Code of conduct

This code of conduct is designed, above all, to help make our experience together an easy and mutually rewarding one.

At Suite101 we want to give good writing—strong, informative, engaging, interesting writing—a place to be read. We also wish to promote the Suite101 community as hospitable territory, helping people to share their learning experiences, extend their skills, find opportunities, broaden horizons.

One of the more implicit goals within this large, speckled group is to help each other make the most of our will to teach and tell. Yes, sometimes we'll have to defend, patrol, alert, react—but more than anything else we aim to get to the heart of matters.

These guidelines apply to the entire Suite101 community.

• Treat all Suite101 members with courtesy and respect. At Suite101, we want our members to feel welcome. Where you're compelled to critique another's work, try to do so with intelligence and compassion.  

• Be considerate. Our work will be used by other people, and we in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision we take will affect users and colleagues, and we should take those consequences into account when making decisions.

• Be respectful. We may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It's important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. We expect members of the Suite101 community to be respectful when dealing with each other.

• Be supportive. Our community will be strengthened by mutual respect, collaboration and pragmatic, responsible behavior. True leaders will be defined by their actions. Your approach to work, to problems, to others will contribute to the overall health and tenor of the community. We ask that you lend a hand where you can. We ask that you be supportive of others. We ask that you try to resolve conflicts before they escalate, spiral, explode.

• Resolve disputes constructively. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively and with the help of your team and community.

• Ask for help. Nobody knows everything, and nobody is expected to be perfect here. If you have a question, venture it. We'll learn more with stupid questions than without, so don't be shy. Use this wiki, these forums, whatever tools are at your disposal.

• Step down responsibly. Members will come and go. It's natural, it's expected, it's healthy. We ask that if/when you disengage from Suite101, in whole or in part, you do so in a way that minimizes disruption. There are options available to you to shift focus, step down, or move on.

This code of conduct is based on the Ubuntu Code Of Conduct, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.