Guidelines

Forum Rules

Failure to comply with any of the following rules is breach of contract and as such, administrators and moderators can take appropriate action as they see fit. If there is any contradiction between the Terms of Service and these rules, the Terms of Service shall take precedence.

1. All users must read and agree to the PHP Freaks Terms of Service found above before creating an account.
2. All users must be courteous to others.
3. All users are strongly encourage to abide by the Forum Guidelines.
4. All users acknowledge that PHP Freaks Administration have ultimate control over topics that a user posts.
5. Advertising and Spam are not allowed and is under a zero-tolerance ban/removal from PHP Freaks Forums.
6. Any sticky topic posted at the top of a forum can be considered a rule if the contents merit as such.
7. Signatures may contain textual links to your website(s) as long as it is not overdone/distracting to users.
8. Any adult material (18+) is NOT allowed in the forums. If your posts contain links to such material, remove the links before posting.
9. Any content posted that is hereby deemed Illegal or makes references to illegal content is hereby prohibited, will be deleted and action may be taken against the user who posts such materials.
10. Flaming and or Trolling is prohibited and will result in course of action to be taken by Staff members.
11. All request for code to be written for you should be posted under the freelance section. No exceptions.
12. Duplication of topics is strictly prohibited. Users will not post duplicate topics, if a topic needs moved please use the "Report to Moderator" button and a staff member will move the topic as soon as possible.
13. Users will not act as though they are staff members, and users will not judge other users' behavior. If you believe a user is breaking the rules or Terms of Service, please contact a member of staff using either the "Report to moderator" link found at the bottom of each post, or by sending them a PM (Private Message).
14. Users are allowed to have one account only. Creating multiple accounts per person may result in having all of them banned.
15. Users are not allowed to contact members or staff members with the intention of receiving help with subjects covered in any boards.
16. Users should not "bump" topics that are still on the first page of the forums. If you bump, you must provide additional information. If you resort to bumping, chances are your question needs to be re-thought and re-described (see Eric Raymond's "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way").
17. Private disputes must be handled privately. Do not use one of the public forums for this.

Forum Guidelines

Forum guidelines are in place to help you get the quickest and most effective response from your post. Failure to comply to these guidelines may result in your post being moved, modified and or deleted from PHP Freaks. We strongly encourage you to follow these guidelines. As failure to follow them repetitively could get you banned from PHP Freaks as the administration will see it as a blatant disregard for the rules.

1. Users will attempt to find answers to their questions by the following before posting:
   1. Search PHP Freaks Forum for the answer. Chances are this question has been asked before.
   2. Search the PHP Manual for a function and or information about a function to fix the error or achieve the desired results.
   3. Search Google for an answer to their question. As stated, it has probably been asked and solved many times before.
2. Users will not mark their post as being "URGENT" by either making the post ALL CAPS or adding any hint that they need it done Quick or ASAP. All posts are treated equal, your post is no more important than any other user's post on this forum. If it is "URGENT" pay someone to do it.
3. Users will not post their homework questions expecting to get their homework coded for them. If you have a question about part of the assignment that you do not understand, please post asking for an explanation rather than the code.
4. Users will format posts as best as they can by using proper Code <> tags and following Proper Code Indentation guidelines.
5. Users will post relevant code and information to their question(s).
6. When creating your signature, please be courteous to users, as a massive image detracts from the forum's purpose. You are limited to one image that is not distracting. Generally, try to keep the size down.
7. Signatures and / or content that is designed to deflect traffic from PHPFreaks.com to other Web Developer / Programming Websites will be blocked / removed / deleted. Repeat attempts will cause revocation of your account rights at PHP Freaks!
8. Users should attempt solutions given by members before replying "It does not work". They put the effort into giving you a solution, at least try it out.
9. Users should show the utmost respect to other users, especially members of staff. As all time on these forums is donated. Staff members are not paid as all donations go to server costs.
10. Users should try and be helpful themselves. If you find a topic you have knowledge on, by all means try and help a user out. After all that is what PHP Freaks Help Forums are all about!
11. Users should try and have fun. PHP Freaks is a community of helpers, we love to have a good laugh and help, so be kind and just have fun!

Forum DO's

1. Do be kind and courteous.
2. Do be helpful.
3. Do search for your own answers.
4. Do user proper formatting for posts (Code <> tags around necessary code).
5. Do take the time to post in the proper section.
6. Do attempt solutions provided to you.
7. Do quote relevant excerpts of prior posts.
8. Do try your best to use correct English grammar. It makes you easier to understand, and it helps getting your point across. Using things like l33t speak or txt speak may make you look stupid, childish, and/or lazy. While we acknowledge that not everybody is a native speaker of the English language, it is very easy to distinguish those people from those who are merely lazy.

Forum DO NOT's

1. Do not flame other users.
2. Do not troll.
3. Do not post adult material.
4. Do not post or make references to illegal material.
5. Do not mark posts as being urgent.
6. Do not bump a thread if it is still on the first page.
7. Do not ask for account deletion.
8. Do not ask for content deletion.
9. Do not advertise in the forums (exception of the freelance section).
10. Do not post your homework to be done.
11. Do not quote entire posts in the same thread, especially not if they're long. Quote the part you are commenting on or responding to.
12. Do not bump topics without providing additional information.

Disputes

As outlined in the Terms of Service, the staff has full control over your content and your account. If you feel that an action that was taken by a member of staff was incorrect or unfair, please try to resolve the matter with that individual personally. If you cannot find a satisfactory solution you can appeal to an administrator. Decisions taken by administrators are final and cannot be appealed in any way.