The following guidelines cover all aspects of community interaction at the iModeler website, including new original postings or comments in reply to someone else's post. Our aim is to ensure this platform remains inclusive and safe, and that iModeler is the place where you will always find lively, entertaining and, above all, intelligent discussions.
 

Dear user,

There are 12 simple guidelines which all contributors of iModeler are requested (and required) to follow. These rules also define our approach to community moderation.

1. We always welcome your view on the subject at hand. The key to maintaining iModeler as an inviting space is to focus on intelligent discussion on topics related to the main subject of the site or the community itself.

2. Maintain a reasonable tone. We want users to feel free to discuss topics that they are enthusiastic about, but we do ask them to find ways of sharing their views that do not feel divisive or toxic to others. Always consider your impact on others when making your contribution. We reserve the right to redirect or curtail conversations which descend into flame-wars based on ingrained partisanship or generalizations.

3. Stay on topic. We know that some conversations can be wide-ranging, but if you post something which is unrelated to the original topic (“off-topic”), then it may be removed, in order to keep the thread on track or to preserve the integrity of the site's intent. This also applies to queries or comments about moderation.

4. Don't speak badly about other people. Opinions on other individuals (iModeler users or otherwise) should be kept out of your public postings. Bad language, verbal attacks, trolling and abuse will never be tolerated. The principle applies also to the practice of subtweeting - writing about an individual without explicitly naming the person.

5. This place is about a hobby. Your views on politics, governments, religion, organizations, current news, World events, the way society operates and similar general topics are respected, but should be kept out of this arena. There are more suitable places on the web to discuss these subjects.

6. Keep the Headlines readworthy. Keep in mind the the iModeler headlines is a modeling publication with worldwide reach. When posting in that area, always keep the readers' experience in mind. Requests for help, invitations, announcements, polls, calls for discussion, personal or local matters, classifieds or posts on unrelated subjects will be directed away from the Headlines into the Groups area.

7. We recognize the difference between modeling, illustrating and discussing things military and the history of war from glorifying war, militarism or political regimes of the past. Expressions of racism, sexism, homophobia, endorsement of Nazi or other criminal ideologies, Holocaust denial or other forms of hate-speech, or contributions that could be interpreted as such are prohibited and will be removed.

8. Use of potentially offensive usernames (such as use of bad language, names of controversial political figures etc) are not allowed. Potentially offensive avatars are not allowed, this includes for example political avatars, swastikas, violence or nudity, this also applies to avatars that distract from the posts by for example excessive animation.

9. We are respectful of trademarks by referring to them with the correct spelling and capitalization and describing their products or services without prejudice, and we expect our users to do the same.

10. We reserve the right to remove any content that is potentially disturbing, offensive, defamatory or illegal in any of the countries where iModeler is operating, including material posted in potential breach of copyright. We do endeavor to follow the Journalism Code of Ethics and we ask our users to do the same.

11. We will remove any posts that are obviously commercial or otherwise spam-like. Our aim is that this site should provide a space for people to interact with our content and each other. We actively discourage commercial entities passing themselves off as individuals, in order to post advertising material or links. This may also apply to users who frequently post external links without adding substantively to the quality of the discussion.

12. The platform is ours, but the conversation belongs to everybody. We want this to be a welcoming space for intelligent discussion, and we expect participants to help us achieve this by notifying us of potential problems and helping each other to keep conversations inviting and appropriate. If you spot something problematic in community interaction areas, please report it. When we all take responsibility for maintaining an appropriate and constructive environment, the debate itself is improved and everyone benefits.

In short:

• If you act with appropriate consideration for other users of iModeler, you should never have any problems.
• Don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share the intelligence, wisdom and humor we know you possess.
• Take responsibility for the quality of the posts and conversations in which you’re participating. Help make iModeler an intelligent place for sharing and discussion and it will be.

Last refined: 12 April 2022