A Guide to Forum Etiquette

The purpose of this thread is to provide a reference point for generally acceptable forum behavior. It includes examples of both inappropriate behavior and appropriate behavior where necessary. None of this is official from heligods. I'm simply a user that has had a lot of forum experience, and all of this is pretty much just off the top of my head. It amazes me they way the admins are treated on this forum and what they put up with going by some of the posts. In fact I ran a forum many years ago and know all too well how much of a big task it is, not to mention an unpaid and thankless job at that. These people give up there time and there money to give you a community (for free) to enjoy and should be treated with the utmost respect for doing so.

I really like dropping in and reading the post, this forum has a good sense of humor and seems to be run very fair and easy going by the admins and moderators. However some of the users while being well meaning are way out of line at times. I really don’t post much because I’m over all the arguments and flame wars, I have better things to do with my time than argue the point.

However I think some people here have no sense of respect ! And it annoys me to see what is a great forum with unique content attacked at times by a select few users. It's just uncalled for. So if you want to do the right thing and see this place grow into something good for the rc heli community at least try and stick to some main points, as listed below. this is not all of them, just the MAIN ones.


Netiquette: Good Forum Etiquette
An important term that you should be aware of and know about is "netiquette". This term is a contraction of Internet etiquette, and it's really the etiquette guidelines for posting messages to online services. Netiquette covers not only rules to maintain civility in discussions (i.e., avoiding flame wars), but also guidelines unique to the electronic nature of forum messages. In most cases, netiquette is enforced by the forum administrator. One of the biggest issues facing those unfamiliar with using online forums is that they may not even be aware of what constitutes netiquette. To get you started with using an online forum here are some tips and also guidelines that in most cases help keep you from being banned on forums; This is forum Netiquette in general for any forum.

• Stay On Topic. Many people use forums for knowledge gathering as well as social interactions. Forum posts and threads can be read by hundreds or thousands of users, and as such it's important to read the topic of a particular discussion and keep your posts related to that topic. If you are looking for general chat and comments, look in the forums for an off-topic discussion area. Such as a chat area, where off topic discussions take place.
  
  
• Don't Be A Troll. A "troll" is a person who breaks netiquette on a regular basis by posted inflammatory messages (called a flame) when responding to other users in the forums. Trolls are also users who will find older flame-filled threads on a forum and reply to them just to get users worked up again.

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. The term may also refer to the act of posting such content, or the content itself.

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. Trolling is strictly prohibited on all forums I have ever been apart off.

• “Do” Turn That Caps Lock Key Off. When you type a post in all capital letters you are going to annoy other forum users. Capital letters are viewed as shouting when communicating online, and its considered rude to do.
  
  
• Don't Double Post. When using forums it generally annoys other users when you post the same message more than once, in more than one discussion thread. If you make a post and no one replies, then leave it at that. Reposting the same message or slightly edited versions of the same message will not earn you any respect from other forum users, and in fact it may earn you warnings from the moderators.
  
  
• Do Search Before Posting. Before posting a question or asking for help on a particular topic, do use the forum search option to make sure this question has not already been asked and answered by other users. Even if your question does not appear in the thread list, it may still be available as an archived topic in the forum.

Thread Hijacking
Thread hijacking is the process of replying to an existing thread with a different topic. This is 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. Posts that hijack a serious thread with off-topic discussion are also discouraged on any other forum I have been to.

Above all “Respect” The 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 no forum is run as a democracy. Forum staff on most forums normally 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. You as a member should do your part to contribute to a healthy community and environment.

• If you feel that an egregious oversight has been made, DO NOT POST complaints in forum threads for all to see, give the staff a chance to correct the issue privately, complaints in forum threads are normally quickly closed. Alternatively, you should use the forum report function, email a member of the moderator group, or contact the forum admins.
  
  
• Respect the decisions of the moderators and staff , It's there house not yours ! And they are charged with keeping it in order.

Do with the information as you will This is a great forum and I would hate to see the staff get bogged down with chasing there tails all the time because some members don’t understand simple “Netiquette” ..

I'd also like to thank the people who created this forum and for there time .. it's reinvested my interests in forums and i maybe become a more active member, for the time being i have just been sitting back and watching to see what the community here is like and how things pan out.

Cheers

Frank