TechCom Forum Rules

Who Can Do What

Guests

All who visit this forum can view the boards and topics here. You must register an account with stc-jamesriver.org to post content on this site, including the TechComm forum.

Note: You don’t join the Society for Technical Communication by registering for a member account with this Web site. “Member account,” in this case, is what other sites call a “user account.” We believe that those who contribute on our site are not just “users;” they’re active, interested professionals committed to their craft.

Members

All who register a member account with stc-jamesriver.org are members of the TechCom forum. Members can post items in the various forum boards and receive and send private messages to one another.

All who participate in this forum are expected to be adults and act accordingly. Specifically:

1. Post in a relevant forum area. Read the forum descriptions before posting.
2. Be respectful of others. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated.
3. Don’t act as a “back seat moderator.” If you note an issue that contravenes a policy, bring it to the attention of a member a moderator. Do not respond to such topics yourself. Members who consistently act as moderators will be warned.
4. This forum is for professionals and may be viewed by anyone. Write professionally. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated.
5. Respect the copyright of other users, sites, media, etc.
6. Respect the bandwidth of other users and sites. The use of inline image tags that point to data stored on third party systems for which the member has not received permission to use will be removed.
7. Post in a way consistent with normal writing.
   • Don’t use an excessive number of emoticons, large, small or colored text,and so forth.
   • Don’t SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (multiple exclamation and question marks) in titles or posts.
   • Use an appropriate, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Examples of bad titles include; “Help me!,” “I’m stuck!,” “I’ve got an error!,” etc.

Spam

Spam is not tolerated under any circumstance. This includes:

• Advertising services of any sort for any or no cost
• Commercial, religious, or political solicitations
• Recruiting of any sort

Members posting spam will be warned and their post removed. Moderators may edit or remove any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to the moderators.

These policies apply to private messaging. Abuse of the private messaging system may lead to warnings and/or the revocation of private messaging.

Signatures

Signatures may contain up to five lines (one line being that displayed on a browser opened to 800px width) of text and/or one image. Valid combinations include:

• A single image no more than 60px high, 468px wide, and 6kB (6000 Bytes) in size
• Signatures containing an image this large may also include one line of text
• Signatures containing an image of 30px high may include up to two lines of normal size text
• Images of 15px height or less may allow up to three lines of text
• Animated images are not allowed
• Signatures are subject to the same conditions as posts regarding decency, warez, emoticons, and so forth
• Links in signatures are permitted to a maximum of four unique pages or sites
• Linked sites may be commercial in nature
• You may not include links in a way which suggests you offer official support, software, etc.
• You may not link to sites that contain or promote Warez , pornography, politics, or racism
• Links are included in signature size limits

Avatars

Your avatar is that which you select when you register a member account with stc-jamesriver.org. If you haven’t chosen an avatar or uploaded an image to use, no avatar will be shown for you.

Off–Site Links

• General linking (within posts) to other sites is permitted where links are in a “support context.”
• Acceptable support contexts include (but aren’t limited to) problems with software, hardware, and so forth.
• Unacceptable support contexts include requests for hosting providers, questions and discussion of personal, social, religious, or political matters.

Self–Promotion

Members may not use this Forum to advertise themselves, their companies, or the services they provide for either commercial or non-profit purposes. STC members and paying non-members may advertise—for a fee—on stc-jamesriver.org.

Policing

We have a “three–strike” policy. Members who receive three warnings in a three-month period for rules violations identified above will be notified that they are temporary banned from Forum participation for up to 7 days. A member will be banned permanently from the TechComm forum for:

• Re–registering under a different username
• Changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban
• Registering a new e–mail account to evade an e-mail ban
• Using insulting, indecent, or vulgarity when contacting a moderator, the forum manager, or the Internet Committee

Note: Permanent bans are a last resort and much thought is given before implementing one. While we may consider lifting a permanent ban, this is highly unlikely.