Forum Code of Conduct

Introduction:

To have an account on the RedeemUSA.com Forums (“RUSA Forums”), you agree to Terms of Use, and this Code of Conduct. This code of conduct applies in any and all areas of the RUSA Forums.

The purpose of the RUSA Forums is to provide support to the lesson plans and other material presented within the Redeemusa.com website. Within the RUSA Forums we strive to maintain an atmosphere that can be enjoyed by all and we ask all members of this private community to be respectful at all times. This means the membership will use etiquette and politeness. Treat people with respect. If you do this, the rest of the code of conduct won’t need more than a cursory mention.

This is a moderated forum, but only in the sense that we act to deal with content that violates the forum code of conduct when we become aware of it. The staff of this forum attempt to edit or remove any objectionable or illegal material as quickly as possible.

Users agree not to post anything abusive, rude, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, advertising or marketing related, or sexually-oriented. Material that suggests illegal activity or contains illegal content is also forbidden. We do not support circumventing Terms of Use, or any License, etc here. Such threads will be closed and offending users may be penalized with infractions and warnings. Given that RUSA Forums could be used by people at work and school we want to ensure they will not encounter material that will cause them problems or cause their access to our site to be limited, so all content should be safe for both.

Users posting any content that violates this Code of Conduct may receive a warning or an infraction that creates a record of the behavior and will be associated with the account (this record is only visible by the original poster and staff), may have their posts edited or removed, may have their account or IP address banned temporarily or permanently, and could have a report filed against them to their internet access provider. The IP addresses of all users are recorded to provide evidence or assist in enforcing these rules.

Posts which violate any part of this Code of Conduct may be edited or moved to a holding area where they are preserved as evidence. Posts held are only visible to staff members.

Finally, you agree that forum staff have the right to remove, edit, move or close any post, topic or thread at any time they see fit following the guidelines outlined below. You agree that the staff of this forum have the right to send a private message with a warning and/or censor any forum user who is in violation of forum policy.

General Policy:

  1. Respect the Forum Staff: We provide a service to keep the forums running efficiently. If you believe an error has been made in moderation or other staff actions, please politely let the Staff know and help us understand your perspective.
  2. Adult Content, Violence, Illegal Activity: Messages containing violent, sexually oriented, or illegal content or links to sites with this content may be saved by the Staff as evidence. Messages with links to or suggesting illegal activity may also be saved by the Staff.
  3. Trolling, Attacks and Flaming: These are always forbidden.
  • Trolling is posting in a way that provokes emotional responses.
  • Attacks and derogatory terms of any kind are not welcome. This includes references to any operating systems or the companies that produce them.
  • Flames are messages that personally attack or call any people names or otherwise harass. These, along with any generally condescending posts will be edited or removed at the moderators discretion.
  • If a thread is flame-bait (appears to be intended to start an argument or is likely to cause an argument rather than enhance discussion, as in trolling), it will be locked or removed without notice. Individual flame-bait comments in a post may be deleted or edited at the moderators’ discretion.
  • If the thread turns into an argument, it can be closed to further comment or removed without notice. Sometimes a moderator may split the thread or remove certain portions in order to keep the discussion going, this is not always possible.
  1. Spam (unsolicited advertising): Spam will be removed in the forum and the account posting it will likely be banned.
  2. Profanity: We have users of all age groups and of all tolerance levels where profanity is concerned. A language filter is in place to catch most major forms of profanity that may accidentally be used. Do not attempt to circumvent the language filter by using variations or slight misspellings of profanities.
  3. Thread Drifting/Steering: Please keep discussions on topic.
  4. Report Posts: If you have found a post or receive a private message that you feel is inappropriate or that violates the RUSA Forums Code of Conduct, please use the report function to notify staff. Do not attempt to moderate discussions or correct other users yourself.
  5. Images: Be prudent in your use of images; they may help to explain something more clearly or indicate a problem you are experiencing better but you have to remember that not everyone has the same bandwidth. If an image is the best way of handling the information, please use thumbnails or keep your image to a small size and less than 100kb.
  6. Links: You may post links to sites with content that is acceptable according to this Code of Conduct. This is most useful when explaining a topic and then linking to a wiki page or other site with more information.
  7. Signatures: Forum signatures are limited to four lines of text, 10pt maximum font size. Signature content must conform to the same guidelines as all content in this Code of Conduct.
  8. Avatars: Images must comply with the content guidelines of this Code of Conduct. Political avatars are not permitted at all.
  9. Editing of posts: When a post breaks guidelines and requires editing in order to bring it back under compliance with this Code of Conduct, the moderator should report the post before editing so that a copy of the unedited text of the original post is copied to the staff area. Only after the original post is preserved as evidence should the original post be edited. In the private message outlining the reason for editing or that message automatically sent when the infraction is issued, the moderator should specify or describe which part of the Code of Conduct was broken. It is not required for Staff to send a message when a post has been edited but are requested to do so when time permits.
  10. Thread Closing: Staff are not required to do so, but are requested to post an explanation in a thread that is closed when time permits. This is a non-exhaustive list of reasons a thread may be closed, but will give the general idea:
  • The thread has run it’s course and posts have begun repeating themes
  • The thread has degraded into an argument
  • The thread topic is a duplicate of another current and active thread
  • The thread is very old.

This Code of Conduct may change and evolve with time based on constructive feedback and experience. It is our hope that these policies will foster helpful, honest, and civil interaction. It is the users’ responsibility to check this page for updates.