Our Community Guidelines

Imagine you've been invited to dinner.

It's at the home of a good friend, who shares most of your same interests. You know they'll be inviting a lot of other smart and insightful people. Some of them you've met, but most of them are strangers, and only your good friend is in the same line of work as you. But that's the best part: you're looking forward to getting some really different perspectives, some new ways of looking at things. Maybe they can even help think through a problem that's been bugging you.

The guidelines of the Digital Makerspace are just like sitting down at your friend's table for dinner.

Be polite.You're going to meet a lot of new people, as well as friends and colleagues you'd like to keep and potentially collaborate with. Be courteous and civil. (Please!)

Be respectful. In addition to politeness in tone and manner, be respectful of one another's experience, background, and contributions. When disagreements do happen, acknowledge that yours is not the only opinion, and reach out to the Community Manager if you get stuck.

Be coherent. Intelligent discussion requires clear communication. Use proper grammar and spelling, be concise, and don't ramble. Before you share a thought, go back and edit. Can you make it shorter, more clear, convey your point better? Remember: long words don't make you seem smarter.

Be open. To gentle corrections, to new perspectives, to repurposing ideas from other fields, to saying "what if", to a complete newcomer solving a problem that has plagued your field for years. It could happen to you - and you could be that to someone else.

Be brave. You're not going to get invited to the another party if you sit quietly the entire time. Start new threads, point out the (seemingly) obvious, and jump into existing conversations - your contribution is unique and will always be valued. Use upvotes or downvotes to make it clear what contributions really hit the nail on the head.

Be patient. New users won't be familiar with the rules of engagement. English isn't everyone's first language. People new to a project won't know what's been discussed, or tried already. Help them along - we're all here for the same reason.

Things to avoid...

Overt self-promotion. Overt self-promotion. You're here to make this a better planet for humans and all species, not to promote your brand, product, or Instagram. Our community will likely downvote you and you'll lose reputation. There is a line between building support around a new idea, and overt promotion.

Jargon. Everyone at the table comes from different fields. Not every person has heard of a discounted cash flow model, an Arduino microcontroller, the tag recapture method, AND augmented reality. Limit your use of industry-specific terms, and be open to explaining if needed.

Posting sensitive information. Personal information from yourself or someone else, things you don’t own, anything not safe for work or potentially offensive.

If someone breaks the rules...

Assume good intentions. They may not know the rules. Politely point them to this document and gently suggest they re-familiarize themselves.

If the behavior continues...

Flag the post.Moderators and staff will take care of it. Disengage, bring it to our attention at support@conservationxlabs.org, and let us take it from there.

If you see something that is clearly unacceptable...

Report abuse. Hostility, harassment, inappropriate words or behavior, alienating individuals or groups in any way (including based on race, gender, age, academic background, or religion) will not be tolerated. Report abuse to us directly at support@conservationxlabs.org.

Note: This is a living, breathing piece of work that will grow and change as the community on the Digital Makerspace grows and changes. If you've got a suggestion of something that will make this better, please feel free to: