Posting in forums and discussion boards.
When posting on the discussion boards or messages, it is polite to use normal sized text on plain background. Coloured backgrounds can make text difficult to read and large or upper case text means you're SHOUTING! Slang and 'text lingo' may be used on the general discussion forum, personal messages and chat, but should not be used anywhere else. If you post in other forums, WIKI's or anywhere within courses, you should treat this the same as writing in your exercise book and care should be taken to use the correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. Posts may be removed if slang is used in areas where it is not permitted.
Chat Sessions.
Chat sessions (such as Conferencing) can be used to chat in real-time with several other users simultaneously. Please do not send garbled messages, random strings of characters or repeatedly send the same word, phrase or sentence - this is considered SPAM and is not acceptable. Offensive and/or inappropriate messages will not be tolerated.
Pictures.
Please do not post irrelevant pictures in your forum posts, however please feel free to include reasonably sized pictures that are directly related to the topic.
Smileys
Please feel free to insert smileys within your posts but please use them sparingly. One or two in a message is fine, but do not over-use them as it makes posts difficult to read. Keep smileys to their original sizes avoid stretching or oversizing them.
Avatars
You can change your avatar on your profile page. An avatar should be a representation of yourself so please use a picture that is relevant to you or your interests. Inappropriate or offensive images (including images depicting violence or offensive weapons such as knives or guns) are not acceptable and will be removed.
Personal messages.
Feel free to send messages to your friends and other pupils, but please avoid sending general chit-chat messages to your teachers or other staff. Messages like "Hi, what are you up to?" for example take up valuable time to reply to. Just image a teacher receiving messages like this from everyone they teach - in some cases up to 600 pupils - even a quarter of that would mean 150 replies! Instead, save the messaging feature for when you need help with something - such as homework, or to report something such as abusive content on SMILE or bullying
Etiquette Guide