Dog Community

Forum guidelines

Posted : 11/7/2007 8:49:57 AM

I just drafted this....thoughts?

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Posting Guidelines

Hi everyone,

You all know that the forum has gone through some major changes recently, bringing some wonderful new features, an influx of new members who have a lot to contribute and yes, a few bugs and glitches. We welcome the first 2, and thank you all for your patience while we get the latter sorted out.

It has come to our attention that there is perhaps a lack of clarity on what is and is not a good use of the forum, or valuable posting content, so we'd like to make some things clear for the benefit of members new and old, in order that this community can continue to grow in the right direction.

1. The Report Feature.

The way in which reports are made is different than our old "ticket" system, and is in some ways an improvement. However, we would like to make it quite     clear that this feature is to be used only to bring to the attention of staff posts that are unacceptable in nature or content. It is NOT to be used for complaints on staff     themselves or how the forum is run. For general queries or issues with the forums, please post in the relevant section "How Are We Doing" or contact staff via PM or     email. If you have a problem with a moderator, please contact either that moderator to see if you can work it out, or take your problem privately to an admin. If you you have     an issue with an admin, please contact another admin. Contact details for all of us will be at the bottom of this post. Please do not abuse the report feature, doing so makes     it harder to get to all the issues that need our attention, and diminishes the usefulness of the feature.

2. Linking To Videos.

We would like to ask that members use good judgment when posting links to dog training videos, and that you do not contribute to a thread *solely* in order to link to such     videos. If you are describing a technique and occasionally post a video link to illustrate your point that can be very useful, but for the most part we want to hear *your*     experiences and for     you to share your own knowledge. In particular, frequently posting links to the videos of any one person borders very closely on advertising for that     person - advertising that they are not entitled to on this forum. In the worst case scenario, attempting to follow a training technique from a video clip - which are usually     small in size and have low resolution - could be dangerous. What you are seeing is not always completely clear. Please do not post links to training clips unless you must,     and if you must, please include in the post your own experiences with that technique and a disclaimer that "trying this at home" could be hazardous and when in doubt,     consulting a trainer in person is the best idea.
We are always happy to see links to home videos that our members have taken of your dogs, your vacation, or anything else appropriate that you might like to share.   In that     same vein, amusing or cute video clips, whether dog related or not, are perfectly fine as long as they follow forum guidelines on crudeness, profanity etc.

3. Advertising.

Advertising your own business on this forum is subject to certain conditions, and if you would like to, please contact PicklesShore via PM to be included in the Member     Business Section. Posting for personal gain in any other section, including member blogs, is forbidden. Posting a link to a product you as a consumer have used and     would like to recommend is fine.

4. Dogs For Sale.

Please do not post on the forums or in blogs details of puppies or dogs you have for sale. We have a section for adoption and rescue, but advertising your own litter is not     allowed - anywhere. If you are a contributing member and a breeder please post details - and puppy pictures! - of your latest litter if you are not doing so for the purpose of     selling the puppies. If you tell us all about your breeding experience and there is someone on the forum who would just love to have one of your puppies they will likely get     in touch with you privately.

5. Links In Signatures.

Please do not post clickable links in your signatures. We had to introduce this measure in order to reduce forum spam, and it is helpful to staff if you follow it. If a member of     staff contacts you because you have clickable links in your sig, please remove them as soon as possible. URLs which are NOT clickable but link to your personal site,     myspace page, blog or any other non-profit site are perfectly fine.

If you have any questions about these or any other forum guidelines, have an issue with a post or a member or simply need advice on how to get the most out of your forum experience, please contact any member of staff via PM or email.

Thank you.

Moderators:

glenmar
rwbeagles
danehaven

Administrators:

amstaffy
*Jill_B*
Benedict

glenmar

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:03:17 AM

Sounds reasonable to me. I'm sure Gina will have some ideas that I can agree with too. My brain is not firing on all 8 cylinders quite yet, but looks good so far.

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:26:43 AM

Kate

I think keeping it simple as you have is a good idea. I don't see an issue with any of it...but I am still bracing for the likely torrent of "yeah but's" that will always occur LOL.

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:28:22 AM

Oh yeah...you might include something about editing back over a mod edit...IMO that is extremely agressively rude and should be dealt with pretty harshly.

ETA: we cannot lock a single post, can we? Just threads? Locking a single post would make the above impossible.

Benedict

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:33:33 AM

I was planning on posting it as an announcement in a couple of sections, which means that yes, we can prevent replies and I can add something to the effect of "anyone with any questions on this please contact me via PM" so that other threads about it will hopefully not be started and so that I get the heat, not you two.

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:35:06 AM

Sorry Kate I ETA'd wrong lol. I meant to add the bit about locking a single post...to the post on members RE DOING mod edits...sorry I'll fix it...

Benedict

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:42:58 AM

Ohhh LOL ok. No, we can't lock a single post, but you're right, we should absolutely include something about removing a mod edit...I can't see that there would be any way of tweaking the software so that locking a single post would be possible....it might be possible to prevent members from editing their own posts at all, but that would cause one heck of a headache. I think just including a guideline about it and enforcing it is the only practical way to go.

Benedict

Posted : 11/7/2007 9:58:16 AM

How's this?

6. We support and encourage a free exchange of ideas but there are times when we must edit or completely delete a post to remove offensive comments, prevent threads from becoming nasty and ultimately unhelpful, to rid the forum of spam or unapproved advertising or to generally maintain a pleasant forum environment. Any decision by a mod or admin to perform these actions is not taken lightly and is final in the context of the thread. If you feel you were unfairly edited, please contact a member of staff privately to discuss the matter in a respectful and polite way. Editing out "red ink" placed in your post by a member of staff will result in a warning from an admin, as will rudeness in arguing the matter. If a mod or admin places red ink in your post but does not delete the entire post, we will not delete the post on request from the member. This is not to show off that a certain member has been edited, it is because deleting posts as a rule, rather than editing them, opens the door to people claiming that they had not realised their post was deleted and assumed it wasn't showing up due to a software glitch, and they can then repost the material. If we believe a post should be fully deleted, it will be in the first instance. If it was edited, it will remain so and will not be removed, barring situations in which discussions amongst staff members determine that deletion is in fact the proper course of action.

Benedict

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:29:06 AM

If you guys are happy with the above, I'll post the whole thing.

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:38:22 AM

Benedict

How's this?

6. We support and encourage a free exchange of ideas but there are times when we must edit or completely delete a post to remove offensive comments, prevent threads from becoming nasty and ultimately unhelpful, to rid the forum of spam or unapproved advertising or to generally maintain a pleasant forum environment. Any decision by a mod or admin to perform these actions is not taken lightly and is final in the context of the thread. If you feel you were unfairly edited, please contact a member of staff privately to discuss the matter in a respectful and polite way.

Editing out "red ink" placed in your post by a member of staff will result in a warning from an admin, as will rudeness in arguing the matter. If a mod or admin places red ink in your post but does not delete the entire post, we will not delete the post on request from the member. This is not to show off that a certain member has been edited, it is because deleting posts as a rule, rather than editing them, opens the door to people claiming that they had not realised their post was deleted and assumed it wasn't showing up due to a software glitch, and they can then repost the material. If we believe a post should be fully deleted, it will be in the first instance. If it was edited, it will remain so and will not be removed, barring situations in which discussions amongst staff members determine that deletion is in fact the proper course of action.

the bolded part above sounds a bit cumbersome to me...maybe some or all the below stated however you see fit?

'Decisions on post deletions/removal are solely those of Admin, and require no input from members'....

'Red ink helps mods/Admins to know that a post has already been attended to when Reports are made...software limitations have made this difficult otherwise. Removal or alteration of such is confusing and disrespectful to Admin/Mods and will not be tolerated.'

Benedict

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:44:34 AM

I like yours better, Gina. How's this?

6. e support and encourage a free exchange of ideas but there are times when we must edit or completely delete a post to remove offensive comments, prevent threads from becoming nasty and ultimately unhelpful, to rid the forum of spam or unapproved advertising or to generally maintain a pleasant forum environment. Any decision by a mod or admin to perform these actions is not taken lightly and is final in the context of the thread. If you feel you were unfairly edited, please contact a member of staff privately to discuss the matter in a respectful and polite way. Editing out "red ink" placed in your post by a member of staff will result in a warning from an admin, as will rudeness in arguing the matter. Decisions on post deletions/removal are solely those of Admins and Mods, and require no input from members beyond initial abuse reports. We will not delete previously edited posts solely on the request of the poster. Red ink helps Mods/Admins to know that a post has already been attended to when Reports are made, as software limitations have made this difficult otherwise. Removal or alteration of such is confusing and disrespectful to Admin/Mods and will not be tolerated.

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/7/2007 11:53:09 AM

Yes

glenmar

Posted : 11/7/2007 12:01:45 PM

Remember, when we delete a post totally, the poster does get an email notification of the deletion and the reason for it. So if they do try to claim software glitch we know they are not being truthful.

Gina, I'm glad you thought to add in the red ink thing. Lostcoyote and espencer are really bad about that. I also don't appreciate the little symbols being inserted and our edits removed.