Re: the Constitution of the Nothing Forum

[adain]

cool.

[Nucky]

Egg.

[Justin Passing]

I'm liking it, but I think "Law enforcement" should read "Forum Policy" or "Forum Rules" instead. In my opinion it's not about legal issues, it's about forum policy.

I also think the wording in the "Legal Rules" section needs some work.

Legal Rules:

Please be aware of the fact that the law may require this forum to make available to legal authorities private & personal information that's been entered here. Other than through hacking or other security breaches, that's the only time such information will be released.

Posting personal information such as real names and phone numbers is a questionable idea on the internet. While you're free to do so for yourself if you choose, members are forbidden to post personal information about others in the forums. If personal information needs to be communicated between members, do so in private, via email or private messages.

It's not permissible to harass or threaten anyone on this forum, whether those actions are considered legal or not. We reserve the right to delete such posts without warning, and may contact and/or discipline the poster about such things. This rule isn't limited to posts in the forums, but includes harassment via private messages or any other means facilitated by this forum.

Plagiarism and other copyright violations are also forbidden. People will be posting original work on this forum, and their rights to that material should be honored. No one has the right to distribute someone else's work without permission. While posting of copyrighted work is allowed, proper credit must be given to the material's creator, and such things will be removed if the creator requests it.

[melodiccolor]

Thanks for saving me the work. I'll incorporate the changes and then we'll have a membership vote on the (hopefully) final version.

[melodiccolor]

The Constitution of our Forum

Mission statement:

This is primarily a forum for highly sensitive people, but all are welcome here in our virtual town.

We believe that all who come here have a right to free expres​sion(within legal bounds and with reasonable respect of others). There must be a balance between free speech and the consideration of the feelings of others. Our virtual town is a place where people can enjoy themselves, laugh, create, engage in stimulating discussion, make friends and get help and emotional support from one another.

Forum Rules:

This forum is a bit different in that the board members will aid in helping to keep this a place that remains friendly to its members.

The administrators and moderators will only take action when things start to get out of control in a dispute and it is clear that the problem will not resolve itself, but only worsen. Depending on the severity of the problem, moderators will first try to resolve things by talking to the affected parties privately. If that doesn’t resolve things or the problem is more severe than that, then moderators or administrators may freeze a thread, set up a “town meeting” in order for members to vote after laying out the problem and some possible solutions. During this time, people involved in a dispute are asked to not talk about it on the forum. If they persist, they may be given time outs.

There will be exceptions, when administrators and moderators will take unilateral action, including time outs, bannings, and deletion of posts. These are for the most serious of offenses, such as illegal activities, trolling, flaming, breaking host rules, etc. (See Legal Rules)

Legal Rules:

Please be aware of the fact that the law may require this forum to make available to legal authorities private & personal information that's been entered here. Other than through hacking or other security breaches, that's the only time such information will be released.

Posting personal information such as real names and phone numbers is a questionable idea on the internet. While you're free to do so for yourself if you choose, members are forbidden to post personal information about others in the forums. If personal information needs to be communicated between members, do so in private, via email or private messages.

It's not permissible to harass, stalk or threaten anyone on this forum, whether those actions are considered legal or not. We reserve the right to delete such posts without warning, and may contact and/or discipline the poster about such things. This rule isn't limited to posts in the forums, but includes harassment via private messages or any other means facilitated by this forum.

Plagiarism and other copyright violations are also forbidden. People will be posting original work on this forum, and their rights to that material should be honored. No one has the right to distribute someone else's work without permission. While posting of copyrighted work is allowed, proper credit must be given to the material's creator, and such things will be removed if the creator requests it.

[Logan (Earthmaiden)]

I'm mostly okay with the final version but I do think that the use of the term "time outs" sounds pretty juvenile, like you might make someone stand in a corner with there nose against the wall or something. What specifically do you mean by a time out and can it be worded differently?

[melodiccolor]

Time out is a general forum term for temporary banning of a specific length. If you can think of a different word for it...oddly enough, it is mostly used for juvinile behavior, at least as I've seen on some other forums.

[Logan (Earthmaiden)]

Why not just say "temporary banning" if that's what you mean. That's at least straight forward. "Time out" implies something of a lesser degree. In my opinion.

[melodiccolor]

The Constitution of our Forum

Mission statement:

This is primarily a forum for highly sensitive people, but all are welcome here in our virtual town.

We believe that all who come here have a right to free expres​sion(within legal bounds and with reasonable respect of others). There must be a balance between free speech and the consideration of the feelings of others. Our virtual town is a place where people can enjoy themselves, laugh, create, engage in stimulating discussion, make friends and get help and emotional support from one another.

Forum Rules:

This forum is a bit different in that the board members will aid in helping to keep this a place that remains friendly to its members.

The administrators and moderators will only take action when things start to get out of control in a dispute and it is clear that the problem will not resolve itself, but only worsen. Depending on the severity of the problem, moderators will first try to resolve things by talking to the affected parties privately. If that doesn’t resolve things or the problem is more severe than that, then moderators or administrators may freeze a thread, set up a “town meeting” in order for members to vote after laying out the problem and some possible solutions. During this time, people involved in a dispute are asked to not talk about it on the forum. If they persist, they may be temporarily banned.

There will be exceptions, when administrators and moderators will take unilateral action, including bannings, both temporary and permanent, and the deletion of posts. These are for the most serious of offenses, such as illegal activities, trolling, flaming, breaking host rules, etc. (See Legal Rules)

Legal Rules:

Please be aware of the fact that the law may require this forum to make available to legal authorities private & personal information that's been entered here. Other than through hacking or other security breaches, that's the only time such information will be released.

Posting personal information such as real names and phone numbers is a questionable idea on the internet. While you're free to do so for yourself if you choose, members are forbidden to post personal information about others in the forums. If personal information needs to be communicated between members, do so in private, via email or private messages.

It's not permissible to harass, stalk or threaten anyone on this forum, whether those actions are considered legal or not. We reserve the right to delete such posts without warning, and may contact and/or discipline the poster about such things. This rule isn't limited to posts in the forums, but includes harassment via private messages or any other means facilitated by this forum.

Plagiarism and other copyright violations are also forbidden. People will be posting original work on this forum, and their rights to that material should be honored. No one has the right to distribute someone else's work without permission. While posting of copyrighted work is allowed, proper credit must be given to the material's creator, and such things will be removed if the creator requests it.

[melodiccolor]

OK, see the revision.

[Logan (Earthmaiden)]

I like that better. Do you think it would be fair to say how long a temporary banning will last? That will give the members an idea of what to expect if someone finds themself in that position.

I have to go Jodi. RL is calling. Be back later.

[melodiccolor]

The legnth of the banning on a temporary one will depend on the individual circumstance. At least long enough for the members to decide on a course of action, if such a ban is warrented; very likely longer. It is only to be used in serious cases where all other means of resolving things have failed, and/or the forum or people on the forum are being negatively impacted by the person's ongoing behavior.

The whole point of writing up the rules this way was to allow maximum flexibility and to not be forced into an unneccisarily draconian penalty by rigidly written rules, or one that was not severe enough.

[StrawberryLife]

I like the Constitution!

Wow, you worded things well...

Personally, I liked 'time out', but maybe temporary banning does clarify it better... It could also be 'time out (temporary banning)' so both are included... Dunno...

Some forums have temporary bannings of 2 weeks or such... Not sure if there's an option of 'moderator-approved' posting (?) where a member can post but their posts only appear when approved? (This can be done with blog comments, not sure if it's doable on forums...?) In some cases, this might be enough... (?)

I think it would also be good to have a link to a 'problem-solving'/mediating page on effective problem-solving somewhere from this page, so people can be reminded how to try to solve problems effectively... (I know I sometimes have forgotten these things too...)
This can also be added later on....

In general, you guys - moderators - ROCK!!

[melodiccolor]

I like the Constitution!

Wow, you worded things well...

Personally, I liked 'time out', but maybe temporary banning does clarify it better... It could also be 'time out (temporary banning)' so both are included... Dunno...

Some forums have temporary bannings of 2 weeks or such... Not sure if there's an option of 'moderator-approved' posting (?) where a member can post but their posts only appear when approved? (This can be done with blog comments, not sure if it's doable on forums...?) In some cases, this might be enough... (?)

I think it would also be good to have a link to a 'problem-solving'/mediating page on effective problem-solving somewhere from this page, so people can be reminded how to try to solve problems effectively... (I know I sometimes have forgotten these things too...)
This can also be added later on....

In general, you guys - moderators - ROCK!!

Thanks!!

SL, a separate thread on problem solving/mediating would be a good idea and could be included in the Rules and Regulations forum once we have it up and running. Do you want to develop it? Also maybe include a section on ways people could resolve their own disputes; it could be very helpful to people.

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