Additional Guidelines For Forum Use

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Additional Guidelines For Forum Use

In an effort to keep the Raymarine Technical Forum relatively organized, Raymarine has set up several guidelines:

Use common sense - Just because it isn't explicitly stated as one of the rules below doesn't mean it's OK. Use common sense and good Netiquette when posting, replying and browsing these forums. This includes the following:
Also see Terms of Service / Member Guidelines which contains additional information suitable to the forums in general.
No posts for the sole purpose of increasing your post count.
No "senseless" posts. Yes, its subjective. As a subjective way to help understand, if a coherent conversation cannot be read in the thread, it might be senseless.
Keep the forums free from SPAM. This means no SPAM posting, no personal messaging SPAM, no SPAM in signatures or elsewhere in your profile. SPAM includes unsolicited messaging. If it takes you hours to send hundreds of Personal Messages, it is still SPAM. Also, please do not reply to SPAM, just report it to the moderator. Spammers will be blocked membership in the Raymarine Technical Forum.
No Quote pyramids.
Abide by the Terms of Service / Member Guidelines,


1. Check that your question isn't answered anywhere else – don’t be afraid to use Google and other search engines to seek answers on other websites.

2. Search before posting - Please try to use the search feature on the website prior to starting a new topic regarding a problem you are experiencing. Chances are, due to the rapid growth of the forum, your problem may have been solved already or a problem similar to it. By searching prior to posting, you will help yourself by find a solution sooner, and keep the newer problems in focus. Duplicate threads will be merged, locked or deleted at the moderators' discretion.

3. Include logs and tell us commands executed - Nobody can help you if they don't know what's wrong, or what you did to get the error you recieved. Providing this information will greatly aid others in assisting you, and will allow us to diagnose your problem easier and sooner. Such information should include a list of all networked marine electronics installed onboard your vessel and the versions of software which are presently installed in each device. Should you have a system diagram for you vessel or digital photo capturing the subject, attach it to the discussion entry.

4. Choose a good subject - Do not make your subject say just "Help Raymarine newbie," nobody wants to hear this. Describe your problem briefly in your subject, then you can describe your problem in greater depth in the body of your article. Repeat the subject in the body if it will make things clearer. Avoid "subject says all" etc. A better subject might have been "C-Series Classic MFD not recognizing CF card with software update files."

5. Thank those who help you - If you post a problem and someone helps you, simply replying with a thank you message or an acknowledgement that their suggestions worked are very much appreciated.

6. No bashing - If someone is posting about a problem they are experiencing, don't simply tell them they are using the wrong program and recommend they try your recommendation. Instead, provide facts or opinions supporting your recommendation, provide positive feedback, and please keep the criticism low.

7. Keep on topic - If you are replying about something to do with cartography layers for example, and someone mentions radar lars, don't start talking about radar, stick to the topic. Go start a new topic and post a link to the old one if there is relevant information there. Likewise, do not morph the discussion topic. Should the original discussion topic be addressed and should you have additional items to discuss, then create new discussion topics.

8. No personal attacks - These forums are not a place for you to take cheap shots at somebody because he/she did something. Do that some place else (or better yet, get over it). You have been warned. Hopefully, this won't be much of a problem here.

9. Illegal activites - Please do not discuss illegal activities, such as cracking software, breaking into web sites, etc. on these forums. While such activities might not be illegal in all countries, this server is hosted in the US and, as such, must abide by US laws. By allowing discussions about illegal activities to take place on these forums, we may expose the Raymarine to unnecessary legal liability. Therefore, any posts that advocate activities that are illegal under US laws may be deleted without notice.

10. Cross posting - Please do not post the same question to multiple forums. Cross posting clutters up the forums and makes things like searching harder for other users. If you feel your question could fit in multiple forums, please pick the best one and post there. Please do not post about the same subject multiple times. One thread is sufficient. Misplaced posted may be reported to the Moderator.

11. Ask Questions The Smart Way – provide as much detail of the system as possible, describe the vessel, and accurately record any error messages. Failure to provide supporting data within the initial posting of the discussion will inevitably lead to someone asking for this supporting data.

12. Multiple accounts - Each person should have only one account. If you get banned for some reason and simply create another account, it might get banned the minute the moderators become aware of it.

13. Keep image sizes within reason - If you use an avatar, please observe the following guidelines:
- Avatars should be no larger than 80x80 pixels.
- Avatars should be no larger than 7Kb.
- We reserve the right to remove images with offensive, annoying or otherwise problematic content.
- Images in posts and signatures are disabled.

14. Multiple accounts - Each person should have only one account. If you get banned for some reason and simply create another account, it might get banned the minute the moderators become aware of it.

15. You should periodically check this topic for updates.

RAYFAQ#