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Rules of the ATAR Notes Forums

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Joseph41:
Written primarily by Brenden, with input from other mods/administrators. If you have any issues, contact a moderator or administrator, a list of whom can be found here: Meet the ATAR Notes Leadership Team.
The Vital Standards
The most important thing about ATAR Notes is to strike a balance. We're a high-quality community with high-quality people. We like to keep a high-standard of posting, treat each other really well, and generally be one of those rare places on the Internet that's actually, y'know... nice.

But we also like to kick back. Not "take drugs behind the bike shed" level of kick back, but, you know - "have some cheeky banter" sort of kick back. It's in this spirit that we talk about the The Vital Standards of the community. Some of them are pretty serious, but so long as we're keeping that stuff in check, ATAR Notes is fundamentally a casual, supportive environment for all.

1. Respect for Others
SpoilerThis is the number one rule of the community - have respect for others. On a basic level, this obviously precludes religious slander, racism (no matter how veiled), sexism, disparaging LGBTQIA+ groups, or otherwise acting like an insufferable fool.

Disagreements will invariably happen. If you don’t like someone’s opinion, act like it. But don’t act like you don’t like them, because that will bring disrespect. If you lack the sophistication to challenge someone’s opinion without being insulting or rude, then you shouldn’t try to challenge someone’s opinion. Period. Again, this is irrespective of race, gender, religion, political affiliation or any other personal variable. I don’t care if you’re a snobby leftist or a snobby rightest who thinks everyone on the other side of the political spectrum is wrong and you’re the only insightful one in the world – you don’t get to belittle others.

This is the big rule for this community – respect. There will be harsh consequences for anyone found to be bullying another user in any way on this site, which could include being permanently prevented from using the forums.

In regard to general forum conduct – we all need to be conscious of the fact that AN is a gloriously diverse place, made up of not only different types of people, but of people with different experiences. Some people on ATAR Notes have suffered bullying, have emotionally abusive parents, or live with disabilities – physical or otherwise. With this in mind, particular types of language should not feature in your discussion on ATAR Notes.

Words and phrases like faggot, slut, rape, spastic, retard, fat, kill myself and so on are not to be used as hyperbolic terms or in denigrating ways. For example, it is not appropriate to say, “my math teacher’s a faggot”, “I got raped by that exam”, or, “the lack of feedback my fat bitch English teacher gives me makes me want to kill myself”.

I understand this is common parlance amongst our demographic – the student demographic. And we place no judgement if you choose to banter like that with your friends in privacy. But the fact of the matter is this: ATAR Notes is a truly brilliant place, and it will remain that way for as many people as possible. The English language is supremely rich, and there are always ways of expressing yourself without making others feel uncomfortable or upset. Using language in aforementioned ways actively detracts from our ability to be great for the greatest number – and for that reason, we ask that you refrain.

Respect extends also to the ways in which we address one another. Do not refer to others in ways you think may be offensive to them, or taken offensively by them. References in address to, for example (not an exhaustive list), background, sexuality, personal preferences, physical appearance, mental state, and religion, should be avoided. We're not here to comment on others' traits, whether that be in a seemingly positive or negative way. Both can make users feel uncomfortable, and that is in direct conflict with the wonderful community we have here. As such, please avoid potentially uncomfortable terms such as "beautiful", "sexy", "darling", "young lady", and so on.
2. Humour and Seriousness
SpoilerFor a lot of people, AN is a productive escape from high school. It’s either a place where you can get away from everyone else in your school that doesn’t give af, or a place where you can talk about school but without the same pressures and competitiveness of your cohort.

This sort of escape will often result in non-school discussion, which is an excellent thing that we readily encourage. This means we will get to know each other well – a wonderful thing.

This also means that we can have a joke, be serious, and just… be normal. We encourage a little bit of cheek – but it stops at stupidity. For example, putting a bunch of random subjects in your signature and saying you’re aiming for low study scores/mystery marks and going to TAFE, then posting about it every day isn’t a joke. Neither is frequently reminding everyone you are sitting on a perfect score in all your subjects without studying because it’s all really easy. It’s just annoying. We also encourage a little bit of seriousness, but it stops at stupidity. For example, being unkind to someone because they accidentally made a mistake when explaining a concept, or because they posted in the wrong place, just makes you look mean-spirited.

This brings us back to the fundamental spirit of ATAR Notes. Find the balance, and AN will continue to be hilarious and helpful all at the same time.
3. Participation
SpoilerFive years ago, I’d never posted on ATAR Notes, or heard of the website. I could see a bunch of moderators with thousands of posts chatting to each other and whatever else, but there were also a few questions where I thought I could really help. So I started posting, became a VicMod, NatMod, and then Admin when growing this community became my (amazing, enjoyable) full-time job.

None of this happens if I didn’t make the decision to participate.

The ATAR Notes Lecturers, who are now legally published authors before the age of 20? They all had zero posts at one point, and then they decided to post –  and look at where that little bit of participation got them.

Now, I’m not saying that starting to post will make you become an admin.

What I’m saying is that, at one point in time, the “big figures” you think are running this community were once completely anonymous, with no posts on the board at all. There’s nothing special about someone who’s posted 3,000 times that makes their answers better than yours, or their contributions better than yours.

The person you’re helping doesn’t give a shit if you have one post or 1,000, because at the end of the day, they’re just relieved that they understand a concept a little bit better. They don’t care about your post-count, or your level of ‘authority’. They just want help.

And we want you to help them. New users can feel like they’re “intruding” when they come out of the woodwork and start answering questions. But actually, it’s completely the opposite – the most exciting thing that can happen on this forum is to see someone new come along and push the forum forward, toward its next evolution.

Please, don’t be intimidated. Be the reason for the excitement. Get involved – it’s in the rules.

Don’t know how to post? That’s okay; it can be a bit confusing to start –read this!
Don’t know what to post? Try starting in this thread!
4. Shitposting and Spam
SpoilerDo not post “haha” and nothing else.

We do not want low-quality trash on the community.

And I’m not talking about length of posts; short posts are great. I’m talking about the function that your post will play.

If you’re asking a question, that’s a brilliant function – it contributes to the community by fostering participation, allowing us to flourish.

If someone says something relatable and you leave a comment, “Same” because you know everyone thinks it’s funny… that’s a contribution, because it’s lightening up the community.

If you’re doing your best to answer a question, that’s absolutely a contribution, and also absolutely all we can ask of you.

But this isn’t Facebook. Don’t click “reply”, then “post” just to say “lol”, or to ask a question like, “my essays are bad someone help me” with no background information. Just make sure your posts are serving a function – whether it’s social, funny, academic or otherwise. Please don’t clutter the forum with absolute meaninglessness.
5. Advertising
SpoilerATAR Notes is centred on high school education, and we understand that tutoring services are big in this domain. That’s fine, because we cater for both tutoring requests and ads in a particular place, which you can find here. Please do not post your tutoring requests/advertisements in any other place – they will be speedily deleted or moved.

We also do not allow flat-out advertisements for competing services or products, or advertisements for personal gain (unless those advertisements are in the relevant tuition board). So don’t make posts like “Hey guys, join my forum at [forum link]”, or “You can save up to 50% on this UMAT preparation pack! Click here!”, or “sup fellas, I work at a café – come and buy a coffee from me”. Any such links will be removed.

A note on bumping: if you have a thread advertising tuition or some other service, do not 'bump' your thread (posting to move it to the top of the list) unless:
- You have added new information or changed something about the offer ("Hey guys, just letting you know I've dropped the price from $15 to $10!”); OR
- It has been more than a month since the thread was last bumped ("Hey guys, just letting you know this service is still available in Term 2, contact me for details!")
Violation of this rule will result in warnings/the deletion of your advertising thread/further action at the discretion of a moderator.

Please refrain from linking to competing services. Any links to other tutoring services, analogous student forums/boards or products (see below) may be removed without notice, and further action may be taken if it is a repeat offence. If you're unsure as to whether it is acceptable to link to another website or not, feel free to ask any moderator or administrator. As a general rule, these types of links are disallowed:

(1) Links to paid education services in posts.
(2) Links to other forums or groups in posts when in direct conflict with ATAR Notes.*

*Please note that this does not include niche forums offering services not offered on or by ATAR Notes, such as MedStudentsOnline.
These are the main standards that defines the ATAR Notes community. Keep them in mind, and we can make sure this forum remains the awesome community it is for years to come. We’ve elaborated on how these standards apply in more specific, but less obvious ways, below.

The Rules
Forum SignaturesForum signatures should be subtle and not visually disruptive. In general, keep it to a little bit about you - your subjects, a favourite quote, a link to your blog, and so on. The content in your signature should also comply with other forum rules (i.e., racism, sexism isn't okay just because it's in your signature instead of a post you made).
Forum AvatarsThe only rule here can be summed up in the following way: keep in classy. It should be safe for work and inoffensive. The content of the image should comply with other forum rules (i.e., racism, sexism isn't okay just because it's in your avatar instead of a post you made).
RespectMost sections of the forums have an awesome thing that appears to the top right of the post – A respect meter and the option to ‘upvote’ or ‘downvote’ a post. We encourage everyone to upvote any post they find even remotely helpful – these slowly add up to increase the respect count on the profile of the person doing good stuff, and gives them a small form of recognition for their great work.

The formula is:
+1 = 0 Respect
+2 = 0 Respect
+3 = 0.4 Respect
+4 = 0.8 Respect
+5 = 1.2 Respect etc…

Lots of small posts with ‘+1’ won’t increase the respect count on your profile, but one great one with ‘+17’ will increase your respect count by 6.
Don’t downvote posts for no reason. Targeting a specific user’s posts or just downvoting everything in sight is definitely not allowed under any circumstances. 

Account UsageOne account per person - do not make multiple accounts.
Do not share your account with another person - you will be held liable for all of their actions on your account, period.

CopyrightATAR Notes has zero tolerance for distribution of illegal materials, or materials which infringe on copyright, including textbooks, company exams, and similar. Equally, we have zero tolerance for requests of these materials. Any threads offering or requesting distribution of these materials will be locked/removed, and offenders will be receive warnings/bans as required. This includes linking to other sites where the material can be accessed, and definitely includes exchanges via personal message.

Warnings and BansTo ensure that the ATAR Notes community remains the Internet’s greatest place, moderators will issue warnings to people who break the rules/standards outlined in this thread. Consider these warnings a little tap on the shoulder from us, to let you know that you need to reconsider your behavior.

Bans will not often be dealt, but when they are, they will either be a slap on the wrist, such as a 3-day ban, or simply a permanent ban that excludes you from interacting with the community. While warnings will often be given preceding a ban, this is not always the case - don't think you have "three chances" or anything like that. If you make a silly decision and, say, bully someone in a vicious way over the duration of a few hours - tough luck, you're gone for good.

Appeals can be made to [email protected], or alternatively, all warnings have a “Report to Admin” button attached that you can use to send a message to an administrator.

Occasionally, someone's IP address will get banned and you might try accessing ATAR Notes through the banned IP address. If this happens, you will get a notification saying you're banned, but you actually aren't. If this happens to you and you know you haven't been banned, just contact [email protected] and we can fix it. This happened to me once – don’t panic.

Who hands out those bans? Moderators and Administrators of the forums, as discussed below.

Moderators and AdministratorsTo make it entirely clear, being a Moderator or Administrator by no means adds credence to your opinion or posting. Mods and Admins simply keep the forums clean and tidy, and deal with troublesome users (not you, naturally).

In the very rare case of conflict, however, what a Mod or Admin says, goes. Similarly, if you’re warned by a Moderator or Administrator, take heed. But ultimately, Mods and Admins exist to serve you – to keep the forum running smoothly and efficiently.

You can see the ATAR Notes Leadership Team in this thread here.
Report to ModeratorBelow every post on ATAR Notes is a link to report that post to a moderator. This button can be used to alert the moderator team to a post that you feel is disrespectful to another user or otherwise in breach of the rules (we catch most things, but not all!).

To ensure that the moderators can handle real reports timely, we ask you to only use this function for legitimate concerns. Using it for non legitimate reasons may constitute a warning/other necessary actions by the moderator team.

Private messagingIt is possible to message ATAR Notes users directly. It almost goes without saying that all of the above rules also apply here. Just use common sense – if you don’t immediately get a reply, don’t continuously send more messages. Some people don’t want to speak with others directly, and that’s absolutely fine – they’re not obliged to respond.

Harassing people via private messages is simply not okay, and will not be accepted. Fundamentally, it runs against the very first thing that we discussed: respect for others.
Posting EtiquetteAs we grow up we’re taught how to talk to people in a polite way. Don’t interrupt, don’t yell, look at someone when they talk to you – that sort of stuff. Just the same, there are a set of etiquettes that you should try your best to follow when posting on the forums (in addition to the standards above):

-   Don’t delete your posts after you’ve had the question answered or your concern addressed. The question and answer can definitely be useful to other users in the future. Moderators may restore deleted questions if they feel it necessary.
-   Don’t post in old threads without a decent reason. You’ll get a warning message if you are about to post in a thread that is more than 30 days old. Don’t ignore that warning to write “Lol.”
-   Do not put in multiple posts what could, with less effort, be put in a single post. If you have multiple questions that are similar, pop them all in one post in a single thread. Don’t post the same thing in multiple places, and don’t post twice in succession in the same thread (use the ‘Modify’ button above your post to add to/change your question if you need to).
-   Try to keep things on topic: don’t start chatting about Business in the English thread. Obviously, the forums are a conservation that can segue, but overall, keep things moving in the intended direction.

Moderators may perform necessary actions to ensure the forum stays organised and easily explored – deleting posts, merging posts, moving posts, and possibly issuing warnings/bans in extreme/repeat cases. Don’t be offended if a moderator takes one of your posts and moves it to the proper spot, or merges a few of your posts together. It’s just us playing the janitor and tidying the place up.
The IRCThe IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, allows for instant messaging between users. Don’t think that you’re immune to adhering to these (very basic) standards just because you’re sending messages via the IRC, and not via forum posts.

The IRC is similarly monitored, and offensive or denigrating messages will result in a forum warning or ban – no questions asked.

jamonwindeyer:
All users should note the following amendments ;D

To the advertising section...

A Note on Bumping: If you have a thread advertising tuition or some other service, do not 'bump' your thread (posting to move it to the top of the list) unless:
- You have added new information or changed something about the offer ("Hey guys, just letting you know I've dropped the price from $15 to $10!"), OR
- It has been more than a month since the thread was last bumped ("Hey guys, just letting you know this service is still available in Term 2, contact me for details!")
Violation of this rule will result in warnings/the deletion of your advertising thread/further action at the discretion of a moderator.

New Section: Report to Moderator

Below every post on ATAR Notes is a link to report that post to a moderator. This button can be used to alert the moderator team to a post that you feel is disrespectful to another user or otherwise in breach of the rules (we catch most things, but not all!).

To ensure that the moderators can handle real reports timely, we ask you to only use this function for legitimate concerns. Using it for non legitimate reasons may constitute a warning/other necessary actions by the moderator team.

jamonwindeyer:
All users should note this additional section :)

Copyright

ATAR Notes has zero tolerance for distribution of illegal materials, or materials which infringe on copyright, including textbooks, company exams, and similar. Equally, we have zero tolerance for requests of these materials. Any threads offering or requesting distribution of these materials will be locked/removed, and offenders will be receive warnings/bans as required. This includes linking to other sites where the material can be accessed, and definitely includes exchanges via personal message.


In addition, a reminder to keep the posting etiquette rules in mind over the exam period - As the forum gets busier the moderator team want to be as helpful as possible, and that is loads easier with you guys on board as to appropriate posting ;D

Posting EtiquetteAs we grow up we’re taught how to talk to people in a polite way. Don’t interrupt, don’t yell, look at someone when they talk to you – that sort of stuff. Just the same, there are a set of etiquettes that you should try your best to follow when posting on the forums (in addition to the standards above):

-   Don’t delete your posts after you’ve had the question answered or your concern addressed. The question and answer can definitely be useful to other users in the future. Moderators may restore deleted questions if they feel it necessary.
-   Don’t post in old threads without a decent reason. You’ll get a warning message if you are about to post in a thread that is more than 30 days old. Don’t ignore that warning to write “Lol.”
-   Do not put in multiple posts what could, with less effort, be put in a single post. If you have multiple questions that are similar, pop them all in one post in a single thread. Don’t post the same thing in multiple places, and don’t post twice in succession in the same thread (use the ‘Modify’ button above your post to add to/change your question if you need to).
-   Try to keep things on topic: don’t start chatting about Business in the English thread. Obviously, the forums are a conservation that can segue, but overall, keep things moving in the intended direction.

Moderators may perform necessary actions to ensure the forum stays organised and easily explored – deleting posts, merging posts, moving posts, and possibly issuing warnings/bans in extreme/repeat cases. Don’t be offended if a moderator takes one of your posts and moves it to the proper spot, or merges a few of your posts together. It’s just us playing the janitor and tidying the place up.

Aaron:

--- Quote from: jamonwindeyer ---Copyright

ATAR Notes has zero tolerance for distribution of illegal materials, or materials which infringe on copyright, including textbooks, company exams, and similar. Equally, we have zero tolerance for requests of these materials. Any threads offering or requesting distribution of these materials will be locked/removed, and offenders will be receive warnings/bans as required. This includes linking to other sites where the material can be accessed, and definitely includes exchanges via personal message.
--- End quote ---

Bump. Still identifying far too many of these types of threads. Please pay particular attention and report threads that attempt to infringe on copyright in any way. Thank you. :)

jamonwindeyer:
Hey all! Just a reminder for our newer users:

Below every post on ATAR Notes is a link to report that post to a moderator. This button can be used to alert the moderator team to a post that you feel is disrespectful to another user or otherwise in breach of the rules (we catch most things, but not all!).

To ensure that the moderators can handle real reports timely, we ask you to only use this function for legitimate concerns. Using it for non legitimate reasons may constitute a warning/other necessary actions by the moderator team.

The 'Report to Moderator' button isn't a 'Reply' button! Only use it if you feel something in the post violates forum rules or should otherwise be brought to the attention of the moderator team :)

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