Discussion Board Code of Conduct

[Bob Webtech]

Code of Conduct for posting on all forums of this Discussion Board:

The message board is provided by the UOAA as a place for members to support each other in their lives as ostomates. By registering and participating in UOAA Forums, you agree to the following Code of Conduct.

This is YOUR community. Most people have a common sense feel for what is and what is not appropriate in our forums. We do, however, need to have a Code of Conduct for everyone to refer to when the need arises. This code is not intended to replace the “Complete Terms and Conditions” which we encourage you to review.

We ask that you please:

1. be respectful of all users at all times. This means please use etiquette and politeness. Treat people with kindness and gentleness. If you do this the rest of the Code of Conduct won't need more than a cursory mention.

2. respect the forum staff. We provide a service in our free time to keep the forums running efficiently. We will occasionally ask for your input about your posting, but in most cases we will not; please respect our decisions. Also, we may edit for content, so if you have an issue with our moderation, please contact an administrator or moderator by private message.

3. refrain from using the board to send abusive or harassing private messages or emails.

4. remember that these forums are read by people of all ages so we strive to maintain postings appropriate to everyone.

5. report to a moderator or administrator privately if you have found a post that you feel is inappropriate or that violates the forum Code of Conduct. While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every message, so we appreciate your assistance. Please do not start a debate in the open forum by responding to the post.

We further ask you to:

1. understand that all posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author and not those of the administrators, moderators or webmaster (except for posts by these people).

2. agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening material or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Any of these actions may result in your being temporarily or permanently banned from these forums, and your service provider may also be informed.

3. understand that the webmaster, administrators and moderators of this forum have the right to send a private message with a warning, and/or may censor any forum user who is in violation of forum policy.

4. acknowledge that, if you continue to violate this Code of Conduct, your account will be reviewed and you could be banned.

5. understand that the forum resolution team (currently the administrators) has the sole discretion to ban violators of this Code of Conduct.

Examples of inappropriate actions that may result in banning:

• Flaming and condescending messages: Flames are messages that personally attack, call people names, or otherwise harass another forum member (or any person). These, along with any generally condescending posts, will be removed at the moderators’ discretion. This is a banning offense.
• If the thread is flame-bait (appears to be intended to start an argument or is likely to cause an argument rather than enhance discussion), it will be locked or removed without notice. A post including flame-bait may be deleted or edited at the moderators' discretion. Users who continue to post in this manner or engage in other questionable practices like trolling (posting in an attempt to engage people in arguments), will be banned.

If a thread turns into an argument, it can be locked or removed without notice. A moderator has the right to split the thread or delete certain portions in order to keep the discussion going when possible.

The webmaster, administrators and moderators of this forum are charged with preserving the integrity of the forum content. Editing, deleting content and locking a thread against further entries may become necessary. If so it will be done at the discretion of the webmaster, administrators and moderators when they judge the forum Code of Conduct has been violated.

It should be noted that, like all things, this Code of Conduct will continue to change and evolve with constructive feedback from users and from experience. It is our hope that these policies will create open, honest, and civil discussion. As always, we welcome feedback about any concerns that you may have, so feel free to send your suggestions to the administrators or moderators.

This Code of Conduct has been approved by the UOAA Management Board of Directors.