Community dos and don'ts

To help make our community a supportive, friendly and welcoming place we have put together some dos and don’ts to think about when posting or commenting on our community. What do you think of them?

Do:

• Be nice. We want our community to be a welcoming place, sometimes it is easy to post something on a community forum that we wouldn't say face to face. Consider what you want to say and how it may come across.
• Take care with humour that might work verbally but may come across differently online
• Read your post or comment before posting, just to check that it reads how you want it to
• Consider your use of language for those whose first language is not English
• Listen to written words and the person behind those words, try not to assume. If you need any clarification about what someone means, ask. 

Don’t:

• Shout at other members by posting in all CAPITAL letters
• Post any real names of the doctors or nurses treating you. Please do tell your story but use descriptives like ""my doctor" or "my nurse" rather than specific names. 
• Post anything that could be interpreted as self-publicity (including spamming – posting the same or similar message in many discussions), advertising (including pyramid selling and chain letters), selling or soliciting. If you’re discussing fundraising or events for us, feel free to add links where appropriate. 
• Post anything unlawful – for example, sending or posting material that is indecent, racist or defamatory, or harassing and threatening
• Post anything intended to disrupt or vandalise the community
• Post any personal details of others, known both in and outside the community 
• Post any third-party material that infringes any legal rights – for example, copyright or other proprietary rights 
• Post private email anywhere in the community. The Private Message function is useful if you’d like to talk to a member of the community one-on-one, and is a more secure way to share email addresses should you want to do this.