Hardware Forum Guidelines

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gaara

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Let me first welcome you to the hardware section of Tech-Forums, we hope you are enjoying your visit with us.

Please read our General Forum Guidelines before reading ahead.

This area is the most heavily visited section of the site, which can make it the most problematic area of the site as well. I would like to see this forum grow into an area where members can discuss and debate relevent topics in a mature and civil matter, therefore it is asked that all members follow the following guidelines to make everyones stay more enjoyable.

Before posting a new topic...

You may notice at the top of this and other forums, some threads are labeled as important. As you may have guessed, these topics are of important relevence to the topics discussed in their respective forums. Before posting a new topic, skim these threads over and see if your question is answered. If you ignore these important topics and post a question that has been answered, your thread will be closed. Repeated offences will result in warnings, and in extreme cases, loss of posting priviledges.

So the important threads didn't answer your question huh? Think you're clear to post a topic? Nope! I would like to introduce you to a fabulous tool called the search query. Before posting a topic or asking a question, enter keywords relevent to your question and skim the first page of results to see if your topic is addressed. If you decide to go ahead and post a topic without searching, your thread is liable to be deleted without warning. Repeated offences may result in warnings, and in extreme cases, loss of posting priviledges.

Think you're finally ready to post your question now? Nope! Due to the fact that this forum is located at the top of the index, in more cases than none, people post topics which have nothing to do with hardware. Go back to the index, scroll all the way down, and make sure that there isn't a forum that is more appropriate for your question. In most cases, a moderator will simply move your thread to the appropriate forum for you, however repeated offences will result in your thread being closed, followed by warnings, and in extreme cases, a ban.

Now you're ready to start creating a topic!

The first thing I must stress when posting a topic is to research your topic before posting it. Whether it be by searching this forum, or more extensive sources such as google, a well informed post is pleasant post. For example, if you make a post about buying a new hard drive, and someone suggests a SATA drive, and you reply with "wtf is SATA", chances are you will not recieve an answer. This is not a hardware 101 tutorial and if you are not willing to help yourself, don't expect anyone else to help you either.

The structure and intelligence of your content is also important. If you are rude or obnoxious when asking a question, don't expect any help. I advise that you make an effort in being punctual, do not use "leet speak" or any other difficult to understand vocabulary or sentence structure. Do not type in capitals. Try and use proper spelling and grammar whenever possible. Your paragraph structure is also important, I suggest you break down your post into smaller paragraphs as people are more likely to read that than a big blob of text.

Include detailed information in your post. Elaborate on things, say more rather than less, and include as much information as possible. Anything from hard drive type to CPU-Z screenshots are useful, the more information people have, the better they can help you. Remember that people aren't standing over your shoulder, they're simply reading text off of a screen.

You should now be all set to post a topic here, just make sure it abides by the general forum guidelines, and try not to upset other posters.

Replying to a topic

You may have information to share, or may be able to shed some light on a topic, which is great! This is how this forum is so successful, but there's a number of things to keep in mind.

Do not post your own questions in another persons topic. There is nothing more rude than hijacking another persons topic and stealing their thunder. If you have a question, even if it relates to the topic, start your own topic. Failure to do so will result in your post being deleted, and warnings and bannings may result with repeated offenses.

Elaborate your posts. Directions and advice are only as good as the way they're written. More text is better, try and make sure the original poster knows what you're communicating. Remember, you're not any help if no one can understand your advice.

Don't double post. This varies from posting the same topic numerous times to posting after yourself. The edit button is very useful and if you feel you've left something out use that, don't post after yourself. Repeated offenses will result in warnings, and in extreme cases, a ban.

Do not post irrelevent or negative content. If you can't help with the question at hand, or don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. The best way to ruin a perfectly healthy discussion is one troll who stumbles across a thread and posts for the sake of causing trouble. This is not tolerated, and a warning will be issued immediately. Failure to comply will result in a ban.

Do not bump old threads. Especially in a hardware forum when technology gets dated quickly, it serves no purpose other than a nuisance to other members. It is unfair to members who have recent questions, which are pushed back because of already answered, irrelevent questions. If you are caught doing this multiple times, you will be warned, and a ban will follow if you do not stop.

Do not publicly "police" the forums. If you find a troublesome post, simply use the report post button found to the left of the post, which will notify the proper people. Replying to spam simply pushes it to the top of the forum and pushes useful threads back. Do not retaliate flames. This will often ruin a perfectly good thread and can often get you in trouble yourself. Just ignore troublesome posts until they are dealt with accordingly.

Most important, do not blatantly bash a product or company for no reason. I have no problems with a civil debate, and we are all entitled to our opinions, but blurting out "AMD sucks!" with no argument behind it is considered trolling, and will result in a warning followed by a ban if the offense is repeated. If you find a post such as this, do not reply. Report the post and ignore it until it is dealt with.

"Don't beat dead horses." If a topic has ten replies which all say the same thing, and you're planning on saying the same thing, don't bother posting unless you have something constructive to add. People can (hopefully) read, they don't need to read the same reply over and over again, especially if all ten replies don't help them.

Finally, if you have a problem with a member, settle your feud in private or use the ignore feature found in your UserCP. Do not publicly call out a member or argue, this will result in a warning, and repeated offenses will result in a ban.

There is also what is called "borderline behaviour". If a moderator feels you are acting innapropriately over an extended period of time, you will be contacted and failure to comply will result in a ban.

These rules will be effective immediately, and action will be taken against problematic members. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please PM a moderator of this forum.

These rules are for the well being and enjoyment of all members of Tech-Forums who participate in the hardware forum. If you have a problem or feel you cannot comply, please contact me so you can have your posting priviledges removed. Apart from that, please continue to enjoy the forums and have fun! :D
 
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