures or in their profiles as long as the content of those links does not include abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-orientated material or any other material that may violate any applicable laws.
- Out of necessity, the Omlet forum has a policy that members may not sell or advertise a service or product for monetary gain on the forum. This is intended to protect the privacy of all forum members and so that they feel comfortable in using this unique facility, knowing that they will not be targeted for a sales pitch. The intention is to maintain the goodwill and wonderful camaraderie, which prevails on the site. We would like all our members to enjoy the forum secure in the knowledge that it is not being used as a selling platform by individuals.
- This policy includes posting to advertise your product/s and/or service and extends to Private Messages (PMs) sent to forum members. Please note that any such advertising will be moderated. Members are permitted to include a discreet link to their website in their signature, where those sites might promote or display their products/service.
6. Adult Content/Violence/Illegal Activity - Messages containing sexually oriented or violent or illegal dialogue, images, content, or links to these things will be deleted. Messages with links to or suggesting illegal activity will also be deleted. Posting or linking to any of these could result in a ban. Our moderators will happily advise on the suitability of any post if you are at all unsure.
7. Thread Drifting or Steering - Please try to keep discussions on topic. The moderators may post a gentle reminder if a thread starts to wander.
8. Be Inclusive - Please remember that these forums are inclusive of ALL people, and we strive to maintain accessibility to everyone.
9. Effective Communication - Please try to communicate with other users as effectively as possible:
- Please do not write posts in all uppercase letters. It is the forum version of shouting and it looks as if you are screaming at the people reading your post.
- Please refrain from using "text speak” or slang.
- Typing mistakes and other errors can cause miscommunication between users on the forums, please preview your text before posting or spell check before posting if possible. Typing mistakes will not be corrected by the moderators though as these cannot always be avoided.
- Please do not cross post, or post the same thing in multiple locations.
10. Images - Please be prudent in your use of images; they may help to explain something more clearly or indicate a problem you are experiencing better but you have to remember that not everyone has the same bandwidth. If an image is the best way of handling the information, please keep your image to less than 100kb. If you would like to post other images, please use the Omlet Gallery.
11. Signatures – Do not put inappropriate material such as attacks, slander, harassment, political or religious remarks in your signatures.
12. Reporting a Post - If you have found a post that you feel is inappropriate or that violates the forum code of conduct, please use the report post function or contact a moderator by Private Message. Do not attempt to moderate discussions or correct other users yourself.
15. Private Messaging – Using a PM for support is strongly discouraged. It is also unlikely that users will respond to these requests. We will also not allow members to victimise other members via the pm system.
16. One Account Only - Users should only have one active account. If you feel you have a genuine need for requiring a new account, please contact the Site Administrator to discuss your situation. Users who have multiple accounts without approval of an administrator may be banned without notice.
Section 2 - Forum Moderator Policies and Expectations
The website administrators and moderators of the Omlet Club will preserve content when possible. However editing, locking and deleting content may be necessary and if so will be done at the discretion of the administrators and moderators when the Code of Conduct has been violated.
Moderators duties are based upon the following:
1 Dealing with Profanity – Profanity or swearing is not allowed, and under no circumstances will we allow any profanity to be directed toward another person. If you feel a user is out of line please contact an administration with the details, they will issue a warning to the user.
2. Dealing with spam and potential "jailed" posts - If a user is advertises a product or service in an explicit manner, move the post to 'the jail' – I.e the Staff Area. Posts that are used to flame, harass or harm another person should be reported to an administrator asap. We do not encourage staff to partake in conversation in these types of situations and the administration will handle the issue.
3. Editing of posts - When a post breaks guidelines and requires editing in order to bring it back under compliance with the code of conduct, the moderator should generally copy the un-edited post to the staff area. Only then should the original post be edited after the original content was preserved as evidence. In the private message automatically sent when the infraction is issued the moderator should specify or describe which guideline(s) the post did not follow.
4. Thread Closing - If a thread has run it's course and posts have begun repeating themes a thread may be closed - if possible, announce that the thread has run it's course before closing so that people may add closing statements - don't forget to thank all users involved in the discussion. If a thread has become a situation where people are simply too personally involved in the issue a thread may be closed and / or jailed. If a thread is a duplicate of another thread, it may be closed (please provide a link to another open thread on the same topic.) It is always a good idea to post an explanation in a thread that is closed.
5. Jailing of posts/thread - If a post/thread would require a lot of work to bring it into compliance, or if editing the violations would result in a nearly blank post/thread, the post/thread should be moved to the jail instead.
6. Adult Content or Violence or Illegal Activity - Messages containing offensive / sexually oriented / violent / illegal dialog, images, content, or links to such will be jailed depending on the information it contains, use your best judgment. Messages with links to or suggesting illegal activity will deleted. These actions could result in a ban for the user.
7. Keeping an open mind - Sometimes you will be faced with a thread you might not agree with it's imperative you keep an open mind towards all inclusive people, and keep a neutral focus when replying. It is our duty to steer the conversations back into a positive nature without engaging in negative behavior.
8. Posting and moderating in the same thread - This is generally discouraged. If you have participated in a discussion and later find there is a problem in the thread contact another moderator so that you can have someone else who is uninvolved moderate. The exception would be if no one is available, you can close the thread temporarily with a post stating that it will be looked at by a non-involved staff member as soon as possible. If you aren't sure what to do, get an administrator.
9. The moderators actions area – The area is 'the jail' for posts which violate the code of conduct, for keeping evidence of posts which have been moderated, and for moderators to communicate their actions with one another. This area is for use by the moderators only. Content posted in the staff area should kept factual.
10. The moderators staff area - This area is for non moderating problems. Discussions about moderating issues should be kept the moderation action area.
How are Moderators Chosen?
Moderators are chosen by the site administrators. Users who have demonstrated a consistent attitude of friendliness and kindness and who have shown a pattern of helpfulness in their posts may be contacted and invited to serve in an even more official manner. Recommendations can be made by current moderators in the staff forums or other users by private message. All recommendations are considered. Due to time constraints and privacy issues the administrators are unlikely to comment publicly on these recommendations.
Updating to the Code of Conduct
It should be noted that, like all things, this code of conduct will continue to change and evolve with constructive feedback from users and from experience. It is our hope that these policies will create open, honest, and civil discussion. As always, we welcome feedback about any concerns that you. To open discussion please post in the Nesting Box. It is the users' responsibility to check this page for updates.
Thank you Ubuntu Forums
This policy is based on the Ubuntu Forum Policy under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php?page=policy .
