Code of Conduct

We understand some of the debates can get heated and we encourage freedom of speech, but we expect our members to treat others with respect and courtesy. We will not tolerate the following…

Abuse including bad language
Cyberbullying
Personal attacks
Racism
Anti-semitism
Sexism
Sexually explicit posts
Homophobia
Ban dodgers / suspended members
Harassment
Flaming
Flooding
Bumping multiple old threads (a form of flooding)
Spamming
Links to rival web addresses
Content that is in any way unlawful, threatening, offensive, bigoted, libellous, obscene, prejudicial to active legal proceedings, in contempt of court, otherwise objectionable or in breach of any obligations of confidence or copyright
The use of offensive names or nicknames
Trolls
Socks (to dupe users)
Re-posting a previously deleted thread or post
Instructions for illegal or otherwise harmful activities
Links to pornography, pirated software and/or computer games, copyrighted material or other counterfeit goods
Content that infringes any patent or trademark rights
Collection or distribution of personal data concerning other members of the Vera Community, products or personally identifiable information about another person that is published without their express consent
Impersonation of another person, whether a friend, family member, celebrity, Vera/Ezlo employee or other Vera/Ezlo Community participant
Chain letters, money-making or pyramid schemes
Organisation of raffles, lotteries or quizzes which involve the taking of money.
Advertising products or services
Advertising job vacancies
Offensive or copyrighted images
References to individual schools, colleges or agencies - or their staff - whether by name, or identifiable by a pseudonym or any other means

Members should not act in any way to disrupt the flow of an ongoing discussion. If a member does not wish to participate in an ongoing discussion or wishes to discuss a non-related topic, they are requested to begin another thread or go to the relevant Forum.

Your responsibilities

You may be held legally accountable for what you say or do online. In particular, you may be held liable for any defamatory comments, threats and untrue statements or other illegal or fraudulent claims made by you.

Your profile name(s) must not include words that are racist, profane, crude or otherwise offensive.

You may be held accountable for any breach of the rights of a third party if you have not obtained their prior consent to the use of their property.

You agree and warrant that you will comply with the terms imposed by the owner or licensor of any intellectual property rights as may exist in all software and information you access or post and to indemnify Ezlo against any action or cost suffered or incurred by Ezlo as a result of a breach by you of this term.

Extra Rules for Use of the Forum

Posting to the Vera forums constitutes your agreement to the terms outlined in this Forum Terms of Service

Please treat all Vera Community members with respect. As volunteers who are helping other users in the Vera Community forums, all members and moderators deserve your courtesy as much as we feel you deserve theirs. While we’re the first to admit we’re not perfect, we strive to be impartial and conduct ourselves in the fairest manner as possible for all. In order to provide you with a safe and positive experience on our forums, some moderation actions taken in the forums by our Community moderators may not be explicitly covered under these guidelines if we feel certain posts are not in the best interest of our community. If at any time you feel a community member or moderator treats you unfairly or inappropriately, please send an email to info@getvera.com.

By following these rules you help to ensure that the Vera Community remains an enjoyable environment for everyone. Violating these rules may result in your removal from the forums. The following Policies and Guidelines apply to “public” threads, private messages, visitor messages on user profiles, social groups, and any other form of communication within the Vera Community Forums:

Remember the Golden Rule - Treat others as you want to be treated

Misunderstandings on forums are quite common often due to the difficulty in understanding the implied tone in another user’s remarks. In fact, quite often something you may interpret as being harshly worded or rude may just be someone else’s form of offering you support. Take extra care to be kind in your comments to other users and never react negatively to comments you perceive as rude or otherwise objectionable. Instead, it’s always wiser to either end the discussion, ignore the comment entirely, or in more severe cases report the offense to our moderators by clicking the “Flag” icon button beside the post. Remember: two wrongs don’t make a right. Responding to another user’s comments in a manner contrary to our posting policy will be viewed by our moderators as equally inappropriate and may result in sanctions against your forum privileges.

Do not use abusive or disrespectful behavior

Disagreements or conflict may arise in the course of a discussion. Please remember to be courteous when disagreeing with others. Debate on differing opinions is appropriate and encouraged. Personal attacks against other users, however, are not allowed.

The following behaviors are examples of what will not be tolerated in the Lulu forums.

Flaming - posts that are designed to personally berate or insult another user.
Trolling - posting derogatory or inflammatory comments/threads attempting to bait other users into responding. Accusing someone of being a troll is also a form of trolling.
Personal attacks - posts that insult a poster directly. This includes any attacks against forum moderators, Vera representatives, or employees.

This list is non-exhaustive. ANY behavior that is patently offensive is also forbidden.

Do not haze new posters

New members should feel welcome to post their questions, no matter how well-informed. Do not harass them for asking questions or treat them poorly for not knowing an answer. Remember, we were all new once! Please welcome them to our boards and help them find the information they are looking for.

Search for answers before posting

Chances are if you have a problem or question, you’re not the first. Someone may have posted the same question before you and received an answer or Vera staff may have covered the subject in an Announcement. Read through the forums or do a keyword search on your question on the Community Search Page. This can save you and our community time and effort and add your thoughts to a larger existing discussion.

Requests for assistance

If you’re having a problem and need direct assistance from staff, please contact Vera Customer Care by filling out a Help Request. Typically customer care will respond to your inquiry within two business days from the time the inquiry is sent. If after two days you do not receive a response or are not happy with the response you received, you may post a message in the forums detailing the problem.

Do not post personal information

Please respect the privacy of others. Do not give out or re-post ANYONE’S personal information such as names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, private messages, etc. This applies to your own information and that of other users, Vera/Ezlo employees, family members, etc.

Do not post private communications

This includes conversations between Vera Customer Care, community members, moderators, employees, or partners of Vera/Ezlo on these forums or any other site.

Publicizing any private correspondence such as support tickets, email, Private Message (PM) correspondence, or chat logs is not permitted without prior permission.

Do not discuss moderator actions on the forums

If you do not agree with a moderator’s decision, you may send a private message to the moderator or community administrator. You may NOT start a thread or post complaining that your post was removed. Nor may you post private correspondence from moderators, such as infraction or warning notices. Questions or comments concerning warnings and suspensions (site or forum) should be conveyed through e-mail or private messaging.

Do not make non-constructive posts

Below are examples of prohibited non-constructive posts:

Spam - repetitive posting of the same topic or text or nonsensical posts that have no substance and are often designed to annoy other forum users. The solicitation or advertisement of content, goods, services, or information not found or published on Vera/Ezlo sites is considered “spam” and not allowed anywhere in our forums.
Bumping - posting on threads in order to keep them near the top of the forum list. Commenting on obsolete or old topics with the intent to bump them into a discussion is also prohibited.
Hijacking - Try to keep all replies to a thread on the topic at hand. Posting’s which are intentionally off-topic or try to sway the discussion completely or partially off-topic is generally considered rude.
Advertising - Vera/Ezlo prohibits the posting of advertising links, images or content for the purpose of self-promotion.
Hijacking or creating a new thread for the purpose of solicitation or advertising of content or any posts which could be interpreted as a solicitation are prohibited outside of their relevant forums. The one exception to this is signature links to your own site if it’s not a Vera/Ezlo direct competitor.
Lobbying - continually bringing up the same topic in numerous different threads or as an off-topic post in existing threads to get a developer’s attention.
Cross-posting - Posting the same topic or thread in more than one forum is considered cross-posting. As a courtesy to others before beginning a new thread, please look to see if an active thread on that topic has already been established by using the Search feature.
“I’m quitting” threads.
Malicious or Disruptive Code - the use of JavaScript, active or other coding, making repetitive posts, or other actions that interfere with site operations are forbidden. Any malicious code or employment of a robot, spider or other process or device to harvest e-mail addresses or other User information or to monitor the activity on the Forums is also forbidden.
Data Mining/Harvesting & Employing Bots - using the Vera Community forums as a means to acquire private information from other community members through any methods.
Threads that make threats or use other combative languages.
Threads that single out a user for ridicule.
Conspiracy Threads - claims or complaints about Vera/Ezlo or any of its employees acting in collusion with or showing favoritism to a group, author, or community member.

NEVER: Impersonate another forum user, moderator, community administrator, or Vera/Ezlo employee.

You are prohibited from impersonating anyone, including those named above, on the forum or the Vera/Ezlo sites.

Do not post disruptive off-topic threads

These forums are for and about Vera/Ezlo. We do, however, allow non-disruptive off-topic discussion in our forums as fitting with the community of posters who frequent them. Constructive discussion about other sites (comparing and contrasting) is allowed at the discretion of Vera/Ezlo. Likewise, any topics (such as politics or religion) that are volatile or disruptive are discouraged and can be removed at our discretion. Please contact a moderator if you have questions about a topic being permitted on the forums.

Do not post advertisements for other companies

Advertising of any kind for direct competitor companies on these forums is strictly prohibited.

Do not use proxy posting or account hopping to evade suspension

Posting on behalf of a suspended user is not allowed. Working around a suspension through other people’s accounts, the creation of new accounts or use of secondary accounts to continue posting is also prohibited. You are personally responsible for your conduct on the forums. If you create a new account to continue posting after your account has been suspended, any forum and accounts involved can be permanently banned. Forum and site suspensions generally apply to a person, rather than a specific account. Threads designed to announce, appeal or contest a forum or site suspension decision on behalf of a third party will also be removed without notice. If you do not understand why you were suspended or have further questions, you must contact support.

Do not post “Legal Action” or “Boycott” threads

Using the forums or Private Messages for encouraging, promoting, endorsing, or inciting any kind of legal action, reporting, or boycott endeavor against anyone is strictly prohibited.

Do not post sensitive or confidential information

This includes any information covered by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or beta testing agreement. Any information about Lulu or a third party covered by an NDA or Beta Testing Agreement that is posted will be removed. Posters of the information may be banned from all Lulu Services and may face legal action.

User-Generated Content

You may post images on the forums as long as they are of an appropriate and non-offensive nature and do not otherwise infringe the intellectual property rights of any party. The following images (or links pointing to such images) are examples what may not be posted:

any image which is sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, derogatory, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, contains profanity or depicts illegal activity.
Any image that is disruptive or, in Vera’s sole discretion, appears to be in poor taste will be removed and your forum account may be banned.

Zero Tolerance Policy

Immediate suspensions from the forum can result from any of the following: the posting of pornography; remarks which are sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive; or vulgar which discuss or illustrate illegal activity; provide links to sites that contain any of the aforementioned.

Proprietary forums

The Vera Community Forums are private message boards administered by Vera/Ezlo. All message board content is allowed at the discretion of Vera/Ezlo. Vera/Ezlo reserves the right to remove any message board content without notice and for any reason.

Copyright

Vera/Ezlo will respond to clear notices of alleged copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights infringement. For more information, please visit our Terms of Service.

Suspension and Termination

Vera/Ezlo shall determine, in its sole discretion, whether there has been a breach of these Policies and may take any action deemed appropriate.

Your use of the forums is conditioned upon your compliance with the Forum Policies and Guidelines as well as the Vera/Ezlo Terms of Service. Failure to comply with these Policies and Guidelines shall constitute a material breach of these Terms and may result in Vera taking any or all of the following actions:

Remove any material or postings you have made to the forums
Issue a warning
Suspend or ban your Vera account and/or your use of the forums
Disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as Vera feels is reasonably necessary
Pursue legal action against you

Vera/Ezlo excludes all liability for:

Any action taken in response to breaches of these Policies and Guidelines. The responses described in this document are not exhaustive, and Vera/Ezlo may take any other action, in its sole discretion as deemed appropriate.
Any loss or damage arising from the use of the forum by you.
Any content posted or uploaded by users of the forum which shall include, without limitation, any liability for offensive and/or defamatory posts

Changes to Forum Policies and Guidelines

Vera/Ezlo may revise the Forum Policies and Guidelines at any time by making changes to this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes as they are legally binding. Provisions contained within these Policies and Guidelines may be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on the Vera/Ezlo sites.

Constructive Feedback

At Vera Community, we welcome your feedback. Sometimes, your feedback may be negative, and that’s okay. We want to hear your honest thoughts on our products and our brand as a whole. However, we request that criticism be grounded in specific topics, constructive, and suggest solutions whenever possible. Posts that extend beyond the boundaries of this type of criticism are subject to removal.

Always Be Civil

Nothing sabotages a healthy conversation like rudeness:

Be civil. Don’t post anything that a reasonable person would consider offensive, abusive, or hate speech.
Keep it clean. Don’t post anything obscene or sexually explicit.
Respect each other. Don’t harass or grief anyone, impersonate people, or expose their private information.
Respect our forum. Don’t post spam or otherwise vandalize the forum.

These are not concrete terms with precise definitions — avoid even the appearance of any of these things. If you’re unsure, ask yourself how you would feel if your post was featured on the front page of the New York Times.

This is a public forum, and search engines index these discussions. Keep the language, links, and images safe for family and friends.

Keep It Tidy

Make the effort to put things in the right place, so that we can spend more time discussing and less cleaning up. So:

Don’t start a topic in the wrong category.
Don’t cross-post the same thing in multiple topics.
Don’t post no-content replies.
Don’t divert a topic by changing it midstream.
Don’t sign your posts — every post has your profile information attached to it.

Rather than posting “+1” or “Agreed”, use the Like button. Rather than taking an existing topic in a radically different direction, use Reply as a Linked Topic.

Post Only Your Own Stuff

You may not post any excerpts of private conversations between other members of this community or the Vera staff without express permission from the other party. Additionally, you may not post descriptions of, links to, or methods for stealing someone’s intellectual property (software, video, audio, images).

Powered by You

The Vera Community is operated by your friendly local staff and you, the community. If you have any further questions about how things should work here, open a new topic in the site feedback category and let’s discuss! If there’s a critical or urgent issue that can’t be handled by a meta topic or flag, contact us via the staff page.

Terms of Service

Yes, legalese is boring, but we must protect ourselves – and by extension, you and your data – against unfriendly folks. We have a Terms of Service describing your (and our) behavior and rights related to content, privacy, and laws. To use this service, you must agree to abide by our TOS.

FAQ

How to make this a civilized place for public discussion?

Please treat this discussion forum with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.

These are not hard and fast rules, merely guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a clean and well-lighted place for civilized public discussion.

How do I Improve the discussion?

Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.

The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.

One way to improve the discussion is by discovering ones that are already happening. Spend time browsing the topics here before replying or starting your own, and you’ll have a better chance of meeting others who share your interests.

What if I don’t agree with one's opinion?

Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree

You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:

Name-calling
Ad hominem attacks
Responding to a post’s tone instead of its actual content
Knee-jerk contradiction

Instead, provide reasoned counter-arguments that improve the conversation.

Should I participate at discussions?

Definitely - Your Participation Counts

The conversations we have here set the tone for every new arrival. Help us influence the future of this community by choosing to engage in discussions that make this forum an interesting place to be — and avoiding those that do not.

This forum provides tools that enable the community to collectively identify the best (and worst) contributions: bookmarks, likes, flags, replies, edits, and so forth. Use these tools to improve your own experience, and everyone else’s, too.

Let’s leave our community better than we found it.

I’ve noticed something wrong, what should I do?

If You See a Problem, Flag It

Moderators have special authority; they are responsible for this forum. But so are you. With your help, moderators can be community facilitators, not just janitors or police.

When you see bad behavior, don’t reply. It encourages the bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just flag it. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken, either automatically or by moderator intervention.

In order to maintain our community, moderators reserve the right to remove any content and any user account for any reason at any time. Moderators do not preview new posts; the moderators and Vera Community operators take no responsibility for any content posted by the community.