Fore-notes

As someone with autism, most code of conducts give me a uneasy feeling and makes me fear them, rather than feeling safe. I am also aware many people don't like code of conducts for one reason or another. So I wrote this one from scratch in hopes to solves the issues that other code of conducts have, and I want to make three things clear:

• I do not want this code of conduct to be seen as a document to fear, as that defeats the whole purpose of making my own, so please see the Reporting, questions/concerns/comments/suggestions, etc section if you wish to ask anything about it, I will personally guarentee and see to it that you will not see any reprocussions about asking questions regardless of how weird, or "unacceptable" you may think people will see your question.
  
  
• I do not want this code of conduct to be used as a weapon. It is designed to keep people safe and the community welcoming, and made to ensure people don't use it as a method of removing people they don't like.
  
  
• I do want to make sure that everyone is able to have a good time and feel welcome when interacting with my projects, regardless of who you are as a person outside of the projects.

Scope

This Code of Conduct is only enforcable for the following:

1. Interactions on official project pages. (Git repos, issues, commits, IRC, etc)
2. When you are representing the project. (I.E. Stating "I am a X developer" in a discussion, only applies for that discussion)

What this does not cover:

1. Unrelated off-project interactions.
2. Unrelated opinions or views of a person.
3. Issues that happened on other projects.
4. Having "X developer" in your bio or profile.

Guidelines

1. Remember the human.
2. Don't go out of your way to make yourself a problem for others.
3. Don't abuse powers (Administrative, moderation, etc) that you may have.
4. Don't publish information about people that they haven't published themselves.
5. The code of conduct is not a weapon, don't use it as such.
6. Don't spam.

Recommendations

1. Share knowledge, don't force it. (I.E. Recommend a specific method, don't demand people to use it)
2. Have fun.
3. Do your best.

Disagreements

We are human, as such disagreements will happen. Normally this is a good thing as it allows one and other to exchange ideas and views, however if a disagreement over something begins to get heated, please consider:

1. Agreeing to disagree.
2. Stepping back and taking a breather.
3. Contacting or mentioning a moderator(@ notifying, not threatening the other party) to step in and de-escelate an issue before it becomes an issue that the code of conduct has to handle.

Enforcement

In the interest of transparency, all reports (both pending and handled) and outcomes are public. This includes:

• The original report. (Reporter name will be omitted except in cases of frivolous reports)
• Parties involved.
• Party or parties handling the issue.
• Considerations and discussions made by the parties handling the issue.
• All investigative information, including all parties' sides of the issue.
• Outcome of the issue, including action taken, ban duration(if applicable), and/or warnings issued.

This is done to ensure the community that enforcement is dealt with in a impartial manner, and to allow whistleblowing on abusive moderator actions.

Transparency exception

Exceptions to the above transparent policy may be made in the following cases:

• Life and/or death scenarios.
• Issues where the reporter or involved parties may be in danger.
• Issues where investigation is needed and there is worry of destruction of evidence.
• Issues where law enforcement is or will be involved.

Once the issue is dealt with, the report MAY be published depending on legal obligations and/or the safety of a person(s).

Public comments

Public commentary and feedback is welcome, however users are expected to remain civil when commenting on these issues.
Commentary is not to be used to "mini-mod" on-going issues. Attempting to "mini-mod" may result in sanctions disallowing further commentary on issues.

Elevation of action

Most issues will follow a Formal Warning > Final Warning > Suspension (7 day) > Suspension (30 day) > Banishment elevation tree. Warnings decay after 6 months. Suspensions decay after a year.

Moderators reserve the right to skip the elevation tree or issue longer ban lengths depending on the severity of the issue.

Petty issues

Petty issues such as heated arguing/debates, etc, will result in a non-recorded warning. Continued action will result in a recorded Formal or Final warning.

Non-recorded vs Recorded warnings

Non-recorded warnings are instances where a moderator may step in and tell the parties to stop. These do not go on record and do not count towards the elevation of action.
Recorded warnings are instances where a moderator has officially put it on file that a user has been misbehaving.

Appealing / Contesting

Users have the right to appeal or contest an action taken against them. Appealed actions will immediately decay if approved. Users may only appeal one issue only once unless new evidence is to be presented. Appeals must be handled by the moderator who issued the original action. Rejected appeals can be contested for review by the project lead if the user feels the moderator is biased against them, if the rejecting moderator is the project lead, then either 2 moderators or 4 unrelated parties may be elected to handle the issue.

In instances where the user is permanently banned or is unable to file appeal, they may opt to contact me at felix.wolfz+coc@gmail.com or at https://softhyena.com/about.htm

Moderator agreement

• Moderators must not underestimate the impact of their actions and it's impact on the community. We don't want to discourage people from contributing.
• Moderators must set aside all biases, be it political, their relationship with a user, or otherwise. If unable to do so, the issue must be passed to a moderator who can do so.
• Moderators are forbidden with dealing with issues that involve themselves or their friends.
• Moderators must use their powers to create a positive environment, not a fearful one.

Reporting, questions/concerns/comments/suggestions, etc:

Please open a issue here: https://github.com/FelixWolf/.github/issues or email me at contact me at felix.wolfz+coc@gmail.com or at https://softhyena.com/about.htm

Concerns about the code of conduct will never lead to any punishment or retaliation. If you feel that you are somehow disadvantaged or otherwise harmed by the code of conduct, please feel free to raise your concerns. We do not believe in "concern trolling", as any concern may be a valid one.
I have wrote this code of conduct to ensure that everyone, regardless of who they are, or how anyone may perceive them, is welcome in our community and is treated equally as human beings.