Forum Rules

Welcome to the Envato Forums

It’s important to understand that the success of the Envato forums relies on everyone following a few simple rules. The basic rules are listed below, and a detailed explanation of the rules and their rationale is outlined below:

Do:

1. Ensure you only use the global forum area for threads relevant to all the marketplaces.
2. Search the wiki and the forums (via the search tab) before starting a thread with a question. Chances are it’s already been answered!
3. Send any account issues or problems you have to support. Support checks the forums when they can, but the only way to guarantee they’ll see and resolve your issue is to contact them directly.
4. Keep item discussion to the Item Discussion area of the forums.
5. Be friendly and respectful to everyone on the forums.
6. Respect the moderators, and do what they ask!

Do NOT:

1. Create multiple threads on the same specific issue. If your thread has been disabled or locked, the mods have a good reason and can explain it to you via email.
2. Promote your files anywhere on the forums.
3. Promote competitors or free versions of items.
4. Promote outside products or services.
5. Discuss or link to offensive topics, such as pornography, violent themes, sexism, racism or other discriminatory subjects, even as a “joke”.
6. Be rude or offensive to other members of the community.
7. Disrespect or ignore the moderators. They’re here to help, and keep the forums a pleasant place for everyone!

Global and Local threads
Firstly, because we have have distinct marketplaces, we naturally have a separate forum space for each one. You’ll notice as you start following threads that some topics appear on every marketplace’s board, whereas others are specific to individual sites only. This is because when you start a thread, you can choose to make it a global thread or a local thread. This is important! When you initiate a thread, it’s good to think a moment about whether the topic you wish to discuss will apply only to a specific site’s community, or to all the communities. For example, you wouldn’t want to start a thread about Audio Jungle submissions and have it posted on all the other sites. By the same token, if you had an idea or something of interest to all members of every marketplace, posting it on only one board won’t be seen by the entire community. Threads can be moved by moderators, so don’t worry about goofing up if you are new, just keep in mind the differences between the two types of threads.

Searching the Forums
If you are looking for some information and not sure where to start, it’s usually a good idea to search the forums before starting a new thread. You’ll often find that someone else has had the same question and it may already have been answered. It’s easy to search the forum too, just enter a few keywords in the search field and make sure the search is set to search within forums only, and you’re ready to go. Try a few variations on your search terms too. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, feel free to create a post!

Self-promotion and giveaways
Because of the commercial nature of the Envato networks, authors are expected to understand and respect the fact that using the forum to post links to one’s own items, or to give away free files to the community, is not allowed. This practice effectively undercuts the hard work of all authors who wish to sell their items fairly, and as such it is not tolerated. This ultimately helps keep the forum open and free of the countless self-promo threads that would likely arise if everyone were allowed to post links to their own items. That’s not what our forums are for. Envato prides itself on it’s relaxed and easygoing atmosphere on the forums, and we will always make an effort to explain the reasons to new authors if they make mistakes. Still, because of the sensitivity of many of the authors towards it, users who continuously use the forums for their own promotion will be warned and may subsequently see their accounts suspended if repeated warnings are not heeded.

Item discussion
For users wishing to discuss certain aspects of their items before of after they have been approved, there is a specific area to do so, in order to avoid self-promotion. The section is called Item Discussion, and in it, links to items for the purpose of discussion are allowed. This is the only place where such links are permitted, and the threads in this section will not appear on the latest discussion links on the home page.

Restricted Topics
It goes without saying that topics considered offensive are also not allowed. Discussion or linking to offensive topics, such as pornography, violent themes, sexism, racism or other discriminatory subjects, even as a joke or in jest, is strictly prohibited. Envato forums have no place for such topics. Also, because of the multicultural aspect of our users from all around the globe, discussing potentially heated subjects such as religion and politics in any critical way will result in the removal of the post and a warning will be issued.

Piracy Reporting
In this digital age, it is a sad and incontrovertible fact that piracy abounds in all walks of multimedia. Envato goes to great lengths to fight this, and makes efforts everyday to protect the commercial interests of its honest users. With this in mind, it is necessary to understand that if you ever become aware of the existence of stolen items, whether they are yours or another author’s, DO NOT use the forum to announce it. This always hurts more than it helps. Despite anyone’s best intentions, such post only create free advertising for the files in question, and that is something we definitely do not want to do. The correct and only way to report piracy is to notify support. There is a dedicated team of people whose job it is to investigate and combat any reported incidence of piracy.

Courtesy and Goodwill
Forum users are expected to carry exchanges and communicate with each other with courtesy and goodwill. That means remaining polite in disagreements, refraining from using taunts or insults, and offering the benefit of the doubt whenever warranted.

Moderators
Forum moderators are experienced users of the Envato forum network, who have the ability to intervene on the forum. You will see their moderator badge under their avatars. They can modify or move posts, or lock and disable them when required. These guys are your friends, and it’s their job to be around to steer conversations in the right direction, keeping things on topic and defusing potentially heated situations. If you as a user ever come across a post that you feel should not be on the forum, or if you have any issues or concerns with something you see, you can let support know or if it’s urgent send an email to the moderators. This address directs to all the mods, so you can rest assured that your message will be tended to promptly, with confidence and discretion.