Posting guidelines

Make your posts informative
We have high standards in our discussion board. The best way to start a discussion is to contribute to it. So if you want to start a new thread of discussion it helps if you have done a spot of research of your own. We encourage members to share their special expertise. Always keep in mind that you are more likely to draw responses and additional help when you provide some information yourself.

This is not to say, either, that you have to always write a lengthy message providing elaborate information on a piece of research you have been carrying out about which you want to ask a question. Just that we want the reading of our discussion board to be time well-spent for everyone, and that means providing as much information, thought, and help as possible.


Civil discussion for mutual benefit
We aim to make our discussion board a delightful place for you to spend your time. Most members are intelligent, reasonable people who want to find useful information and have constructive discussions.

That does not mean that you will always agree with everything that others will say here. You have your own unique perspective to offer and we want to hear it. A lively discussion can draw out the subtle points of an issue. However, if you disagree with an opinion, challenge that opinion, but don't attack the person who expressed it. If you can agree to disagree we can all gain.


Make it readable and people will respond
All we have here is the text. It is hard to get others to respect your opinion if it is clear that you do not respect the medium. So we recommend that you aim as much as you can to format your message to look like the print in a broadsheet newspaper. That means employing capital and lower case letters in a traditional manner... neither all caps, nor all lower case.

Traditionally on the Internet typing in block capitals has been viewed as SHHHHOUTING. A message written entirely in capital letters is an eyesore. The indiscriminate use of lower case letters, on the other hand, reveals a writer who wouldn't even take the time to capitalise the first letter of every sentence; generally it reflects a person who is too hurried or lazy to be bothered. If the writer does not care about the message why should any of the readers bother to reply?


You are in a public forum
Please remember that anything you write on our discussion board is potentially available to everyone on the planet. There is a good chance that people you know in RL (Real Life) read this site. So don't post confidential or privileged information from your employers, supervisors, and the like.

It is a good idea to avoid insulting your family, neighbours and colleagues. The laws of libel apply on our site as in any other public forum, so please do not write anything which might provoke others to consult their lawyers. On the other hand, if you feel that you have been defamed by someone on our boards please report it immediately by contacting the board administrator and we will deal with it promptly.

Also, please be aware that anything that you post on our discussion board may be highlighted or reproduced elsewhere.

While we love to hear from people with special expertise which they want to share with us, we already know of more than one, regrettable, case in which people have been reprimanded by their employers for posting information about the organization which employed them. Please be sure that what you post belongs in the public domain.

To reiterate then, even if there are only a few regular participants on this board, bear in mind that:

• you are in public
• your messages could be read by millions of people
• your messages may be highlighted or republished elsewhere

Treat Copyright right
It breaks our Rules -- and more importantly, breaks the law -- to copy into our discussion boards any articles from copyright-protected sources. By posting an article on our board your are republishing it. Such postings may be an infringement of the law of copyright.
Contributors may summarise articles and quote an occasional sentence or two, but not an entire article. Articles copied into our boards in their entirety will be removed. If in doubt, post a link to the interesting item; it is almost always safer.
Those who persist in flouting the copyright law may find their membership canceled.


No disruptions
Please don't post messages which are unrelated to our discussion board. Our discussion board lose its usefulness if it is filled with off-topic messages or messages that are posted just for the sake of mischief. Our readers don't like it, and we won't tolerate it, as it undermines the effectiveness of the discussion boards and changes (for the worse) the tone of the conversation.

A forum like ours is useful only to the extent that the people who use it do so in good faith.
The editorial board reserves the right to judge what is off-topic, to remove messages considered off-topic and to terminate the membership of those who persistently post off-topic messages.
The same is true for the posting of messages that are solely designed to disrupt the conversation or annoy its participants.

If you find a message on our board which you feel is inappropriate, don't get into a slanging match with the author: simply contact board administrator and we will deal with it promptly.

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