Community Guidelines

1 Our purpose

Architectena is a place where architects share their work, learn from each other, and find professional opportunities. Whether you are an established practitioner, a student, or somewhere in between, we want Architectena to be a space where good work is recognised, hard questions get serious answers, and constructive disagreement is welcome.

2 What's encouraged

• Share your own projects, sketches, drawings, and writing — with proper credit to collaborators and contributors
• Give constructive critique: specific, fair, and focused on the work rather than the person
• Ask and answer questions in good faith — junior members and experts both belong here
• Collaborate across borders, offices, and disciplines
• Contribute in either English or Arabic — both languages are first-class on Architectena
• Cite sources when discussing buildings, architects, or scholarship

3 What's not allowed

Harm and harassment

• Targeted harassment, threats, or intimidation of any user
• Hate speech based on religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected characteristic
• Doxxing — publishing private information about another person without consent
• Incitement to violence against individuals or groups

Misinformation and deception

• Impersonating another person, office, or organisation
• Fake credentials, fabricated experience, or invented qualifications
• Sockpuppet accounts — multiple accounts used to manipulate discussion or votes
• Manipulated or fake reviews, ratings, or endorsements

Spam and manipulation

• Scraping the platform or any of its content
• Mass-messaging users with unsolicited offers or links
• Follow/unfollow churn or other artificial engagement tactics
• Off-topic promotional content — the platform is not an advertising channel

Copyright and attribution

• Posting work that isn't yours without clear credit to the original author
• Lifting another architect's portfolio, drawings, or photographs
• Claiming authorship of a building, project, or design you did not lead or contribute to

NSFW and illegal content

• Pornographic or sexually explicit content — our automated NSFW filter blocks this on upload
• Content advocating violence, terrorism, or self-harm
• Any content that is illegal under applicable law

4 Quality standards

• Write clearly in English or Arabic — both are welcome; broken or auto-translated text degrades the conversation
• Tag content correctly — use the right categories, scopes, and topics so others can find it
• Use real photographs of real work — avoid stock-image dumps or AI-generated decoration passed off as your own
• Don't bait engagement — vague clickbait, rage-bait, and engagement farming are unwelcome

5 How to report

Every post, comment, and profile carries a Report button. Use it when you see something that breaks these guidelines. Our moderation team reviews reports within 24–48 hours. For sensitive or urgent cases, you can also email [email protected] directly.

6 Consequences

We apply enforcement in graduated steps, matched to the severity and history of the violation:

• First, minor violation — warning issued and the offending content removed.
• Repeated violations — temporary suspension of 10–30 days, depending on pattern and impact.
• Severe violations or repeat offenders — permanent account termination, with no opportunity to register again.
• Illegal content — immediate removal, account termination, and where appropriate a report to law-enforcement authorities.

7 Appeals

If you believe an enforcement decision was wrong, you can appeal by emailing [email protected] within 14 days of the action. Please include your username, the content or account affected, and a short description of why you believe the decision should be reconsidered. We will review and respond within a reasonable timeframe.

For formal warnings, you can also dispute the decision directly in-app from your account's warnings page.