Open Designs is an English language only Discussion Forum. Information or opinions contained in any posts are those solely of the user making the post and in no way is validated by or the opinions of our admins and moderators.

Please note that use of any information on the Open Designs forum is done so AT YOUR OWN RISK.

While we may at time respond to posts, OD admins and moderators make no warranties or claims regarding the validity of any information posted by users on this forum nor do we review posts for accuracy of information.

The Open Designs board is moderated by 3 administrators and 10 moderators and we request that you please be respectful when interacting with our admin and moderating team.

USER / MEMBER BAN POLICY:
Open Designs has a 3 strikes policy. Users will only receive 2 warnings during any rolling 3 month period. Warnings may include a temporary ban. Any incidents beyond this will result in a permanent ban of the user's account. Please follow these guidelines carefully.

NO OBSCENE LANGUAGE
The OD forum is intended for family use. Please refrain from using any vulgar language that would offend someone else. Inappropriate words will be edited.

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Please, no pornographic material or links to it. If it is not fit for family members, it is not fit for here. DON'T DO IT! We have a 0 tolerance policy on this one.

NO PERSONAL INSULTS OR ATTACKS
We provide the Open Design forum for our users to gather and discuss Open Designs, templates, css, etc in general. You are free to disagree with others, but if you stoop to personal abuse or attacks, your post(s) will be deleted. If you ARE insulted please report the post to an admin or moderator, but DO NOT retaliate.

We reserve the right to remove offensive posts without notice.

NO RACIAL AND SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION
We have a zero tolerance towards discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, gender, age, sexual preference or mental or physical disability. If you violate this rule, you will receive a permanent ban.

NO TROLLING, FLAME WARS OR "TRASH TALKING"
Trolling and/or attempting to bait others into a flame war will not be tolerated. Any posts we deem to fall in this category will be deleted. This includes inflammatory comments about vendors and/or other people.

POST IN THE APPROPRIATE FORUM CATEGORY
Please read each forum description before posting to ensure you are posting in the correct category. Off topic posts will be moved to the correct forum.

NO DUPLICATE OR REPEAT POSTS
If no-one answers your question or responds to your post within a reasonable amount of time (24 hours minimum), please "bump" it rather than posting it again. Posting the same question over and over or in every forum will just annoy people and will not get answers.

USE APPROPRIATE TITLES
Titles like Help Me, or I'm Stuck serve little value in a forum. Try to be short but descriptive when submitting your post.

PRIVACY
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FINAL THOUGHTS
The above rules and guidelines are basic common sense and respect. We should all be able to handle them without any issues.

Last updated: August 10, 2008 by Sean (OD admin)

I have also added a link for the forum guidelines to the sitemap page as well, so there are multiple ways for people to see and read the guidelines.

Site admins and moderators (board members) have full access and power to enforce these guidelines, so be sure you read them and have a full understanding of the "common sense and respect" guidelines that are now in place.

Here's to a happier and healthier Open Designs forum and more respectful discussions.

@ainslie: When did this abuse take place? and exactly what happened?

Also, we do have the "no vulgar language" clause in the rules, but if you can give me more specifics as to what happened, I can add/refine the rules to apply so we don't have racial abuse and if it happens in the future, we can take action right away.

I think there should be a specific clause about it both on the forum and in business related to Open Designs.

The details are unimportant. It was a while ago and I wish I hadn't said anything about it now! I just want to forget about it and get along with everybody nicely.

I agree, racial abuse should not and will not be tolerated. Our community is full of different races of people with a lot of talent, so we should all respect each other no matter what our race or culture.

I need some input on how to word a rule/guideline for not having this happen. Please chime in with your ideas. Something sort and sweet would be good.

Modified from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

The Open Design Community has zero tolerance towards discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, gender, age or mental or physical disability.

Maybe add that the admins/mods can take action to their discretion upon violation of this rule.

I've now updated our rules and guidelines to reflect the following:

NO RACIAL AND SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION
We have a zero tolerance towards discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, gender, age, sexual preference or mental or physical disability. If you violate this rule, you will receive a permanent ban.

two thumbs up