Forum behaviour rules and guidelines.

Welcome to the Dyxum.com forums which are privately owned by Mladen Sever and run and maintained by an international team of volunteers. Dyxum was created as a place to offer information, hold forum discussions, and share photographs taken with A-mount dSLR cameras. This was later extended to include E-mount equipment.


General Rules

You cannot post here without first registering. Email address must be your own, not the neighbour’s, or your kid’s. You should operate one account only; anyone found to be using multiple accounts will be subject to heavy sanctions, up to and including a permanent ban.

Members must be 14 years old, although exceptions can be made for those who are younger if another full member vouches for them.

The forums are actively moderated and have simple (and non-onerous) set of rules which we expect you all to follow. The administrator or moderator reserves the right to remove your right to post should you repeatedly abuse these simple rules. This is a free facility, so don't ruin things for everyone else. If you have a problem with a particular post or poster, contact the administrator. Don’t get into an argument that could cost you both your membership.

The administrator reserves the right to remove/move messages at any time. In posting a message you are agreeing to the rules laid out below; any posts which violate any of these rules may be deleted without notice.

A small number of forums have special rules in addition the the ones set out here -- particularly the Sell/Buy forum, the Dyxum Photo Contest forum and the Critics Corner forum. Please familiarise yourselves with these as well.


Copyright

Dyxum fully respects intellectual property rights and copyright and will take appropriate action whenever there is an infringement. Please note that this applies not only to images but intellectual property and copyright as a whole. Expressed simply: please do not post content that violates another person's rights.

In particular:

• Copyright of pics posted on this site is retained by the person who took the shot, and "normal" copyright rules apply. A good summary of these can be found on The Photography Website,


• Photos "lifted" from other forums or hosting sites cannot be used without the prior permission of the owner. If you would like to re-post a photo taken by some other person, for example to suggest a different processing, please ask the owner of the photo for permission first,


• We do not allow the sale of copies of software or other electronic media save for where such items have been placed in the public domain by the copyright holder with explicit permission to distribute.


• Any member either seeking to sell copyright material where they are not the copyright holder or eliciting others to breach copyright will be, at a minimum, suspended without notice and their actions reported.

Restrictions

• Abuse of PMs/e-mails – it is considered to be a breach of forum rules to quote or summarise PMs between forum members in open forum. The facility was introduced to give members a chance to communicate directly without having to go through different mail systems. The same disclosure rules apply to both PM and other email forms. Private mail is “private” and any breach of this is likely incur the usual penalties.


• Bad language - repetitive or needless use of bad language can result in a member being suspended for a one-week cool-down period.


• Bashing - Deliberately and repeatedly bashing the same brand, product or company will get you banned. If you have a complaint or comment to make then make it once and make sure you have facts to support it. We will also not tolerate any disparaging remarks about other forums, or websites, and their members.


• Be civil - anyone being abusive, calling people names or generally trying to stir up trouble will not be tolerated. If you think someone is wrong it may be because they are new, don't jump on them, think first. If you are repeatedly abusive you will be banned from these forums. Once again, be nice to each other.


• Bumping – Don’t bump your message back to the top of the forum with no new content.


• Commercial advertising – Dyxum.com is non-commercial website. Commercial website linking or advertising is not allowed, if you wish to advertise on the site contact us (correct URL needed). This rule includes administrators of other digital photography websites promoting themselves on the forum. You will be banned and have all of your messages removed.


• Flame / Attacks - We do not tolerate abusive, malicious, personal attacks or self-promoting messages.


• For Sale/Wanted to Buy - We encourage such messages that are for the poster’s own equipment/acquisition. This topics should be posted in appropriate sell / buy forum. Links to external sales (ebay, stores etc) must be posted in external sales subforum !! eBay listings must only be posted by persons with no direct connection with the sale, UNLESS it is a sale from a private collection. Exceptions are possible ONLY with permission by our admin group.


• Harassment - If we receive complaints about users harassing other users either by forum message, email or by other methods you will be banned immediately. If serious enough we will also contact your ISP and report the matter.


• Legal ownership - Each message posted is owned by and the opinion of the original poster. Neither Dyxum.com nor its owner or administrator, and moderators are legally responsible for anything posted on these forums.


• Quoting - When quoting another members message with a photo please only quote the text and don't "repost" the photo


• No Off Topic - Please keep off-topic [non-photographic] messages in the Open Talk forum, that's what it is there for. Off Topic messages may be moved to Open Talk or deleted if posted in one of the main forums, repeated posting of Off Topic messages can lead to a ban. Off topic messages in any thread may be shifted or deleted. Keep your posts short and easy to understand – this is not a playground for budding novelists.


• Site questions / comments - Please check our forum FAQ first, you may have a question which has already been answered. If not, you are more than welcome to use "about dyxum.com" forums.


• SPAM – avoid SPAM and wasteful cross-posting.


• Signatures - signatures should not be overly large, or use garish colours. The Administrators prefer the use of non-graphic signatures but if an illustration is used it should be no more than 35 pixels high (or tall). Animated gifs are expressly forbidden. Members can be required to modify signatures which fall outside this guideline and the Administrators have the right to make final decisions.


• Damaging the site -- Deliberately damaging the Dyxum site by removing photographs or destructive editing of text in a way that destroys the flow and intent of a thread is an action which is discourteous and may prompt action from a moderator.


• Software piracy - We do not allow the posting of anything related to the piracy of software.


• Soliciting "donations" unauthorized posts soliciting money or donations of any kind (including photographic equipment) are forbidden, as are posts encouraging or seeking help in evading or reducing legitimate fees or subscriptions. Such posts may lead to a suspension or a permanent ban from forum membership. If you want to request donations for any good cause please contact the admin/moderator team for authorization before posting.


• Soliciting "lobbying" - Solicitation for sponsorship or personal votes in external polls of any kind should not be made without express permission from the Administration team


• Trolls - Anyone deliberately antagonizing other forum users by posting 'flame bait' type messages are not welcome.

If in doubt about the appropriateness of a pic or post you should check with an Admin or Mod before posting.

The Admin group has final decision making authority on what constitutes a violation of these rules.

These rules change from time to time to further improve the quality of the content and the openness of Dyxum. Please check them periodically.


Posting images

Non-Alpha photographs

Dyxum is a site dedicated to digital stills photography using with Alpha system cameras. We do not encourage the posting on Dyxum of stills photographs taken with other cameras. We do allow the posting of occasional (ie not regular and no more than one or two posts in a week, consisting preferably a maximum of four shots) non-Alpha shots from ex-members or members running two systems. We have also been known to invite ex-Alpha system users who have switched systems to continue posting with their new equipment as 'Emeritus' members in recognition of their prior contribution, but this is very much an exception. We take the view that any attention non-Alpha shots get on the site is attention taken away from shots taken on Alpha equipment; we note that there are (very good) sites elsewhere where non-Alpha shots can be appreciated. Therefore the non-Alpha camera should not be mentioned in the post title but in the post pls. mention that the shot is taken with a non-Alpha camera to ensure they do not get picked up for the weekly exhibition.

Video photography

Although Dyxum was (and still is) a primarily stills oriented site, we realise we cannot keep on ignoring video – to that end we have provided a video sub-forum.

Members are welcome to post links to videos, discuss video technique and the artistic side of video in that subforum. We would ask that any videos 'linked to', follow our posting guidelines and restrictions (as outlined below).

It is not as easy for our moderators to check compliance with posting guidelines for videos as it is with stills. We are confident of the membership to self moderate and would ask Dyxumers to use the Report Post button to alert the team to any links they think are outside the guidelines.

Subjects

Dyxum members represent a wide spectrum of cultures, beliefs and customs. What is acceptable in one culture may not be in another. This is why we ask members to be tolerant of each others. However, adult Dyxum members should be able to see what they want; minors should be protected from material likely to harm or disturb them and everyone should be protected from exposure to unsolicited material that they find offensive. To help with this, Dyxum has the following rules about posting images.

Dyxum explicitly prohibits posting (or even linking to):

• pictures of nude or semi-nude children,


• voyeuristic pictures,


• pictures depicting sex, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that it offends the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults,


• photos of drug use or abuse, or any of the apparatus used (such as syringes and P-pipes), with the exception of a medical or veterinary setting showing obvious pharmaceutical use


• pictures describing or depicting a minor who is, or appears to be under 16 in a way likely to offend a reasonable adult,


• images promoting, inciting or instructing in matters of crime or violence,


• photographs featuring symbols associated with extreme political movements other than in a strictly historical or cultural context.


• photos that violate laws, including copyright laws.

Members who must still show images containing any of the restricted subjects listed below must use a link to the images prefaced by a warning message instead of embedding the image in the message.

Restricted subjects (please think twice if you must post that image):

• Nudity: Images taken with A-mount cameras showing female breasts as an accepted cultural practice (e.g. indigenous people). All other images containing nudity are prohibited. Images containing such nudity should only show as a link or web address with "WARNING NUDITY" above it.


• Glamour / Bikini pictures: while we acknowledge that such pictures (tastefully shot) are a big part of photography we do have a worldwide audience and wide range of users. If you wish to bring a gallery of such images to people’s attention then please just post a link or provide a web adress. A clear warning indicating the content of the pictures needs to be put in the post title or right above the link/web address in the post.


• Violence: Images reporting public violent scenes (e.g. war) with A-mount cameras. Images containing such violence should only show as a link or web address with "WARNING VIOLENCE" above it.


• Cruelty: Images taken with A-mount cameras showing cruelty to animals as an accepted cultural practice (e.g. corrida de toros). Images containing such cruelty should only show as a link or web address with "WARNING CRUELTY" above it.

If in doubt about the appropriateness of a pic or post you should check with an Admin or Mod before posting.

The Admin group is authorized to enforce these rules and is sole judge of image content. Its decisions are final.
We hope that you will find these rules helpful in managing sensitive content.

Submitting images and posting links

First of all:

Be mindful of members with smaller and lower resolution screens and keep size of images under control. The suggested size is no more than 1024 pixels wide and no more than 960 pixels high.

For the detailed description please see this post.


Where to ask questions

We are very glad to see that most questions asked in our forum get answered. We are very proud of this fact.

Also, in some specific circumstances the admin group is willing to answer any mail sent to them trying to help find answers that can't be found in our forum.

However, please try NOT TO ask our admin group members privately any question that would be more appropriate to ask in our forum first !!!

Not only because they may answer your question here too, but another user may answer you as well, or someone else may be interested in finding those answers. So keep questions and answer private only for some specific circumstances.

This is very open minded forum and we have more and less experienced users. So asking whatever question you need is not a problem, no matter how "stupid" may seem.


Thank you for using dyxum.com forum.
Admin group

Admin note: This is a general reminder of the high standards that our members expect of each other when posting in the Dyxum forums. We do not tolerate posts that belittle other members; call names; are SPAM; seek to offend or deceive; bait, flame or bash; make political points; use offensive language; suggest that someone posts elsewhere; or judge a member by their sex, ethnicity, country of residence or number of posts made. We are honest and open; we tolerate different opinions; we respect other’s cultural viewpoints; we try to pass on knowledge and expertise; we try to bring something constructive to each topic; we express disagreement in a reasoned and reasonable manner. We do report threads that we think go against these principles to the moderators via the report button. Members are respectfully asked to consider if their contributions comply with all of the above before pressing the post button, and to report posts and threads that they believe go against these principles to the moderators via the "Report post" button.

Here are some suggestions about forum etiquette from a site called TopTenReviews and are very good to consider for here as well:

• Read the forums rules and guidelines before posting for the first time.


• Search the other posts to see if your topic is already covered.


• Use a meaningful title for your thread.


• Do not use [this] forum to promote your product, service or business.


• Be civil. Personal differences should not be handled through posts displayed to everyone.


• Stay on topic.


• Don't respond to spammers, use the "report post" button instead


• Do not submit a post that requires readers to download a large attachment. Either explain the attachment or, better yet, provide a link to the information.


• Use plain simple language avoiding slang and nuances that might not be understood by people in other countries


• Do not double post (post the same message twice in one thread) or cross post (place the same message across several forums).


• Act in a give and take manner; help others as often as or more than you ask for


• Do not use all caps, all bold or SHOUT in your posts. In addition, one exclamation point is enough.


• Use coloured text sparingly, mind the eyes of others and keep the pages with posts look balanced.


• When replying to a post, do not quote more from the previous post than you have to, and don't needlessly include the pic in the post.


• Do not post new problems on someone else's thread and interrupt a topic of discussion.


• Do not use someone else’s thread for a private conversation.


• Watch your sense of humor, posts may be read by people from a variety of backgrounds and ages.


• Do not use a huge and annoying signature, a modest signature is fine, moderators may remove large ones anyway.


• Do not post any information that you want private. Posts should not contain personal, identifiable information or content embarrassing to others.


• Do not post content that violates a copyright.


• Try to avoid empty responses and only post responses when you have something to contribute.


• Use plain simple language avoiding slang and nuances that might not be understood by people in other countries.


• Do not use words like ”urgent” or ”important” in your subject line, be patient.


• Do not chastise newbies.




Finally, if you want to see it all from a humorous cartoon point of view check this out.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-behave-on-an-internet-forum

Edited by Bob J - 19 March 2022 at 09:48