NetStumbler.org Forums

[aFR]

Welcome to the NetStumbler.org Forums. Before you get started please take a minute to read and become familiar with our rules, they will ensure that your stay will be an enjoyable and educational one. Most of the rules are common sense and the rest are pretty easy to understand and obey.

General Guidelines for all Forums

1. Social Behavior
Do not use unlawful, harmful, threatening, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable language toward users of the discussion platforms.

Rule of thumb: Would you feel offended if somebody said to you what you just wrote? If so, rewrite it. Not sure if it would? Rewrite it. Sure that it wouldn't offend you but suspect it will most probably offend someone else? Rewrite it.

2. Repetitive Topics
If there is already a thread about a certain topic on the first page of any forum and a second thread about exactly the same topic is started, the second thread may be closed with a link to the first thread posted there. It should be in the interest of all forum users to prevent having more than one thread about the same topics. These topics may also disappear, having been moved into other forums to prevent confusion for other users.

3. Illegal Content/Misuse
Do not violate any local, state, national or international law or regulation when using the discussion platforms. Refrain from posting or communicating any person’s real world personal information, this includes corporations. Also, refrain from making requests about accessing wireless networks that you are not authorized to use. Remember, this is a public board. Anyone may be reading.

4. Spamming, Power posting, and Advertising
Only post if you have something valuable to add to the ongoing conversation. Refrain from posting only a short, meaningless sentence or only one emote/smiley. Also, avoid posting messages solely to get people to visit an external link (such as a personal website), especially if you are a new user to this forum. Spamming/power posting includes bumping up old topics without adding new and substantial content to them. It also includes posting the same text multiple times in a row. Power posting also covers the 'me too' posts. 'Me too' posts are when users simply reply to a message with 'me too' or 'yes' or something similarly inane. Also, instead of posting additions / corrections to a new post of yours separately, please use the edit button instead. Refrain from posting advertisement of any form (commercial or non-commercial) if it is not related to an ongoing discussion.

Note: Administrators and moderators reserve the right to delete your post, or ban you from the forums for violating the forum rules, written or otherwise.

Now you have the basics! However, when you have any community that’s around for long enough it begins to develop a culture of its own. This culture can be hard to get a handle on for someone new. Here are some hints to help any new user integrate into the NetStumbler.org Forums.

NetStumbler.org Forums Culture Guidelines

1. The ‘I’m new post’
It is good to be eager to integrate into the forums and make your presence known. The best way to do this is by making an intelligent first post, asking an intelligent question, or contributing a meaningful comment to a conversation. Nothing is more annoying than reading a post that says ‘Hi, I’m new here, Ok. Bye’. ‘I’m new’ posts are generally not received well by forum users, and it’s an easy way to get on everyone’s bad side on your first post.

2. Lurking
Now, in most forums lurking is considered a bad thing. We encourage new users to lurk before making their presence known. Lurking provides you the advantage of being able to figure what’s going on before you enter the conversation. Spend your first week laying low and getting the lay of the land before making your first post. This will probably save you a fair amount of grief, as it takes very little time around here to figure out what is and is not acceptable on the board. There’s no rush, take your time.

3. Doing Things for Yourself
One of the most magnificent features of an online forum is that as time goes by, there is generally more information available. What this means is that your best resource is the search feature. Most of the topics created on a daily basis have been addressed previously, you can learn more than you think by taking the time to search for your answer before posting your question.

4. General attitude
You will hear the word ‘newbie’ or any of its brothers used to describe people. This is not good when people are using these words to talk about you. So, how do you avoid falling into this category? Reading these rules will be a good start.

However, there are some other reasons why folks end up with these labels. First, don’t bring any attitude to the table. There are folks that know more than you; there are folks that know less. Second, play nice. Sometimes you will see someone getting ganged up on, don’t try to gain acceptance by following the herd and attacking that person too (regardless of how much they may need the verbal bashing). Finally, show some respect to the other members of the board. Some people have been on here for a long time and contribute a lot to this board. The quickest way for a new user to get banned is to pick some sort of fight with them. Basically, play nice and no one gets hurt. Even after reading this there will still be people who insist on behaving poorly. Individuals who decide to ignore these guidelines and make idiots of themselves will be dealt with.

So, there you have some of the big cultural issues on the forums. Don’t fall into these traps and you will have a fun time. Most users of the forums are nice people and the moderators do a great job of keeping the peace. If you follow these rules (and they’re mostly common sense) you will get along with everyone fine. We are always looking for new people, and we welcome them with open arms. We are glad to have you on board.

Thanks,

The NetStumbler.org Forums Staff