1.9.1. Code of Conduct#
1.9.1.1. Introduction#
This document outlines the Code of Conduct for the Better Conversations community. Following a consultation with the community, the following Code of Conduct was adopted by the Board of Directors of the Foundation at their meeting of 27th February 2025.
The Better Conversations team and community is made up of a mixture of professionals and volunteers from all over the world, working on every aspect of the mission - including mentorship, teaching, and connecting people.
Diversity is one of our huge strengths, but it can also lead to communication issues and unhappiness. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask people to adhere to. This code applies equally to founders, mentors and those seeking help and guidance.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of things that you can’t do. Rather, take it in the spirit in which it’s intended - a guide to make it easier to enrich all of us and the technical communities in which we participate.
This code of conduct applies to all spaces managed by the Better Conversations Foundation. This includes the Community, Foundation events, and any other forums created by the project team which the community uses for communication. In addition, violations of this code outside these spaces may affect a person’s ability to participate within them.
If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct, we ask that you report it by emailing contacting us here. For more details please see our Reporting Guidelines.
Be friendly and patient.
Be welcoming. We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.
Be considerate. Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that we’re a world-wide community, so you might not be communicating in someone else’s primary language.
Be respectful. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Members of the Better Conversations community should be respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside the Better Conversations community.
Be careful in the words that you choose. We are a community of professionals, and we conduct ourselves professionally. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment, bullying, and other exclusionary behavior aren’t acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to:
Violent threats or language directed against another person.
Discriminatory jokes and language.
Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”).
Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms.
Unwelcome sexual attention.
Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.
Bullying is any pattern of behavior—whether verbal, written, electronic, or physical—that is hostile, intimidating, or demeaning, and is intended to (or can reasonably be expected to) harm, intimidate, humiliate, belittle, or isolate another person or group. Such behavior can be repeated or singular if sufficiently severe, and may exploit real or perceived imbalances of power, status, or ability. Examples include persistent harassment, purposeful exclusion, public or private ridicule, threats, or any acts that create a hostile environment or discourage an individual from participating fully within the community.
When we disagree, try to understand why. Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and Django is no exception. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we’re different. The strength of Django comes from its varied community, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.
Original text courtesy of the Django Code of Conduct and in their turn, the Speak Up! project.
1.9.1.2. License of this Material#
We’ve taken inspiration from the Django Code of Conduct <https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/> which we acknowledge as a good example use under their Creative Commons license. We’ve adjusted it to meet our needs but the content here remains under the same license.
So this page is unusual on this site in that the underlying Copyright is not held by the Foundation, but by the Django Software Foundation and made available under a Creative Commons license.