Hikari Forum Guidelines

Hello everyone,

below are a few pointers for forum use, i found them a rather good guideline and tweaked them a bit for our little spot on the internet.
I thought we wouldn't need this here, but apparently not all of us get along all the time

Definitions

• Post: Any message posted to the forum
  
• Subject: The title of a post
  
• Thread: A string of posts, all replies, or replies of replies, to an original post
  
• Topic: The subject of the original post that starts a thread - i.e. what the thread is about

Be nice

• No 'flaming' - in other words, avoid personal attacks, pettiness, abuse. Respect other users, and if you disagree with them, explain why.
  
• No 'trolling' - trolls are posts deliberately designed to provoke an angry response. That doesn't mean you can't be controversial, if you really mean it.
  
• No personal disputes - if it gets personal, take it offline.
  
• Don't be patronising / sarcastic / ironic. It comes across about ten times worse online since those notions cannot be properly conveyed in text form. If you positively have to do one of these, try using [irony][/irony] tags. Those can work miracles.
  
• Avoid typing in ALL CAPS, which is considered shouting or yelling. For emphesis a pair of asterisks *usually* works better.
  
• Learn to let go - don't keep harping on about the same thing, or harking back to previous arguments. It is rarely productive to do so, and you always end up going round in circles.
  
• If someone else's post offends you, don't immediately fight back online. Consider whether they really meant to cause offence. It can be easy to sound rude without meaning to, especially if English is not your native language. However, if you really are troubled by the post, don't respond - take it to a moderator or a faction officer.
  
• Also remember there's private messages (or PMs) , if you have an issue with someone, why not try to talk it out before taking it to 'the next level'.
  

Be effective

• Remember 'stickied' posts are stickied for a reason. Try looking through those before posting redundant topics. If other users see you put in some effort, that usually buys you a lot of good will.
  
• Post in the most appropriate forum (and only in one forum).
  
• Stay on topic - try to focus on the original topic. In particular, don't change subject in the middle of an existing thread - just start a new topic.
  
• Conversely, don't start a new topic if your post relates to an existing one - reply to the existing thread instead. Make sure you reply to the appropriate post, not just the last post in the thread
  
• When starting a new topic, make the subject line clear and informative. It makes the topic easy to find.
  
• Make sure you're understood, even by non-native English speakers. Try to write full sentences, and avoid text-message abbreviations or slang.
  
• If asking a question, provide as much information as possible, and you might want to look through the stickied threads first.
  
• Read what's already there before posting. You may be repeating what others have already said or asked.
  
• And lastly: avoid 'text-walls' - Proper spacing and maybe a line break here and there help make your posts more understandable