Post by Dave on Nov 21, 2012 6:39:43 GMT -6
Our rules are simple.
Most important rule: Have fun. Join in. POST!!!. Use our Pig Call forum to introduce yourself, and edit your signature line to include your equipment, so when you ask a question, we know what type of pit your talking about. Get to know the personalities and characters and don't BE TO SERIOUS!! We are a lighthearted, respectful bunch, with a common passion. BBQ. But our board is more than a knowledge base, its a place to hang out, a community.
We are a family site. Not to say your entire family will be here with you, but we like to make it so a member will never be ambushed with an "off color" photo, sound or "whatever" popping up while your family may be sitting with you.
So, before you put it up, ask, is it OK for:
My MOM to see it?
My kid to see it?
My wife to see it?
Can I show it at the dinner table?
If so, its most likely OK to put it up here.
The following are our official rules/guidelines/dos' and don'ts. Its mostly common sense, but someone always needs it in writing.
Most important rule: Have fun. Join in. POST!!!. Use our Pig Call forum to introduce yourself, and edit your signature line to include your equipment, so when you ask a question, we know what type of pit your talking about. Get to know the personalities and characters and don't BE TO SERIOUS!! We are a lighthearted, respectful bunch, with a common passion. BBQ. But our board is more than a knowledge base, its a place to hang out, a community.
We are a family site. Not to say your entire family will be here with you, but we like to make it so a member will never be ambushed with an "off color" photo, sound or "whatever" popping up while your family may be sitting with you.
So, before you put it up, ask, is it OK for:
My MOM to see it?
My kid to see it?
My wife to see it?
Can I show it at the dinner table?
If so, its most likely OK to put it up here.
The following are our official rules/guidelines/dos' and don'ts. Its mostly common sense, but someone always needs it in writing.
Pig Pen
Rules
Rules
We reserve the right to amend these rules from time to time.Ignoring or breaking any of these rules is grounds for deleting the thread or post.
Habitually breaking the rules of the forum will be grounds for deactivating membership.
This is a quick outline of what you should do.
Have fun
Post often
Share experiences, BBQ, and life.
Leave any attitude at the door.
Be yourself. We don't judge.
This is an outline of what you CAN’T do.
Advertise
Insult or Flame others..
Racism, slurs, prejudice, bigotry, vulgarity, or offensive language strictly forbidden
Post any type of porn or other illegal materials
Air dirty laundry. If u have an issue with another member or staff, take it private.
Use our PM system to send spam
Use our PM system to promote other forums and blogs
Use our forum for sales pitches or solicitations
Post the same topic in multiple forums
Cross post from or to other forums(copying text) without giving credit(or blame) as to the source location and author of the text
Having a signature or Avatar that does NOT follow the guidelines.
Hijacking threads or post, start a new one.
Now some details.
Our members have an uncanny ability to hijack anything that moves, but they will always respect a post when needed. Lighthearted banter during an On topic post is the norm and allowed. If the banter derails the post, a moderator will scrub it and put it back on track. If posts go cold, they might get hijacked and taken Off Topic. Please understand this is part of our lighthearted nature. Moderators will split or scrub posts if the original intent is being compromised and the post needs to stay for informational purposes (Roadmapped. Explained below). If a post is hijacked that you wish to keep on track, please PM a moderator.
NO personal attacks. NO attacks of any kind. Recognizing that everyone has, and is entitled to an opinion, if your opinion comes across as antagonistic, bad karma, insulting or hurtful to another member, or person, keep it to yourself. Any meaningless post that is nothing more than a negative comment or is strictly there to antagonize, will be edited or deleted. Any post with no redeeming quality or deemed negative by moderators will be deleted. In other words, you are NOT allowed to be a jerk just to chit stir or piss people off. Moderators do not have time to be putting out flame wars.
NO nudity, porn or seductive pictures of any type, anywhere in any forum. NONE. There is zero tolerance for this. It will be deleted immediately and don’t even think of complaining.
NO lewd, vulgar or off color language. Minor profanity (Damn It!) is okay. "F-Bomb"– or any variation is not allowed, "C" word not allowed, male/female anatomical reference not allowed.. You know what I mean. We have a word censor in place. It will replace any 'not allowed' words with "*****". If this happens, move on and DO NOT THINK UP A CUTE OVERRIDE OF THE CENSOR to make your point. It will earn you a 10 day ban.
So, we are adults, light profanity is okay, vulgar profanity is not. Be polite and be aware that we are not a locker room. Don’t split hairs, you know what we mean. Directing extreme or vulgar language to any forum member will result in getting your butt booted outta here.
Topics can stray off the Primary topics as long as it does not continue to the point of destroying the original intent of the thread. Moderators will split or cleanup threads that may have been hijacked. A PM request to a moderator to cleanup or split a thread is encouraged. Especially in the on topic forums, this is normal housekeeping. Don't complain that a post was deleted that had no useful information.
Learn the difference between political correctness and common courtesy.
We are not politically correct, but we do insist you show respect for those out there that you DO NOT KNOW. Your best friend on the forum, who you never met, may be the guy your insulting and don't even realize it.
A MODERATORS DECISION
We live by these rules, and any moderator action is due to an infringement. We don't moderate on content, but we do enforce these rules.
Challenging a moderator in public for their action will lock you down, all abilities to post and edit will be removed.
I feel that a moderator has acted unfairly. What can I do?
If you feel that a moderator has taken inappropriate action, there is a set procedure you can take to resolve this issue. Creating a thread about the problem in public is not the proper procedure.
1) Send a PM to the moderator that you believe has acted unfairly. State your case in clear, polite terms. See if you can resolve the issue with this moderator first. If you do not know which moderator to message, you can send your message to any moderator who is online.
2) If you can not resolve the issue with the moderator in question, you may then contact one Global Moderator to state your case. Your complaint will be posted in the staff only area for review by other staff members. Once a final decision has been made regarding the situation, you will be informed.
3) If you have a complaint regarding the actions or decisions of a Global Moderator, you can send those complaints to the Administrator. As with the other messages, please be clear and to the point.
When you are moderated for an infraction or infringement, you may receive a PM as to why. If it was a blatant infringement, it will be deleted with no notice. If not, it is acceptable to send a civil note to the moderators requesting the reason. We don't sent messages for general scrubbing or cleanup of banter or chatter.
Soliciting/Advertising:
Direct sales pitches by members, commercial businesses or business owners is prohibited.
We do not want members to come in here for the primary or specific purpose of advertising. Occasional display of your own products are limited to the For Sale board.
Members may post non commercial items in the For Sale board.... Your own items such as pits, trailers equipments, etc..
An occasional Non BBQ item is OK if you want to sell your lawn mower or kids bicycle. Don't make it a habit.
Product owners may OCCASIONALLY post an item, a special or a sale. However, to be fair to members who have vendor forums, if you post more than the occasional item in the For Sale board, you may be asked to refrain.
Product owners may NOT hawk their product. Product names in thread titles or photos in threads is considered product placement and not allowed. Soliciting the general membership to hawk product for you is also dirty pool. If your product is that good, let it speak for itself, and let the membership speak for you of their own accord.
Donation requests and/or fundraisers MUST be cleared by a staff member first. DO NOT post requests for donations to any cause without prior permission.
If a For Sale Item or advertisement is placed anywhere but “For Sale” board we reserve the right to either delete it or move it.
NO cross-posting of For Sale announcements in the talk sections. Such posts will be deleted.
Product owners using their product name in the titles of thread or photos of their product in posts is consider product placement/advertising. Please refrain. Let your product speak for itself and others do your advertising.
Linking to Forums
Do not post links to other forums like ours(BBQ forums/chats) for the sake of promotion or for information that can easily be found within our forum(this excludes the links section).
It is OK to point to another forum to ANSWER A QUESTION OR SHARE PHOTOS/INFORMATION. This is not considered promotion.
References within the forum to obvious forums of authority are allowed when referring to specific questions/requirements. (i.e. Virtual Weber Bullet, Food TV, etc. ).
We reserve the right to remove gratuitous references to competing forums.
Links to forums in signatures is not allowed.
Bloggers:
A link to your blog is OK in your signature.
Posting requests to "Read My Blog", "Check out my Blog" "Go to my Blog", etc....is considered a gratuitous link/for the sake of promotion and will be removed.
If your blog contains something interesting, post a copy or preview in our forum and let the members decide if they want to link back to read it.
Recruiting our members to another site, or hawking a site via PM or email will get you booted out.
When posting in the forum, links to pages related to BBQ are ok as long as their purpose is informational, and not to promote the site or product.
Example: A page that includes your widgets and gadgets you use when you cook. ACCEPTABLE. (Key word, "includes").
Example: A page that contains Links that look like a sales pitch. NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Signatures and Avatars must follow these guidelines
Avatars: These are the little pictures next to posts and on your profile. It is and can be a graphic or photo.
Avatar Graphics of Commercial sites or products are discouraged. Tone it down. no blinking billboards, no oversized, no animated, no marquees.
Normal non commercial avatars should be limited to no bigger than 120x120(120 wide and 120 long.)
NO risqué’ pics of porn, soft, medium or hardcore. Noting suggestive, explicit, implicit, or anything, regarding sex or nudity. NONE, NADA, ZIP. IT WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY OR SOONER and don’t even think of questioning it. This rule has ZERO TOLERANCE.
We reserve the right to re-size, remove or replace any avatar that is questionable or in the gray zone. If the admin re-sizes your avatar, leave it alone.
Signatures: This is a text box BELOW each post. It cannot contain a graphic or Photo.
If you have a Private site(without a forum) of your own, you may post a link in your signature.
If you have a link in your signature, you must place a reciprocal link on your site linking back here.
Reciprocal link must be on the landing page that you are linking to from here. The link must be visible, easily located and not buried in text or articles. If you wish to use a graphic to hotlink with please use the link back photo below.
NO pictures or graphics in signatures.This does not pertain to AVATARS.
Keep signatures in plain text no larger than 3 points. Use discretion with bold and/or colors. Over sized or overbearing signatures will be edited to conform.
Your signature and profile should contain a list of your equipment and your location. This way, if you ask or answer a question, we can consider where your cooking from and what you’re cooking on without asking. It should NOT contain anything that may be inflammatory or controversial.
Your own BBQ related site URL may appear in signature line as long as it is the URL only.
NO advertising, including sponsor links.
No pointers to other bbq forums.
Blogs and websites are OK. NO FORUMS.
A reciprocal link back here is required no matter what.
If your Signature contains a link to your site or blog. You MUST have a link to our site in yours. If not, your signature will be edited and link removed. If an admin or moderator edits the link out of your signature, it cannot be put back unless the reciprocal link is in place.
Signatures and linking will be disabled for those that refuse to comply. Moderators will make spot checks to ensure the cross linking is present. If not, One private message will be sent to you for not being in compliance. If a reciprocal link is not added within 5 days, your signature will be edited.
Roadmapping: FYI.
Some forums have a ROADMAP post at the top. These are shortcuts to FAQ posts. They are links to quality discussion threads on specific topics within the forum. Refer to these when you are looking for something specific and use our search tools. Feel free to update roadmaps with posts you think may benefit members on a regular basis.
When subject actions are in question the decision of the moderators and/or Site Administrator is final. Any member assuming a second identity for the sake of circumventing our rules or administrative action will be permanently banned.
If you disagree with their actions, take it private thru the Private Messaging system and keep it civil. A public display of flames, tantrums or sniping at the moderators will cause immediate ejection and banning.
Color codes in member names mean something.
GOLD
Forum Administrator
Green
Global Moderator
They enforce our rules throughout the forum and ensure our forum remains a family friendly forum.
Purple
Moderator
They enforce our rules on certain boards and also ensure our forum remains a family friendly forum.
Blue
General membership
If you need help or have questions, anyone from this administrative staff can be contacted for assistance.
Link back photo
THIS DOCUMENT IS PROPERTY OF THE BBQ BRETHREN AND WAS MODIFIED FOR THE PIG PEN FORUM.
THANK YOU BBQ BRETHREN FOR THE USE AND MODIFICATION.
Habitually breaking the rules of the forum will be grounds for deactivating membership.
This is a quick outline of what you should do.
Have fun
Post often
Share experiences, BBQ, and life.
Leave any attitude at the door.
Be yourself. We don't judge.
This is an outline of what you CAN’T do.
Advertise
Insult or Flame others..
Racism, slurs, prejudice, bigotry, vulgarity, or offensive language strictly forbidden
Post any type of porn or other illegal materials
Air dirty laundry. If u have an issue with another member or staff, take it private.
Use our PM system to send spam
Use our PM system to promote other forums and blogs
Use our forum for sales pitches or solicitations
Post the same topic in multiple forums
Cross post from or to other forums(copying text) without giving credit(or blame) as to the source location and author of the text
Having a signature or Avatar that does NOT follow the guidelines.
Hijacking threads or post, start a new one.
Now some details.
Our members have an uncanny ability to hijack anything that moves, but they will always respect a post when needed. Lighthearted banter during an On topic post is the norm and allowed. If the banter derails the post, a moderator will scrub it and put it back on track. If posts go cold, they might get hijacked and taken Off Topic. Please understand this is part of our lighthearted nature. Moderators will split or scrub posts if the original intent is being compromised and the post needs to stay for informational purposes (Roadmapped. Explained below). If a post is hijacked that you wish to keep on track, please PM a moderator.
NO personal attacks. NO attacks of any kind. Recognizing that everyone has, and is entitled to an opinion, if your opinion comes across as antagonistic, bad karma, insulting or hurtful to another member, or person, keep it to yourself. Any meaningless post that is nothing more than a negative comment or is strictly there to antagonize, will be edited or deleted. Any post with no redeeming quality or deemed negative by moderators will be deleted. In other words, you are NOT allowed to be a jerk just to chit stir or piss people off. Moderators do not have time to be putting out flame wars.
NO nudity, porn or seductive pictures of any type, anywhere in any forum. NONE. There is zero tolerance for this. It will be deleted immediately and don’t even think of complaining.
NO lewd, vulgar or off color language. Minor profanity (Damn It!) is okay. "F-Bomb"– or any variation is not allowed, "C" word not allowed, male/female anatomical reference not allowed.. You know what I mean. We have a word censor in place. It will replace any 'not allowed' words with "*****". If this happens, move on and DO NOT THINK UP A CUTE OVERRIDE OF THE CENSOR to make your point. It will earn you a 10 day ban.
So, we are adults, light profanity is okay, vulgar profanity is not. Be polite and be aware that we are not a locker room. Don’t split hairs, you know what we mean. Directing extreme or vulgar language to any forum member will result in getting your butt booted outta here.
Topics can stray off the Primary topics as long as it does not continue to the point of destroying the original intent of the thread. Moderators will split or cleanup threads that may have been hijacked. A PM request to a moderator to cleanup or split a thread is encouraged. Especially in the on topic forums, this is normal housekeeping. Don't complain that a post was deleted that had no useful information.
Learn the difference between political correctness and common courtesy.
We are not politically correct, but we do insist you show respect for those out there that you DO NOT KNOW. Your best friend on the forum, who you never met, may be the guy your insulting and don't even realize it.
A MODERATORS DECISION
We live by these rules, and any moderator action is due to an infringement. We don't moderate on content, but we do enforce these rules.
Challenging a moderator in public for their action will lock you down, all abilities to post and edit will be removed.
I feel that a moderator has acted unfairly. What can I do?
If you feel that a moderator has taken inappropriate action, there is a set procedure you can take to resolve this issue. Creating a thread about the problem in public is not the proper procedure.
1) Send a PM to the moderator that you believe has acted unfairly. State your case in clear, polite terms. See if you can resolve the issue with this moderator first. If you do not know which moderator to message, you can send your message to any moderator who is online.
2) If you can not resolve the issue with the moderator in question, you may then contact one Global Moderator to state your case. Your complaint will be posted in the staff only area for review by other staff members. Once a final decision has been made regarding the situation, you will be informed.
3) If you have a complaint regarding the actions or decisions of a Global Moderator, you can send those complaints to the Administrator. As with the other messages, please be clear and to the point.
When you are moderated for an infraction or infringement, you may receive a PM as to why. If it was a blatant infringement, it will be deleted with no notice. If not, it is acceptable to send a civil note to the moderators requesting the reason. We don't sent messages for general scrubbing or cleanup of banter or chatter.
Soliciting/Advertising:
Direct sales pitches by members, commercial businesses or business owners is prohibited.
We do not want members to come in here for the primary or specific purpose of advertising. Occasional display of your own products are limited to the For Sale board.
Members may post non commercial items in the For Sale board.... Your own items such as pits, trailers equipments, etc..
An occasional Non BBQ item is OK if you want to sell your lawn mower or kids bicycle. Don't make it a habit.
Product owners may OCCASIONALLY post an item, a special or a sale. However, to be fair to members who have vendor forums, if you post more than the occasional item in the For Sale board, you may be asked to refrain.
Product owners may NOT hawk their product. Product names in thread titles or photos in threads is considered product placement and not allowed. Soliciting the general membership to hawk product for you is also dirty pool. If your product is that good, let it speak for itself, and let the membership speak for you of their own accord.
Donation requests and/or fundraisers MUST be cleared by a staff member first. DO NOT post requests for donations to any cause without prior permission.
If a For Sale Item or advertisement is placed anywhere but “For Sale” board we reserve the right to either delete it or move it.
NO cross-posting of For Sale announcements in the talk sections. Such posts will be deleted.
Product owners using their product name in the titles of thread or photos of their product in posts is consider product placement/advertising. Please refrain. Let your product speak for itself and others do your advertising.
Linking to Forums
Do not post links to other forums like ours(BBQ forums/chats) for the sake of promotion or for information that can easily be found within our forum(this excludes the links section).
It is OK to point to another forum to ANSWER A QUESTION OR SHARE PHOTOS/INFORMATION. This is not considered promotion.
References within the forum to obvious forums of authority are allowed when referring to specific questions/requirements. (i.e. Virtual Weber Bullet, Food TV, etc. ).
We reserve the right to remove gratuitous references to competing forums.
Links to forums in signatures is not allowed.
Bloggers:
A link to your blog is OK in your signature.
Posting requests to "Read My Blog", "Check out my Blog" "Go to my Blog", etc....is considered a gratuitous link/for the sake of promotion and will be removed.
If your blog contains something interesting, post a copy or preview in our forum and let the members decide if they want to link back to read it.
Recruiting our members to another site, or hawking a site via PM or email will get you booted out.
When posting in the forum, links to pages related to BBQ are ok as long as their purpose is informational, and not to promote the site or product.
Example: A page that includes your widgets and gadgets you use when you cook. ACCEPTABLE. (Key word, "includes").
Example: A page that contains Links that look like a sales pitch. NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Signatures and Avatars must follow these guidelines
Avatars: These are the little pictures next to posts and on your profile. It is and can be a graphic or photo.
Avatar Graphics of Commercial sites or products are discouraged. Tone it down. no blinking billboards, no oversized, no animated, no marquees.
Normal non commercial avatars should be limited to no bigger than 120x120(120 wide and 120 long.)
NO risqué’ pics of porn, soft, medium or hardcore. Noting suggestive, explicit, implicit, or anything, regarding sex or nudity. NONE, NADA, ZIP. IT WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY OR SOONER and don’t even think of questioning it. This rule has ZERO TOLERANCE.
We reserve the right to re-size, remove or replace any avatar that is questionable or in the gray zone. If the admin re-sizes your avatar, leave it alone.
Signatures: This is a text box BELOW each post. It cannot contain a graphic or Photo.
If you have a Private site(without a forum) of your own, you may post a link in your signature.
If you have a link in your signature, you must place a reciprocal link on your site linking back here.
Reciprocal link must be on the landing page that you are linking to from here. The link must be visible, easily located and not buried in text or articles. If you wish to use a graphic to hotlink with please use the link back photo below.
NO pictures or graphics in signatures.This does not pertain to AVATARS.
Keep signatures in plain text no larger than 3 points. Use discretion with bold and/or colors. Over sized or overbearing signatures will be edited to conform.
Your signature and profile should contain a list of your equipment and your location. This way, if you ask or answer a question, we can consider where your cooking from and what you’re cooking on without asking. It should NOT contain anything that may be inflammatory or controversial.
Your own BBQ related site URL may appear in signature line as long as it is the URL only.
NO advertising, including sponsor links.
No pointers to other bbq forums.
Blogs and websites are OK. NO FORUMS.
A reciprocal link back here is required no matter what.
If your Signature contains a link to your site or blog. You MUST have a link to our site in yours. If not, your signature will be edited and link removed. If an admin or moderator edits the link out of your signature, it cannot be put back unless the reciprocal link is in place.
Signatures and linking will be disabled for those that refuse to comply. Moderators will make spot checks to ensure the cross linking is present. If not, One private message will be sent to you for not being in compliance. If a reciprocal link is not added within 5 days, your signature will be edited.
Roadmapping: FYI.
Some forums have a ROADMAP post at the top. These are shortcuts to FAQ posts. They are links to quality discussion threads on specific topics within the forum. Refer to these when you are looking for something specific and use our search tools. Feel free to update roadmaps with posts you think may benefit members on a regular basis.
When subject actions are in question the decision of the moderators and/or Site Administrator is final. Any member assuming a second identity for the sake of circumventing our rules or administrative action will be permanently banned.
If you disagree with their actions, take it private thru the Private Messaging system and keep it civil. A public display of flames, tantrums or sniping at the moderators will cause immediate ejection and banning.
Color codes in member names mean something.
GOLD
Forum Administrator
Green
Global Moderator
They enforce our rules throughout the forum and ensure our forum remains a family friendly forum.
Purple
Moderator
They enforce our rules on certain boards and also ensure our forum remains a family friendly forum.
Blue
General membership
If you need help or have questions, anyone from this administrative staff can be contacted for assistance.
Link back photo
THIS DOCUMENT IS PROPERTY OF THE BBQ BRETHREN AND WAS MODIFIED FOR THE PIG PEN FORUM.
THANK YOU BBQ BRETHREN FOR THE USE AND MODIFICATION.