SABRE statements of practice
SABRE has a number of statements of general practice, all shown on this page.
Posting guidelines and Moderation policy
SABRE is a site for discussion, education and research about roads. The forums are an opportunity for reasoned, open and constructive discussion and debate among people of all ages, occupations and backgrounds, and with strong and widely varying opinions. They are not intended for campaigning on pet issues.
We therefore ask you to keep to the following guidelines:
- Always treat other users with respect, even if you disagree with them.
- When posting, "play the ball, not the man." Discuss the actual subject, not how someone else has posted, or their spelling and grammar.
- No personal attacks/flaming.
- Keep the content "family friendly" - avoid subjects and language banned on TV before the 9.00pm watershed.
- Avoid posting anything that could reasonably cause offence.
- Try to stay on-topic - if you want to swerve in a different direction, it is usually better to start a new topic.
- Remember you are not always right.
- Avoid repeating yourself unnecessarily, either in thread or across the forums. If you don't have something new to add to the discussion, it is better to say nothing.
- Use the report button if you spot a post which breaks these rules. Don't reply in-thread - leave the moderation to the Site Management Team.
Copyright policy
Uploading images to SABRE that you have found elsewhere on the Internet can break copyright laws.
If such images come to the attention of the SMT, we unfortunately will be forced to delete them. Please provide links to their original source so that people can continue to enjoy images taken from other websites, without exposing SABRE (and potentially the SMT personally) to liability under the copyright laws.
Please note that there is a grey area of "fair use". A limited fair use policy applies to small map extracts uploaded to the Roaders' Digest: The SABRE Wiki - though these map extracts must be tagged with the {{newmap}} template so that they can be easily identified.
If you wish to upload images where re-use is granted to the Roaders' Digest: The SABRE Wiki then please ensure that information about the original source and its re-use licence is included. This is done for you with the automated Geograph and Flikr upload form that is available for you to use.
We cannot accept submissions of maps that are still subject to copyright in the United Kingdom. For the types of maps we can accept, see here.
Reporting posts
If you are concerned about any post or private message - including accidental duplicate posts - let the Site Management Team know using the ! button at the top of each post.
If we receive a report, we will acknowledge it within 24 hours - hopefully much sooner. We will then work to resolve any problems quietly and discreetly.
In addition, if you post in the wrong section of the forums, we will usually move the topic for you. We also often split discussions that have drifted into other areas into new topics.
Sometimes posts have to be edited or deleted, in which case we will write to you or post in the forum to explain why.
Moderation policy
If we make a "blue pen" post in a thread due to posting behaviour, it will also act as a warning that unless behaviour improves, we may lock the thread - initially for a short period such as 24-48 hours, but potentially a third blue pen post in a relatively short period could see a thread permanently locked.
In general, and where possible, fair warning will be given of our intention to lock a thread if behaviour does not improve.
Mental health policy
As with any society, SABRE has members who suffer from mental ill health.
SABRE will always be a place of open and robust debate, but there is no place for the sort of post that belittles or denigrates.
Posts which belittle or denigrate mental ill health and those who suffer from them - either within or outside the Society - or which might be interpreted as encouraging suicide or self-harm will be deleted without notice, together with any replies to such posts. Any member who fails to post sensitively on any forum where mental ill health is a topic of discussion may be liable to a period of suspension of up to two weeks.
If you are suffering from mental ill health, there will always be somebody who cares. Help, statutory and voluntary, is there for you. Please do not hesitate to seek it.
- Samaritans UK and ROI in English 116 123
- Samaritans UK in Welsh / Samariad yn y DU yn Gymraeg 0808 164 0123
- Samaritans in the USA 1-800-273-TALK
- Samaritans in Australia 135 247
Official warnings
If a user is at risk of being suspended, we will be using the official phpBB warning utility. This generates a PM, and the warning will be held on your record for 90 days before it deletes itself.
In general we operate a three strikes policy. We will avoid suspending users without prior warnings, but immediate suspension may be necessitated if a user's behaviour is causing considerable disruption to the site or distress to other users, for example due to multiple irrelevant posts, multiple personal attacks or trolling.
Minor posting infractions
We often deal with minor infractions by sending friendly PMs asking for posts to be edited etc, without a hint of a warning. We make a record of these PMs, and from now on if we're writing to you a third time about posting behaviour, it's likely to be in the form of an official phpBB warning - so five minor infractions could result in a suspension.
The SMT will take a dim view of people sending frequent vexatious Post Reports where, for example, posts are not judged to contravene the Posting Guidelines or do not need any other form of moderation - such as being moved to the correct forum or thread merging/splitting.
In simple terms, if someone uses the Post Report system to try to harass other members, stop debate or just be difficult with the SMT rather than for a good reason such as the examples then the SMT are not going to be massively impressed with it. The SMT's tolerance level is quite high on this, and the SMT would rather people genuinely used the system if they think there's something that we need to look at than be scared we're going to tell them off instead.
If you disagree with a Site Management Team action
There are several routes open to you:
- Send a private message to the Site Management Team
- Send a private message to the President (including to make a formal appeal to the Committee)
- If you just want to discuss a matter of principle, you can post in the Society> forum.
Above all, do not post about it in the thread concerned. If you do, we will delete it as it would be automatically off-topic.
SABRE website portal
SABRE runs a portal of member sites, and we accept nominations at any time via our application page.
All proposed member sites should complement the Aims of the Society. If someone other than the owner nominates it, the SMT shall contact each site that is nominated and establish whether it wishes to join. In all cases, the SMT will ask the owner to confirm that it is willing to abide by the Aims of SABRE.
The SMT will post details of any application to pass this initial sift to the Society forum and ask Members to comment on the application.
A final decision, informed by the comments made, cannot be made until seven days have passed, but the SMT may provisionally add the site to the portal after 48 hours if no adverse comments are received (however, if at least three adverse comments are received later in the process, the SMT should remove the site again until a final decision is made).
If an application is rejected, then feedback will be given to the site owner.
The SMT also runs a links of interest page. Applications for inclusion are made via the site contact form.
Election procedures
In addition to the requirements in the Constitution, the following procedures have been developed to help the nomination process:-
- 1. Any Voting Member wishing to stand for election may self-nominate for the various posts
- 2. Candidates are invited to offer an election statement
- 3. Candidates are asked to confirm their first names and usernames. Surnames are not required, but most nominees do provide them.
The President (or whoever is running the election) will post candidates' names, usernames, posts for which they to stand, and election statements in a global announcement to be seen by all users.
Discussion of candidates is restricted to the Elections and Canvassing forum, which will be opened for the purpose.