Community Guidelines
Mapleforge Labs Forum · v1 — November 2026. Short on purpose: two minutes to read, and they keep the forum worth reading.
The spirit
This is a working community: people bring real projects, give specific feedback, and occasionally get sponsored to publish. Be the reviewer you wish you'd had.
The rules
- Be constructive and specific. Critique the work, not the person. “This fails when…” helps; “this is bad” doesn't.
- Use the project template. Member Projects posts follow the forced structure (Problem · Who it's for · Current approach · What I've tried · What feedback I need · Links/demo · Publication goal). Off-template posts may be returned for revision.
- No spam or self-promotion outside your own project thread. Tools and services belong in General AI Practice only when they answer a real question.
- Never share other people's private data — no screenshots of private messages, no personal details, no leaked documents. When in doubt, redact or don't post.
- Respect IP. You keep ownership of what you post. By posting publicly you grant Mapleforge Labs the right to discuss and showcase it with attribution (see the Terms). Don't post work you don't have the right to share.
- Disclose AI assistance honestly in project posts and especially in anything headed for publication — venues require it, and this community models it.
- One account per person. No impersonation, no sock-puppets in your own project threads.
How moderation works
- New members' first posts are held for moderator approval — our main anti-spam lever.
- Every post has a report button. Reports go to a moderation queue; actions (approve, edit, move, lock, hide, warn, suspend) are logged.
- Project owners can mark the reply that solved their problem as “Best feedback” — do it; it's how good reviewers get recognized.
- Repeated or serious violations lead to suspension. Moderation decisions can be appealed by email.
Sponsorship conduct
Proposals are submitted privately from the Sponsorship page — never posted in the forum. Decisions come with feedback; lobbying moderators or reposting a declined proposal publicly won't change one and will slow the next review.