Forum Rules and Guidelines

Moderator Monkey

Site Terms & Rules

Registration to this forum is free! We do require that you abide by the basic rules and policies detailed below, and in participating adhere to our general guidelines as posted in the general forums. By posting in these forums, or continuing to post in these forums you are agreeing to the rules and guidelines outlined below.

Although the administrators and moderators of Forums will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this site, it is impossible for us to review all messages or respond with immediacy until that material is brought to our attention. All messages express the views of the author, and neither Parallax Inc., nor Vanilla Forums (developers of this forum tool) will be held responsible for the content of any message posted on this site.

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise in violation of any laws. The owners of Forums reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any content item for any reason. You acknowledge that all material you post is made publicly accessible to anyone with an internet connection. You are free to remove your posted content yourself if you wish. Parallax is not obligated to remove your posted content at your request, and reserves the right to re-post content that you have removed.

General Rules

While on-topic debating and discussion is fine, we will not tolerate rudeness, profanity (or attempts to bypass profanity filters), insulting posts, personal attacks or purposeless inflammatory posts. Our decision is final in these matters.

Please refrain from posting meaningless topics, one word (or short) non-sense posts, or the equivalent. This includes using the forum as a type of blog or diary, which is not appropriate.

Multiple or repeated posting in order to increase your post count is not allowed. Do not create multiple accounts in order to achieve higher post count; if we have reason to believe you have created a second account to bypass this rule one or both accounts will be banned and their posts may be removed.

Advertising, spamming and trolling is not allowed. This includes using the forum, email, activity messages, signatures, picture comments and private message systems to spam other members.

We also do not allow posts or links to sites that are sexual in nature or violate Parallax community standards. The moderators shall be the sole arbitrator of what does and what does not violate community standards.

Discussion of illegal activities such as software and music piracy and other intellectual property violations are not allowed.

Be careful with what you upload. Do not upload any copyrighted material or content which may have virus.. The offending material will be removed and your account may be subject to moderation.

Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) Policy

All users under the age of 13 must seek permission from their parent or guardian in order to gain membership to the Parallax Forums. While we welcome participation from members under 13, we require that a parent or guardian fax to (916) 624-8003 or e-mail mktg@parallax.com back a signed permission form before we grant membership.

A copy of the permission form can be obtained upon request by sending an email to webmaster@parallax.com.

For more information about the registration process, or the Forums forums in general, please send email to webmaster@parallax.com.

Moderator Monkey

Forum Use Guidelines

Welcome – The Parallax Discussion Forums exist to support all Parallax customers of any experience level in their use of Parallax products.

These discussion forums are also public and accessible to anyone with the ability to connect to the internet, and by posting information on our forums you allow us to display that material.

The Parallax Discussion Forums use cookies and javascript; for the best browsing experience they must be enabled. Any error or unexpected behavior that results from a user intentionally choosing to disable either of these features is not the responsibility of Parallax or its moderators to investigate or resolve.

We require that you abide by the forum guidelines listed below, otherwise your posts and/or membership will be subject to moderation. By using these forums, you agree to be contacted by site administration, regardless of your account settings, when it becomes necessary to do so regarding your account activity. You also agree that the moderating staff may edit/close/sink threads or posts, suspend or ban accounts, and perform other tasks deemed necessary as part of moderating the forums’ material. Moderators reserve the right to perform any moderation task without prior notice or warnings.

Posting on the Forums -

Clearly Define Your Post:
Make certain that the intent of your post is known and can be easily read and understood by others. Your post might be a request for assistance, a question about a particular project, or a snippet of code; please include all necessary information that might aid the audience in a response.

There are a few things to consider when posting a new thread/post on the Parallax Forums:

• Choose an appropriate forum
• Use appropriate tags to help readers understand your topic and intent
• Use a short, clear title for your thread
• Include all relevant details within the body of the post – do not assume your thread title is self-explanatory
• There is a character limit on posts – upload lengthy code as a file, do not include it in the body of the post

Posts incorrectly assigned will be moved, duplicates removed, and other actions fitting the situation.

Questions About Products or Programming:
Should your post contain a question about a product or programming it is customary to include all details pertinent to answering the question. Please provide details about the product, your source code, intended purpose (if there is one), and other specifics such as firmware versions and operating systems. Upload your code!

No Cross-Posting:
Cross-posting is: 1) submitting a post to one forum or thread, and then submitting a second linking to the original post (without changing content or intent), or 2) creating an identical post in more than one forum or thread. When the same content is found in more than one post, even under different subject lines, the forum moderator will remove one (or more) of the redundant posts and the posting account may be subject to moderation.

No Bumping Threads:
Bumping refers to an individual member posting on their own thread, or others posting on a thread, for the single purpose of maintaining its position on the forums. Typically the bumping-post is made, adding nothing of significant value, or it's repeating previously posted content or thanking someone else for a contribution. Keeping your post 'top-level' on the forums by bumping it up is frowned upon as forum's tactic and doing so may be met with moderation. This also pertains to old threads being revived for no reason. Keeping a thread alive, or reviving an outdated thread, is discouraged, especially when the original topic is kept overly-general or has no current relevance.

Identity:
Be yourself - you are what you write! Your identity, on these forums and in real-life, can be as private as you want it to be; however pretending to be someone else, or posing as multiple people, in order to parade or inflate a concept, product, or idea on these forums is not allowed. If you are caught shilling, or being otherwise deceptive, your account(s) may be subject to ban.

Signature Lines and Avatars/Profile Pictures:
The Parallax Discussion Forum utilizes Gravatar to create a unique graphic to serve as your default anonymous avatar. You are welcome to upload a custom avatar to override your default avatar, as long as it can be considered “appropriate for public viewing.” While we understand the importance of online individuality, we also have many younger forum members; we ask that forum avatars and all information shared on the forums remain at a “PG-Rating.”

Signatures should be short, and will be limited to a number of characters and font size determined by the forum owners.

What is and is not suitable as an avatar or signature is at the sole discretion of the moderators and staff on the forums. They reserve the right to remove, without prior notice, any signature element or avatar image they deem inappropriate.

Posting non-Parallax Related Topics:
This forum is intended for ongoing discussions about products designed by Parallax Inc. Other topics can be created; however, discussions regarding outside products or programming may not receive any technical attention.

Content on The Forums -

Stay on Topic:
Please maintain the integrity and focus of the original poster’s intent for their post; if a topic derails or if a thread is hijacked it will be subject to moderation. Anytime you feel the discussion requires further consideration on a specific, non-related topic it is okay to start a new thread for that purpose, so long as it adheres to the rules and intent of the Parallax Discussion Forums.

Contribute to The Conversation:
It’s good to agree and show your support, but please try to avoid posting useless information. If you don’t have something to contribute then consider not posting. This ruling includes images, emoticons, and memes; they are wasteful on the servers and are subject to removal.

Removal of Posts/Locked Posts/Relocation of Posts:
Parallax Discussion Forums’ moderators hold the right to remove, sink, lock, or relocate errant, overly negative, or belligerent posts and threads. In some cases this action will warrant public notification or warning; however not all corrections made will require such action. We can choose to conduct these actions privately. If the inappropriate behavior continues after warnings have been issued, failure to comply will result in a temporary and/or permanent ban.

Selling and Advertising:
All threads, posts, comments or signatures created for the purpose of selling Parallax or non-Parallax hardware, software or services will be removed as this type of activity is not allowed on the Parallax forums. Current Parallax employees or affiliates posting officially-sanctioned or endorsed Parallax Inc promotions are excepted from this rule.

PG-Rated Forums:
Although the actual ruling for a PG-Rating is “Parental Guidance suggested”, we’re using the term a little more loosely. No pornographic material or things of a suggestive nature. If subjects relating to an explicit situation are raised it will be subject to moderation. This also goes for overly graphic and violent material.

Code:
Mind the licenses of the software you're using and treat them according to their restrictions. Code uploaded to this site without consent of the author or license holder is subject to removal without notice. Code snippets are to be treated as MIT licensed, minus the requirement to include the license text and mandatory attribution. If your posted code is under an existing license other than MIT you are required to include license attributions.

We leave it to the community to resolve other cases amicably and to, when applicable, note known licenses.

Uploads:
You are responsible for the files you upload to our forums; know what you’re uploading and what may be carried along with those files. If we find that you’ve uploaded a virus, illicit material, or caused a breach of license or contract the offending files will be removed without notice and your account may be subject to moderation.

Linking:
Links to off-site material that contain misleading information, aim to offer false services, slander other users, or offer salacious images and videos will be removed and the content’s author may be subject to moderation. Over-linking to an off-site service or product will be dealt with as spam and shall be removed.

Interactions on The Forums -

Be Polite:
Polite lively debate is welcome. ‘Flaming,’ rude behavior, and personal insults are not productive and will not be tolerated. Swearing is absolutely not allowed. Members of the forum who engage in this behavior will be subject to a warning or permanent ban from the Parallax Discussion Forums.

Negative Discussion and/or Negative Interaction With Other Forum Members:
Do not ridicule other members of the Parallax Discussion Forums or otherwise attempt to make them feel uncomfortable. Bickering, mockery, bullying, and all other imaginable forms of negative social interactions will not be tolerated as it detracts from the intended purpose of these forums. This includes negative discussions or comments made about Parallax as a company, and any/all of its employees, past or present; please be respectful to your host! Parallax and its forum moderators have full authority to decide if a post or thread is considered to be “negative discussion”, and to take appropriate action through moderation of the thread, post, or involved forum users.

Baiting:
Do not insult someone so that they feel compelled to defend themselves. If you feel that other forums’ members are baiting you, please contact a moderator before trying to verbally joust on our forums. In most cases a moderator will be able to resolve the situation from an unbiased perspective.

Copying and Quoting Posts:
When replying to a post, it is not a requirement to quote the original content; quoting is a tool you may implement to highlight certain aspects of someone’s comment. Do not quote someone as a form of harassment, or to otherwise belittle the poster; these forums are intended to educate and inform others.

No Multiple Screen Names/Accounts:
Do not create multiple accounts; it is considered poor forum etiquette to use additional accounts to support or degrade any other posting. If you are caught posting with two or more accounts you will be subject to moderation, warnings, temporary or permanent banishment, and other serious action could be taken against you. See “Identity”, above.

Thread Hijacking:
If your reply to an original post on any thread has the intent to move the topic of discussion away from the original post, it is considered hijacking and will be subject to moderation. This also includes nonchalant replies with little or no substance that fail to meet the request of the original poster.

Political or Religious Discussions:
The Parallax Discussion Forums is not the venue to discuss religious/non-religious agendas, nor is it a place for political rants or arguments. As stated above: the forums were created to support the use of products designed and developed by Parallax Inc. If you wish to discuss the existence of things divine, or the most recent upheaval in the legislature of man – find another forum. If you want to speculate about the terrible or benevolent dealings of other persons, countries, or powers – find another forum. Threads or posts of this nature are subject to moderation.

Private Messages:
All private messages (PMs) sent to other members of the Parallax Discussion Forums must adhere to the same guidelines as the rest of the forums. Do not take your aggression to the ‘private’ realm. If you are being harassed through private messages, please alert a moderator; we will investigate and action will be taken as necessary.

For questions or clarifications on our forum guidelines please ask our Forum Moderators by e-mail (forummoderators@parallax.com).