Ground Rules

There are a few ground rules for participation in our community. Please respect these rules, and each other.

Be civil.
No personal attacks. Do not feel compelled to defend your honor in public.

Stay on topic in Forums.
Please pay attention to the topic of your messages, and check that it still relates to its parent. Off-topic discussion not taken to private email is eligible for removal.

Be kind to newcomers.
Newcomers may be annoying. 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.
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.

Identify your subject matter.
Not everyone has time reading all forum postings. To ensure that your message reaches the right people in a timely manner, identify your subject matter clearly in the subject line. Subjects like question and problem are not very helpful.