The forums are a center for community activity and communication, and we hope that everyone finds topics they enjoy- or creates one themselves! Please keep in mind that Duck members can be any age, and we often see younger people in the forums being friendly.
The forums operate under pretty basic, informal rules which are a lot like The Duck's rules:
Don't be a jerk (and don't use the forums to pick fights)
Post threads and replies in the right place (and try not to replicate threads)
Keep your signature within the size limits
Don't post or promote illegal activity (including links to warez)
Mark Not Safe For Work (NSFW) images or content and post them behind a link (not inline as part of the visible message)
If the moderators or admins ask you to do (or not do) something, listen!
There's a forum thread for the rules here: http://www.drunkduck.com/forum/topic/162911/
However, there's also forums etiquette to keep in mind:
Use plain language and "speak" clearly
Posting image macros by themselves as replies is seen as a bit useless
Don't spam the forums with useless replies, loads of links to your own stuff, etc.
Use Private Quacks for conversations which shouldn't be public
Try not to derail threads too much by getting too far off-topic. If it's an interesting topic of discussion, it's probably worth a new thread
Necroposting - only respond to super-old threads if you have a relevant reply. If it's a 2-year old request for help, what's the point? However if it's potentially an interesting discussion and you've contributed something, that's ok.
If you "break" most of these rules it's not a problem, but it does kind of show that you're not very experienced with forums. Someone will probably make fun of you if you use 1337speak or too many txt words.