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We currently don't have any outlined rules for our main chat room. There hasn't been any behavior that would prompt the need for rules, but it would be a good idea to have something to refer to for new users.

Other than "be nice", there aren't really any rules in the chat.stackexchange FAQ. Mathematics.SE has a nice post outlining chat etiquette, but a lot of those wouldn't apply to us.

To those familiar with chat, what sort of guidelines would you like to see laid out?

Once we have a collective agreement, I'll make a community wiki post that we can permanently pin in the chat room.

To those unfamiliar with chat: stop being a stranger and join us!

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  1. Respect all members. — Rudeness will not be tolerated.
  2. Please only post links that are "Safe For Work" — Many of us have chat open while in an office environment. If you are uncertain if your link would be considered NSFW, err on the side of caution and mark it as such.

  3. Mind the recent chat — Please spend a moment reading the transcript to see if there is an active conversation.

  4. Do not ping multiple users at once in short intervals and do not repeat your question to every person that comes into the chat — The transcript is there for a reason!

  5. Avoid constant and excessive links that consume quite a lot of the conversation space. — e.g. YouTube, Wikpedia, images, etc. If you feel that it is necessary, please use the [title](http link...) format to post such links as much as possible.

  6. Abide by the Stack Exchange Terms of Service with special regard to the restrictions section — "Use of the Network or Services to violate the security of any computer network, crack passwords or security encryption codes, transfer or store illegal material including that are deemed threatening or obscene, or engage in any kind of illegal activity is expressly prohibited"
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Our chat so far has been very laid back, so I don't think we need much "policing". To start us off, I think the following guidelines are appropriate for us:

  1. Respect all members. Rudeness will not be tolerated.
  2. Off topic and casual chatter is perfectly fine, but on-topic questions in the chat take precedence. Don't interrupt a discussion about design to tell us about your ball-point pen collection!
  3. Please only post links that are "Safe For Work" Many of us have chat open while in an office environment. If you are uncertain if your link would be considered NSFW, err on the side of caution and mark it as such.
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  • #2 is a bit against the grain of what "chat" is - a free form typing fest where anyone can type at any time. You're free to follow your own line of discussion, but if others "interrupt" you, that may be due to your lack of ability to focus, rather than poor etiquette.
    – Scott
    Jun 10, 2013 at 23:11
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    Plus... my pen collection is a sight to marvel at.
    – Scott
    Jun 10, 2013 at 23:18
  • @Scott, fair point. I put that one in after getting inspiration from the guidelines from other chat rooms. With a frequent chatter base of less than 10 people (and rarely more than 4 in the room at a time), it's not really an issue for us. I think we can safely omit that rule.
    – JohnB
    Jun 11, 2013 at 0:09
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I also like maths's more 'structural' rules:

4.. Please spend a minute reading the transcript to see if there is an active conversation going.

5.. Do not ping multiple users at once in short intervals and do not repeat your question to every person that comes into the chat.

6.. Avoid constant and excessive links [that] consume quite a lot of the conversation space. If you feel that it is necessary, please use the [title] (http link...) format to post such links as much as possible.

(that was supposed to be 4, 5 and 6)

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