# GC Rules and Operating Procedures ~ Please Read



## Dawndra (Feb 27, 2003)

In order to take full advantage of the GC Forum you must read and understand the following rules and operating procedures and agree to abide by the rules and operating procedures in their entirety.

These rules will be strictly enforced and violators may, at the sole discretion of the moderators be suspended or "locked out" of the forum for any reasons without prior notice or opportunity to be heard. GC promotes the free flow of ideas and encourages wide ranging discussion of issues, certain behaviors carry potential risk to both individual and users and thus cannot be tolerated. While moderators may not be able to monitor all messages posted in the forum, members are encouraged to "report a post" to a potentially problematic message.

Respect all other members of the forum at all times.

Use this forum to promote and facilitate only legal activities.

Construct messages and files without obscenity and/or explicit or implicit descriptions of sex.

The messages and files you create should either be original or with specific written permission of the original author.

No public reproduction of any kind of private messages (PMs) without the expressed written permission of the message sender.

No commercial advertisements, ads for information exchange, solicitations for funds, or advertisements for other online services will be permitted without prior approval.

Disregard for forum policy or disrespect for forum staff members performing assigned tasks are grounds for immediate disciplinary action.

Like all forums, the GC forum is a friendly place, and good manners are expected of all members. Respect and simple courtesy towards others are necessary in a situation where so many different people with conflicting points of view come together.

While no one has the right or ability to tell you who you should and shouldn't respect, the GC forum asks that you display only a respectful tone and style in your messages and files regarding other members represented on the GC forum. Some examples of a lack of this basic public respect include but are not limited to the following:

anti-social behavior

deliberate disruption of forum discussions

harassment of other users, including taunting mocking and baiting attacks on the person instead of focusing on the issues

inappropriate familiarity

excessive duplication, quotation and/or blank messages

ad hominem attacks, implications of personal wrong-doing, libel 

While there is nothing wrong with a healthy argument, you must not use offensive language or engage in personal attacks on GC forum. Personal attacks may subject you to potential liability for defamation, contribute nothing to the free flow of ideas, and tend to inhibit rational discussion of the issues. So why invite an official intrusion into your exchanges when just a bit of courtesy or respect for others could avoid it?

So, what exactly might lead to a lockout VS a warning, etc.? Messages that are of questionable taste or which might be construed as a personal attack on another forum member will be moved from the general discussion area or deleted. Depending on the seriousness of the offense and the user's prior posting history, the user may get a friendly warning or a more formal warning. 

Please realize that essentially all of these actions take place in private, so that an apparent lack of response by GC doesn't mean that no response has occurred. Similarly, don't simply believe that you are allowed to break any forum rules because it appears another has already done so. If someone seems to treat you unfairly with regard to the rules of GC, report it to admin with as much relevant detail as is possible, as soon as you can. Please don't try taking matters into your own hands, as you would only open yourself up to action too. Two wrongs don't make a right.


We hope that the above rules and considerations and suggestions will be useful to users who are trying to understand how the forum demands for good manner, courtesy and respect are interpreted by the moderators. We hope you will find the forum useful, enjoyable and informative.


The Moderators


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## Chuck (Oct 27, 2003)

If you are new to Homesteading Today - you will not be able to start a new thread in General Chat until you have been here for awhile and have participated in a friendly and helpful fashion on some of the other areas of our site.


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