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Guidelines for DALnet Help Committee Approved help channels
version 1.3 - 2 September 2004
Last revised on 2 September 2004
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General Help Channel Guidelines

A. Management

  1. Help channels will choose their own management, both membership and structure.

  2. Official network-owned help channels will also have one person who will hold a position
     on the HC, as their liason.  Recommended channels will have an HC liason (preferably
     the founder). The liason for recommended channels will be the contact person for the
     HC should the need arise.

  3. The HC reserves the right to request the removal of staff and/or management from any
     help channel (network-owned or recommended).

  4. In cases where the channel management or the staff of a help channel requests the HC's
     assistance in regarding removal of a member, the decision of the HC is final.  Channels
     should solve these disputes themselves first.

  5. Should the help channel at some point desire to change founder, the current founder must
     send an email to hc@dal.net. The email should contain proposed founder and a short description
     about him/her and also why the founder change is taking place. The Help Committee will then
     evaluate the proposed founder and give its go ahead or deny him/her. Should the help channel 
     change founder without approval of the Help Committee, the channel can lose its status as 
     recommended channel.

  6. In the event of an expiration of an official or a recommended help channel or the founder nick, 
     the channel will lose its current status. The new founder must re-apply to the Help Committee 
     using the available application. Failing to do so and continuing to pose as an official or a 
     recommended channel can lead but not limited to revoked right of applying for the status for a 
     set time.

B. Staff

  1. Help channels will choose their own staff, both membership and structure.

  2. Staff must be knowledgeable in the field of coverage of the channel, and this should
     be verified before membership is conferred.  Training should be provided in helping
     skills and interpersonal skills, as well as refresher courses on various topics of
     help that come up in relation to the channel's coverage field.

  3. The HC reserves the right to request the removal of staff from any help channel
     (network-owned or recommended).

  4. In cases where a channel staff member is dissatisfied with being removed from a
     channel staff, either by the HC or by the channel's management, the HC will uphold
     the channel management's decisions in all cases without exception.  We are not an
     appeals body for such cases.

  5. Help channel staff (including management) will be held to the guidelines below, in
     both operation and selection, without exception.

  6. The founder and staff must have abided by all network rules, regulations, and policies
     without exception uptil now and continue to do so in the future. If a staff member is found
     violating this section the HC may request a times suspension or their removal as a staff member.
  
C. Coverage Areas

  1. Each help channel shall have a singular purpose, or coverage area, that is not
     covered by another help channel.

  2. Each channel should have a policy of referring questions to the proper channel,
     unless the staff has expertise in such an area, and their channel is not busy at the
     time.  An example would be a user comes to #DALnetHelp asking for script help.  If
     the staff member knows the answer, and the channel is not busy, they may help, else,
     they ought to forward the user to #HelpDesk.

D. Behaviour

  1. Help channel staff represent their channels, as well as the network.  They will abide
     by all network rules, regulations, and policies without exception.

  2. Help Channel staff will, to their best ability, help any user in need of assistance within 
     the area of expertise the help channel is offering. Users visiting the Help Channel are 
     to be judged based on their behaviour. No user is to be kicked or banned from the Help
     Channel based on his or her selection of channels while visiting the Help Channel.
  
  3. Help channel staff will be courteous to users.

  4. Help channel staff will enforce their channel's rules, up to and including removing
     abusive users.  Staff will use courtesy in kick messages, noting to the user the exact
     reason they were removed, and will explain the reason to the user afterward if
     necessary.  Users who are removed from a help channel will have TWO appeals, one to
     the channel's management or founder, and one to the HC.  In all cases the HC will have
     the final verdict.

E. Monitoring

  1. The HC will periodically monitor each channel to establish traffic stats and help
     quality.

  2. Reports on the channel will be provided to the channel's HC liason once per 6 months.

F. Authority

  1. The HC reserves the right to take action upon any help channel staff member,
     management member, or entire channel, up to and including staff removal, and official
     or recommended status revocation.  There is no higher or alternate appeal or appeals
     process, our decision will be final.

  2. The HC has the final say in all appeals brought before it. There is no higher or
     alternate appeal or appeals process.

  3. The HC will hear complaints and/or appeals, but in general will uphold the ruling
     of the channel's management.