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Date Posted: Sat. Oct 4, 2003 3:10 pm
Author: N_Leach
Subject: Bulletin Board FAQ - answers to Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ contains the information that was previously posted about the operation of the New Hartford News bulletin board, its mission, and the rules for forum participation. The FAQ will be updated as changes to forum administration occur.
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Mission: To promote neighborly discourse, public discussion and the easy availability of public information about New Hartford.

Who we are: This bulletin board is a non-governmental, free service implemented by the citizens of New Hartford, Connecticut. The bulletin board began as a forum to discuss issues concerning the preservation of open space in New Hartford. Within days it was broadened to include any topic about New Hartford. The bulletin board will be open to anyone who wants to participate, provided that they abide by the rules for participation. Note: unless a representative from a New Hartford Town Committee, Board, or Commission specifically says they are speaking for that body or department, the content of the list does not represent official statement.

Rules for participation: Please be polite and respectful of those with views different than your own. Inflammatory posts will be disposed of.

Message approval: Messages may be posted to the bulletin board without administrator approval. The bulletin board will be moderated by the administrator to manage off-topic posts and to reject messages containing inflammatory language.

User names: You do not have to sign in to read the messages posted in this forum. If you wish to post a message, you will be asked to submit your name. The forum no longer requires that you provide your email address. If you would like to be able to edit your messages after they have been posted to the bulletin board, or if you would like to have a unique User Name, click on "Voy User Login" or scroll to "Reserve Your Voy User Name" for more information.

Message archives: When the number of messages in the forum exceeds a certain pre-set number, older messages will automatically be moved to an archive. A link to this archive will appear on the main index page.

Questions?Click on the "Contact Forum Admin" link to send an email to the forum administrator.

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[> Forum mission and rules for participation -- N_Leach, Tue. Oct 7, 2003 11:59 am [1]

Forum mission. We must support a constructive debate on the many issues facing New Hartford. The intent of this forum is to welcome all participants to the debate, including those who express strong opinions in strong terms, no matter how similar or dissimilar these opinions might be -- provided that we all abide by the rules of participation. We do not need to strive for consensus. We might have uncomfortable discussions. We stand to learn a lot from others' different opinions or values.

Rules for participation. Though we might disagree on certain subjects we can still engage in a constructive debate over these issues -- provided we do so with full respect for another's differing opinions or values. If we alienate another user through offensive language we risk losing that person's valuable contributions to the forum. Please treat your fellow posters as you would like to be treated. Keep the debate honest. Refrain from using inflammatory language. Attack the message, not the user. Name calling, use of taunting or threatening language, excessive sarcasm - all these are inappropriate in this forum.

Banned users. If these rules are unacceptable to you, then please do not participate in this forum. If you continue to participate in such a manner, your posts will be deleted (with or without warning) and you may find yourself “banned” (a VOY.com term) from the forum. It is the forum administrator's obligation, both to the other participants and to VOY.com, to remove abusive posts (or to "ban" certain users) from the forum.

Words to remember: "On January 27, 1909 the House adopted a report of a committee...which report in part stated: The freedom of speech in debate in the House of Representatives should never be denied or abridged, but freedom of speech in debate does not mean license to indulge in personal abuses or ridicule...this right is subject to proper rules requiring decorum in debate. It is...the duty of the House to require its Members in speech or debate to preserve that proper restraint which will permit the House to conduct its business in an orderly manner and without unnecessarily and unduly exciting animosity among its Members..."
Conduct During Debate, U.S. House of Representatives

Last edited by author: Tue. Oct 19, 2004 11:08 am   Edited 3 times.

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[> Survey of other bulletin board rules of conduct -- N_Leach, Sun. Jun 6, 2004 7:41 pm [1]

Repost of reader contributions:

AOL RULES OF USER CONDUCT AGREEMENT
(send email to AOL about a user violating their rules of conduct and legal action will be taken against violator)
http://www.aol.com/copyright/rules.html

“…you agree that you will not upload...post any content that:
1. is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another's privacy, tortuous…
2. victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals…
3. America Online and its agents have the right at their sole discretion to remove any content that, in America Online's judgment, does not comply with the Rules of User Conduct or is otherwise harmful, objectionable, or inaccurate. America Online is not responsible for any failure or delay in removing such content.”

OR FOR YOU VEGETABLE LOVERS:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/pages/5
“What are the rules and guidelines for the behavior and conduct of registered users on this board?

It's pretty simple. Respect your fellow users. Please do not harass or insult other users. If you disagree with someone, state your case politely. Do not resort to personal insults or name calling...If you violate any of these guidelines, you will be banned without hesitation - there will be NO warnings. If you want some fun reading, please review the full version of our Terms of Use.”

ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER FORUM
Discussion Forum – Terms of Agreement
http://www.robertsrules.com/cgi-bin/mb/
“The Question and Answer Forum is provided to allow an open exchange of views relevant to specific questions of parliamentary procedure under Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. Robert's Rules Association and the authorship team reserve the right to remove scurrilous, libelous, obscene, irrelevant or patently offensive messages and any postings deemed by them to be sufficiently erroneous or misleading to warrant removal. They further reserve the right to discontinue or modify this forum at any time in the future, including by deleting older messages.”

NPR LISTENER
http://www.npr.org/about/termsofuse.html
“While we do not seek to limit expression of ideas, certain materials and language will not be tolerated. You may not post or upload any material or links to material that is libelous, defamatory, false, obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, in violation of the law or that constitutes hate speech.”

LIKE SLATE.COM
Slate Rules of the Road for Participation in "The Fray." http://slate.msn.com/id/117519/sidebar/95152/
"The Fray" is Slate's threaded discussion area, where writers and readers scrimmage over the ideas presented in the magazine.

Can you summarize the rules of the road?
Certainly. Don't use offensive or obscene language. Don't abuse anyone, including the writers, and don't make threats. Do not deliberately impersonate someone else, especially not other Fray posters. Break these rules and your post may be deleted, and you may be banned from The Fray.

The Fray is committed to free expression but expects users to follow a few simple "Rules of the Road." We ask that you don't unnecessarily antagonize others, and don't represent yourself as another person. Also, do not post any material that is defamatory, infringing, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise unlawful, or which violates the legal rights of others. And remember, you can be held legally liable for what you write in The Fray.

Readers who fail to respect these guidelines might receive one or more warnings, removal of posts that violate these guidelines, followed by temporary suspension or permanent exclusion from The Fray. The Fray Editor has sole discretion to apply any of these sanctions at any time and without prior notice…we reserve the right to remove any posts that we deem unacceptable.”

HARTFORD COURANT
Answers to Frequently Asked Forum Questions
About the Hartford, Connecticut, Forum http://hartford.about.com/gi/pages/uagree.htm

“Q. What is the Hartford Forum?
A. The Hartford Forum is a Message Board that is your place at About.com to voice your opinion, read what others are saying, ask questions, post an ad, or share your knowledge with others on topics related to Hartford, Connecticut.

Q. What are the rules?
A. The User Agreement and Guidelines provide more specific information. Personal views and opinions are welcome and encouraged. Attacking another person or group for their views or opinions is not.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Forums Posting Policy
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/readersopinions/FORUMS-POLICY.html
"...we reserve the right to delete, move or edit messages that we deem abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable. We reserve the right to remove the posting privileges of users who violate these standards of behavior at any time

We welcome your participation in the Forums. Our goal is to encourage discussion on a variety of topics. In order to maintain a civil community, we require readers to follow the following basic guidelines:

Question: Another user is posting inappropriate messages in the Forums. What should I do?
Please report the poster to our Forums Staff by filling out this form. Please include a copy of the message and the link to it. Most importantly, do not respond in kind. Personal attacks are against the Forums Posting Policy regardless of who started it.

Are there guidelines for what is appropriate to post in the Forums?
Yes, we expect our Forums users to treat each other with respect and to stay on topic. Profanity and personal attacks are not permitted."

WATERBURY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
“We've revised the Talkback forum in hopes of inviting readers to discuss news and views in a community setting. The old Talkback was taken offline after a series of personal attacks and libelous statements. By registering for this account, you agree to these policies regarding acceptable use:
1) No obscene, vulgar, profane, indecent or offensive language.
2) No material that is defamatory, unlawful, threatening, abusive or hateful
3) Not to undertake any conduct that restricts or inhibits any other user from enjoying any part of the Republican American Web site.”

VOY FORUM USER AGREEMENT
http://www.voy.com/agreement.html
"...nor will you post, email, or otherwise transmit any data which is illegal, harassing, threatening, abusive, or obscene to our system nor any user of our system."

"Voy Forums cannot be created, used, or continued with the primary or dominant purpose or usage of "bashing".

Last edited by author: Tue. Oct 19, 2004 11:18 am   Edited 1 time.

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[> Personal attacks not tolerated -- New_Hartford_News, Wed. Oct 11, 2006 3:20 pm [1]

As noted in the forum rules established October 2003, messages containing personal attacks are not tolerated and will be deleted.

Note that when a message is deleted from the forum all replies to that message are deleted along with it. This is a function of a threaded message board such as this one. If you do not want your message deleted, do not respond directly to a message containing a personal attack.

Contact Forum Admin with any questions.

Last edited by author: Wed. Oct 11, 2006 3:44 pm   Edited 2 times.

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