Channel Guidelines

We do not have many rules or policies in #mysql, but those we do have are fairly serious to us. It is possible that a channel operator may deem a violation of the any points of the guidelines to be an offense grievous enough to warrant either being kicked or banned from the channel.

1. Although your vocabulary of vulgar and offensive words may be impressive, #mysql is not the place to demonstrate your great skill.
   • Profanity will get you banned, if you wonder if a word may be considered profane, assume it is and don't use it.
2. No Channel Logging
   • You may log the channel for *personal use* only. No logging for public access, statistical analysis or any other reasons is permitted. No bots other than appointed channel bot may log the channel.
3. Please Just Ask Your Question.
   • Do not ask if it is ok to ask a question, and do not ask if anyone is available to help you. Just ask, wait patiently, and see if anyone can help. Providing the full exact error message along with the exact query (with real values and not variable place holders) will help us fix your problem.
4. No Flooding.
   • If you need to paste a query or lengthy error message, use a pastebin pastebin.ca or pastie.org, NOT the channel. Or use sqlfiddle.com - an easy way to share your schema, your data, and the queries you're testing.(pastebin.com is not welcomed anymore in #mysql because it munges data, even in raw mode)
5. No Unsolicited Private Messages.
   • Avoid sending private messages to people unless they have requested that you do so. Not only can it be rude, but there may be other people in the channel who can help you, or who could learn something from observing the assistance you receive.
6. Stay On-Topic When Someone Needs Help
   • Off-topic conversation is fine, unless someone needs assistance. Please immediately halt off-topic discussions until after on-topic conversations have finished.
7. Do Search
   • Before asking a question, do search Google and the MySQL website. Your question may have already been answered.
8. Away Messages
   • Away messages, such as /me is away, pager:-(on|off) and /me has returned, are highly irritating and should be disabled when entering the channel. Consider using /away instead. In other words, if your away message alerts the channel in any way it will not be allowed.
9. Disclaimer
   • We are in no way responsible for your data. Proceed at your own risk and know that backups save jobs.