Forum Rules - Please Read

[pavroo]

The main rule is: be polite, be helpful.



For those who need a more lengthy description:



Section I - General Rules



Respect the Forum Staff

All of the forum staff are volunteers and offer their free time to keep the forum running smoothly. Any decision made by an administrator or moderator is final and should be respected.

Do not argue with Staff directly in a thread; if you wish to discuss an issue, contact through e-mail or PM (Private Message).

Do not be Offensive or Abusive

This includes usernames, signatures, avatars, PMs, and posts.

Any offensive material, such as swear words or derogatory terms, is prohibited. Hate speech, as defined as an attack on religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or any other self-identifiable group, is not tolerated.

Adult content, including obscenity and pornography are not allowed

Censoring a swear word by substituting a letter with an asterisk symbol "*", or using acronyms that contain a swear word is considered swearing.

Messages that personally attack or call people names is considered abuse. These are sometimes referred to as "flame" posts.

Messages that contain sensitive religious or political topics may be removed on the basis of inciting far too emotional and personal debate.



No SPAM or Advertisements

This includes posts, in a signature, or with the personal website field.



- Spammer accounts will be deleted. SPAM accounts are made "for the sole purpose of providing information about and/or links to commercial websites or other advertisements".

- If your link represent the site of a (commercial) organisation, you can contact us or we will get in contact with you to suggest a partnership or to remove your link from your post. If the agreement doesn't result in a partnership and the link is not removed from your post, the account will be deleted.



Do not respond to spam, simply report it and allow it to be dealt with.



No Illegal Material

Any requests for help pertaining to illicit computer activities is prohibited and will not be supported (i.e., piracy, malicious hacking). Requesting, distributing, or linking illegal material is forbidden.



Do not Troll

Trolling consists of messages that contain an apparent foolish contradiction of common knowledge, being deliberately sarcastic to the user(s) of the forum, or a broad request for trivial follow-up messages. It serves no purpose other than the enjoyment of the troll.



No Dangerous Commands

Suggesting commands that could harm or destroy another user's system, even in jest, is strictly off-limits.





Section II - Technical Guidelines



Search Before Posting

Search the Sparkylinux forums and Google for questions before posting.

New Questions Deserve New Threads

Do not add new questions to existing threads, start your own instead! This will make it easier for other members to provide support. This includes hijacking, do not ask unrelated questions in a user's existing support thread.

Do not resurrect support threads older than 6 months, outdated information can cause issues with newer releases.

Consider Which Forum Section To Post

Posting to specific sections can make it easier for others to provide assistance and for future searches. For example, if you are having a specific software issue, post to "Software and Applications" section instead of "Newbie Questions".

Use Informative Titles

Use a title that is specific. Do not use titles such as, "HELP ME!!!" or "Sparkylinux fails". Instead, make titles that define the problem in a clear and concise manner such as, "Kernel Panic: Wifi Intel 3945AGN". A clear title will attract more views to the thread.

Details! Details! Details!

Include the version and architecture (32-bit, 64-bit) of Sparkylinux.

List any relevant hardware or software specifications.

List what Display Environment you are using if relevant (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, etc).

If you have output errors, list them in their entirety.

Use Default Font Size and Colors

Use of bold and italic can help convey meaning in a post - but use them sparingly and with cause.

Please don't use coloured text

Refrain from using <CAPS> lock on posts - it gives one the impression the user is screaming.

Avoid jargon and slang, speak in plain language.



Do Not Cross-Post

Do not create identical threads across multiple forum sections. Cross-posting creates unnecessary work for community users by separating potential answers and solutions - do not do it.



Indicate Solved Threads

When an issue has been resolved for you, please edit the original post to include <SOLVED> in the title. This provides a good indicator for users with a similar problem to check out the thread. Please make sure the solution that worked for you is clearly indicated, especially if more than one solution has been proposed. If your solution came from outside the forum then describe it or post a link to it. Following these simple instructions will help other users find success solving similar problems.



Bumping

Posting one word to bump a thread is generally discouraged. Try to research the problem and be patient for a solution. If nobody has responded within 48 hours, you may bump the thread to promote attention.

To bump a thread, scroll to the bottom of the topic and click Bump Topic, by Board Index, Subscribe Topic, and Bookmark Topic.



Report Bad Posts

The forum staff cannot moderate every single post and message, it is inevitable that some inappropriate posts are missed. If you see a post in violation of the SparkyLinux.org Forum Rules, please report it. Threads can be reported by pm to moderator.



We've All Been Green

We have all been a newbie to GNU/Linux. Some users are harder to help than others, but remain respectful.

Assume a user is green unless otherwise certain. Provide detailed instructions and avoid technical jargon, slang, and procedures we take for granted.

If you are unsure of your instructions, or the instructions carry a risk - tell the user this.



Private Message (PM)

Do not PM or e-mail forum members for support questions without prior consent. Those who help do so in their free time, and prefer to respond to threads of choice rather than being singled out.