Communication & Conduct

In a project such as this, it is important to work well with others. No community can function well without everyone working as a team. This includes getting or giving help when needed, as well as posting in the fora and just getting to know the people you volunteer with.

Posting to the Forums

The forum is a great way of conversing with your fellow editors. It allows you to carry on much broader conversations with a larger array of people than the mail system does.

Before you post a new thread, use forum search to see if your question has been answered. If you can not find a thread were your question has been addressed, you may start a new forum thread. Start your thread in the single most relevant forum only. Do not create multiple threads covering the same topic. Your thread's subject should be specific and explicit. The thread should relate to only one topic.

When posting a reply to a thread, stick to the topic. Consider whether your reply would be useful to the many readers of the thread. It may be more useful to email the few affected editors instead. Keep your comments concise. Be considerate in your communications with other editors.

Email and Forum Privacy

The content of the Open-site Editor Forum, Editors' Notes, and Editor-to-Editor email or Feedback are private and intended only for internal use by Open-site editors. Editors may not publish or disclose quotes from these sources to anyone other than other editors or the Open-site staff. Rephrasing is allowed only if the communication as rephrased could not be attributed to a specific editor and disclosure would not violate any editor's expectation of privacy, with the understanding that a diplomatic choice of words is the re-phraser's responsibility. It is never appropriate to disclose the identity or e-mail address of an Open-site editor without the consent of that editor.

Violation of Open-site email or forum privacy will not be tolerated and is grounds for removal and possible legal action.

Open-site Staff may disclose the relevant contents of forum threads, e-mail, editor's notes, and other Open-site communications in legal matters involving the Open-site. This means that the contents of the forum threads, including the private meta forum, as well as email sent to staff, may be forwarded to legal representatives.

Communication Abuse

All communications related to the Open-site -- with other editors, submitters, or Open-site staff -- should be civil and polite. Abusive or harassing behavior will not be tolerated.

From time to time, users and editors may contact other editors through avenues outside of the editor feedback function. This is a function of the project's public nature. By using the Open-site Project, editors are acknowledging the possibility and waiving any claims against the Open Site. Open Site does not support such contacts, nor do we require any personal information about our editors. However, please note that the contents of editor profiles are viewable by other editors and the public. If you believe that your privacy or personal rights have been violated as a result of your association with the Open Site Project, please notify the Open-site staff and provide a detailed account of the incident(s). While the Open-site has no control over such contacts, in some situations we may be able to discourage them.