Board rules

These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on ArbLab. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors.

  1. Be Polite and professional

    1. You are expected to maintain a level of civility, maturity, politeness, and professionalism in communications with fellow forum members.

      Overall, treat members as you would with other curious minds in real life - there is no need to berate, belittle or talk down upon those who are willing to learn and may not know everything about an already niche subject; we are always learning.
      • No personal attacks, vulgarity, or generally rude behaviour.
      • No posting of copyrighted or illegal material without permission.
      • Act as if you are talking with a potential employer or customer at all times. Maybe you are.
      • If you have a concern or complaint to discuss, do it privately.
      • If you absolutely feel it is appropriate to complain publicly, be respectful in doing so.
      • Behave professionally and maturely in all of your online endeavours. What you do on-line elsewhere may affect your treatment on our sites.
      • Keep it family-friendly - keep in mind that this is a public forum that may be accessed by individuals of all ages.
      • Arboriculture is a diverse field, and not everyone will agree with your opinions or experiences. Be open to constructive criticism and alternative perspectives, and avoid dismissing or belittling others' views.
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  2. Stay on topic

      • Add to a post only if you have valuable, relevant and/or related information to add; e.g. Posts which contain merely a +1 or -1 with no further information are not really contributing any useful discourse.
      • When participating in discussions, please stay on topic and relevant to the forum or thread in question. Avoid derailing conversations or introducing unrelated issues.
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  3. Stay factual

    1. Stay factual and cite your sources. When discussing topics, try to provide some factual information and/or cite your sources when possible - baseless statements and accusations help nobody. This will help promote accuracy and credibility within the community, and will foster scientific advancement. In short, avoid spreading misinformation or hearsay without proper evidence to back it up.
      • This will help promote accuracy and credibility within the community, and will foster scientific advancement.
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  4. Respect privacy and confidentiality

      • Do not share or discuss confidential or personal information of others without their consent.
      • Respect individuals' privacy and avoid sharing any identifying information unless it is necessary for the discussion.
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  5. No commercial advertisement

    1. Absolutely no commercial advertising on this board. Everybody is treated equally. If you would like to advertise, contact a site administrator for the current rates. #
  6. No duplicate accounts

    1. One account per user. The only exception to this is that some Dev Team members will occasionally create additional accounts for the purposes of software or feature testing.
      • If you were banned, for whatever reason, that is not justification to create another account. If you feel that the banning was in error, feel free to politely contact a site administrator via email.
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  7. Report rule violations

    1. If you witness or experience a violation of these rules, please report it to a site administrator for review. Together, we can maintain a respectful and informative community for arboriculturists. #
  8. Rules subject to change

    1. These rules are subject to change at any time for any reason, and you may not be notified of this. We will take every reasonable step to notify users of rule changes, however it is your responsibility to follow existing rules. #