Introduction & Forum Rules
The CertCommunity community is an IT focused community. It is a gathering place for people, content and resources focused on different aspects of Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA, Project Management, ITIL and much more...

Our goal at CertCommunity is to share and exchange knowledge for FREE. With a team of dedicated members, we offer our members an open forum and the opportunity to share and discuss IT related topics and information. Our existence and success is based on our members’ loyalty and dedication and we will continue to exist and grow as long as this distinct relationship is there. So far the referrals of our members have made CertCommunity grow into a rapidly close knit family of IT professionals.

The CertCommunity community is marked by its depth of editorial content and an inclusive structure that allows IT professionals to interact with colleagues, technical experts, analysts, and other thought-leaders. IT professionals get objective, “direct from the trenches” information regarding different aspects of IT technologies.
With every great community, there are the rules that ensure people coexist peacefully. This forum is no different. There are boundaries to what is, and what is not allowed. These rules are in place to ensure that CertCommunity Forum continues to be a friendly place where members can learn and share information on a variety of computing and non-computing topics.
The CertCommunity Team may restrict member/s access to our forum with prior warnings, in case if you perform any actions that affect CertCommunity in a negative way including but not limited to:

1. No advertising or links to advertising or "Spam" is permitted (including signatures). • Advertising or Spam is defined as posting a link for the purpose of selling, soliciting or promoting by someone that has ownership or other "vested interest" to the web site involved, including efforts to promote other online forums or web sites by web site owners. Chain letters and junk mail are also strictly prohibited. Topics/posts that contain such content will be, edited, locked, or deleted. The Group Buy Section is the only section where group buys are permitted and meant to have a group of members buying a product that is not available and may be provided for the rest of our members for FREE. This section is ran and moderated by a staff member and only this staff member will initiate or approve a group purchase. • Posts and links about fundraising (including nonprofit fundraisers) are NOT permitted. • Only links to personal home pages are allowed in signatures and member profiles. Links must be appropriate and abide by rules founded in this page. • Links to helpful web sites (commercial or otherwise) are allowed when they are posted by someone without any "vested interest" AND whose purpose is NOT to solicit, advertise, promote, fundraise, etc. • Public posting of your email ID and/or any communication service ID such as SMS, MSN IDs, Skype etc... is not permitted.

2. No posts that attack, insult, "flame", defame, or abuse members or non-members. Material that is knowingly defamatory, illegal, abusive, threatening or harassing is strictly prohibited. As with anything, you, as a member, should use good common sense when posting. In other words, you agree to maintain professionalism at all times. Posts containing personal attacks on another user will be edited or deleted with no warning or consent.

3. Right to Privacy. You will not violate a person's privacy by publishing any information against another member’s will, information that is private and personal.

4. No use of explicit, obscene or vulgar language or images and/or messages, including racist remarks and porn topics. • Topics/posts containing such will be edited or deleted accordingly.

5. No discussion of any illegal activity or threats of violence. (I.e. illicit drug use or exchange, threats of suicide or self-injury, or threatened or intended physical harm). Discussions of suicide or self-harm that are deemed negative and therefore potentially injurious to others are also not permitted.

6. Warez. Providing or asking for information on how to illegally obtain "Warez", "games" or any other software or work protected by copyright law isn’t related to us. None of the files are hosted on our web server neither administrators nor staff are involved in any of the Warez sharing part. If you find that your legal material is being shared drop please contact the administrators of the forum.

7. Virus, Malware and Adware Posting links leading to virus, malware, adware, etc. is forbidden. Any violation of this rule, your account will be banned without prior warning and the thread will be edited or deleted accordingly. As a warning to our users, you should be vigilant when clicking on links and exercise the same caution as you would on other sites.

8. Post Pumping If a post is suspected to serve no other purpose than to increase the post count of the poster, then the moderators may, at their discretion, issue a PM to the member in question enquiring about the nature of the post. Posts/Threads that are blatantly post pumping will be removed or locked without recourse to the poster.

9. Cross-posting the same question/comment/post in more than one section is not allowed. Should this occur, then only the thread in the most relevant forum will be left open; all others will be locked and subsequently deleted.

10. Naming Names. Naming people or their characters in a negative manor is not permitted. A simple misunderstanding, can lead to a negative reaction.

11. Posting on Behalf of Banned Users. Banned users have violated a policy or rule of this forum. Banned users may not ask other users to post on the forums on their behalf.

12. No lengthy signatures. To keep the page loading time and visual annoyance factor down to a minimum, ensure your graphical signatures do not exceed a maximum of 12,500 pixels or 15 kilobytes file size, whichever is reached first. Alternatively, three lines of text can be used as a signature. Do not pad out your text lines with blanks lines. A line of text is defined such that it does not wrap when viewed at a resolution of 640x480. If these limits are exceeded then you may be contacted by a moderator requesting an amendment to your signature. If none is made within a reasonable period of time, then a moderator may remove your signature from your profile.

13. No use of multiple usernames. Please register and use only one username for the forum. Posting under multiple user accounts will result in administrative action (i.e. banning).

14. No posts of an overtly political or religious nature OR posts promoting advocacy of particular personal, medical, legal, religious, political, or non-profit causes. The forums are intended for offering mutual personal support. Debating controversial subjects should be taken elsewhere. Limited religious references are allowed (i.e. "my prayers are with you" or a brief quote as part of a larger post), but the forums should not be used to convert others.

15. No cryptic posts. Using cryptic messages to "skirt" the rules is not permitted.

16. If it shouldn’t be viewed by minors, then it shouldn’t be posted to the forums or chat rooms. This is a public, family-friendly forum. In addition, if something would not be considered “work safe” (to a boss or co-worker), then it shouldn’t be posted.

17. Do not disrespect moderators. Be respectful in both the forums and any private communications with moderators. Moderators are volunteers that donate a considerable amount of their personal time to help in forum’s moderation and chat room. Violating this rule will not be tolerated.

18. No SHOUTING. Remember, using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in posts is considered yelling and rude, plus it is difficult to read.

19. Do not post offline personal contact information (i.e. your home address, phone numbers etc.) and do not ask for personal information from others. Modify your member profile in the Control Panel (CP) at the top right corner of the forum to set privacy settings for your account. Use of full names (your first and last name) is allowed but strongly discouraged. This is to protect your security and identity.

20. No irrelevant or off-topic posts. Posts which are not relevant to the forum topic may be deleted at the moderator's discretion.

21. Do not sell certification books or materials using our forums. First of all, we would like to keep the site alive and avoid any trading gatherings in the forum. Second, we respect the right of publishers and authors to earn a good wage for their hard work but at the end we don’t host anything here, all the materials are founded on upload sites so if you think we exposed your materials for free on our forum then contact the uploaded site itself.

22. Do not send the Forum Team Private Messaging or use The Report Button for requests with non administrative nature such as how to download or find materials as an example.

23. Don't tread on us. Any attempts to breach our security, tamper with the forums, or circumvent our ban control will be prosecuted.

24. All the Group Purchase material will be provided with watermarks containing username of contributing user and (or) there real name obtained from PayPal Transaction. This is to safeguard against leaking of material. For detailed group buy rules, please check the group buy section. By not complying with these rules, your account may be suspended or banned without prior warning.

Suggestions for a friendly, easy to navigate forum.
In the attempt to create a compromise where everyone is happy, the following suggestions are also recommended:

1. Check for open topics. Before posting a new topic, please check to see if there is already a topic open for your subject.

2. Always check the sticky topics in every section, there is a reason to have some sticky topics according to their importance.

3. Use proper tags in proper sections, as an example in the share section use the [Offer] tag if you are offering any materials. Or use the [Req] tag if you are requesting for any materials.

4. Report posts that violate the rules and guidelines by selecting the Report button at the bottom right corner of the post to notify the moderators. We will act on the report as quickly as we can. Do not reply to the offending post as that typically only encourages the poster.

5. Lend a helping hand. A bit of compassion can go a long way toward helping people with life's challenges and reaching out can help alleviate feelings of loneliness? We're all different, but we're really all the same. At some time or another, we all need or want help or simply someone with whom we can share our burdens or successes.

6. Don't be afraid to share. If you're feeling alone or shy, don't be afraid to share your materials and knowledge. If you're rejoicing about the results of a recent exam test or a specific IT topic, share that too.

7. Welcome new members. When newcomers arrive, say "hi" and welcome them. Help new folks "learn the ropes" about how to find information and resources, save time, and how to get involved. You will also find a lot of help using the forums themselves.

8. Use descriptive titles for new posts. Avoid "generic" post subjects like "Help" or "Question". You will receive a better response to your posts by being more descriptive about the content of your post.

9. Use common sense. Anything that you say or do carries consequences with it. If you find yourself questioning the nature of what you’re going to post, then it’s probably not safe to post it. Save yourself trouble and ourselves time, think before you post.

10. Always be civil and courteous. This forum is visited by people from all over the world of different ages, genders, and races. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

11. Make sure that your message topics fit the topic description of the forum that you are posting in. This is for your own benefit - for example, a question regarding a Microsoft exam will get a better (and probably quicker) response in Microsoft section, than it would in General IT section.

12. Use the search function before posting, particularly if the question is problem oriented. Most technical questions have been answered before, and solutions are freely available.

13. Don't quote the entire message that you're responding to, only the pertinent passage. This makes it easier to read for other users.

14. Only post pictures when absolutely necessary, and when they are directly relevant to the topic discussion. If the image you are posting is large in size (either pixel size, file size, or both), then please post a link to the picture instead of posting the picture itself. Remember that not everybody has the T3 connection that you are accustomed to, and may have to wait some time for images to load.

15. If you find it easier to express yourself en François, auf Deutsch, en Española, in Nederland’s, in Italiano, or any other language, post in the International Section forum. You'll find help and pointers in almost every language we can think of.

16. Ignore bothersome members. If there is someone on the forum that bothers you, select the Ignore button you won't see any posts from this member again.

17. All your opinions, suggestions and questions about how CertCommunity operates can be addressed in “Comments about CertCommunity” forum.

18. Post in the correct forum. When you post in the wrong forum, it creates unnecessary extra work for us. Please read the forum descriptions and post in the correct place. For example, the certification forums are for certification related questions only.

19. If your post seems to have been not answered or ignored after a reasonable amount of time, it will be closed by Moderstors as outdated.

20. While posting it is a mandate to use any color but RED. Red color is mostly for moderators use to warn members or inform them about a specific issue related to the rules of the forum.

21. While creating your own blog try to accomplish the following:

• Bare it all. You don't have to give away trade secrets, but effective blogs require a certain amount of candor. There's nothing more boring than a blog that pulls its punches.
• Update frequently. Content gets stale fast online, so refresh the blog at least three times a week, if not more often. And mind the spam in the comments section--business blogs get tons of it.
• Be interactive. Encourage visitors to post comments. And join the conversation. Visitors to business blogs generally want one thing--to be heard by the business.
• Stay cool. If commentators get nasty (and if your blog is any good, they will), don't go on the offensive. Engage them in conversation. And wait it out: There's always a new controversy around the corner. AND note that any inactive blog will be deleted after a reasonable amount of time

22. When posting links use the hide tag. This can be done by adding

[hide] Your url goes here [/hide]

or by using the small symbol with the yellow key.

23. Be sure to use the "thanks" button instead of posting a useless "thanks" which only pushes the thread to the top and has no other use in order to see the hidden content

General Forum Questions

a. Login and Registration Issues
1. Why can't I log in? Have you registered? Seriously, you must register in order to log in. Have you been banned from the board? (A message will be displayed if you have.) If so, you should contact the webmaster or board administrator to find out why. If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot log in then make sure that you are entering your username and password correctly. They are case sensitive. Finally if you still face a problem logging in then contact the administrator

2. I did not receive a confirmation email. What gives? Did you provide a valid email address? If so, then our message has either been incorrectly handled by your spam filters or your email server is blocking email from us. You need to supply an email address that is capable of receiving email from us. If you are using Yahoo and other free email services, you will likely find our message in your bulk email or spam box.

3. Why do I need to register at all? Registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as our Sections without limitation, definable avatar images, private messaging, emailing to fellow users, etc. It only takes a few minutes to register so it is recommended you do so.

4. Why do I get logged off automatically? If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you log in, the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc.

5. I've lost my password! Don't panic! While your password cannot be retrieved it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click I've forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time.

6. I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore! The most likely reasons for this are: you entered an incorrect username or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered) or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter case then perhaps you did not post anything? It is usual for boards to periodically remove users who have not posted anything so as to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get involved in discussions.

7. I would like to change my username on the forum. unfortunately there isn’t a direct way to do this right now , contact the administrator of the site to change the username for you instead

b. Posting Issues
1. Part of my post was replaced with ****? This is because you posted a link or a banned word which is against our rules.

2. How do I post a topic in a forum? Easy -- click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You may need to register before you can post a message. The facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of the forum and topic screens (the You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list)

3. How do I edit or delete a post? Unless you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic that lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied.

4. How do I add a signature to my post? To add a signature to a post you must first create one; this is done via your profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio box in your profile. You can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting form.

5. How do I create a poll? Creating a poll is easy -- when you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic, if you have permission) you should see an Add Poll form below the main posting box. If you cannot see this then you probably do not have rights to create polls. You should enter a title for the poll and then at least two options -- to set an option type in the poll question and click the Add option button. You can also set a time limit for the poll, 0 being an infinite amount. There will be a limit to the number of options you can list, which is set by the board administrator

6. How do I edit or delete a poll? As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator, or board administrator. To edit a poll, click the first post in the topic, which always has the poll associated with it. If no one has cast a vote then users can delete the poll or edit any poll option. However, if people have already placed votes only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it; this is to prevent people rigging polls by changing options mid-way through a poll

7. Why can't I access a forum? Some forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post, etc. you may need special authorization which only the forum moderator and board administrator can grant, so you should contact them.

8. Why can't I vote in polls? Only registered users can vote in polls so as to prevent spoofing of results. If you have registered and still cannot vote then you probably do not have appropriate access rights.

c. User Preferences and settings
1. How do I change my settings? All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the Profile link (generally shown at the top of pages but this may not be the case). This will allow you to change all your settings.

2. The times are not correct! The times are almost certainly correct; however, what you may be seeing are times displayed in a time zone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, you should change your profile setting for the time zone to match your particular area, e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. Please note that changing the time zone, like most settings, can only be done by registered users. So if you are not registered, this is a good time to do so, if you pardon the pun!

3. I changed the time zone and the time is still wrong! If you are sure you have set the time zone correctly and the time is still different, the most likely answer is daylight savings time (or summer time as it is known in the UK and other places). The board is not designed to handle the changeovers between standard and daylight time so during summer months the time may be an hour different from the real local time.

4. How do I show an image below my username? There may be two images below a username when viewing posts. The first is an image associated with your rank; generally these take the form of stars or blocks indicating how many posts you have made or your status on the forums. Below this may be a larger image known as an avatar; this is generally unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice over the way in which avatars can be made available. If you are unable to use avatars then this is the decision of the board admin and you should ask them their reasons (we're sure they'll be good!)

d. Formatting and Topic Types
1. Can I use HTML? That depends on whether the administrator allows you to; they have complete control over it. If you are allowed to use it, you will probably find only certain tags work. This is a safety feature to prevent people from abusing the board by using tags which may destroy the layout or cause other problems. If HTML is enabled you can disable it on a per post basis from the posting form.

2. What are Smileys? Smileys, or Emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. means happy, means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether.

3. Can I post Images? Images can indeed be shown in your posts. However, there is no facility at present for uploading images directly to this board. Therefore you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.some-unknown-place.net/my-picture.gif. You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor to images stored behind authentication mechanisms such as Hotmail or Yahoo mailboxes, password-protected sites, etc. To display the image use either the tag or appropriate HTML (if allowed).

4. What are Announcements? Announcements often contain important information and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements appear in the top of each section in the forum . Whether or not you can post an announcement depends on the permissions required, which are set by the administrator.

5. What are Sticky topics? They are often quite important so you should read them where possible. As with announcements the board administrator determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each forum.

6. What is the "Spy-Function" for ? The Spy is the one who is always informed about recent updates. In other words, the Spy shows replies and new Topics of every kind in realtime.

7. What are Locked topics? Locked topics are set this way by either the forum moderator or board administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll contained inside is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons

8. What is the Store ? The store can be used if you missed a groupbuy. You can buy items bought via groupbuy for a reduced price.

e. User Levels and Groups
1. What are Administrators? Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire board. These people can control all facets of board operation which include setting permissions, banning users, creating user groups or moderators, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums.
Currently we have three administrators controlling this site:
• administrator
• assane

2. What are Senior Super Moderators ? Senior Super Moderators are individuals whose job it is to look after the Super Moderators and assist them with their need and troubles. Senior Super Moderators have the admins' trust and can decide most of the things.
Currently we have two Senior super moderators at this site:
• Glavin
• Mavis

3. What are Super Moderators? Super Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in ANY section in the forum. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.

4. What are Honorary Members? Honorary members have fewer privileges than super moderators, but more than regular forum members. Their opinion is treated the same as moderators' opinion. Honorary members are trusted members and have achieved this level by their outstanding personality and hard work demonstrated on CertCommunity. They know the rules, they know the policy, and they also moderate mainly the share sections. Moderators and honorary members may recommend other members to be promoted to honorary member or Moderator status. If you really want to become one, the only requirement is - we have to like you, trust you and be sure that you can be a part of the team.

5. What are Technical Experts? Technical experts provide valuable technical advice to other members of the forum. Any member with a good history on CertCommunity and rich technical experience can apply for this status in a relevant topic in Comments about CertCommunity forum.

f. Private Messaging
1. I cannot send private messages! There are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged on, you’ve insufficient post count, or the board administrator has prevented you individually from sending messages. If it is the latter case you should try asking the administrator why.

2. I keep getting unwanted private messages! In the future we will be adding an ignore list to the private messaging system. For now, though, if you keep receiving unwanted private messages from someone, inform the board administrators -- they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages at all.

3. I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this board! We are sorry to hear that. The email form feature of this board includes safeguards to try to track users who send such posts. You should email the board administrator with a full copy of the email you received and it is very important this include the headers (these list details of the user that sent the email). They can then take action.

g. Group Buy Issues
1. I have participated in a Group Buy and realized later that the Group Buy topic was a scam! We are sorry to hear that , please note that the only guy authorized to buy materials under the name of CertCommunity is assane , in case assane isn’t available please contact one of the administrators of the board to give you the right directions to avoid any scams .

2. One of the Group Buys has been done successfully but the materials aren’t available in the share section! We would like to inform you that only the staff team and the participants in the Group Buy will receive the materials after passing the stages of a Group Buy , that is purchasing the material then ripping it , after that the material is uploaded to the participants and finally updating any updates related to that Group Buy , if any other member wants a copy of the materials purchased through a Group Buy he must pay a reasonable amount of 15$ that will be used as a donation for the site or he must wait for 1 month to download the material from the share section for free.

h. Other Issues
1. What should I do if I see objectionable material on the forums? It is important that members recognize the real-time nature of these forums; the moderators cannot always monitor the contents of posted messages. As such, we depend upon you to inform them when members are violating our rules. You must also recognize that they cannot respond immediately to such notices and that some time may pass before any warranted action is taken. To contact a moderator use the "Report" Button or send a private message to one of the moderators listed in the Forum Team page.

2. What happens if I break the rules? At best your post will be edited by one of the moderators and you will be issued a warning. If the offence is more serious your post will be deleted. Posting "why was my post edited/deleted?" etc. will only make matters worse so please don't. Should you have already been issued warnings and continue to break the rules, you will be issued a temporary ban - your posting privileges will be disabled for seven days, but you will still be able to view the forums as a guest. For persistent and or deliberate rule-breakers your account will be "Nuked". That means you are no longer welcome on these forums and your account will no longer function. If you re-register, your new account will be nuked immediately and any new threads/posts will automatically be removed, regardless of their nature

3. What is the warning system? Warning system is a feature of the board for the moderators to keep track of offensive, bad or spamming posters. The scale varies from 0 to 100, with 0 as a default. After receiving the 1st warning your counter will be increased to 33% and if you had a 2nd warning it will increase to 66% finally if you had a 3rd warning the counter will show 100% and you will be banned permanently or temporarily based on the moderator who warned you the last time , There is no certain rules for what reasons and what level of warning you may get penalized, because moderators will use warning system at their own discretion, however if you notice that you've been unfairly punished, please contact the admin with your complaint for review. Moderators have to state a reason for what you have been warned or decreased in warning. Normally, those members who post along the guidelines of the rules will have no impact. All members can observe their warning status and the reasons in their statistics profiles.

4. I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this board! We are sorry to hear that. The email form feature of this board includes safeguards to try to track users who send such posts. You should email the board administrator with a full copy of the email you received and it is very important this include the headers (these list details of the user that sent the email). They can then take action.

5. Where can I find out who is in charge? The Forum Team page displays all the moderators and administrators of the forum. When in doubt, ask a moderator about the topic of your thread or post. They will be able to tell you if it violates the rules or not. If your thread or post is removed and you do not receive an email or PM about it, then ask a moderator why it was removed. Do not re-post your thread or start another one complaining about your thread being removed.

6. What is post of the month award? This award has been introduced in recognition of posts within the CertCommunity forum that are felt to have excelled with regard to their contents being uniquely informative, descriptive, or instructional.

7. What is member of the month award? This award has been introduced in recognition of members within the CertCommunity forum that are felt to have excelled with regard to their contents being uniquely informative, descriptive, or instructional

8. Why after posting a topic my post count hasn’t been increased? Some forums do not count your posts, these are:

• Announcements
• CertCommunity Mall and all it sub forums
• Comments about CertCommunity
• International hub
• IT Certification News under General IT
• General IT and all its sub forums
• OFF TOPIC and all its sub forums
• STUDY GUIDES, REQUESTS AND SHARES and all its sub forums
• THE LOUNGE and all it sub forums



Please Remember: Rules and guidelines may change at any time, please re-read them regularly