Forum Guidelines
These forums are exclusively meant for GBBR Members. We do not support commercial themes or products. Please read the guidelines and be respectful of everyone.
Search Before Posting
Many of the questions that are posted in the forums have been posted many times before, and get the same answers each time. Before starting a new thread, search the forums for an answer. If the only topics are similar, but not exact, do not post in that topic to ask for help.
Post In the Best Place
The forum is split into sections, with each forum having its own one-line description on the front page. Choose the most suitable section for a new topic and post in only one section. Duplicate posts will be removed.
Choose the most appropriate section from the forum front page. Start a new topic by clicking the “Add New »” button to the right of the section’s title.
Choose A Good Topic Title
Use an appropriate title when making a new topic. “Looking for help with staging an open house that is wheelchair-friendly” is a good title. “URGENT HELP PLS NOW!!!!!” is not a good title. A good title can be the difference between getting help and not.
Tag Topics Wisely
Tags are a great way to help others find related support requests, and to help developers keep track of specific features.
Be considerate of this when tagging topics. The tag “Open House Safety” would be a great for a topic about safely managing an open house, while “safe” is common and largely unrelated English word and therefore not a great tag choice. Avoid very general tags, like “REALTOR®” and “problem.” Searching first is a great way to see what tags are being used by others with similar problems.
Tags should be separated by commas.
Include as Much Information as Possible
Include details about what you are looking for, what you need, what you’ve already found out, etc. If you are looking to solve a problem, describe the problem being faced when posting a topic.
Include images wherever they would be helpful. Including a picture of yourself when you’re discussing a legislative update may not be relevant. However, if you’re introducing yourself and a service you provide to address an issue raised, then a picture of yourself is more relevant.
Link to The Site
If a question relates to a specific site or page, and the site is publicly viewable, provide a link. This will allow people to see the content and often leads to faster resolutions.
The forum is not designed to be a link portal; excessive linkage will be moderated, as will signatures or links with no associated question.
Links will not get removed any time later, unless in extreme circumstances. Google will capture links, so if that is a concern, please don’t link.
Avoid Signatures
As everyone’s username and avatar is listed alongside their post, it is unnecessary to provide a signature in the forums.
Do Not Advertise or Promote Products That Are Not Relevant
The forums are here for providing users with a venue to get help with problems and share information. Promoting 3rd party products such as Viagra, Bitcoin, or other SPAMMY-like products is not relevant in this forum.
Do not create topics with the intent of promoting any of the above. They will be deleted and accounts will be moderated.
Warn About Adult Content
Some sites contain content that is not suitable for a general audience or for viewing while at work. To avoid creating problems for anyone who is trying to help, please add NSFW to the topic title of the post, as well as tag the post NSFW, as a warning if a site falls into this category. Err on the side of caution.
Do Not Bump Posts
Do not bump posts. Bumping a post to “the top” does not help a topic get noticed. The volunteers who try to answer questions look for those without replies first. If someone bumps a post, then it disappears from the ‘No Replies’ view.
We have a list of threads without replies. When a post is bumped, it becomes harder for it to be discovered and reduces the chances of getting appropriate help. Some forum helpers use that list to prioritize over other answered threads.
Moderators will delete bumps they find. This is in order to help posts get back into the No Replies listing, where they are more likely to get an answer.
Post Code Safely
Posting code in the forums can be tricky. In order for it to be formatted properly, the code must be enclosed in backticks (`). To do this, highlight the code in the editor and click on the “code” button. This feature behaves like blockquotes, and there is no need to mark each individual line. Please try to just use the formatting box included at the top of the forum wherever possible.
Reporting Threads (Modlook)
To bring a post to the attention of the moderators, add a tag called ‘modlook’ to the thread. That feed is checked very regularly by the moderating team.
The modlook tag is only for reporting issues with the forum itself. Using this tag in the hopes of attracting the attention of a moderator to a support question to get it answered faster is considered abuse.
Use the modlook tag on things like spam, people using signatures in their posts, or duplicate threads. Things that a forum moderator should see and correct.
Closing Posts
Posts are automatically closed after 12 months, if there are no new replies. We also reserve the right to close posts that are deemed non-productive to the community.
While many times non-productive posts are deleted, sometimes they have some relevance and instead are closed so the information remains, but discussion can no longer be furthered. This includes, but is not restricted to, posts on the following topics: Hosting recommendations (for or against), off topic conversations (i.e. non-WordPress), old/outdated topics, clearly resolved topics, excessive rudeness or antagonism, and requests for paid support.
Deleting / Editing Posts
We reserve the right to delete topics or posts that are off-topic or detrimental to the community, however it is not the general policy to edit or delete forum posts unless they are spam, harassing, illegal, or outright abuse. We will not delete a post or remove a link just because an Internet search for a term brings up the forums first.
Users can edit a post for up to 60 minutes from the time of submission. After that, the post can only be edited by a moderator.
When a post is made and people contribute answers to an issue, that then becomes part of the community resource for others to benefit from and deleting posts removes this added value.
Forum topics will only be edited or deleted at the discretion of the moderators if they represent a valid legal, security, or safety concern.
Don’t post things that aren’t 100% okay to be public. We’ll delete them if we agree it’s a big enough deal, but ‘My SEO!’ is never an acceptable reason.
Deleting Accounts
Accounts cannot be deleted, not even for obvious spammers, due to technical limitations of the system.
Usernames cannot be changed either. To use different username, create the new username and stop using the old one.
Contacting the Moderators
If a post needs moderator attention, use the tag modlook.
The Bad Stuff…
We need to keep the forums friendly, so, occasionally, topic content will be moderated. In severe cases, users may be blocked. This might mean anything from the light editing of some posts to complete removal of topics and deactivation of accounts. It should really go without saying, but the following are likely candidates for moderation or intervention
- Do not post login information, even test IDs and test passwords.
- Do not post another person’s private information (job, gender, living situation, location, etc).
- Do not ask for any kind of access in order to provide support, not even for plugins or themes.
- Do not harass or abuse people. Do not go to their websites, do not pick out their home addresses, phone numbers, Twitter ID, Skype ID, Facebook, any social media accounts or ways to contact them and use it to ask for support. Only use contact methods explicitly given.
- Do not post spam and affiliate links, offensive posts, posts without content, or flames.
- Please avoid posting in all caps if possible. Yes, there will be times that it’s kind of expected and a little here and there is understandable, but let’s keep it reasonable – also, keep in mind that often times ONE exclamation point has more impact than 10 exclamation points. (See what I did with the all caps back there!)
- Do not seek legal advice on the forums: We are not lawyers, and if we were we would then open our selves to liabilities. Contact the legal hotline for help.
- Do not abuse the @ mention system in the forums. Users on this site can subscribe to a topic, using @ notifications for your replies in unnecessary and can become spammy and abusive. Please use it sparingly.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Every post is judged on its own merits.
And that’s all. Enjoy your stay at the forums! Oh.. And, when you’re done, please mark your topic as “Resolved”. Thanks.
