Since some new users have been signing on with nicks instead of real names I thought I'd say a few words about the Help & Manual forums' privacy policy. It's very simple:
- No forum users' personal information will be passed on to anyone by the operator(s) of these forums without the express, written consent of the individuals concerned. Period.
- In practice this generally means that no pesonal information will ever be passed on to anyone, ever -- I just added the bit about consent to cover all possible eventualities, however unlikely. The only conceivable exception to this would be if the forum operator(s) were to be forced by legal action to reveal such information, which I/we promise to resist insofar as this is legally possible.
- The forums are a resource and platform for discussion for and among working professionals. Spam, advertising and the use of personal information from the forums for spam and advertising purposes will not be tolerated.
I do understand that some users may want to keep their online activities private vis à vis clients and employers, so the use of real names will not be an absolute requirement here. However, that being said, and in view of the forums' privacy policy, I think it reasonable to say that real names are preferable, if you feel that it is possible for you to use them here. My personal opinion is that they just create a more professional atmosphere.
So if you want to use a nick, for whatever reason, then be my guest, but real names are even more welcome.
E-mail addresses
Although I/we won't pass on your personal details to anyone there is no way we can prevent others and spambots from trawling the forums for e-mail addresses, of course. If you want to keep the spam in your inbox down I strongly recommend using a "spam trap" address for all public communications like forum postings -- for example a free Lycos or Hotmail address or something like that.