Rules & Guidelines

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Table of contents: ( Read each rule in detail below )

Rules: ( R )

  1. Use CODE/SYNTAX tags
  2. Select the proper section and don’t post duplicates
  3. Use descriptive titles
  4. Blog content
  5. Uploaded files
  6. Do not post or request copyright material
  7. Don’t create multiple accounts
  8. Thread bumping is not allowed
  9. Do not spam or self-promote in the forums
  10. Do not contact users asking for help or to advertise
  11. Remain respectful of other users, moderators and administrators at all times
  12. Misusing flag functionality
  13. Don’t intrude in threads with a different subject or reopen very old threads
  14. Posting content that is not allowed
  15. Signatures
  16. Groups

Guidelines: ( G )

  1. Use SEARCH first
  2. Be descriptive
  3. Post content
  4. Only you know what “doesn’t work” means
  5. Signature and Avatar Guidelines
  6. Put your code in CODE or SYNTAX tags
  7. Solved threads
  8. Replies

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Each rule in details:

R.1 Use CODE/SYNTAX tags

Code or logs posted in messages should be enclosed in code tags, this limits the space they occupy and makes them easier to read and understand by showing indents and highlighting keywords.

R.2 Select the proper section and don’t post duplicates

Please post your question in the proper forum categories, this will help you get replies faster. If your question can fit in more than one category then select the section that seems more appropriate. If you’re not sure where to post, ask a moderator first.

Duplicates or cross-posting are not allowed, avoid creating multiple threads with similar questions, ask all related questions in one thread.

R.3 Use descriptive titles

Use proper descriptive titles related to the content of your post without adding useless prefixes like “urgent” or “help me” or excessive punctuation like “…” or “!!!” etc. Give a summary of your problem IN THE SUBJECT. Titles like the following are considered completely useless and will result in the deletion of the thread and an infraction:

  • Help me
  • You must know the answer
  • Very urgent
  • I have a question
  • Stupid question
  • Newbie needs help

R.4 Blog content

Blogs are not the place to advertise your website or business neither ask questions. Post there only articles or own ideas that you wanted to show others.

R.5 Uploaded files

  • Don’t upload files that are widely available on the internet and can be found easily like datasheets or application notes, this is a waste of valuable bandwidth, post a link instead.
  • Also, format your image attachments properly, use an easily readable image resolution, not too big or too small and use gif, png, or jpeg extension to reduce the size of the file.
  • Avoid using BMP image format, it occupies a huge size compared to the formats described above and can’t be shown directly in a browser which is an additional inconvenience.
  • If your code is long and has multiple files then prefer to use a zip file to attach it in the post instead of directly posting it.
  • Don’t upload your files to external servers and post the links, these files will be deleted after a while and the thread will become useless, attach your files in the post. Moderators will delete any posts that include files uploaded to file-sharing servers like Rapidshare, 4shared etc. Try to uploads compressed formats that are easily opened by different operating systems, the ZIP is preferred over RAR or 7zip and note that the attachments should never be password protected.

R.6 Do not share or request copyright material

Do not upload, attach, or otherwise post any copyrighted material which you are not free to redistribute (subject to the licensing terms of the specific item). If you have a question about having permission to post or attach a specific item, please ask a moderator. We do not condone nor accept posts about illegal activities such as hacking, cracking, *****, or spam.

IEEE papers are also copyrighted and as such not allowed unless you have the author permission or are freely available.

R.7 Do not create multiple accounts

Don’t create multiple accounts to bump your thread or give helpful ratings to yourself or your friends. Members found to have duplicate accounts will be banned .

R.8 Thread bumping is not allowed

Don’t bump your thread with useless follow-ups like “please help” or “no one” etc. and doesn’t be in a hurry to get a reply, be patient. If you have any additional info to provide (like results gathered after the posted question or additional info) then you are welcome to post them to explain better your problem.

R.9 Do not spam or self-promote in the forums

  • These forums define spam as unsolicited advertisement for goods, services and/or other web sites or posts with little, no or completely unrelated content.
  • Do not spam the forums with links to your site or product, or try to self-promote your website, business or forums etc. Doing so is a waste of time, your account will be banned permanently and your posts will be deleted.
  • Spamming also includes sending private messages to a large number of different users.
  • If you intend to reply to a question with a content existing in your blog then you should include the content in the actual reply and provide an optional link to the article but not just a bare link. Do not search the forum for a convenient question which matches the content in your blog so that you can post a link and self-promote

R.10 Do not contact users asking for help or to advertise

  • Don’t make requests for help in private using personal messages, create a thread in the forum so that other members can benefit from the posted answers.
  • DO NOT ever send private messages to ANY user offering to sell services or products UNLESS the user ASKS you to contact them.
  • If any user sees this behaviour of “stealth” advertising/spam, please report the post.

R.11 Remain respectful of other users, moderators and administrators at all times

All posts should be professional and courteous. You have every right to disagree with your fellow community members and explain your perspective, however, you are not free to attack, degrade, insult, or otherwise belittle them or the quality of this community. It does not matter what title or power you hold in these forums, you are expected to obey this rule. Doing otherwise will get your account banned temporarily, or permanently if the situation becomes severe enough (this will be left to the discretion of the moderation team).

R.12 Misusing flag functionality

The flag post functionality is intended to report spam, advertising messages and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts. Misuse of the flag will result in a warning or infraction.

R.13 Don’t intrude in threads with a different subject or reopen very old threads

  • Follow up questions should be related to the thread content, don’t intrude in an existing thread to ask a question with a subject unrelated to the thread content, create a new thread instead.
  • Avoid reopening very old threads in order to reply or post a similar question, again it is more preferable to create a new thread.

R.14 Post content described below is not allowed

  • Posting in any language other than English in any of the forum sections (forum, blogs, groups, signatures, etc).
  • Posting in CAPITAL letters, huge fonts (the equivalent of shouting)…
  • “Thank you” posts are considered useless, If you want to thank a user then click the helpful hand icon found under the post or donate points.
  • h**p://www style links or any other form that is not clickable, use normal http://www links instead.
  • Technical abbreviations unless they are universally understood, they will confuse members and make it hard for them to understand what you mean.
  • SMS abbreviations, they make posts unreadable and prevent many users that don’t know English well enough to understand them. Type complete words.
  • Intentionally posting incorrect or flagrantly dangerous information
  • Meaningless threads, one word (or short) non-sense posts, or the such (e.g “I agree”).
  • Discussion of illegal activities such as software and music piracy and other intellectual property violations.
  • Excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small or coloured text, etc
  • Excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts
  • Threads requesting to receive a reply in private email
  • Offering to provide help as a paid service.
  • Discussions of politics, ethnicity, religion, or other divisive issues in any area.
  • Anything which is offensive, hateful, racist, sexist, discriminatory, obscene, vulgar or in violation of local or international laws.
  • Insulting posts, personal attacks or purposeless inflammatory posts.

R.15 Signatures

Should be polite and not offensive. Should be in the English language. Should not have advertisements, link to other web sites, email or images.

R.16 Groups

Group owners are responsible to apply the forum rules to the group sections and report any posts or behaviour that is against the rules.

Each guideline in details:

G.1 Use SEARCH first!

There is a pretty good chance that unless you have some really odd or unique problem that it has been addressed on this forum before (or even hundreds of times before for some issues).

Use the forum’s search feature first to see if there are already some good threads on the subject. It’s easy to search - just click the “Search” button at the top left of the page.

G.2 Be descriptive

Take the time to explain the problem you are facing properly and attach in the post any available code, schematic or other related content.

Posting a huge code doesn’t help solve the problem, isolate the part where the problem is and provide info about the error message you get and the line number where it occurs.

G.3 Post content

Links to external sites can often become “dead” or broken when these external sites change their format or simply cease to exist. The following measures will ensure the viability of the post, regardless of the state of external sites.

When possible all posts should contain source code, simulation files, schematics, photos, etc with the appropriate credit for the source of these materials given. If the source code consists of multiple files or is simply too lengthy to be posted directly, it should be compressed and uploaded to the forum as an attachment.

G.4 Only you know what “doesn’t work” means

Please tell us what your circuit or code is supposed to do and why it “doesn’t work”. When you come in and say “it doesn’t work” or just “it has errors”, that means NOTHING. There could be a million things wrong and no one will know where to look.

G.5 Provide all necessary details

It’s a good practice to ask for help, with all the necessary details. You have to provide all the necessary details to explain the exact issue you face. The details may include specifications, schematics, codes, images, videos, weblinks etc.

G.6 Request for projects, codes or schematics

It’s not a good practice to request projects, codes or schematics in the forum. We are not here to do your work. so it’s better to share your project, schematics, or codes, and take time to explain the issue you are facing.

G.7 Signature and Avatar Guidelines

The contents of your sig must be acceptable for our community and shall not contain any profanity, vulgarity, or insults/disparaging comments to our community or its members. In addition, comments and/or advertising links are not allowed.

  • Keep your signature and avatar in good taste, the contents of your signature must be acceptable for the community: no vulgarity, lewd men/women, profanity or insults to other community members.
  • The animation should be kept to a minimum and both your signature and avatar shouldn’t be too distracting.
  • Do not include spam, harassing links or affiliate links in your signature.

Any signature violating these rules will be considered spam, they will be deleted and the offending member will be addressed by our moderators.

G.8 Put your code in CODE or SYNTAX tags

When you include code in your posts you should always use CODE or SYNTAX tags, these tags limit the length of the code and show the indents properly so that the code is easier to read and doesn’t occupy too much space.

G.9 Solved threads

Please mark your threads as solved when you have solved your problem so that other users know that you don’t need any more help. If you find the solution yourself please take the time to explain the solution so that other users have similar issues can benefit from it.

G.10 Replies

  • Please avoid replies like “google it” or “read the datasheet” or if you give such answers provide a couple of links or the specific chapter/page that the user should read.
  • Don’t reply to posts when you can’t help with the asked question and don’t intrude in threads with a different subject or follow up with questions unrelated to the thread content.
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