The "Ask A Scientist" Forum isn't run by rules, per se. Rather, it is moderated by a tight-knit group of moderators who have volunteered to put themselves in the position of making difficult judgment calls.

Most of these Guidelines are geared towards just improving the state of the forum through smart tips. Some of these Guidelines are more prohibitive, however, and they function as rules. The rules come in two-forms: the cardinal, and the compulsory.

• No trolling. Don't make posts that are inflammatory just to get people riled up. Substance is the key to not being labeled a troll.
• Ad hominem attacks are not welcome. Criticize ideas, not people. Flaming will not be tolerated.
• No member or Moderator is allowed to engage in public personal attacks on any other member or Moderator.
• Personal attacks are defined as Personal, Racial, Ethnic, and/or Gender based insults, slurs, or derisive comments.
• All complaints need to be communicated privately to an Administrator or Moderator using either PM and/or EMail, who will pass it on.
• In the event of this, the offending post will be edited or removed, and the offending party shall receive no more than two (2) private Moderator Team warnings via PM and/or EMail, and one final Administration warning.
• If the behavior continues, the member/Moderator will be banned for a week, and upon a repeat incident, banned permanently. This will apply to all other community members as well.
• No pornographic, sexually offensive, sexually explicit, or objectifying material. Simple rule. Moderator's judgment applies here. Sexually suggestive images will be removed and the member will be banned. We'd like for our readers to be able to read the support forum at work and share with friends without fear of retribution.
• Do not post links or requests for warez
• Post in the right forum! Even if it's only humor, an observation, or angst, if it's about something that we have a forum for, post it there. Resist the temptation to post something off topic because you think you'll get "better responses" in a particular forum.
• Respect the privacy of others Do not post other's phone numbers, addresses, pictures, etc. These will be removed.
• Each forum member may have only one account
• Do not place foul language in thread subjects
• If you have a vulgar, sexually explicit, or racially derogatory avatar, it will be removed.
• Do not dig up old threads. If you want to continue a discussion from an old thread (older than 1 month), create a new thread and reference the old one in your opening post.
• Blatant advertising of any product is not tolerated. We encourage competition but cannot allow free advertising of any business or product.
• NO SPAMMING. No commercial-oriented posts, and no flooding with useless content.

• Use descriptive subject lines and research your post. This reduces the chances of double-posting, and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Also, scan the subjects of the last several days' posts to make sure you aren't duplicating posts. Also, consider what forum your topic should be posted in.
• HTML is currently disabled, but if it is enabled at a later date, the use of iframes, embedded objects, java and javascript are not welcome. DO NOT attempt to subvert, modify, or disrupt the normal flow or display of the "Ask A Scientist" Forum or its content.
• Do not use foul language. Swearing will not be tolerated on this board at all. Because this is an Educational forum, we will keep it clean. We believe in free speech, but there are ways to do so without swearing.
• No "Am I Hot or Not", "show me your sexy girlfriend." etc. threads. These will be removed. This is not a dating forum.
• No blatantly juvenile toilet humor. Simple rule. Moderator's judgment applies here.
• Finally, remember that we're not the ratings board here. Not making any hard and fast rules means that the moderators can use their good judgment in moderation, and we think the results speak for themselves.
• Bottom line: we always give warnings (with the exception of unacceptable posts), but we won't necessarily give more than one to the same person. If you are disrupting the community, we will take action.

• In order to prevent abusing the signature feature on this forum, we have decided to implement some general signature guidelines, and these will be enforced.
• Signatures will be no longer than 5 lines
• Signatures may contain an image, but they can be no larger than 250x100 and you are only allowed 1 image in your SIG.
• Signatures may contain a link to your personal site. However, advertising of products or businesses are not permitted. We encourge competition but cannot allow free advertising of products or business in this forum.
• Signatures are expected to follow the same guidelines as posts, which means no flaming, no swearing, no personal attacks, and no adult material.
• If you are seen violating these guidelines you will be asked once privately to change your signature. If you fail to comply, we will change it for you.