There is always a balancing act between maintaining privacy and participating in a community. With our new forum, we have the added complication of privacy laws in different countries we need to respect.
Just as we had guidelines for etiquette on the mailing list, we now have Forum Use Guidelines.
Please take the time to read them. It doesn’t take long. 
There are a couple of points that are particularly important in getting the balance right.
- Topics should NOT contain email addresses, phone numbers and other such identifying information. This can be picked up and misused up by spammers and scammers. Posts containing such information will be edited, hidden or deleted by moderators.
Remember you can create a Private Message to another user if you want to contact them.
- Please use your real name, at least your given name, in the Name field of your Profile. This is a forum for our community, a community where many of us know, or know of each other from conversations on the mailing list, branch meetings and symposia over many years. The aim of the forum is to strengthen and widen this community.
Your name is not be immediately visible when you post. It is shown in a window if someone clicks on your photo (or default letter) to view your profile, or tags you in a post.
Abiding by the guidelines helps us to build a better community. 