How to use the Forum: User Agreement, Sign-in Process and Forum Use Policy

HOW TO USE THE FORUM

Before you get started

• Please review the pepnet 2 Forum sign-in process, Forum user agreement and policy before you participate in the Forum. Everything you need in this document is always posted under the “Welcome to the pepnet 2 Forum” category.
• Make sure you've searched for the answer to your question in the topics before starting a new discussion. Please use the search box on top of the page, or ask the moderator if you are having trouble finding the topic/discussion you are looking for.
• If you would like to post a topic or respond to a discussion, please sign-in to our website or create a new account if you have not yet done so. Everyone can read posts in the Forum, but only registered users can participate in discussions.

FORUM USER AGREEMENT:

Welcome to the pepnet 2 Forum! This is a continuation of the pepnet 2 listserv, but in a new format. Before you begin posting, please read the following agreement and guidelines:

• Please use the pepnet 2 Forum cautiously. The postings you and others make are publicly viewable, but require a sign-in to join the discussion. Pepnet 2 does not wish to have any of the Forum participants’ postings used against them negatively by colleagues, employers, professional programs or in a court of law. In turn, please respect what others post.

• Pepnet 2 administrators and/or the moderators of this Forum have the right to remove, edit, move or lock any topic at any time should they see fit. As a user you are responsible for any information you enter on this site. The admin and those affiliated with creating and moderating this site are in no way responsible for any unwanted actions that may have occurred as a result of information posted on this site. There is zero tolerance for abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, bashing, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material posted in the Forum.

• Pepnet 2 recognizes that institutions and other entities may request information regarding businesses who provide services, such as (but not limited to) interpreting services, remote speech-to-text or post-production captioning. Information about these businesses may be posted in the Forum. Pepnet 2 does not endorse one business over the other nor solicits advertisements for such businesses. Unsolicited advertisements will be removed.

• By posting in this Forum, you agree to abide by the aforementioned rules. Breaking these rules may result in your post being removed, and severe abuses may lead to harsher penalties. We reserve the right to change these rules at any point in our efforts to keep the Forum clean, user-friendly, and safe. If you believe that someone is violating these guidelines, please contact the Forum moderator, Cassie Franklin at cassie.franklin@pepnet.org . Happy posting!

FORUM SIGN-IN PROCESS

How to sign-in, set your notifications and post messages:

1. On the top right of the pepnet 2 webpage (www.pepnet.org), locate the “Sign In” button.

If you have an account: If you have already created an account, sign in with your username and password. Once you’re signed in, click on “Forum” and start posting.

If you don’t have an account: please follow the steps in creating a new account and fill in the appropriate information. Once you’ve completed the online form, please check your email (and/or your spam folder) for email verification. Once your email is verified, you will be able to log in on our site and participate in the Forum. 

2. Setting your notifications: If you want to receive follow-up notifications to your posts, or to receive notifications of all posts (similar to a listserv), please choose the appropriate settings in your profile under “Comment follow-up notification settings” and “Receive comment follow-up notification emails”. You can go back at any time and change your settings if needed. You may also subscribe to notifications when creating a post in the Forum (for more information on this, please contact the Forum administrator, Cassie Franklin – cassie.franklin@pepnet.org).

3. Posting in the Forum: There are two ways to post in the Forum (please search for your topic/discussion before making a new post and make sure you are signed in):

If you would like to begin a new discussion topic, please choose the appropriate category (such as Accommodations) by clicking on the category title. Once you’re in the appropriate category, select “Add new topic”.

If you want to respond to a discussion under a topic, find the discussion you want to participate in. Either click reply to an existing post or scroll down to “Add new comment”. You can also modify your notification settings to that specific discussion.

FORUM USE POLICY

Ground rules for interacting with others

• Be nice to each other. This is a community of people who care about Connecting People and Building Capacity, and we want to keep things friendly. Personal attacks and name-calling are not permitted. This behavior may result in a warning or removal from the Forum.
• Be nice to the moderators. We are real people who care a lot about this Forum and its contributors. We're always happy to hear your feedback, but please be constructive.

Ground rules for how to make posts

• Posts must be made by a person. Please consider using your name instead of some silly nickname. We all work together, let’s learn from one another.
• Posts must be on-topic. Please search to see if someone has already posted a similar topic. If you would like to start a new topic, please choose the most appropriate category. If you would like to reply to a thread, please do so in the appropriate place. If you have questions, please contact the Forum moderator.
• Posts must be easy for others to read. Subject lines may not be in ALL CAPS or contain excessive punctuation. Posts may not contain unnecessary URLs. While you're welcome to post a URL, posts with excessive URLs or are seen as spam will be removed. Members who post excessive or inappropriate URLs will be contacted by the pepnet 2 Forum moderator.
• Posts must be placed in the most appropriate category. This Forum is organized by categories, so please choose the appropriate category for your question. We can’t say this enough. We want it to be easy for you to find what you need.

Ground rules for what to post

Posts shouldn't contain the following types of materials. If you post these types of content, you and/or your post may be removed from the pepnet 2 Forum.

• Spam. In this Forum, we're all responsible for keeping the community spam-free. Spam includes, but is not limited to, any promotional, commercial, or adult content, multiple instances of the same post, posts with URLs unrelated to the question, and the transmission of malware, viruses, or anything that may disrupt service or harm others.
• Nudity and sexually explicit material. We don't allow nudity or sexually explicit material. We also don't allow content that drives traffic to commercial pornography sites.
• Violent or bullying behavior. Don't threaten, harass, or bully other users. This includes using profanity to abuse others.
• Hate speech. We don't allow the promotion of hatred toward groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity.
• Impersonation. We don't allow impersonation of others or other behavior that is misleading or intended to be misleading.
• Private & confidential information. We don't allow unauthorized publishing of people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, driver's and other license numbers, or any other information that is not publicly accessible. Please refrain from using individuals’ names or offering too many details to protect others’ confidentiality.
• Copyright. We will respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement.