Thank you for being a valued and valuable member of the WebDeveloper.com Community ("the Community"). Please take a moment to read and digest this page; it contains user guidelines ("the Guidelines") for the Community. By participating in the Community, you agree to be bound by and follow these Guidelines.
While the page is long, by necessity, we can boil down the general idea into three short sentences:
- Be helpful.
- Be constructive.
- Be friendly.
But as with most things in life, that's only part of the story.
If you use the Community, we'll assume you agreed to be bound by these Guidelines, and your account will be treated accordingly. So it's a good idea to take a few moments and read through our Guidelines now, so you'll know what we expect of all our users.
Scope
These Guidelines cover all aspects of user interaction with the Community. It governs user content, user conduct, and prohibited behavior of all kinds, whether in public posts on our forums or private communications between users or between a user and a member of the Community's moderation team.
Goals for the WebDeveloper.com Community
We created WebDeveloper.com's Community to provide a safe, fun, and valuable space for web developers and students of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. We want it to be a digital space that's welcoming to all who adhere to the rules and treat other users with courtesy and respect. We want to encourage users to begin and engage in thoughtful, lively, and insightful conversations. We want to make sure our Community is both safe and inclusive for all our users, so long as they respect and follow the Guidelines.
Consent to Our Guidelines
We encourage anyone who suspects that the Guidelines are not being followed in any respect to notify a member of the moderation team. One or more of our moderators will then investigate the issue and take whatever actions may be appropriate under the circumstances, as consistent with our Guidelines.
When you create a user account on WebDeveloper.com, you consent to be bound by our terms of use and these Guidelines, and to follow them at all times in all your interactions on this forum and site. The Guidelines apply to all types of content, of whatever format (text, image files, links, video, etc.), which you share or post on WebDeveloper.com, and to all of your interactions with other Community users.
The Community Guidelines
The Guidelines consist of the following 14 statements. They apply to all interactions on the site, and all content posted or shared through the site.
1. We encourage lively debate and discussion, but we will tolerate no personal attacks, trolling, or mindless abuse. The purpose of our Community is to encourage and foster intelligent discussion of topics related to web development. Abusive or hateful conduct towards others makes this difficult, if not impossible. Thus, anyone who engages in persistent trolling, personal attacks, or abusive comments or behavior towards other users may find themselves locked out of the site on a temporary or permanent basis.
2. To that end, please be mindful that our user base is diverse, and we consider that a strength. While feelings may run hot on certain issues under discussion, we may remove any content that may be seen as threatening or extremely offensive. Please consider other people's beliefs and viewpoints, as well as how your words may impact others, before you post. A good rule of thumb is this: If you wouldn't say what you're about to write to the person in a face-to-face meeting with a respected friend or loved one present, try moderating your comment before posting.
3. We want to encourage a lively discussion as long as it remains fruitful and positive. However, if a thread devolves into a "flame war," or further discussion seems to be mired in partisan beliefs or generalized (as opposed to data-backed or factually specific) statements, our moderation team may redirect, restrict, or cease outright further comments.
4. In absolutely no circumstances will content that exhibits or reflects racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of hate-speech, or that could be interpreted as such, be permitted in the Community. Rational, critical debate is fine. Attacking others on the basis of gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, race, national origin, religion, disability or age is not permitted, period.
5. Any content that could trigger legal liability for the site, its owners, the users, or the moderation team will be removed. This type of content could include (without limitation) any statements that would support a charge of libel or defamation, or any content that may be posted in violation of someone else's intellectual property rights. Users may not discuss illegal topics anywhere in the Community.
For example, you may not discuss how to "get around" copyright laws for image files, how to watch copyrighted movies online for free, how to join terrorist networks or illegally hack into someone else's servers, etc. This is not an exhaustive list, but is merely provided by way of illustration.
6. Because we want the Community to be a space for individuals to engage with each other on subjects related to web development and coding, we do not permit commercial or spammy content. Users are therefore prohibited from posting affiliate links, commercial posts designed to sell their services or goods, or other types of similar content. We also do not allow businesses to pose as individuals, for the same reason.
7. Keep your content relevant and on-topic. While message board posts may frequently range widely, please understand that keeping threads on topic to the original post means that off-topic, unrelated content may be removed.
8. Online text-based communication can be problematic and challenging. Tone, nuance, humor, sarcasm, and more can be wildly misinterpreted, meaning that your clever comment can actually seem offensive and hostile to another user. Users can help maintain an open, positive environment for the Community by endeavoring to keep their contributions positive and reasonable in tone, even if other users seem unreasonable.
9. We expect our Community users and members to help us and our moderators maintain these Guidelines by promptly notifying moderators of any potential issues or violations of these Guidelines. That doesn't mean that you can or should report a comment that doesn't violate these Guidelines simply because you don't like it, or don't agree with it. Bear in mind that abuse of the reporting Guideline may itself support moderator action against you.
10. Users are prohibited from engaging in any malicious conduct designed to interfere with the Community or the free, fair, and appropriate use of the WebDeveloper.com website or its users. Examples of prohibited conduct include phishing, fraud, spreading viruses or malware, deliberately spreading misinformation in an attempt to harass or wreak havoc on others, swatting, and similar conduct.
11. Users attempting to circumvent a suspension or ban (for example, via duplicate accounts, fake identities, or use of another user's account) will result in additional penalties, up to and including banning.
12. Any user who targets another user or group of users with implied or express threats of violence or targeted campaigns of harassment may be suspended or banned. This includes threats or attempts to subject another to DDOS or SWAT attacks.
13. Under no circumstances may any user disclose private information about another individual, whether that person is a user of this Community or not. Addresses, real names, locations, telephone numbers, social profile links, workplace information, etc. are all examples of private information which may not be disclosed on the site.
14. The Community does not permit the sharing of sexually explicit content of any type on the site, including personal conduct. Any conduct that involves the exploitation of minors will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency or agencies.
In short:
Be helpful. Be constructive. Be friendly.
Moderator Enforcement of Guidelines
When a user violates the Community's Guidelines, our moderation team is responsible for determining the correct response and for taking whatever action may be appropriate under the circumstances.
If the issue primarily concerns the content a user shares in the Community, we reserve the right to modify or delete the offending content as we deem appropriate.
If the issue is severe enough, or if it continues after the user is appropriately cautioned and warned, the offending user may have their posting privileges in the Community either severely curtailed or revoked, either for a specific period of time or on a permanent basis.
While we don't take modifying comments or banning users lightly, we do recognize that maintaining the Community's experience at a consistently valuable, positive level for all users is a serious responsibility. The needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few. Therefore, we reserve the right to take any and all actions consistent with that responsibility and our Guidelines so that we can maintain a safe, constructive, valuable digital space for all our contributing users.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Community and digital life in general, all moderator actions taken to enforce these Guidelines are final and not subject to appeal.
If you have suggestions or questions about any aspect of community participation in the WebDeveloper.com community on our site, you can email us at {EMAIL ADDRESS} or use the form at {URL}.
What Will Get Your Account Banned and Deleted?
A few additional statements to explain when user accounts may be banned and deleted, either temporarily or permanently, may be valuable. While we do not expect or want moderators to wield this power lightly, it may sometimes be necessary, especially in the following circumstances.
Egregious or Habitual Misbehavior
Either a particularly vile first post or comment or a history of behavior that violates our community guidelines will constitute sufficient grounds for deleting an account and permanently banning that user from our forums.
While normally the moderation team will issue a warning to a user who violates our guidelines, it is possible that an especially egregious post or comment could earn the user a permanent ban without being issued a preliminary warning.
Demonstrated Hostile Intent
On occasion, a user's history with our forums and interactions with other users demonstrates an apparent intent to simply pick fights and engage in hostile behavior with other members of community.
If that is the case, and there seems to be no evidence of any attempt to create value or be of service to the community, your account is subject to deletion and banning.
Think of our forums as a lively cocktail party. Picking a fight with other guests over and over will result in you being shown the door sooner rather than later, and you can expect not to receive a second invitation to your host's home. It's much the same here.
