Unlike Usenet, forums are owned by a website administrator or website owner who will often dictate the forum's terms/conditions of use. Therefore, if the admin is not happy with your contribution to the site, (s)he can moderate or delete your posts, limit your access to various forums, or even ban you or give you a temporary suspension. When you post to a forum, you essentially surrender your freedom of speech to a certain extent; because the freedoms only extend as far as the web site moderators will permit.

Forums add additional functionality beyond the limits of conventional Usenet, but some argue that some popular discussion forums gives the web site owner a voice (s)he may not necessarily deserve or be responsible enough to maintain.

As a user of a web based forum, it is important to become familiar with the specific terms of use for that particular discussion medium which are often quite limiting.

Certain rules of unspoken etiquette are recommended to be followed when using Internet forums. They include:

• One should read all the rules and guidelines established by the community. Some communities may have different regulations on a particular subject.
  
  
• One should always be courteous to other forum members.
  
  
• Before creating a new topic thread, one is advised to search to see if a similar topic already exists.
  
  
• Contributors should follow standard grammar and spelling rules and avoid slang. Leetspeak is sometimes accepted.
  
  
• If the forum is categorized, one should strive to post in the correct section.
  
  
• When making a technical inquiry, one should include as much technical information as possible, especially in the subject line.
  
  
• Contributors are asked to stay on-topic.
  
  
• Contributors should avoid double posting and Crossposting.
  
  
• To avoid appearing self-absorbed, one should respond to topics started by others more often than starting topics of one's own.
  
  
• Contributors should avoid the use of all CAPITAL LETTERS in posts. ALL CAPS is considered "shouting" and causes readability issues.
  
  
• One is advised not to resurrect a very old topic if nothing significant will be added. This practice is known as revival, bumping or Necroing.
  
  
• One should try to refrain from lashing back at a poorly behaving member or participating in a flame war; instead, notify the messageboard's staff of the event.
  
  
• When quoting a previous post, one should only include the relevant portion of that post. Contributors are requested to keep in mind that their audience can likely still see the message they are quoting on the same screen and can read it again if need be.
  
  
• Signatures on forums should generally have a maximum height of 100 pixels, as to not cause clutter.