Rules, Guidelines and General FAQs

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Forum Rules

Infringement of any of the following rules will result in your account being closed and your posts deleted.

    1. No Spam / Advertising / Self-promotion in the Q&A forum
      Spam is defined as unsolicited advertisement for goods, services and/or other web sites, or posts with little, or completely unrelated content. Do not spam the forum with links to your website or product, or try to self-promote your website, business or forum etc.
      Spamming also includes sending private messages to a large number of different users.
    2. Do not ask for email addresses or phone numbers
    3. Do not post copyright-infringing material
      Providing or asking for information on how to illegally obtain copyrighted materials is also forbidden.
    4. Do not post “offensive” posts, links or images
      Any material which constitutes defamation, harassment, or abuse is strictly prohibited. Material that is sexually or otherwise obscene, racist, or otherwise overly discriminatory is not permitted in this forum. This includes user pictures or images. Use common sense whilst posting.
      This is a website specialising in discussions relating to all aspects of Mechanisms used in the Space Industry, other topics are off limits.
    5. Do not cross post questions
      Please refrain from posting the same question in different categories. There is normally one category which is most suitable in which to post your question. If there is not a category relating to your problem area add a post in the Suggestions section of the website, suggesting a new category.
    6. Do not PM users asking for help
      Do not send private messages to any user asking for help. If you need help, make a new thread in the appropriate forum then the whole community can help and benefit.
    7. Remain respectful of other members at all times
      All posts should be professional and courteous. You have every right to disagree with your fellow community members and explain your perspective. However, you are not free to attack, degrade, insult, or otherwise belittle them or the quality of this community. It does not matter what title or power you hold inside or outside of this forum, you are expected to obey this rule.

General Posting Guidelines

The following guidelines are here to help people get the best from this forum. Looking at other on-line forums it is apparent that some people come in and post threads without really thinking about the problem they are trying to solve, and without realizing that they will not get the help they are requesting because of the way they have framed their question. Here are some general guidelines:

  1. Please use the SEARCH first!
    As the forum grows in size there will be a pretty good chance that unless you have some really odd or unique problem that it has been addressed on our forum before, please use the forum’s search feature first to see if there are already some good threads on the subject. It’s easy to search – just click the “Search” button at the top of the page.
  2. Be DESCRIPTIVE and don’t use “stupid” topic/subject titles
    PLEASE post a descriptive subject! Give a short summary of your problem IN THE SUBJECT. (Don’t use attention getting subjects, they don’t get attention and only annoy people and are more likely to result in your question being overlooked).

For example YOU SHOULD NOT POST a question with the following subject :

  • Help me, Hello, Very urgent, I have a question

Generally ANYTHING similar to this is unacceptable. Just post your problem.

Here is a good example of a way to post a question

“how to calculate the life of a bearing”
or
“what lubricant would you recommend for a single used deployment mechanism”

Remember when people help you, they are doing YOU a favour. Be patient, help people out by posting good descriptions of what you need help with, and not snapping at people with replies such as “if you aren’t going to help don’t waste my time replying”. And if you find peopel ahve helped you why not return the favour and help somebody else.

General Forum Questions

What happens if I break a rule?
If you break a rule, then you will either be warned or banned. A ban of your user account may be either temporary or permanent.

The administrators and moderators also have the right to edit, delete, move or close any thread or post as they see necessary, without prior warning.

What happens if I see a thread/post which has broken a rule?
Please report the thread/post to the moderators or admin.