Welcome to the TexasCHLforum; we appreciate you joining us.dhranch wrote:This is my first post.
First,I appreciate the mission and high quality content I find here. I appreciate the substantial effort it takes to create something like this site.
I have one suggestion. I agreed to the terms to register, but I do find one term unsatisfactory:
"You agree that “TexasCHLforum.com” have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should we see fit."
I found a thread here via search with a post from Mr. Cotton saying that a poster is notified (via PM I assume) whenever a post is edited. I would appreciate it if the terms said just that - that the forum moderators would make a reasonable attempt to promptly notify a user when a post from that user is modified, moved or deleted.
The terms that are presented when a person first registers for the TexasCHLforum were created by the development group at phpBB. Some of the terms are intended to protect phpBB and since their software is free and is subject to the GPL, I think it only fair to leave those terms unedited. I have considered adding a line that the user will abide by the rules of the TexasCHLforum as set out in the Announcements section, but to be candid, I don't have time to make the coding change.
I had forgotten that there was a term reserving the right to "remove, edit, move or close any topic." Had I written the "terms" I wouldn't have put that in because it is unnecessary to reserve a right to run a board as the owner sees fit. That said, it does at least notify the person registering that this is the policy of the board.
As a practical matter, the only time a post will be edited or deleted is in response to a rule violation. We never edit a post in such a way that it changes the author's meaning; we only delete profanity or a personal attack, although a personal attack usually gets the post deleted. In fact, we only do that for very new members and we send a PM asking them to comply with rules. If a veteran member posts profanity, we just delete the entire post and we don't send a PM. There's no reason to waste our time telling a veteran member what he/she already knows.
The same pretty much applies to locking a thread. We don't do it unless board rules are being violated and this is relatively rare. We used to lock duplicate threads, but we no longer do that as a general rule. If a thread is started in an inappropriate subforum, we move it to the correct one and we don't send any notice.
The members of TexasCHLforum are a great group of folks. They rarely violate the rules and most violations are related to new members who either didn't read the rules, or perhaps read them so quickly they missed something.
The best analogy I've heard is that this forum is much like our home. I don't post rules of conduct outside my door, but if someone comes in and makes a personal attack on my family or guests, then they are out. Here, we do post rules of conduct, but it's still our Internet "home" and all we ask is that members treat each other with respect and comply with the rules. One thing the Moderators won't do is get into discussions/arguments with members as to whether something violates the rules. I am a trial attorney and I fight those battles for a living; I won't do that here in my Internet "home."
I hope this explanation alleviates some of your concerns.
Chas.