====== Commenting Guidelines ====== ===== Basic Rules ===== Please follow a few simple guidelines to make ChoiceCheapies a better place for both the bargain hunters and merchants. ===== Deal Posts ===== ==== Declaring Relationship with Business ==== If you work for the store, or have any interest in promoting the store, you must check the 'I am associated with ' box before submitting a new comment in a deal post. Examples of when this checkbox should be checked: * You are an employee of the store or have in any way worked for the business (eg. website designer or sales rep). * You are part of a franchise for the store. * You are a third party company who is employed to promote the store or do its marketing. * You are a friend or family member of the owner of the store. Once the checkbox is checked, your username will have an 'ASSOCIATED' tag next to your username for the current thread only. This can then be changed to Employee, Product Rep, 3rd Party Marketing, Official Marketing or Store Rep from your [[https://www.cheapies.nz/user/-/stores|profile]]. Only moderators can change your representative tag to Official Store Rep. You can contact moderators using the [[https://www.cheapies.nz/forum/10041|Talk With A Moderator (TWAM) forum.]] If you don't wish to have a store representative indicator tag next to your name, then consider **not commenting** on deals where you have an association. **Failure to declare association may cause sockpuppeting penalties to be applied.** ===== What Should Not Be Posted ===== It might be easier to spell out what should not be posted here. Your "comment" might attract negative votes from ChoiceCheapies members and/or getting unpublished if you post the following material. ==== Affiliate/Referral Links ==== Affiliate links, referral links or referral codes or mention of being qualified to refer someone **should not** be posted in comments. You should not link to your own deals if you are in the [[https://www.cheapies.nz/wiki/help:referral_links|Cheapies referral system]] (Uber Eats, Vitacost etc.). Do not comment asking for people to private message (PM) you for a referral/affiliate link. ==== Competitor Comments and Links ==== Store reps should not comment in a competitor's thread and link to their own store. If you have a better deal, please post it separately as a deal for your store. For more details see our [[https://www.cheapies.nz/wiki/help:store_representative#expected_behavior|store rep guide]]. ==== URL Shorteners ==== Please do not use URL shorteners (eg bit.ly) in the comments section, users should be aware of which website they'll be visiting when clicking external links. Competition referral links using shorteners, or other situations where they are unavoidable, are exempt. ==== Comment Signatures ==== Please do not post signatures at the bottom of comments especially if you are advertising your business. e.g. That's a great idea. I'm going to pick up a widget from my local widget seller tonight. -Wiley Coyote http://www.acmebargains.co.nz ==== Price Comparison Sites ==== Price comparison website operators should not comment with links to their comparison sites. If you have found a better deal, follow the [[help:price_comparison_site|guide for price comparison website operators]] and either comment by linking directly to the store or posting it separately as a deal for that store. ==== Soliciting Sales or Wanted Items ==== Do not advertise, draw attention to items that you are selling, or ask other users to contact you about your items in comments. If you want to sell your personal items, use the [[https://www.cheapies.nz/classified/sell|Classifieds Selling section]]. Similarly, if you want to obtain an item, please use the [[http://www.cheapies.nz/classified/want|Classifieds Wanted section]]. ==== Soliciting Votes ==== Do not ask users to vote on a deal or comment, or attempt to solicit votes by any means. Moderator discretion will apply to comments of a general nature. ==== Personal Information ==== Posting personal information is forbidden, as is any form of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxing|Doxing]]. This includes information from, or linking to, public social media pages (if personal information is visible). Business registration information (including whois) and information relating to public figures, is generally allowed, however it will be removed if it's done in a manner that incites harassment. A user may post their own name, email address or phone number, at their own risk. ==== Duplicate Comments ==== If your comment is posted twice or more, we will remove all of the duplicates other than the first one. ==== Off Topic==== Comments that aren't related to the deal post may be collapsed as off-topic. Decisions of collapsing off-topic comment threads are determined by moderators at their discretion. Off-topic comments are not removed, rather collapsed/hidden by default (changeable in user settings). ==== Personal Attacks ==== Abuse, name calling and malicious comments directed at a person or a group of people are unacceptable. Disagreements and debates are fine and encouraged but please respect everyone's opinion. Comments of this nature will be removed and if a vote is attached to the comment, then the vote will also be revoked. Keep in mind moderators are not always sure about which comment the vote made was originally attached to. As such the vote may be revoked, even though the poster had originally made it under another point. ==== Obscene remarks & Foul Language ==== This site is meant for people of all ages. If the comment/post has informative info, Moderators may replace any offensive language with a (Profanity) placeholder text, otherwise the whole comment/post will be unpublished. If a vote is attached to the comment, then the vote will also be revoked. Repeat offenders may have their account temporarily banned. ==== Trolling and Other Inappropriate Comments ==== "Trolling" is considered unacceptable behaviour on most Internet sites, including ChoiceCheapies. Any comment or post that is made to, or appears to be, intended to incite controversy or conflict or cause annoyance or offence is considered "trolling". The content of a "troll posting" generally falls into several areas. It may consist of an apparently foolish contradiction of common knowledge, a deliberately offensive insult to the readers of the website, or a broad request for trivial follow-up postings. * Any content that falls within the area of trolling will be unpublished, while the offender's user account may be banned temporarily or permanently based on their user history and severity of the offence. * Generally inappropriate comments that are not considered Trolling may not qualify for an offence, but will be unpublished by a Moderator and a warning given. However, users who commit repeated offences despite receiving multiple warnings may have their accounts penalised under the same "Trolling" offence. ==== Hate Speech ==== Hate speech attacks or expresses prejudice against a person or a group on the basis of particular attributes (including, but not limited to: race, religion, ethnic origin, national origin, disability, sexual orientation or gender). Hate speech includes spreading misinformation about a person/group with the intent to harm, create prejudice or create fear. Sexist, racist, xenophobic or similar comments will be deemed as a personal attack or hate speech depending on context. ==== Illegal or Inappropriate Links ==== Please do not post links to sites that may be deemed inappropriate. Examples: * Torrent or file sharing sites * Videos that are not suited to a general audience (e.g. foul language, nudity) ===== Why are the comments in a deal closed? ===== Deals posted 45 days ago or older OR where there hasn't been a comment for 2 weeks will be automatically closed for commenting.