User Expectations
Above all, users are expected to be kind, helpful, and respectful. Assume the best of people and try to make things better. Beyond just seeking solutions, users are encouraged to help others. If they know the answer to someone else’s question, it is greatly appreciated that they offer assistance. This is by no means mandatory, and no one is compelled to help anyone else.
All users are required to follow moderator instructions. The guidelines below are not all encompassing as that is impossible. Moderators will regularly make requests for users to change behavior that is borderline violations, in order to steer them right.
Guideline violations will result in posting access being restricted by first being flagged for moderation. This will require a moderator to approve a user’s posts. This restriction is meant to be temporary, and will be lifted when the moderators feel the situation has been resolved. If a user cannot follow the guidelines after that, their account will be blocked from posting. Further actions (such as restricting access to heinet.us as a whole) can and will be applied if necessary.
Contacting the Moderators
If a post needs moderator attention, there is a ‘Report this topic’ link on every thread. That will add the post to a queue moderators watch and follow up with many times a day. It can often help if you also add a reply explaining what you need. If immediate action is needed, or the situation is not in a specific post, users should submit a Contact Us and ALSO post in the Support channel.
Warn About Adult Content
Some sites contain content that is not suitable for a general audience or for viewing while at work. To avoid creating problems for anyone who is trying to help, please add NSFW to the topic title of the post, as well as tag the post NSFW, as a warning if a site falls into this category. Err on the side of caution. Some volunteers here work for banks.
Do not spam
The forums are here for providing users with a venue to get help with problems. In light of this, please refrain from using signatures, new topics, or responses to existing topics as a venue to promote your own plugins, themes or services.
Do Not Bump Posts
Do not bump posts. Bumping a post to “the top” does not help a topic get noticed. The volunteers who try to answer questions look for those without replies first. If someone bumps a post, then it disappears from the ‘No Replies’ view.
We have a list of threads without replies. When a post is bumped, it becomes harder for it to be discovered and reduces the chances of getting appropriate help. Some forum helpers use that list to prioritize over other answered threads.
Moderators will delete bumps they find. This is in order to help posts get back into the No Replies listing, where they are more likely to get an answer.
Do Not Offer to Pay for Help
Any thread that offers any service for money can be closed at any time. We are not against paid services but these forums are not the right place for them.
Do Not Offer to Work For Hire
Don’t offer to work for hire in replies on these forums. Help on the forums should be given freely, as in beer.
We believe that people should be able to make a living based on hobbies, but the support forums are not the appropriate place for that.
Do Not Post About Commercial Products
For support of commercial themes or plugins, go to the official support channel.
In order to be good stewards of the HeiNet community, and encourage innovation and progress, we feel it’s important to direct people to those official locations. Doing this will provide the developer with the income they need to make HeiNet awesome.
Forum volunteers are also NOT given access to commercial products, so they would not know why a commercial theme or plugin is not working properly.
Ultimately, the vendors are responsible for supporting their commercial product.
If you are a vendor and observe someone asking questions about your paid plugin or theme, please direct them towards your own support resources.
While support of commercial products is not permitted in the forums, reviews are permitted if any of the following is true.
The plugin or theme author upsells on this site. The plugin or theme itself links or has an option to upgrade to a commercial or “pro” version.
When a developer who is publishing a plugin or theme does that, that becomes part of the user’s experience and is a valid subject for a review on this site.
Do Not Create Multiple Accounts (Sockpuppets)
Do not create multiple accounts, aka sockpuppets. Sockpuppetry is often used for nefarious reasons, and as such we ask that you simply don’t do it. If a sockpuppet account is identified, it will be banned immediately.
When creating links to other resources
Public links in support topics may only be posted if they meet one or more of the following criteria:
The link is to the problem or screenshot describing the issue.
Why is this being enforced?
Links may come and go, websites change, URLs change, this all could mean that someone looking for an answer in the future ends up on a topic that only has links to a website no longer running, or to a site now owned by someone else with different content from what is expected.
Most support related websites have guidelines asking users to post their answers in full, instead of linking to different places, and this is why.
By sharing the information on HeiNet.us, you ensure that it is kept available for all HeiNet users.
The Bad Stuff…
We need to keep the forums friendly, so, occasionally, topic content will be moderated. In severe cases, users may be blocked. This might mean anything from the light editing of some posts to complete removal of topics and deactivation of accounts. It should really go without saying, but the following are likely candidates for moderation or intervention
Do not post email addresses, ask others to post their email or solicit contacting people off of the forums. Do not post, offer, or ask for login information, even test IDs and test passwords. Do not post simply to request feedback on your site. Do not use a review for support. Do not post another person’s private information (job, gender, living situation, location, etc). Do not ask for any kind of access in order to provide support, not even for plugins or themes. Do not harass or abuse people. Do not contact people outside of HeiNet.us for support or to respond to a post/review. This includes using contact forms on their websites, phone numbers, social media, or any other contact method. Do not abuse the ‘Report this topic’ or ‘modlook’ system. Do not post spam and affiliate links, offensive posts, posts without content, or flames. Do not recommend specific webhosts, nor post links to webhost recommendation sites. Do not post in all caps. Do not ask for help regarding premium themes/plugins. Avoid asking questions that are more about opinion, like “recommending web hosting providers” or other “discussion topics”, that may lead to pointless wars and/or attract spam replies. Do not abuse the @<name> mentions, they are not a tool to get faster responses. Do not disregard/ignore direct communication from forum moderators. Do not seek legal advice on the forums. Do not threaten lawsuits or any other legal action on the forums.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Every post is judged on its own merits.
And that’s all. Enjoy your stay at the forums! Oh.. And, when you’re done, please mark your topic as “Resolved”. Thanks.