1) Treat everyone with respect, no matter how difficult that may be. It is expected that everyone will be polite at all times. Flaming, name-calling, personal slurs, or vulgar language (including virtual expletives), are totally and completely prohibited.
2) Blatant commercial or self-promotion are prohibited, as are political or religious discussions, and off-topic threads.
3) Be careful not to offend on grounds of race, religion, gender, etc. And remember, what might actually be acceptable in one culture, may not be acceptable in another (humour, etc). And this cuts both waysdont be too quick to judge a poster from another culture, even another English speaking Western nationthe offence may be totally unintentional, so if its possibly a cultural thing, simply state that the comment caused offence, which gives the poster an opportunity to apologise or clarify any misunderstanding.
4) Post only what youd be prepared to say face-to-face, and only what youd expect to get away with if you were talking casually to someone drinking in a bar. Its OK to get passionate, but stop short of name-calling, character/intelligence assassinations, etcthe best approach is to disagree with whats been written, rather than the writerrespond (write) to the words posted, not the writer.
5) Dont respond in haste. And be sure you havent misinterpreted.
6) Be prepared to accept the truth, whether or not its in your favour.
7) Remember that things aren't always as they seem, or as one would expect, or hope for.
8) Remember that one persons trash is anothers treasure.
9) Dont embed images that cause horizontal scrolling.
10) Dont write in txt or in all CAPITALS.
11) Dont post the same thread more than once.
12) Additional posting guidelines.
However, unlike other boards, mature debate is encouraged! And at the end of the day, if you cant at the worst agree to disagree, this isnt the place for you! And if you are unable to follow these guidelines, this isnt the place for you!
F.I.B. reserves the right to delete posts and threads without notification that it considers breach these guidelines. F.I.B. reserves the right to move threads and posts without notification. F.I.B. reserves the right to edit posts without notification. However, F.I.B. expects moderators should not take such actions lightly, and editing of content is prohibited.
