Community guidelines

• First-hand. You built it, ran it, broke it or fixed it. Say what you did, not what a vendor's page says.
• Specific. Versions, configuration, the exact error message, and numbers: how long it took, how much it cost, how big it got.
• Honest about what did not work. The dead ends are often the most useful part for the next person.
• Credited. Link the docs, issues and posts you learned from. Quote briefly and link; do not copy.
• Titled for what it is. “Cutting Postgres cold starts from 900 ms to 40 ms on Neon” beats “Some thoughts on databases”.

• Search first. If it has been answered, add to that thread instead.
• Say what you are trying to do, what you expected, and what happened instead.
• Include the exact error text, the versions involved, and the smallest code or config that reproduces it.
• List what you already tried, so nobody suggests it again.
• When an answer solves it, accept it. That is how the next person with the same problem finds the fix first.

• Answer the question that was asked, and explain why the fix works.
• Say so when you have not tested it, or when it depends on a version.
• Disagree with the idea, never the person.

Developers argue. Tabs versus spaces, which framework is overrated, whether a benchmark is honest: a strong, even heated, technical disagreement is completely normal here, and we are not going to soften a community of opinionated engineers into agreeing with everything.

The line is simple: argue with the idea, never with the person.

• Fine: “This migration guide is wrong about connection pooling, and here is a benchmark showing why”, even said bluntly.
• Fine: Telling someone their code, architecture or benchmark has a real problem, in direct language.
• Not fine: Insults, slurs, name-calling, or any comment about who someone is rather than what they said: their race, gender, religion, nationality, sexuality, disability or age.
• Not fine: Threats, intimidation, sustained pile-ons on one person, or publishing anyone's private details (an address, a phone number, a workplace they did not disclose) to pressure or expose them.

A heated thread about Rust versus Go can stay open all week. A single comment that crosses into harassment comes down, no matter how right the rest of the argument is.

Sharing your own project, article or product is welcome when the post stands on its own: what you built, how, and what you learned, not just a link and a call to action.

• Say when you work on, own or are paid by what you are writing about.
• Most of what you post should not be about your own products.
• Paid promotion that is not clearly labelled as sponsored is removed.

Using an AI tool to help you write is fine: fixing grammar, restructuring a draft, generating a diagram, or getting unstuck on a sentence. What is not fine is content generated at scale and posted as if a person did the work it describes.

• Fine: “I used an AI tool to help clean up this draft, but the debugging story and the numbers are mine.”
• Not fine: A post describing a first-hand experience nobody actually had, generated and posted as if it were real.
• Not fine: Posting many AI-generated answers, articles or directory entries in bulk. This is exactly the “scaled content abuse” search engines actively penalise, and it is removed on sight.

If an AI-assisted answer is ever offered automatically on the site, it will always be labelled “AI draft, not verified”, will never be credited to a person, and will never earn reputation on its own.

Writing about vulnerabilities, exploits and security research is welcome; it is some of the most valuable first-hand content a developer community can have. A few rules keep it safe for everyone:

• Do not post a working exploit for an unpatched, undisclosed vulnerability in software people actually run. Write about it after a fix is available or the vendor has had a reasonable chance to respond.
• Never post real, working credentials, private keys, tokens, or other people's private data, even as part of demonstrating a finding.
• Do not target, scan or attack Dynamo Geeks itself, other members, or any system you do not have permission to test. If you find a security issue with Dynamo Geeks, see our privacy policy for how to report it to us privately.
• Malware, phishing kits and ready-to-use attack tooling aimed at harming people are not allowed, even framed as “educational”.

Dynamo Geeks is a developer community, not a politics forum. Discussion that genuinely connects to the work, open-source licensing law, export controls on software, how a conflict is affecting a region's tech industry or an engineering team working through it, is on topic and can be discussed like anything else here: with evidence, and without attacking people over it.

• Fine: “Here is how new export control rules changed what cloud regions our team can deploy to.”
• Not fine: General political arguments, election takes, or debates about a war with no connection to software or this community, especially when they turn into attacks on people based on their nationality or beliefs.

Moderators may move or close threads that drift from on-topic discussion into general political argument, even where no single comment breaks another rule.

• Spam: link drops, repeated posts, and posts that exist only to send traffic somewhere else.
• Fake engagement: voting rings, second accounts, bought likes or follows, and asking people to upvote.
• Plagiarism: someone else's writing or code posted as your own.
• AI-generated content passed off as human: using a tool to help you write is fine, but a generated post presented as your own first-hand experience is not. See “AI-generated content” above.
• Harassment: abuse, threats, hate, and publishing anyone's personal details.
• Anything harmful: malware, phishing, and illegal content.

Topic moderators remove what breaks their topic's rules; repeated or serious breaches of these guidelines can cost an account its access.

Report a post, comment, chat message, job listing or an account using the report option on it, and pick the reason that fits (spam, harassment, off-topic, illegal, or other with a short note).

• Each topic's own moderators, appointed by the person who created it, handle reports inside that topic and keep it on-subject.
• Site-wide moderators handle reports that touch these guidelines across the whole platform: harassment, spam, fake engagement, security issues and anything illegal.
• A report is reviewed against this page, not against how popular or unpopular the content is.
• Content that gathers several reports from different people is automatically hidden pending review, so a pile-on from one source cannot be used to silence someone, but a genuinely widespread concern is acted on quickly.
• We do not comment publicly on the details of an individual moderation decision, to protect the privacy of everyone involved.

Secret chats cannot be reported for their content, because we cannot read them; if someone is misusing a secret chat to harass or threaten you outside the chat itself, report the account, and screenshots of a threat you received are evidence a moderator can act on.

If your content was removed, or your account was limited or suspended, and you think it was a mistake, email support@dynamogeeks.com with a link to the content or a description of the action, and why you think it was wrong. Where we can, someone other than the person who made the original decision reviews the appeal. We aim to respond within a few business days. Appeals do not pause an active suspension while under review, except in cases of clear error.

Can I disagree with someone on Dynamo Geeks?

Yes. Strong technical disagreement is normal and welcome; argue with the idea, not the person. "This benchmark is misleading because..." is fine. Insults, slurs or attacks on who someone is are not, whatever the topic.

Can I post something written with AI help?

Yes, with two conditions: it must be labelled, and a person is still accountable for it being accurate. A fully AI-generated post presented as your own first-hand experience is not allowed. See "AI-generated content" above.

What happens if I get reported?

A moderator (the topic’s own, or a site moderator for a site-wide rule) reviews the report against these guidelines. Most reports are resolved without any visible action; if something is removed or an account is actioned, you can appeal. See "Reporting and what moderators do" and "Appeals" above.

Can I appeal a removal or a suspension?

Yes. Email us with the link to the content or a description of the action and why you think it was wrong. A different person than the one who made the original call reviews appeals where possible.