Rules and Guidlines Information

Welcome to the Forums!!!

Please take a moment to read through these Rules and Guidelines. There is some useful information about how to use the forums, our guidelines for behavior, and how to keep your account.
After reading create a New Topic in this Forum, to Introduce yourself!
Thanks for joining!


THE RULES

We only want one of you please

We only allow one account per person please. If you forget the password to your account, there's no need to create another account. Instead, try resetting your password on the login page, or contact an Administrator for help.

Remember, everyone was new once

Whether you’re after a quick answer to a question or you’re looking to meet people who will bounce around ideas and get you inspired, there are certain things that you need to know if you want to make the most of any online community.

It's not just about sticking to the rules; it’s about knowing how to find and use the resources that are on offer in order to make the most of your experience.

The first point to remember is that everyone was new once. The whole point of a forum is to learn, so for that very reason there is no such thing as a dumb question. So just ask and then bask in the goodness of knowing that hundreds of people in the future will benefit from the answers that you elicit.
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Improve the Discussion[/b]

Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small.

The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said. If you have to, just move on. Save your energy for something you value.

One way to improve the discussion is by discovering ones that are already happening. Please spend some time browsing the topics here before replying or starting your own, and you’ll have a better chance of meeting others who share your interests.

Post Quality

In order to try to maintain a certain level of quality in discussions here, we ask that you strive to ensure that each post you make is:

   Meaningful – says something of substance
   Relevant – on topic and helpful, not generic advice
   New – something that hasn’t already been said in the thread

The official language here is English and all communications should be in English please. That's not because we don't respect other languages, but because it's the only language we all understand!

Spam? There's No Way I'd Do That!

I’m sure it’s unintentional, but sometimes spam is in the eye of the beholder... BUT we have a zero tolerance policy.

Spammers may be warned, or banned at our discretion.

What Can't I Say?

Nothing sabotages a healthy conversation like rudeness:

   Be civil. Don’t post anything that a reasonable person would consider offensive, abusive, or hate speech.
   Keep it clean. Don’t post anything obscene or sexually explicit.
   Respect each other. Don’t harass or troll anyone, impersonate people, or expose their private information.
   Keep personal information private. Unless you're willing to expose your information to the world, please do not post telephone numbers, e-mail addresses etc in your posts.

These are not concrete terms with precise definitions — avoid even the appearance of any of these things. If you’re unsure, ask yourself whether you'd go on TV and publicly say it on camera.

This is a public forum, and search engines index these discussions. Keep the language, links, and images safe for family and friends.

Other things we ask you not to do

Don't copy and paste
Don't copy post content from other sites. If you want to discuss an article you read on our Home website, or some where else., list the website name-the name of the article, and then YOUR post about it (It is also copyright infringement if you re-post.) Make sure to provide enough input of your own to get a decent discussion started. For example, explain why-and what you liked or disliked the article.

You are welcome to write about a topic that interests you and start a discussion, but not to promote something you've posted elsewhere. The content should be unique and not self-promotional.

Social bookmarks
Don’t ask for votes on social bookmarking sites, such as Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. We consider this self promotion and it's not OK.

Piracy, warez, adult sites, and illegal content
No sharing of warez or pirated material, please. It is not cool. Likewise, don’t post any work (even a small piece of it) unless you have express permission from the owner or creator of the piece or work. You’ll be responsible for copyright infringement -- not us. It is better if you link to it. It will save you some lawyers’ fees!

This is a serious offense that will often earn you an infraction or banning.

Advertising or Soliciting Services

Advertising and soliciting services is in violation of our self-promotion policy. These forums are for friendly discussion on Web-related topics. You wouldn't want an ad shoved in your face while chatting with friends, or a marketer to butt in and try a hard sell on you, so please don't do it here!

Keep It Tidy

Make the effort to put things in the right place, so that we can spend more time discussing and less cleaning up. So:

   Don’t start a topic in the wrong category.
   Don’t cross-post the same thing in multiple topics.
   Don’t post no-content replies.
   Don’t divert a topic by changing it midstream.
   Rather than taking an existing topic in a radically different direction, use Reply as a New Topic.

What Can I Do to Make You Like Me?

Our ultimate goal here is to help people learn in a fun and welcoming environment. There are a few easy things that you can do to help us achieve that.

Be kind. No one likes a bully. When people from every walk of life get together, there are likely to be differences of opinion. That’s cool—it’s what makes the place interesting, but it also means that on occasion you might just have to walk away. We don't tolerate name-calling or personal insults.

Be patient. Forums attract beginners, and that means beginner questions. Treat people how you'd like us to treat you.

Be polite. If someone rubs you up the wrong way, reply to the content of their post rather than the tone. Easy.

Like Us Back!

The conversations we have here set the tone for everyone. Help us influence the future of this community by choosing to engage in discussions that make this forum an interesting place to be. Our aim here is to create an environment that is fun and welcoming. So... have fun!

Every community needs growth – not just to keep things interesting, but to ensure survival. You can help us to keep this community vibrant by spreading the good word. – help us to help you.

If You See a Problem, Tell Us

It is the job of the Moderators to ensure that everything is clean and tidy, but there may come a time when there aren't enough moderators to look at every post, so we rely on you to help out. You can do that by alerting us of anything you see that looks off base. It might be a post that’s rude, it might be spam or maybe it's just in the wrong forum.

When you see bad behavior, don’t reply. It encourages the bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just flag/report it!

In order to maintain our community, moderators reserve the right to remove any content for any reason at any time. Moderators do not preview new posts in any way; the moderators and site operators take no responsibility for any content posted by the community.

The Internet is Forever

Before you post, please think carefully about what you post.

We accept that occasionally people make silly mistakes and we’ll do everything we can to help you out, but we simply lack the time to edit hundreds of posts and heavy edits or post deletions compromise the flow of a discussion. So please, think first.

Private Message Etiquette

   The same rules apply to Private Messaging as to posting. No spamming, insulting, self-promotion allowed.
   Don’t use the PM system to ask for help if your problem is being discussed in a thread. This will prevent others from using the knowledge to solve the same problem at a later date.

Closing or deleting your account

If you don’t wish to participate in the forum anymore:

   Turn off all the e-mail notification options in your profile
   Stop posting

We do not delete accounts. If you'd like your username changed to something that won't be associated with you, please contact an Administrator.

Help!

All this stuff is very interesting, but it doesn't answer my question. How can I get some help?

No worries. There are a few options. You can send a PM to a staff member.

NOTE: New staff members are chosen and nominated by the existing staff only. It is not possible to apply to become a staff member.

GIW RIGHTS

GIW reserve the right to remove a post that does not relate to the topic being discussed in the forum. In addition, GIW reserves the right to organize discussion forums in order to best serve the majority of our members. For example, narrow-interest or minimal activity topics may, at GIW discretion, be relocated to a more appropriate discussion forum, or deleted entirely.

GIW also reserves the right to prohibit or delete discussions that are thought to violate applicable law or that may be harmful to other members, the sites that comprise GIW, or the rights of GIW or others. That said, GIW does not have the practical ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate these Guidelines or the Terms of Service prior to transmission on the Web, nor can we guarantee prompt removal of offending discussion forum posts.

We also reserve the right to remove your membership from the GIW Forums should you violate the Community Rules and or Community Guidelines.
This also includes the removal of memberships for individuals that have access to E-Courses they paid for via our HOME WEBSITE. Do not copy or share course material in any way-including PM on this forum or across the web; YOU WILL BE BANNED-FROM YOUR E-COURSE, FUTURE E-COURSES, AND FROM THIS FORUM