Code of Conduct

We want to be part of an inclusive, respectful and friendly world. So whether you are an employee, customer or supplier; we expect everyone that works with SMILE to abide by this code.

Expectations

If you’re asking for help, make it as easy as possible for others to help you.
Provide as much detail as you possibly can. Finding a needle in a haystack is not fun, not easy and doesn’t happen quickly.

If you’re providing help to others, be patient and welcoming.
Remember, not everyone has the same level of subject-area knowledge as you. Offer support if you see someone struggling or otherwise in need of help.

Be clear and constructive when giving feedback, and be open when receiving it.
Feedback, comments, and suggestions are healthy parts of our community.

Be kind and friendly.
Avoid sarcasm and be careful with jokes — tone is hard to decipher in written communications. If a situation makes it hard to be friendly, stop participating and move on.

Use one communication method at a time.
Try to avoid flooding several communication channels with the same question to the same individual in a short time-frame. In most cases, this will delay the response to your query and risks frustrating those trying to help you.

Unacceptable Behavior

⛔️ No subtle put-downs or unfriendly language.
Even if you don’t intend it, this can have a negative impact on others.

Unfriendly	Friendly
“You could Google this in 5 seconds.”	“This is called Invariance and Covariance. If you Google it, you’ll find tutorials that can explain it much better than we can in an answer here.”
“If you bothered to read my question, you’d know it’s not a duplicate.”	“I don’t think this is a duplicate. My question is about cement board, while the question you linked is about drywall.”
“Are you speaking English? If so, I can’t tell.”	“I’m having trouble understanding your question. I think you’re asking how to add a swap after system installation. Is that correct?”

⛔️ No name-calling or personal attacks.
Focus on the content, not the person. This includes terms that feel personal even when they’re applied to content (e.g. “lazy”).

⛔️ No bigotry.
We don’t tolerate any language likely to offend or alienate people based on race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or religion — and those are just a few examples. When in doubt, just don’t.

⛔️ No harassment.
This includes, but isn’t limited to bullying, intimidation, vulgar language, direct or indirect threats, sexually suggestive remarks, patterns of inappropriate social contact, and sustained disruptions of discussion.

Reporting

Every person contributes to building a kind, respectful community. If you find unacceptable behaviour directed at yourself or others, you can contact management directly, using whatever method you feel most comfortable.

Enforcement

SMILE takes all reports seriously. Those who don’t follow the Code of Conduct may face repercussions deemed appropriate by our management, maintainers or moderators. This is how we generally handle misconduct:

Informal Warning	Formal Warning and Timeout	Walk away
We all have our bad days, and informally clearing the air can go a long way to put right a wrong. Most issues are resolved here.	For repetitive breaches, you’ll be asked to stop in writing, and alerted to any further consequences of your actions. We may also issue a timeout preventing you from communicating with us. This will be temporary, and the length will be dependant on the breach. It will never be longer than 2 weeks.	For rare cases where behaviour is toxic, we will end the working relationship.

All actions will be taken on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of our management, maintainers or moderators. If you have concerns about how a manager, maintainer or moderator has handled a situation, contact our management directly.

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We created this Code of Conduct because it reinforces the respect that we expect from one another. Having a code also provides us with clear avenues to correct our culture should it stray off course.

We welcome your feedback on this and every other aspect of what we do at SMILE. Thank you for working with us to build a kind, collaborative, and respectful community.

This text is largely based on the Code of Conduct from Stack Overflow.