MAJOR CHANGE IN FORUM RULES -- PLEASE READ!
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 12:09 pm
It is with sincere regret that the Moderators have voted to replace the honor system embodied in the "10 Year Old Daughter Rule" with the rules set forth below. This will be posted permanently as an announcement. Since specific enumerated rules are new for us, we will undoubtedly be adding to or amending them as time passes.
Sadly, the "10 Year Old Daughter Rule" has become unworkable and it is being replaced with itemized, specific rules. The"10 Year Old Daughter Rule" wasn't a bright-line rule, it was a concept. In fact, it wasn’t even called a “rule� initially; that came long after the concept had become part of the fabric of TexasCHLforum. When we were much smaller and had a true community atmosphere, the concept worked. Sadly, this is no longer the case.
The workload for all Moderators has skyrocketed in the last year. The changes we made in methods of moderation have helped, but they still have to do too much. What was once a labor of love for the Moderators has become work. Most of the Moderators don't post nearly as often as they once did; too much time is spent "working" on the forum.
Much of this work isn’t dealing with blatant violations such as use of profanity or abbreviated profanity. We can deal with those problems quickly and easily. The time consuming issues deal with what is and what is not a violation of the vague "10 Year Old Daughter Rule." The thread that used the word “ass� is a good example. Whether or not I have a problem with the use of the word “ass� will depend upon the context. If a poster says someone acted like an ass (not in reference to a member), I’m fine with it because it’s short for jackass. On the other hand, if the post is dealing with a body part, then it's a problem, even if it’s not a personal attack on another member. (I have a very big problem with someone who knows the rules and searches for a way to circumvent them and get their not-so-subtle message across. In the future, those problems will be short-lived.) This lack of specificity has caused honest disagreements as to what is or is not prohibited, both among the members and even the Moderator Corps. Our change to specific rules is in large part to help avoid these problems.
Here are the new rules for the forum:
TexasCHLforum Rules:
1. No profanity, pseudo-profanity, or abbreviated profanity. If you are in doubt about a word, don’t use it.
2. No personal attacks on other members - NONE! We can be respectful even in disagreement. If you’re talking about the person rather than the issue, then the post will be deleted. Do it repeatedly and your registration will be deactivated.
3. No racial or ethnic slurs. Descriptions of persons in actual events are fine, so long as it doesn’t constitute stereotyping.
4. No posting of messages promoting illegal conduct.
5. Posts with racist, anarchist, or antisocial comments or content are not allowed and links to sites with such content are not allowed.
6. Porn, nudity, and sex-related material and links are forbidden.
7. Only firearms and firearms-related items can be posted for sale in the Market section. Offers to trade non-firearms or firearms-related items for guns is fine.
8. Follow the requirements for posting in the Market Sections.
9. Blatant, global, or rampant law enforcement bashing is prohibited. Discussions of specific identifiable events presented factually are fine.
10. Do not hijack threads. If a post gives you an idea for a new or different discussion, start a new thread.
11. Off-topic posts/threads: We do not have an off-topic forum because they tend to cause the most problems for any board. We have gotten rather lenient in allowing off-topic posts, but this has become a problem in recent months. At this point, we are not going to prohibit off-topic posts, but please observe these guidelines. Off-topic posts must be at least remotely related to one of the topics listed in the titles of the sub-forums or their descriptions. This does not apply to prayer requests or LEO Bloopers, but it does apply to LEO Encounters. If a LEO encounter didn't involve a CHL matter, then don't post it. (This has been one of our more troublesome subjects in recent months.) We will continue to evaluate the off-topic post issue in the coming months.
Sadly, the "10 Year Old Daughter Rule" has become unworkable and it is being replaced with itemized, specific rules. The"10 Year Old Daughter Rule" wasn't a bright-line rule, it was a concept. In fact, it wasn’t even called a “rule� initially; that came long after the concept had become part of the fabric of TexasCHLforum. When we were much smaller and had a true community atmosphere, the concept worked. Sadly, this is no longer the case.
The workload for all Moderators has skyrocketed in the last year. The changes we made in methods of moderation have helped, but they still have to do too much. What was once a labor of love for the Moderators has become work. Most of the Moderators don't post nearly as often as they once did; too much time is spent "working" on the forum.
Much of this work isn’t dealing with blatant violations such as use of profanity or abbreviated profanity. We can deal with those problems quickly and easily. The time consuming issues deal with what is and what is not a violation of the vague "10 Year Old Daughter Rule." The thread that used the word “ass� is a good example. Whether or not I have a problem with the use of the word “ass� will depend upon the context. If a poster says someone acted like an ass (not in reference to a member), I’m fine with it because it’s short for jackass. On the other hand, if the post is dealing with a body part, then it's a problem, even if it’s not a personal attack on another member. (I have a very big problem with someone who knows the rules and searches for a way to circumvent them and get their not-so-subtle message across. In the future, those problems will be short-lived.) This lack of specificity has caused honest disagreements as to what is or is not prohibited, both among the members and even the Moderator Corps. Our change to specific rules is in large part to help avoid these problems.
Here are the new rules for the forum:
TexasCHLforum Rules:
1. No profanity, pseudo-profanity, or abbreviated profanity. If you are in doubt about a word, don’t use it.
2. No personal attacks on other members - NONE! We can be respectful even in disagreement. If you’re talking about the person rather than the issue, then the post will be deleted. Do it repeatedly and your registration will be deactivated.
3. No racial or ethnic slurs. Descriptions of persons in actual events are fine, so long as it doesn’t constitute stereotyping.
4. No posting of messages promoting illegal conduct.
5. Posts with racist, anarchist, or antisocial comments or content are not allowed and links to sites with such content are not allowed.
6. Porn, nudity, and sex-related material and links are forbidden.
7. Only firearms and firearms-related items can be posted for sale in the Market section. Offers to trade non-firearms or firearms-related items for guns is fine.
8. Follow the requirements for posting in the Market Sections.
9. Blatant, global, or rampant law enforcement bashing is prohibited. Discussions of specific identifiable events presented factually are fine.
10. Do not hijack threads. If a post gives you an idea for a new or different discussion, start a new thread.
11. Off-topic posts/threads: We do not have an off-topic forum because they tend to cause the most problems for any board. We have gotten rather lenient in allowing off-topic posts, but this has become a problem in recent months. At this point, we are not going to prohibit off-topic posts, but please observe these guidelines. Off-topic posts must be at least remotely related to one of the topics listed in the titles of the sub-forums or their descriptions. This does not apply to prayer requests or LEO Bloopers, but it does apply to LEO Encounters. If a LEO encounter didn't involve a CHL matter, then don't post it. (This has been one of our more troublesome subjects in recent months.) We will continue to evaluate the off-topic post issue in the coming months.
