The aim of the Uncommon Knowledge self help psychology forum is to maintain a safe, mutually supportive community, open to all. The psychology forum has a few, simple rules to foster this aim. By using the forum you agree to abide by these rules. We reserve the right to modify these rules from time to time without notice.
Please note that when you first register at the Uncommon Knowledge forum, you are unable to send Private Messages until you have made more than 10 posts. This is to protect the privacy of our members. In addition, to reduce 'fly by' advertising, signatures may not be created until you have more than 30 posts and have been a member of Uncommon Forum for more than 7 days.
Please take 5 minutes to read through these rules before posting. Ignorance of the rules is not admissable as defense of breaking them. The most commonly broken rules are:
- Do not discuss religion or politics on the board.
- Do not use foul language
- Do not make the same post in multiple locations
- Do not post in ALL CAPS or all in bold
- Discuss ideas, do not criticize, insult or otherwise attack people
Minimum Age Limitation
You certify that you are 13 years of age or over. Anyone under 13 years of age will need a full release form from their parents before posting any messages. This is in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 2000 (COPPA).
Ownership of and Responsibility for Posts
- You will not copy and retransmit any information out of these forums without first getting the written permission of the original author of the message and a Director of Uncommon Knowledge LLP.
- Psychology forum users are responsible for their messages.
- When a message is placed on the forum you are granting a soft license (permission) to the site to use it. The forum is public and open to all, so any messages posted are not private. Accounts cannot be deleted as this renders old threads meaningless. Please note that the search engines also 'spider' the forum so that posts can also be picked up on searches in search engines, such as Google.
- We reserve the right to edit any and all content that has been placed on Uncommon Forum. You will be able to edit or delete your own posts for 10 minutes after the post is made.
- For our part we will take reasonable endeavours to protect your privacy and respect your posts. We will not edit or otherwise misrepresent what you write without cause.
- Selecting a username: When selecting a username remember that the forum is public. If you wish to post anonymously select a username that will not be known to others. Usernames once chosen cannot be changed. "Do not use a website address as your username as this will be treated as self promotion and your account deleted."
Developing a Supportive Community
- Always display a positive, friendly attitude to other members and respect others' opinions. Allow others to freely voice their opinions even if you disagree with them.
- Do not deliberately start arguments. We encourage healthy debate, but please maintain respect for others.
- The Forum works best with mutual support. Each time you get help from someone on the Forum, pay it forward and support someone else in return.
- Be patient in waiting for a reply to your post. The Forum is busy and it may take time for people to notice and formulate a worthwhile reply.
- It is not helpful or supportive just to make a negative statement or criticism, be supportive to other members, and help them to learn.
- If you disagree with someone, criticise the idea or opinion, not the person.
- Insults and abuse of other members is not tolerated.
- Any individual may only register with one username on the Forum.
Inappropriate Content
- Do not post anything with pornographic or adult content, including links to other sites with such content.
- Do not post anything promoting illegal activities, or link to sites promoting such activities.
- Do not post any content to which you do not own the copyright. Sharing copyright documents such as ebooks is illegal.
- Discussions of religion and politics are not permitted.
- SPAM (Unsolicited Advertising) Spam, affiliate links and press releases are not tolerated on the Forum and spammers will be given one warning and on a subsequent offence will be banned from the forum. This includes unsolicited advertising on the Forum, in Private Messages, or emails.
Commenting on Products & Services
The Forum may be legally liable for any adverse comments made about any specific products, services or personalities. We therefore have to err on the side of caution, whilst aiming to provide a helpful service to users.
Therefore, it is permissible to mention products or services that you have no financial interest in, so long as this is relevant to the topic under discussion and is aimed to assist other forum users. Discussions around the benefits of a product or service must be specific, rather than general criticism or praise. (Please note that no dicussion of Charles Linden or The Linden Method can be allowed. See this thread.)
- An example of unacceptable criticism would be 'The Acme Brain Booster is rubbish, don't try it!'. An example of acceptable criticism 'The Acme Brain Booster didn't really work for me, I found the audio irritating, and I'd heard many of the ideas before.'
- An example of unacceptable praise would be 'The Acme Brain Booster ROCKS! It's the best thing since sliced bread!'. An example of acceptable praise would be 'I tried the Acme Brain Booster every day for 3 months. At first it didn't seem to do much, but after a couple of weeks I started to get more questions right at my local quiz night".
Any posts that are deemed by Forum Staff to be unacceptable in this respect will be edited or deleted and the poster notified.
Links to other websites
- Links to other websites are only permitted from established members with more than 30 posts, AND when this is relevant to the Forum AND will enhance others' experience.
Identity Theft
Do not impersonate anyone, this is identity theft, it is illegal and is considered 'gross misconduct' (see below).
Equal Opportunities
The psychology forum is open to people of all ages, genders, races and sexualities. Any posts of a discriminatory nature will be deleted and the offending poster given a warning or banned, depending on the severity of the offence.
Multiple Posts
- Post a topic only once. Do not post the same topic in multiple forums, or more than once in the same forum. Multiple posts are unnecessary and will be deleted.
- If no one responds to your post, just post a reply to your original thread to bring the message to the top of the list so members can notice it.
Formatting Text
- Generally the default font size is the best to use. Do not use excessively large font sizes, as it is considered to be 'shouting' and will be edited back down to the default size by the moderators.
- Do not post your message in CAPITALS only or all in bold. This makes the message harder to read and the post will be edited.
Forum Language
Although the psychology forum is international and welcomes people of all nationalities, English is the language used on the Forum. As English is not the first language of all Forum users, please write in clear English, without abbreviations or slang.
If you break the rules
In general the following procedure will be followed for breaking the rules:
- 1st Offence: You will receive a polite Private Message from a Moderator, reminding you of the rules. Any offending post may be edited or deleted.
- 2nd Offence: A further Private Message, and a public warning on the Forum and deletion of the offending post.
- 3rd Offence: A third offence may lead to the user being banned from the Forum.
Gross Misconduct
Any breach of the rules amounting to gross misconduct will lead to an immediate ban from the Forum. Examples of gross misconduct include, but are not limited to the following
- Insulting, insensitive or offensive behaviour to other users.
- Joining the psychology forum purely for the purposes of publicity.
- Deliberately inflammatory posts.
Psychology Forum Staff
Forum staff include MVPs, Moderators and Adminstrators. Their roles are as follows:
- MVPs are chosen by Moderators and Admin as being helpful and supportive of other members.
- Moderators monitor forum content and contribute valuable discussion topics to the board.
- Administrators perform top-level tasks such as banning and oversee the smooth running of the board in general.
Thank you for taking the time to read this - we look forward to having you as part of our community.
Uncommon Forum Staff