Community rules and guidelines

The Shed Online relies on all its members to help keep it a safe place for men to share and view information. 

To do this we recommend all members adhere to the following guidelines when participating in the chat rooms or contributing to the discussion forums:

• As new members arrive please introduce yourself and welcome them, share your tips or show them how to use the website. Encouraging others’ involvement creates a positive vibe and you might just make a new friend. If you are a new member, introduce yourself.. Our community is waiting for you.
• Be courteous and respectful at all times. Use respectful language and appreciate that others may have an opinion different from yours.
• Be as succinct and clear as you can.
• When contributing to discussions, give clear topic titles and put them in the appropriate category.
• When contributing to discussions, try to stay “on topic”. If something new comes up within a topic that you would like to discuss, start a new thread.
• Don’t hold back in sharing your knowledge. It’s likely someone will find it useful or interesting.
• When you give information or links, provide your sources.
• Remember that the forums are public places. Don’t post personal information that you would not be comfortable sharing with a stranger. We recommend you use only your first name or a pseudonym in your user name and that you don’t post any information that may identify you or anyone else, such as your address, email address or phone number.
• A strong online community is self-governing. If you see abuse, report it to use using the 'Report Abuse' buttons held against each post and at the bottom of your chat room window.

We also need to make sure material published on the discussion forums is not potentially harmful for any users. For this reason, we may edit or choose not to publish any posts that:

• contain disrespectful or derogatory remarks about any other member
• promote violence, discriminate against people or are likely to offend other users
• contain advice that we believe is damaging or unhelpful to others
• promote personal beliefs in a way that is disrespectful of the choices of others
• contain advertising material or personal contact details
• are more than 400 words in length.

You may request at any time that your account be deleted from The Shed Online.  By doing so, you understand and agree that we may retain your personal information for up to six months from the date of your request and that all activity associated with your account will remain on The Shed Online (for example, your posts in the Discussions will not be deleted).