Community guidelines

ReedSpot is a timeline of writing, so the rules are about writing: what you publish, how you link and how you reply. They apply to posts, profiles and replies alike.

The short version

Write things you would sign with your own name. Link honestly. Reply to the post, not to the person. Moderators would rather read than police, and these guidelines are here so they rarely have to.

Never allowed

• Anything illegal, or content that helps someone break the law.
• Malware, phishing, or links built to trick people into downloading or entering something.
• Deceptive or harmful links: disguised destinations, fake download buttons, redirects that hide where they go.
• Harassment, hate or threats against a person or a group.
• Sharing someone else’s private information, such as home addresses, phone numbers or private messages.
• Impersonating another person, writer or organisation.
• Plagiarism and copyright infringement: publishing other people’s work as your own, or without permission.
• Any sexual content involving minors. This is reported and removed immediately.

Posts and profiles

Your profile should say who you are or what your blog covers. Bios, covers and portraits follow the same rules as posts. Links in posts are ordinary links: point to your own website and to the sources you used, and make the link text describe where it goes.

Credit images and quotations you did not create. If you publish something that later turns out to be wrong, correct it in the post.

Replies

Replies should be on topic and civil. Disagree with the argument, not the author. Reply threads are not a place for advertising, link drops, or the same message pasted under many posts. Every guest reply is read by a moderator before it appears.

How moderation works

Moderators may remove posts, replies or profile details that break these guidelines, and may close blogs that break them repeatedly or seriously. When something is removed from a writer’s blog, we tell the writer why whenever we can.

To report something, use the contact page, choose “Report a post or comment”, and paste the link.