We rely on Tormach employees and community moderators to build and maintain our community forums. These forums are a space for people to share their skills, knowledge, interests, and solutions through online conversation and collaboration. The following guidelines should help participants and maintainers make these forums a useful, enjoyable place to teach and learn about CNC and automation.
- Be nice to each other. People come here to learn and help others out. There are a wide range of experience levels - some users are just beginning to learn about CNC and automation. If you get pleasure from beating up on people less knowledgeable than you, go somewhere else.
- Disagree with the ideas in a post, not with the person who wrote them. Disagreement is healthy and helpful, but less so when it’s directed at an individual.
- Improve the discussion. An ideal comment adds to a conversation by being helpful and informative. A negative or demeaning comment subtracts from the conversation and may be flagged for removal.
- Search before you post. Some problems have been encountered (and solved) before, and it’s easier for everyone if you search for the answer before asking the question.
- Try to stay on-topic. If what you add differs from the original post/thread, create a new post and talk about it there.
- Try to stay organized. Don’t cross-post and don’t start topics in the wrong category.
- Refrain from sharing personal information (your own or someone else’s). It’s the internet, treat it like the dark alley that it is.
- Ask your questions in public posts. If you hide your solutions in PMs others don’t get a chance to learn from the conversation.
- When asking for help, create a good first impression, provide context, and share details. More on this here: How to get technical help from strangers on the Internet
- Help us moderate by flagging inappropriate posts
- When you see inappropriate posts, please don’t reply (a.k.a “don’t feed the troll”)
- Don’t post anything that belongs to someone else without permission.
- Use the About category to suggest ways we can improve this forum.