PURE Community Forums Guidelines

Section I - General Policy:

1. Be respectful of all users at all times. This means please use etiquette and politeness. Treat people with kindness and gentleness. If you do this the rest of the code of conduct won't need more than a cursory mention.


2. Respect the forum moderators and administrators. They provide a service in their free time to keep the forums running efficiently. We will occasionally ask for input, but in some cases we will not, please respect our decisions. Also, we do edit for content, if you have an issue with our moderation, please raise the issue in the appropriate section.


3. Profanity: Remember that the forums are used by people of all age groups and of all tolerance levels regarding profanity usage. When in the support areas of the forum, please try to keep your language polite and courteous and refrain from the usage of profanities.


4. Forum Threads and Flaming:
   • Flaming and condescending messages: Flames are messages that personally attack, call people names, or otherwise harass another forum member (or any person). These, along with any generally condescending posts will be moved or removed at the moderator’s discretion.
   • If the thread is flame-bait (appears to be intended to start an argument or is likely to cause an argument rather than enhance discussion), it will be locked or removed without notice. Individual flame-bait may be deleted or edited at the moderators' discretion. Any users who continue to post in this manner or engage in other questionable practices, like trolling (posting in an attempt to engage people in arguments) may be subject to more serious sanctions.
   • If the thread turns into an argument, it can be locked or removed without notice. Sometimes a moderator may split the thread or delete certain portions in order to keep the discussion going, but that is not always possible.


5. If a post or thread contains spam (unsolicited advertising) it will be removed and the poster may be banned. Active users in good standing are allowed to have links to personal sites in their signatures, in their profile, and may post them in threads on occasion (just not often, please) as long as the content of those links does not include abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-orientated material or any other material that may violate any applicable laws.


6. Adult Content/Violence/Illegal Activity: Messages containing sexually oriented/violent/illegal dialogue, images, content, or links to these things will be deleted. Messages with links to or suggesting illegal activity will also be deleted. Posting or linking to any of these could result in a ban.


7. Thread Drifting/Steering: Please keep discussions on topic.


8. Please remember that these forums are inclusive of ALL people, and we strive to maintain accessibility to everyone.

Please strive to communicate with other users as effectively as possible:

When writing a post, please space paragraphs with a blank line in between them for better readability.
• Please do not write posts in all uppercase letters, as it looks as if you are screaming at the people reading your post.
• Please refrain from using "leet" speak or slang.
• Please do not shorten your words to acronyms or abbreviations. It is very difficult to read and understand.
• Please use color and font properties for highlighting portions of your text, and not for all of the text in your post.
• Typos and other errors can cause miscommunication between users on the forums, please preview your text before posting.


9. If you have found a post that you feel is inappropriate or that violates the forum code of conduct, please use the report post function. Do not attempt to moderate discussions or correct other users yourself.


10. Please be prudent in your use of images; they may help to explain something more clearly or indicate a problem you are experiencing better but you have to remember that not everyone has the same bandwidth. If an image is the best way of handling the information, please keep your image to less than 100kb. If you would like to post other images, please see our gallery.


11. Forum signatures are limited to three lines of text, 10pt maximum font size. Signatures are also not a place for inappropriate material such as attacks, slander, harassment, political or religious remarks. We regret that users are not allowed to use images in their signatures. The use of political images in avatars is also prohibited.
12. If you feel someone has violated the ImmerVision Code of Conduct you may direct the administrator’s attention to the specific post by using the form on http://www.immervision.com/pure/contact .


13. The web-master, administrators and moderators of this forum will preserve forum content when possible. However editing, locking and deleting content may be necessary and if so will be done at the discretion of the web-master, administrators and moderators when the forum code of conduct has been violated.


14. Users should only have one active account. If you feel you have justification for requiring a new account, please contact an administrator to discuss your situation. Users who have multiple accounts without approval of an administrator may be subjected to infractions or bans without notice.

Section II - Technical Support Policies:

When asking for technical support:

1. There are no stupid questions. You're not a stupid person simply because you do not know how to do something, or do not have the answer to a question. Everyone was a green user at one point in time. :)


2. Try to give information in the title of your post, instead of using a title like "it's broken," use a title that is specific, such as, "Unable to get sound to play in Firefox." A clear title will attract more views to your thread, as it gives a clear indication of the content of the post to the people that are willing to help you. Ultimately this will allow you to get more help of a better quality.


3. Searching the ImmerVision Forums is a quick way to see if someone has had your issue and if it has been answered. In a forum such as this one, there's a good chance your question has been answered before, and you can get the information you want quickly.


4. It's always nice to let the people that help you know that you appreciate their help. It's extra nice if you then share that information to another user that has the same question you just had. If your question is resolved (which is hopefully always the case!), it would be helpful for other users and the people helping you to label which procedure worked for you by quoting or clearly referring to it. Giving feedback as to what procedures worked not only makes the person helping you feel a sense of accomplishment; you will also be helping any other user with your same issue searching for an answer.



When answering technical support issues:

5. Be considerate to the person asking the question. We were all a green user at one point. Yes, some users are harder to help than others, but please be respectful to all users.


6. Try to avoid acronyms and jargon when giving instructions. New, or "green" users may not be able to follow you, and many will not ask you for an explanation in order to avoid looking stupid. RTFM, "Go look on google" are two inappropriate responses to a question. If you don't know the answer or don't wish to help, please say nothing instead of brushing off someone's question. Politely showing someone how you searched or obtained the answer to a question is acceptable, even encouraged.


7. If the users' question has been covered in one of the official documentations, please give them a description and the links. You can also show the user how to search the forums or tell them about the forum search utility. If you wish to remind a user to use search tools or other resources when they have asked a question you feel is basic or common, please be very polite. Any replies for help that contain language disrespectful towards the user asking the question, i.e. "STFU" or "RTFM" are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.


8. Always assume the user has a default installation unless you're told otherwise. Always assume that the user is a green user unless you're certain the user is not. Please remember to give detailed instructions.


9. To avoid confusion and auto-formatting issues, please use [CODE] tags. If an image speaks a thousand words and can show exactly what you mean, by all means, include an image.


10. There is always more than one solution to a problem, choose the one you think will be the easiest for the user. Please never instruct users to do anything that might break their system. Try to think as a green user and choose the simplest solution.


11. Explain each step of the solution. If possible, try to teach the user while giving a solution to them. Teaching begets more teaching. :)

Section III - Forum Moderation Policies and Expectations:

Moderation duties are based upon the following:

1. Dealing with Profanity:
   Mild profanity/swearing is allowed in the context of general speech. Explicit profanity/swearing is not allowed, and under no circumstances will we allow any profanity to be directed toward another person. If you feel a user is out of line please notify our administrators at http://www.immervision.com/pure/contact with the details, and they will issue a warning to the user.


2. Dealing with spam/flame posts:
   If its a user trying to advertise something, ImmerVision reserves the right to remove such posts without notice. Posts that are used to flame, harass or harm another person should be reported to an administrator asap. We do not encourage moderators to partake in conversation in these types of situations and the administration will handle the issue.


3. Editing of posts:
   If a post breaks guidelines and requires editing in order to bring it back under compliance with the rules, the moderator should generally copy the un-edited post to the jail first or issue an infraction which will keep a copy of the original post in the staff area. Only then should the original post be edited after the original content was preserved as evidence. In the private message automatically sent when the infraction is issued the moderator should specify or describe which guideline(s) the post did not follow.


4. Thread Closing:
   If a thread has run it's course and posts have begun repeating themes a thread may be closed - if possible, announce that the thread has run it's course before closing so that people may add closing statements - don't forget to thank all users involved in the discussion. If a thread has become a situation where people are simply too personally involved in the issue a thread may be closed. If a thread is a duplicate of another thread, it may be closed (please provide a link to another open thread on the same topic.)


5. User signatures, avatars and custom user titles:
   No images or advertising in the signatures unless the advertising is directly related to ImmerVision in some way or is a user's personal site which does not violate the guidelines stated above. If you see a signature that needs moderating, contact an administrator so they can contact the user. Avatars should be kept clean and inclusive of all people. No porn, racist images, or rtfm types of images. If the user does not voluntarily remove their avatar contact an administrator to have the avatar removed and possibly issue an infraction. There are a select, small group of users on the forums who have been given the special privilege of creating for themselves a custom user title. This is to thank them for their long-standing commitment to the community and for their consistent, positive contributions. Users receiving this privilege are requested to keep their custom user title light-hearted, advertising-free, and clean...although those who have received this privilege are probably the sort of users who don't need to be told this.


6. Adult Content/Violence/Illegal Activity:
   Messages containing offensive / sexually oriented / violent / illegal dialog, images, content, or links to such will be moved to the backyard or jailed depending on the information it contains, use your best judgement. Messages with links to or suggesting illegal activity will soft deleted by an administrator. These actions could result in a ban for the user.


7. Thread Steering:
   It will become necessary to steer threads away from becoming damaging towards the poster and other users. Our policy is that we do not allow threads to veer too far off topic. Please do your best to keep from getting too personal during heated debates.


8. Keeping an open mind:
   Sometimes you will be faced with a thread you might not agree with it's imperative you keep an open mind towards everyone, and keep a neutral focus when replying.


9. Posting and moderating in the same thread:
   This is generally discouraged. If you have participated in a discussion and later find there is a problem in the thread contact the other moderators or administrators and have someone else who is uninvolved moderate. The exception would be if no one is available, you can close the thread temporarily with a post stating that it will be looked at by a non-involved staff member as soon as possible. If you aren't sure what to do, notify our administrators at http://www.immervision.com/pure/contact.


10. Signatures:
    While we do not have guidelines for moderator signatures, please try to keep them moderate and within reason. Moderators are chosen by the site administrators. Users who have demonstrated a consistent attitude of friendliness and kindness and who have shown a pattern of helpfulness in their posts may be contacted and invited to serve in a more official manner.


It should be noted that, like all things, this code of conduct will continue to change and evolve with constructive feedback from users and from experience. It is our hope that these policies will create open, honest, and civil discussion. As always, we welcome feedback about any concerns that you may have so feel free to post in the forum feedback section of the forums. It is the users' responsibility to check this page for updates.
We require that the forum code of conduct be followed at all times since this is an official ImmerVision resource.