Basic Rules In regards to behavior & respect (Simplified)

This topic lists the forum and community guidelines in a simplified way, do however note that it is highly recommend to (re-)read the full Community Guidelines as a ‘refresher’ if you forgotten them (considering you have agreed to them on sign-up) 😉

I have however also put a more simplified list of rules here so you can use it as reference.

Basic Rules List

1. To comply with the GDRP, the Minimum age on our entire platform is 16 years.
2. Play nice, be respectful, don’t make others feel unwelcome, unsafe and don’t speak disparagingly to others
3. Basically the same as rule #2: If you don’t have anything nice to say, then please don’t say anything at all.
4. Being a member in our community and on our forums is a privilege, not a right, so don’t behave entitled or ‘like you own the place’😉
5. English is the only allowed language on our forums (no exceptions!)
6. Do NOT nag about people resurrecting old/”dead” topics! That you have resolved your problem 8 years ago, doesn’t mean that someone starting a same type of project today doesn’t need help with it. HOWEVER! It’s NOT allowed to post replies in old topics which don’t contribute to the topic in a valuable way. For example: “Thanks, this helped me!” is considered a useless reply on an old topic!
7. If you are ‘annoyed’ by someone ‘resurrecting an old topic’ and you got an email from it, then just unsubscribe from that topic by clicking on the envelope/email icon in that topic instead of nagging about it!
8. No grammar policing allowed (more on about that here in our Dyslexia Disclaimer), this goes for other members but also our staff. Obviously you can comment about typo’s in for example regards to pin-outs etc.
9. Don’t be easily offended (and instantly start (aggressively) start defending). It is very well possible that someone else didn’t meant it like that, that it wasn’t intended for you or that a language barrier caused a ‘mix-up’. Obviously rule #2 is play nice…. However if someone is being offensive, disrespectful etc then DO NOT engage in it, but instead report the post so the staff can look into it!
10. Don’t post things you might regret! (Basically it is: once on the forum, forever on the forum, and thus for example also visible to possible family members, teachers, future employers etc!)
11. Basically the same as 6 but more simplified: Don’t feed the trolls and don’t take their bait (but report them instead!)
12. Do not share personal information on the forums (not from others but not from yourself either).
13. Do NOT create accounts to impersonate others (either personal or corporate identities), don’t share your account with others and don’t create accounts with the (main) intend to (only) promote your own stuff (approved sponsor and partner accounts are exempt from this rule obviously)
14. Do not spam your stuff or promotions all over the forum, IF you are an approved sponsor/partner, then you have your own special forum section where you are actually allowed to post your promotions etc.
15. Don’t harass the moderators/staff with every tiny thing you might ‘trip over’ on the forums, please realize: It’s the internet, welcome!
16. If someone is going WAY off-topic, then do not go-along with it! Either politely ask them to stay on topic, or just completely ignore them.
17. The forums are meant to be self-moderated, meaning that we expect mature behavior and respect from our users. We don’t want to waste time on ‘policing’ on a forum, instead we much rather work on content, projects and publications.
18. We (the XNL Future Technologies staff, the moderators etc) reserve the right to edit/modify or remove any post without having to disclose a reason to do so.
19. We (the XNL Future Technologies staff, the moderators etc) reserve the right to ban anyone from either (only) the forum or the entire platform when we deem that this is necessary to keep the platform safe, healthy and a happy place for everyone. We are not required to give you a reason if we resorted to banning you. However we hope that we never have to ban anyone though!

NOTE: With spamming we do NOT mean that you can’t share links to other content, platforms, forums etc! We actually encourage you to share as much information as possible to help each other along😊. However, it obviously has to be on-topic, and not just a topic started to spam your product/service/company etc.

Forbidden Topics/Discussions

There are several topics which we just will not allow on our forums. This is not because we for example don’t agree with them, or that we don’t have an interest in them, or that we are against them, or that we are ‘sticking our head in the sand‘ or what ever. But because this just is not the forum for these topics, these topics will often result in people getting offended (either intentional or unintentional), cause conflicts and more. There are topics which are 100% forbidden on our forums (which almost always go out of control on forums), and there are ‘limited and risky topics’ which could be okay, but are at risk of getting removed or even to result in a (temporarily) ban.

100% Forbidden topics:
religion, politics, guns (or gun control), drugs and conspiracy theories.

100% Forbidden Behavior:
We want that everyone can be and feel safe and welcome on our platform(s) and forum(s), therefor obvious things like hate, racism and discrimination are not welcome either on our platform(s) and/or forum(s), this includes (but is not limited to) racism and/or discrimination against: race, religion, skin color, someones origin/heritage, sexual preference or orientation, gender, disabilities, age, education, income or any other form of racism, discrimination or hate. Provocative ‘on the edge’ behavior in regards to the ‘forbidden topics’ will not be tolerated either.

Limited and risky topics are: porn, extreme violence, unnecessary gore, (animal) abuse and other ‘use your commonsense’ topics. Unless these topics are ‘in-context’ with the topic they are related to. This means that if for example certain 3D Models are related to a certain video game which contains a certain (decent!) amount of ‘violence or nudity’ (which is again: in-context with the game!) it will be allowed up to certain levels. Obvious topics like ‘straight up porn’, animal abuse, and unnecessary gore are still considered a ‘hard-no’ on our platform(s). However we request you to refrain from these topics as much as possible!

This forum is intended for topics like: Electronics, Programming, 3D Modeling (either CAD, 3D modeling for games/miniatures), Game/Mod development, 3D Printing and other DIY related content. Going a bit off-topic (or doing so in sections which are intended for this) isn’t much of a problem, but (try to) keep it ‘in control’.

Obviously I could have forgotten some points, but please just use your common sense and decency! Don’t try to ‘bend the rules’ by for example being a jerk to others and then defending it by saying “Yeah, but that topic wasn’t in the forbidden topics/behavior list“! Doing so, while you could have expected that it would not be perceived as decent behavior or as provocative behavior will just result in an instant ban.

Like I’ve said before: I don’t want to waste my time on playing police officer all day long 😉

Keep topic titles clear and detailed!
NO topics with a title like: “HELP! No connection on pin 2!”!
Try to make the topic title something like this instead: “[LABUNO] No Serial Output Pin 1” for issues with serial output on your LABUNO
Or something like: “[Atmega328] Keeps resetting on breadboard”

Topics like these are MUCH easier to spot when others can help you, and will most likely also result much faster in a reply.

Search the forum BEFORE posting new topics!
Make sure to first search the forum to see if your question and/or problem already have been resolved before by someone else. This will not only save us and others lots of time (and even you because you don’t have to wait for an answer), it will also keep the forum much cleaner and organized.

Enjoy the forums and be creative 😊

• This topic was modified 8 months ago by RicoR_XNL.