Like any other network, the FSN Forum has rules and guidelines to ensure it operates well. Please read the rules and guidelines below, which will help you to make the best of your participation in the FSN Forum. Please note that messages that do not comply with the Forum guidelines will be edited or withheld by the facilitation team.

General information

Moderation and facilitation

Postings on the FSN Forum e-mail list and Web-based forum are moderated. A facilitation team checks messages posted on the FSN Forum for relevance, language and content. The facilitation team reserves the right to edit and/or withhold messages that do not comply with the Forum guidelines. Before a message is withheld or heavily edited, the moderator will notify and/or consult the sender.

Tips for handling information overload

In order to avoid an overload of e-mails, the FSN Forum team compiles messages in digest mode so that you receive only one daily e-mail containing all the messages posted to a particular discussion on a given day.

Another solution for overload is to create your own e-mail filters, so that messages from the Forum automatically go into a specific folder in your inbox.

You can also opt to interact with other members through the Web-based forum only, without receiving any messages from the FSN Forum in your inbox. Although this is not recommended, as you could easily lose track of ongoing discussions and activities, please e-mail the moderator if this is the option you prefer.

Contributions in languages other than English

Postings in French and Spanish are accepted. Members are encouraged to share documents/resources in languages other than English.

Copyright     

Members may only post materials for which they have the right or permission to distribute electronically. Without this right, an alternative way of sharing a resource is to provide the link to its original source on the Web.

All materials and information available in the FSN Forum are governed by the terms and conditions laid out in the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike Agreement Ver. 3.0. The Creative Commons License grants all users the right to use, distribute, modify and redistribute information, provided it is for non-commercial purposes and that credit is given to the author(s). More on copyright

These are the general rules to follow when sending a message to the FSN Forum.

Messages, posts and topics

• Be identifiable. Please include your name and organization (if any) at the end of your message.
• Choose a relevant subject line for your message, to make it easier for other Forum members to take part in the discussion.
• Try to restrict yourself to one subject per message; send more than one message if you have more than one subject to discuss. This helps recipients to use the subject field to manage the messages they have received.
• Message content must be meaningful and relevant to the Forum topics. If your post does not add value, do not send it. (For example, do not send a "thanks" message through the list; instead, send it directly to the person you want to thank.)
• Try to keep postings concise and to the point, ideally no more than three paragraphs or 500 words.
• When replying, quote only the relevant part of the message you are replying to.
• Be constructive in your response, especially when you disagree with a posting. Keep your messages collegial and non-aggressive. This should not discourage critical thinking or disagreement, however. Diverse perspectives are welcome.
• Pay attention to prevent discussions from turning into personal disagreements. If you see this happening, try and turn the focus back to the content, not the person. If this fails, the members concerned can be asked to take their disagreement off-list.
• Forgive other people’s mistakes; point them out via private e-mail rather than in public.
• Facts and statistical data should be supported by citing references or sources.

Spam

• Spamming (the indiscriminate sending of unsolicited, irrelevant, unwanted and/or inappropriate messages) is strictly prohibited.
• Members are welcome to post messages pertaining to events they are organizing or supporting - including those with fees - but postings of a purely commercial nature are not welcome on the FSN Forum. The same applies to announcements about new books and publications written by members. Repeat postings of the same contents over a short period are considered spam.
• Messages clearly recognized as spams will be withheld or deleted automatically.

How to write a good query/discussion topic

In order to frame an interesting and relevant query and maximise your chances of getting prompt responses, it is advisable to formulate your query in five parts:

1. Opening: Introduce yourself and give a brief summary of your background and current work. This introduction might not be necessary when the query poser is well known within the Forum. 2 or 3 sentences would be sufficient.

2. Background of the query or request: Explain (briefly) the challenges that you are facing in your current activity and lay out the background of the question that you will formulate in the following paragraph. Make sure that you include sufficient information about what you are requesting so that members can provide a relevant reply. 1 or 2 paragraphs are advisable to explain briefly the background. If the background is complex, you are welcome to attach background document to the query, we will store it on the Web site.

3. Question: Formulate your question in a clear and direct way, so that the members know what exactly is being asked. Be concise and specific so that responders will react by hitting the “reply” button straightaway.

If your request has multiple parts, you could consider using bullet points or numerate each individual question.
An example of a good question could be the following:
I would like to request the FSN Forum members to:

• share any document or studies you may have prepared on Food Security indicators;
•  provide contact details of NGOs or other organisations you are aware of who have done such studies.

4. Your purpose: In order to make your query more compelling you should explain the purpose of your query and what you are planning to do with the responses and advice received from the members.

5. Thanks and Signature: Thank in advance the forum members for their time and input and sign, adding a few final words if you wish to add your personal touch. Your name, the organization that you work for and the country from where you write are the necessary minimum in your signature.

Please remember that the Forum Moderation Team is always happy to provide assistance and make sure that your query has the best chance of getting the maximum number of answers.

Go to How to use the forum