Help requests, buying advice, and simple questions will be removed. Use the Sticky!
Help requests, keyboard buying advice, what keyboard is this, typing test screenshots, and simple questions must be posted in the daily post stickied to the top of the subreddit or it will be removed without explanation.
No buying, selling, or trading classifieds. No B2B Commercial services or Donation Crowdfunding.
This applies to individuals trying to buy, sell, or trade their keyboards. For person to person classifieds use r/MechMarket instead.
Additionally, any commercial business to business services such as manufacturing, prototyping, and bulk production are expressly prohibited.
Donation based crowdfunding campaigns / platforms like Kickstarter or IndieGogo are prohibited.
Also, no content advertising tangential merchandise not directly related to Mechanical Keyboards, such as apparel or jewelry.
3
Posts advocating for or posting the links of Counterfeits / IP Infringing Content will be removed.
Content advocating for or posting the links of:
Unauthorized counterfeits intended to be indistinguishable from original, 1:1 copies
Infringes on original brand name, logos and artwork (incl. novelty keycaps)
Violates copyright, trademark, or patents with valid claims (not covered by Fair Use) presented by the IP holder
Is expressly prohibited as they hurt creator and vendor members of the community and are potential legal & financial liability, and thus will be removed.
4
Commercial Content must be disclosed via use of Promotional Flair with Links/Info of the Product
Any content advocating for the sale of goods or services, advertising a brand, or sharing of prototypes, must be use the Promotional post flair with explicit product info provided. Limit 1 per week.
Group Buy & Interest Check flair must be used when applicable, but donation crowdfunding like Kickstarter is prohibited.
Astroturfing, undisclosed guerilla marketing, and shilling is expressly forbidden and bannable.
To avoid ambiguity, community posts about sales must also use Promotional flair.
5
ALL Group Buy, Pre-Orders, and Interest Check Posts require manual approval and correct flair.
GB: Product sale based on prepayment / preorder model for future delivery of a product, where a certain order quantity (MoQ) must be met before an order is placed.
IC: Tool used by designers and vendors to determine if a product has enough interest to proceed with a production. ICs are not advertisements of GBs. ICs collect no funds and hold no guarantees. ICs are run to receive community input on a product.
6
Reviews must Disclose Conflicts of Interest
When provided free items for review, or payment in exchange for review (discounted product or direct sponsorship), the user must actively disclose this with a clear explicit disclaimer at the beginning and end of the review post.
If an item is a prototype or otherwise not the general production model, this must also be disclosed.
7
No Hate speech or bullying of any kind.
We are an open and affirming subreddit welcoming LGBTQ+ members and people with diverse views on life.
Hate speech, bullying and anything else that makes users feel uncomfortable or unsafe will not be tolerated. Please report the comments/posts and message the moderators directly if you find someone in violation of this rule.
This is a reddit-wide rule and users will be permanently banned from the subreddit on their first offense.
8
Build posts must use Builds flair and provide a detailed description of the components
You should include the content in the body of the post, however if you forget, your can add as a top level comment and notify us in modmail.
Any content that is a build post should include details such as:
The keyboard (or case + pcb)
Switches (type, brand, model, e.g. Tactile Cherry MX Brown)
Custom keycaps
Any notable mods performed
Interesting pertinent customizations like firmware
If you are displaying / promoting a product you design / sell, you must use Promotional Flair
9
Gatekeeping and NSFW Content will not be tolerated.
Gatekeeping will not be tolerated. This includes hating on a certain switches, cheaper keyboards, keycaps, and more. Users will be issued temporary bans for violations of this rule depending on the severity.
Likewise, NSFW content will not be tolerated. This includes any sexually suggestive content, not just nudity. This includes ahegao.
10
Giveaways are not allowed on /r/MechanicalKeyboards
Giveaways are not allowed on r/MechanicalKeyboards outside of specified timeframes or events.
When permitted, Giveaways must not require joining, following, or force engagement with other social media platforms, nor upvoting of reddit posts (which violates sitewide TOS)
Giveaways must be in compliance with relevant regulations, and be for either in stock product or non expiring store credit.
Additionally, Other Commercial Content may not be posted more than once per week.
11
No Bots. Referral/affiliate links, subreddits ads, begging, and low-effort posts will be removed.
Bots are banned. There are a few specific exclusions like u/AutoModerator. If you are the developer of a bot, you can send a modmail to request an exclusion for your bot.
12
Make sure to use the right flair!
Meetups flair is for Organizing / Announcing Meetups
Photos / Video of the event belong in Photos tag
Visual Media (Photos and Video) belongs in Photos tag, except:
Builds
Memes
Build posts must include a detailed description of the build specs
Discussion flair should not be used for help requests or sales.
Help requests belong in the pinned help megathread at the top of the front page
Sales belongs under promotional flair
GB / IC posts have their own flair
13
Do not DM Mods: All Moderation and Subreddit Related Issues Should be Flagged in ModMail
You must send a message to ModMail - this allows for the full staff to impartially adjudicate the issue in a more timely and organized manner.
In the case that evidence is needed to be presented for a flagged problem, use an imgur link or similar photo sharing site with all relevant screenshots.
Regarding IP claims, please provide links / filing numbers to appropriate registration of your IP
14
No Media Only Posts
All media posts must include some sort of relevant description of the content. In order to encourage discussion and high quality posts while combatting spam and bots, we will no longer allow media only posts.
