Forum Conduct

Forum Conduct

This community was established to be a safe and friendly place for vintage computer enthusiasts of all experience levels to collaborate on the hobby we all love.

If everyone follows the rules, we think this can be a great place for everyone to hang out and get their geek on. We hope you have fun and enjoy your stay here!

Rules:

• Discussions related to religion or politics are not permitted.
• Do not stalk, harass, troll, gaslight, or bully forum members on or off the forum.
• Do not share others' personal information.
• Do not post or engage in hate speech or similar language.
• Do not verbally attack or name-call anyone.
• Do not post anything sexual, violent or otherwise explicit in nature.
• Do not make any references, overt or otherwise, to usage of drugs - we're not interested in that here.
• Do not impersonate others. Use your own unique handle, name, and avatar.
• Do not post advertisements for products or commercial services without permission from the moderators.
• Do not make unsolicited offers for your product or services to members unless they are specifically asking for relevant recommendations.
• Do not post paid or exclusive content that is not available to the general public.

Conduct Guidelines:

In short, we follow the Bill & Ted motto, "Be excellent to each other!".

We all come from different backgrounds and skill levels, so please take into consideration the following when posting on the forum.

• Everyone is welcome to participate! From folks brand new to vintage computers and electronics, to expert hardware hackers and soldering masters.
• Respect different ideas and opinions. If we all thought alike, things would be boring.
• Be respectful and mindful of writing styles and response lengths. While we encourage everyone to speak in complete sentences, we understand the auto-correct feature on touchscreen keyboards can often get in the way. 
• English may not be everyone's first language. If something is unclear or confusing, please ask for clarification respectfully.
• Don't be a "gatekeeper" or an "elitist". We all start somewhere. We're here to share ideas and knowledge, not to put each other down. Don’t forget: "You don't know what you don't know!"
• If things get heated - take a break from the forum. Discuss things with a moderator if you feel something requires their attention.
• Treat others fairly regardless of differences.
• While the Tinker Different board has policies in place to protect user privacy, the XenForo direct messaging system is not encrypted. We advise against using it for communicating information of a sensitive nature.

Keeping The Peace

Our moderators are a friendly group of volunteers dedicated to keeping things safe and civil on the forum. Moderators abide by the same rules all forum members do. If you have a concern with an interaction with a moderator, please contact a forum administrator (Feedback Form).

If there is a problem with your behavior or conduct on the forum or Discord, a moderator or admin will contact you. The goal is to inform you of anything that requires your attention, and that a reminder of the Forum and Discord Conduct Policy should be sufficient to prevent further violations. If violations continue, however, the following rules enforcement process will be followed.

TinkerDifferent follows a "three strikes" policy. This policy comprehensively applies to the TinkerDifferent forum and Discord (that is, violations on one platform count on the other as well).

• Upon the first rules violation, you will receive an official warning. This warning expires after one year.
• If another violation occurs after the official warning, your access to the forum and Discord will be suspended for one week.
• Should a third violation occur, your access to the forum and Discord will be suspended permanently.

In extenuating circumstances (such as multiple rule violations in a short period of time, becoming belligerent with moderators or administrators regarding rules enforcement, or attempting to circumvent an account suspension) your access may be suspended immediately and without prior warning.

Our genuine hope is for any of these scenarios to remain rare, but enforcing rules -- and making clear the process for doing so -- is important to keeping TinkerDifferent a healthy, welcoming environment.

Reporting Problems

If you feel that you have been personally harassed or attacked, please take a moment to think about what has occurred. We encourage you to try and have a civil conversation with the individual in question via the private message feature. 

Verbal offenses can often be unintentional due to language barriers or how text can come across when read. We all make mistakes and encourage others to forgive and forget.

If the situation cannot be resolved personally, please inform a moderator via private message of the situation. The moderator will keep the details of your communication private but will likely need to reach out to the other individual to understand the issue at hand.

If your issue is with a moderator, please message a forum administrator. Forum administrators are moderated by our board of directors (Feedback Form).