I am a member of several other forums, one of which has been recently torn apart via internal conflicts.
I have suggested there that a Forum Etiquette Sticky is required.
We have one here:
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=2.0Which is pretty basic.
I have suggested to the other forum that one like this may be more appropriate. Note, it comes from
Mozilla, so mentions them.
What do others think, do we need something like this?
Ground Rules
There are a few ground rules for participation in forums hosted by mozilla.org. Please respect these rules, and each other.
Be civil.
No personal attacks. Do not feel compelled to defend your honor in public. Posts containing personal attacks may be removed from the news server.
Stay on topic.
Most of these groups are high-traffic and read by busy people, so please pay attention to the topic of your messages, and check that it still relates to the charter of the forum to which you are posting. Off-topic discussion not taken to private email, mozilla.general, or any place where it is not considered off-topic, by someone who knows they should be taking it elsewhere, is eligible for removal from the news server.
Be kind to newcomers.
Newcomers may be annoying. They ask the wrong questions, including ones that seem obvious (or whose answers seem easy to find). But lots of valued contributors started out this way, and treating newcomers kindly makes them more likely to turn into the valuable community members we all know and love (and cut some slack when they mess up).
So while you don't have to humor them or suffer them gladly, and it's fine to point out when they make mistakes, point newcomers in the right direction in addition to turning them away from the wrong ones, and be kind to them in the process of correcting their transgressions.
Let sleeping dogs lie.
It's tempting to revisit controversial decisions you disagree with, but it's rarely productive to do so, since it almost always results in the same heated, lengthy, and time/energy draining discussions leading to the same conclusion that was reached in the last round.
Therefore, for issues already raised, discussed, and decided upon, reopen the discussion only if you have significant new information that would reasonably prompt reconsideration of the original decision.
No large attachments.
Do not send binary attachments, including screen shots, and especially including screen shots of textual dialog boxes. Many people read these messages through slow network connections; try to be respectful of them. If you have a large file that you would like to distribute, put it on a Web page and announce the URL instead of attaching it.
Trim your follow-ups.
Do not quote the entire content of the message to which you are replying. Include only as much as is necessary for context. Remember that if someone wants to read the original message, they can; it is easily accessible. A good rule of thumb is, don't include more quoted text than new text.
Identify your subject matter.
Not everyone has time reading all forum postings. To ensure that your message reach the right people at timely manner, identify your subject matter clearly in the subject line. Subjects like a “question” and “Mozilla problem” are not very helpful.
No “test” messages.
Please do not send test messages to the newsgroups except to mozilla.test.
Cheers, Mace.
