- The right (if you are an American citizen) to free speech as guaranteed by the 1st amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not apply when posting at this message board. AppleInsider is a privately owned and operated forum. Posters are allowed a great deal of flexibility in their posts, but be respectful of other members and the guidelines.
- Where there are grey areas in the guidelines outlined below, the moderators and administrators will work together to determine the best solution for a dispute on either a series of related threads or a specific thread. Reasonable contribution from the membership is welcome but not mandatory for a decision to be made.
- All comments about a moderator or an administrator should be directed to him personally (or another administrator if the member does not feel comfortable dealing directly) by using private messaging or e-mail. Do not start a thread or make public posts in any forum for the purpose of expressing displeasure with the actions of a moderator or administrator.
- Ad-hominem attacks of forum members will not be tolerated. We understand that things get heated, but it helps to maintain a modicum of respect for the membership. Attack ideas, not people. Be open-minded and try to help foster meaningful discussion. Yes, meaningful discussion is possible if everyone respects each other.
- Sexually graphic or otherwise offensive material is strictly forbidden. AppleInsider will strive to maintain a work-friendly and family-friendly environment in regards to pornography and hate-speech. These cases are up to the discretion of the moderators and administrators. Pursuant to this, toilet humor is not tolerated. It is expected that the membership can conduct themselves with enough maturity to avoid such idiocy.
- Respect the privacy of fellow forum members. Hopefully this will not be an issue, but do not post personal information or pictures of a member without that member's approval. Disputed information will be deleted.
- While foul language is tolerated to a certain extent, profanity in the title of threads is not allowed. Excessive, unnecessary use of profanity (again, at the moderators' discretion) is not welcome.
- Spamming will not be tolerated. Spamming can be defined as either posting excessively with no content or with commercial intent. Neither definition is acceptable here. In general, do not use the forums for personal gain or to boost your post count.
- Be descriptive with the title of new threads. Do not start a thread with an ambiguous title like "Guess what..." and then use the text portion of the post to explain. Give your post a headline. This courtesy is especially appreciated in the more highly trafficked forums. Furthermore, threads with no original content will not be allowed. Do not post a link or quote an article while contributing little to nothing of your own.
- Posting requests or information about obtaining pirated or illegally-distributed software is prohibited. Any and all such posts may be removed without warning. If the offending member continues with such posts, he or she is subject to immediate suspension from the forums for any amount of time the administrators or moderators deem necessary. Furthermore, asking for technical support regarding pirated software is also not allowed and will be treated in the same mannar as posts that directly ask for pirated software.
- Members are allowed to have custom signatures appended to the end of their posts. Posing images in signatures is not permitted. This privilege is allowed to give a bit of personality to the community of the forums. Members who choose to use this feature must do so in a respectful and mature manner. vB tags are allowed in signatures to add a bit of style. However, members should limit signatures to three lines of text or less. Members should not use the vB size tag to make the signature text larger. If abused, this privilege will also be revoked from offending members. If it is abused or used for posting lewd, abusive, or obnoxious messages, an administrator may change it and disable the offending member's ability to modify it.
- The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleInsider is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose, edit (before and after posting), find or research links, and count to a hundred if you're angry. Use it.
Moderators and administrators are members who have volunteered to help enforce the Posting Guidelines and the rules of the forums, and to help with the running of the site by moving/locking threads and dealing with problems as they arise. Posts from moderators and administrators do not necessarily contain the official views of AppleInsider, unless explicitly stated.
Moderators' and administrators' most visible functions are the locking and moving of threads. If your thread is locked, an explanation should be posted by the moderator who locked the thread as to why. If you feel the moderator who locked your thread has erred in locking it, e-mail or private message the moderator or an administrator about it. Do not create a new thread protesting the lock, post complains, or a make a thread in Suggestions about it. If your thread is moved, the bulletin board software will automatically append a notice and arrow icon to the title of the thread in its original forum stating that it has been moved. Again, if you feel your thread was moved or locked in error, please contact the moderator responsible or an administrator via e-mail or private message.
The purpose of the Future hardware forum is to contain focused technical and aesthetic speculation about future Apple hardware products. Generalized discussions about future technologies should be posted here as well, as long as they are relevant to potential Apple products.
- Due to the high traffic that FH receives, it is preferable to contain discussion of future products to a minimum of threads on a particular topic: there should not be 10 different threads about upcoming PowerBooks, for instance. However, threads discussing particular aspects of a future product can coexist.
- Threads consisting of unsubstantiated individual predictions about upcoming hardware are not allowed. Threads that are blatant trolls, offer no content, or are redundant will be locked at the moderators' discretion.
The Current Hardware forum is the place for discussion of Apple's current hardware offerings. This area should be used to discuss performance (benchmarks), pricing, and comparison of hardware that is currently shipping. Purchasing advice about currently shipping hardware should be posted in General Discussion.
The Digital Hub forum is the place for focused discussion about digital cameras, camcorders, music players, PDAs, and every digital multimedia device linked to a computer. This forum is also the place for discussion of Apple's iLife suite of apps including iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, iSync, and GarageBand.
For discussion of any software that runs on the Mac except for OS X itself, and for issues related to developing software. Threads and links to petitions to port software over to the Mac go here as well. All discussion of the former iTools and current .mac service also belongs here.
For discussion of Mac OS X itself: Everything from Darwin to Aqua, and for system-level software that can be added to Mac OS X (such as X11). Discussion of Apple's included apps such as TextEdit, Preview, and Terminal belong here, but discussion of any other software belongs in either the Software or Digital Hub forum.
General Discussion is the forum for nonspecific tech conversations, including those about purchasing advice and tech industry happenings. It is not the place to ask for technical support; such questions should be posted in the Genius Bar forum.
The purpose of AppleOutsider is to provide an area for discussion of topics that do not relate to the tech industry. The tone of this forum should generally be lighthearted and fun.
- While mild cases of silliness, lameness, offensiveness, crudeness, and vulgarity are tolerated, it should be kept to a dull roar. Excessive use can be edited at the moderators' discretion.
- AppleOutsider is not a forum to spew vitriol against people, organizations, or theologies. AppleOutsider is for serious discussions; so, the moderators and administrators expect a level of maturity from all members at all times.
- Threads with no original content will not be allowed. Example: posting a link or quoting and article while contributing little to nothing of your own.
- Angry rants will not be allowed. The purpose of AppleOutsider is to foster discussion between forum members, not to vent anger or to push an agenda.
- Evangelizing viewpoints with no attempt to foster discussion will not be allowed. All threads in AppleOutsider must be open to comment and the topic starter must start the discussion.
An area to help other computer users with a wide variety of tech problems. This can include tech support, modifications, and both hardware and software questions. It can cover a wide variety of computer related peripherals, not just computer hardware.
NOTE: it is NOT intended as an area to rant about displeasure regarding a manufacturer or product. People come to the Genius Bar for help. The last thing people in this situation need is unhelpful ranting.
Suggestions is for presenting feedback on AppleInsider to the staff. If you have technical problems with the forums, be sure to cite any error messages in your post and include as much description of the events surrounding the event.
- Do not start a thread in Suggestions or make a post in any other forum for the purpose of expressing displeasure with the actions of a moderator or administrator. Comments meant for moderators and administrators should be sent directly to the moderators and administrators. If you do not wish to address the moderator with whom you have a complaint, then contact one of the other administrators. If you have a legitimate suggestion as to how a potential problem could be fixed, express it in a manner which will not be interpreted as hostile.
