[House Rules] READ THIS FIRST! The 10 Commandments of Posting in the Apple Clinic!

[leinad]

In a bid to reduce sticky thread clutter, consolidated here are the few simple house rules for the Apple Clinic and its sub-forums. They are, but are not limited to the following:

1) All posts you make should contribute to the overall good of the community. If you have nothing better to post, don't post it.
2) Respect each member at all times. No fighting.
3) No threads/posts that hint at or openly discuss violations of Intellectual Property rights are tolerated.
4) No Sales posts/threads.
5) No Interest Checks or Mass Orders.
6) No commercial-interest posts are welcome. If you are not an authorized Featured Distributor and yet come in to promote your products, you will incur infractions and/or be banned.
7) Search before posting. Post in the relevant threads and not open unnecessary new threads.
8) Observe the sub-forum layout and post in the respective product-specific sub-forums for product-specific queries.
9) No commercial-intent advertisements in User Avatars/Signatures. These will be removed without warning.
10) These rules work in tandem with the HardwareZone Terms of Service and do not replace or supersede those rules.

Violations of these will incur the necessary infraction points.

As this thread is stickied and care taken to give it a prominent placement, users who post in the Apple Clinic and sub-forums are understood to have read and accepted the terms detailed herein.

/Dan

 

[leinad]

Details...

1) All posts you make should contribute to the overall good of the community. If you have nothing better to post, don't post it.
This is pretty self-explainatory. Some posts border on being offensive. Think before you click "Post", please.

2) Respect each member at all times. No fighting.
Summarized, this is the Rule of Reciprocation. The Golden Rule. Karma. Whatever have you. It reads: Treat others as you would like them to treat you. Examine your own attitudes before accusing someone of doing likewise to you - you might have started it yourself with something you posted.

3) No threads/posts that hint at or openly discuss violations of Intellectual Property rights are tolerated.
Respect the IP rights of developers property owners. If they say it violates their IP, it violates their IP. They are the creators, not the multitudes around.

Likewise, no discussions of software piracy are entertained here. Don't even hint at it.

4) No Sales posts/threads.
We are a discussion forums, not a sales forum.

There isn't even a blur line - the disctinction is clear.
This includes inline advertisements... Do not post such inline in the midst of a Product thread (eg, a screen protector thread), don't post "I have one extra. I can sell it." or something to that effect. We are not interested in your products, but your knowledge.

There exists a MarketPlace forums established solely for the purposes of transaction.

5) No Interest Checks or Mass Orders.
To expand on point #4 above, but specifically pertaining to interest checks. By definition, an Interest Check is one in which a singular entity offers to buy on behalf of multiple persons/entities to share shipping or to meet certain prerequisite conditions for sales.

A Mass Order is merely the carrying out of the above Interest Check. There is a proper place for Mass Orders, and it's not here. Head down to the MO Clinic in the Marketplace for them.

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/Dan

 

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More Details...

6) No commercial-interest posts are welcome. If you are not an authorized Featured Distributor and yet come in to promote your products, you will incur infractions and/or be banned.
This is self-explainatory. Once again, we are a discussion forums, not a sales one. Tough luck, because your coming in to spam is a conflict of interest.

7) Search before posting. Post in the relevant threads and not open unnecessary new threads.
a) I don't care who's the thread starter, and neither should you. We care about the content more. Here, there's no such thing as an "Official" thread here. The FIRST thread is the "Official thread. So there's no need to open a later thread, prefix it with an obnoxious [Official] and expect such respect. Ain't gonna happen baby. Want to be the official thread - be the first with good content.
b) Likewise, if you want people to identify the threads content, name your threads appropriately. There's a reason why the Moderators lobbied for longer thread titles - so people can put in enough content that explains the contents well enough so users can continue.
c) Tagging with [Tags]. This is generally a good habit and helps users to zone in to threads of interest. Currently in-use tags are [Software Updates], [Hardware], [Merged] (for user reference, mainly). Device a few good ones and stick to them for consistency. It helps people identify thread content nicely.

8) Observe the sub-forum layout and post in the respective product-specific sub-forums for product-specific queries.
We are not a rubbish dump. Don't dump threads as and where you feel like it. Even before you click the New Thread button, look above that button!

Now, if you realized, you'd see 2 places to post your queries:
iPod and iTunes Clubhouse

iPhone

9) No commercial-intent advertisements in User Avatars/Signatures. These will be removed without warning.
This is in line with established forum guidelines that have existed for years. No links to blogshops, offsite commercial sites, etc.

You may use the space to link to your personal blogs, provided the intended content does not net you any money (through adsales or direct promotion of goods for sale) whatsoever.

HOWEVER, you may link to a HWZ MarketPlace thread in which you are selling something.

10) These rules work in tandem with the HardwareZone Terms of Service and do not replace or supersede those rules.

Self-explainatory. Read the TOS for more details. Articles 6-7 specifically address the issues of member conduct and forums conduct. You are a HWZ member and a forums user, so both these rules apply.

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/Dan

 

[leinad]

Advisory on Interest Checks and Mass Orders

Dear users,

I've noticed a growing number of threads trying to circumvent rules established by HardwareZone's administrators. Mass Orders are only to be conducted by Authorised MOers. The list of names may be found here. Also, do note that MOs may only be conducted in that designated forum, and no where else in HWZ.

Threads of any sales nature, which are, but not limited to:
1) Want-to-buy (WTB)
2) Want-to-sell (WTS)
3) Might WTB
4) Might WTS
5) "Interest Checks"
6) "Shopping Spree"
7) "Bulk Purchase"
8) Any other thread that involves barter trading of any form on the part of both parties, not merely money.

For the purposes of the Apple Clinic, since Interest Checks typically follow up with orders and sales, they would be deemed as Mass-Orders and judged accordingly. Sales, shopping sprees, bulk purchases, or anything that involves person(s) buying on behalf of more than one person and later reimbursement to that effect would be considered "Mass Orders". Do not attempt to circumvent the guidelines by disguising them. Offenders will be issued Infraction Points and/or even banned immediately, and their threads will be trashed on sight. For other parties, if you do come across such threads, do click on the Report Post (

) button and state the reason for closure.

Please understand the rules, and work within them. Do read the FAQ if you have any queries.

On behalf of the HardwareZone Forums administration, have a good time in the Apple Clinic!

/Dan