KnittingHelp.com Forum Guidelines
This forum has shown a remarkable ability to self-guide, and for the most part self-moderate. However, moderators and administrators do have the job of actively moderating forum activity at times. We offer these guidelines in support of the wonderful community that members have created at KnittingHelp.com.
Things to keep in mind when posting:
- Treat each other kindly, respecting differences, and avoiding angry exchanges. Occasionally you may come across an idea or opinion that you disagree with. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinions. If you feel the need to respond, be courteous in your response. Always be mindful of how your post might be read and interpreted, and avoid engaging in a heated manner. If you feel someone else is being intentionally hurtful, divisive, or willfully instigating discord, please notify a moderator.
- Not responding, and simply moving on to another thread, is always a noble alternative to engaging in a heated manner. :) As we like to say at KH: We can agree to disagree!
- Most members prefer to leave controversial topics out of our forum (politics, religion, etc.).
- The Off-Topic (OT) forum is meant for friendly and casual discussion on topics that are not directly knitting related. Posting topics that divide the membership, attack member's beliefs, or are bound to be controversial do not belong in the OT forum. Such posts will be locked and/or removed and the poster will be issued a warning.
- In any forum community disagreements will arise. Please keep your disagreements respectful and courteous. Attacking another member's beliefs or putting down their beliefs will not be tolerated on KH.
- If a discussion becomes heated, a likely consequence is that a mod will lock it. We don't lock topics often, but when we do, we expect the membership to respect our choice to close the topic for public discussion. Further, willful discussion of a locked topic in the public arena, is a serious offense.
- Please keep content on KH appropriate to our younger members. Content that pushes that limit will feel uncomfortable here. Content that clearly crosses that limit will be removed, and severe violators promptly banned.
- When posting a new topic of discussion, try to choose the forum most appropriate to your subject. The most appropriate location for knitting questions is in the How-To and General Knitting areas. You're likely to get more responses by posting in the intended area. If you accidentally post in a less than ideal place a moderator may move your post to help it get the viewing attention it deserves.
- Our forum has a search feature which can be used to find answers to common questions and problems. On any forum, it's appreciated when members use the search feature before asking a common question. We also understand that sometimes the search feature doesn't help when you don't know all the common words to express your question. So don't be afraid to ask. This is KnittingHelp.com after all and we are all about helping each other learn and grow as knitters.
- Express yourself. You can upload an personalized avatar and create a signature, both of which are associated with your posts at KH. Avatars and signatures should always be tasteful and appropriate for all viewers. And try to keep your signature length to reasonable size. If you signature becomes too long a moderator may as you to adjust it.
- Adding banners or graphics advertising your online store or business to your forum posts or forum signature is strictly forbidden. As are creating posts with the intention of promoting your business or web site. It is okay to mention your business or web site if it directly relates to the topic being discussed. A small text link in your signature is also permissable. Members who use KnittingHelp.com solely to promote their businesses will be considered spammers and will be dealt with accordingly. KnittingHelp.com is sponsored by our advertisers. If you run an online yarn store, please consider advertising with us.
- The Buy, Sell, Swap forum is the place for members to unload their stash. This is a non-commercial area. If you are a merchant you can make a post to the "Tell us about your business" thread. If you want more exposure on KH, consider advertising with us.
- Buyers and sellers assume all risk of using the Buy, Sell, Swap forum. Use common sense and your best judgment when conducting a transaction. KH assumes no liability for transactions that don't work out. However, if you have a complaint about a transaction gone wrong, please let us know.
- Please do not post a knitting pattern in its entirety on the forum, unless you are the designer and/or copyright owner. This include free patterns as well as purchased patterns. We also hope that you will refrain from the temptation to share illegal duplicates with other members, by email or other method. We understand the sincere desire to share! But we want to see pattern designers make their due living. Designers enrich our knitting lives immensely!
- The moderators and admins reserve the right to edit and remove any content posted to KH that violates copyright, is inappropriate, hurtful, slanderous or otherwise doesn't belong in a public forum. If a member is clearly intending to be offensive, inflammatory or personally singles out a member or group of members they can expect consequences.
- Lastly, a note about signatures. Your signature (what you create in your profile to appear at the end of your posts) is a great place to express yourself, within reason. We ask that you keep it to roughly 200 pixels tall (click here for a size example) so that members viewing threads don't have to scroll past an enormous signature with every post. Discreet text links to commercial sites (such as your own yarn shop) are allowed, however banner/image advertisements are not.
What does a moderator do?
Moderators are members themselves and volunteer their time to help the KH forum run smoothly. Our moderators rely on members to inform them of potentially problematic threads. You should feel free to contact the moderators if you find a situation on the forum that could use moderation. If a topic becomes heated, disrespectful, or argumentative, it is a moderator's job to step in and remind people to be civil, and if necessary, lock the topic from further discussion. If you come across inappropriate content or behavior please report it to the moderators. Every post oh KH has a "Report Post" button which allows you to quickly notify the moderators. In general, if anything here is making you uncomfortable, please feel free to let a moderator know.
Additionally, if a moderator sees wording in a post that could be misinterpreted or otherwise ill-received, the moderator may PM the member suggesting that the member delete or re-phrase their wording. Keep in mind that people cannot hear voice inflection and tone in a post. It's not uncommon for posts to be misread.
Want to make a suggestion?
If there is something we are doing that you would like to see done differently, we absolutely welcome private messages from you with constructive suggestions or feedback. We do our best to create a supportive environment for everyone, and we very much rely on feedback from members to guide our decisions.
Please understand that we do not make all information regarding our decisions publicly available. Our job is to make decisions for the membership, in a manner respectful to all individuals. We cannot always explain our actions without violating our respect to members concerned. Therefore, public critique about our decisions are not fair to us, nor to the membership. It is therefore a serious infraction to publicly argue with moderators or administrators, or publicly criticize their actions.
The KnittingHelp forum is a friendly and supportive community by nature, thanks entirely to the wonderful people who honor us with their participation here. Our job was defined by the community, literally, as motivated members stepped forth with the request to be moderators. As administrators and moderators, we have learned from you all what you want, and we do our best to represent you.
Thank you for being a member of our wonderful community!
Amy & Sheldon and the KH Mod Squad
