SOME BASIC GUIDELINES FOR USING "The Mountain"

"Warning system"

The forum is set up with a warning system so members can be warned if they don't follow the rules or post inappropriate posts. How it works is each member has a warning symbol below their name when logged in to show the warning symbol. Only that individual member can see it and the other members can only see theirs. The Administrator and Moderators can see everyone's warning symbol. When a member is warned it is usally after a moderator or administrator has PM'd the member and told them to stop and if they don't, then they are warned. It is set to have 5 warnings with a total of 100% warning. The first warning would result in the warning moving from 0% to 20% and going up 20% with each warning afterwards. The bars would change one at a time from burnt orange to red with the warning. So, if you are seeing a 0% with all burnt orange color bars, it's nothing to worry about. That is an indicator that you are OK with no warning's. If you see the percentage increasing, you would have already been sent a PM or email and told to stop and then warned if you didn't.

"Netiquette"

Netiquette is network etiquette, the do's and don'ts of online communication. Netiquette covers both common courtesy online and the informal "rules of the road" of cyberspace. Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life and you will enjoy your experience much more.

"Pics in member signatures"

We don't allow images in a member's signature because it makes the forum load slower for those still on a dial up modem. They are allowed to have an avatar next to their name.

"Lurk Before You Leap"

If you're new to the Internet world or this type of forum take a look around first if you're not sure what to do. Spend a while following the chat or reading the discussion forum archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already here act. Then go ahead and jump on in to participate.

"What Kind Of Posts Are Allowed In The Forum"

Considering the real-time nature of this bulletin board, it is impossible for me to review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that I do try to actively monitor the contents of posted messages but we are not responsible for any messages posted. I do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this forum or any entity associated with this discussion board. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately. You will remain anonymous with your report.
I have the ability to remove objectionable messages and I will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if I determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that I may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this discussion forum to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, hateful, harassing, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.

Although this discussion forum does not and cannot review all the messages posted and is not responsible for the content of any of these messages, I at this forum reserve the right to delete any message for any or no reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless this discussion forum, Invision Board (the makers of the bulletin board software), and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).

Posting links or info to a commercial business is allowed as long as it is not a direct solicitation. For example, if someone asks what kind of backpack is best you can post a link to the company you use.

Posting messages with nothing but a link is also not acceptable. If you want to post a link in a message, try to give some kind of description as to what it is about and your thoughts of it. If we wanted nothing but links posted, we could do that ourself at Google.

While I encourage lively debate, I will not tolerate personal attacks. Any person attacking another forum member, will receive a warning and have their message removed. Any future incident thereafter, will result in that member being removed from the forum.

"EMAIL & Private Messages"

E-mail is a written work that once created is copyright protected by the author. This means you cannot post publicly an e-mail sent to you privately. You cannot post private e-mails to your site, to message boards or to your blog without the author’s specific permission to do so.

Just because an e-mail was sent to you as a private communication does not mean you then own it and can do with it what you like. In addition, e-mail that is posted to a group of people, on a mailing list or Newsgroup does not make the e-mail available for reposting, copying, or any other use - not without the express and written consent of the author.

"Nude pics are NOT allowed"

The forum rules are not up for debate in the forum. If you have a problem with the forum rules or policies please email the forum admin. Challenges to the forum rules, mods and admin will be removed immediately and you will have your posting privileges revoked.

If your post is deemed in violation of any rules on the forum you will be reminded in private email by a moderator or admininistrator why your post was pulled and a request to not continue with that type of post. A second forum rule violation will result in your account being placed in Admin Hold for review and either temporary banning or permanent banning from the forum.

"Flaming & Trolling"

"Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion. Don't use offensive language, and don't be confrontational just for the sake of confrontation. If you're here to just troll heated topics to get someone to bite, you will be asked to stop and if you continue after being asked to stop, you will be removed from the forum. And if you challenge the administrator or one of the moderators after they have asked you to cease, you will be removed from the forum!

TROLLS will not be tolerated on this forum, so if you want to be removed quick, try doing some trolling and you will be gone!

You can find out what a troll is and why they do it in the General Discussion Forum!


"Be Forgiving Of Other People's Mistakes"

Everyone was a Normal New Guy/Gal once, so when someone makes a mistake, whether it's a spelling error, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer, be kind about it. If it's a minor error, you may not need to say anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before reacting. Having good manners yourself doesn't give you license to correct everyone else.

If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferably by private email rather than in public. Give people the benefit of the doubt; assume they just don't know any better. And never be arrogant or self-righteous about it.

"Sticking Up For Yourself And Your Ideas"

I encourage good debate here on the discussion forum but I draw the line when the posts become personal attacks. Debate the issue, not the poster. If you feel slighted, take a deep breath before you fire off a hasty reply. It's so easy to misinterpret a post from someone else because you cannot see their body language.

"Typing In Capital Letters Or Bold Text"

Typing in all capital letters or bold text is considered shouting on the Internet. All caps text is also a lot harder to read since you cannot see the sentence breaks easily. Please DO NOT use this type of text when you post. If you are having trouble seeing the text on your computer, you can increase the size of the text on your computer screen by setting it higher in your browser user settings.
You can use bold or capital letters to emphasis a word or sentence. This is what it is for, to show strength so that part jumps out a little more.

"Commercial Ads And Spam"

Please note that commercial advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, solicitations, links to porn sites and crossposting ads (also known as spamming) are inappropriate on this discussion forum and will be immediately removed. If you continue to spam the forum you will be banned from posting to the forum. Posting links to personal, non profit or noncommercial websites is acceptable. Links to commercial websites are not allowed unless you paid to advertise here. This includes registering under your business name or posting your business name or link in the forum or in your signature. A link to your commercial business is allowed in your profile. Links to commercial companies are allowed by member who do not own or work for the company. Please do not use the forum email to solicit forum members. If you wish to place a link or ad to your commercial site on this discussion forum, please get approval from the forum Administrator first.

"Try To Stay On Topic In A Thread"

Try to keep on the subject in the thread. If the discussion veers off to another subject please start a new thread so as not to hijack the original thread. This is to prevent the frustration when someone asks for help on a certain subject only to have the discussion take off into another subject area which leaves the original poster no help.

"Be Descriptive In Your Topic/Thread Name"

You will get more replies and people viewing your posts if you make the topic descriptive of what your are asking or posting. Using a topic of "I need help" when "I need help with my 7mm mag loads" would bring more viewers and answers since many users scan the topics quickly for subjects that interest them. One of the key benefits of the discussion board format is that it enables commonly asked questions to be answered once, for the benefit of all. Before posting your question, it is always worth checking to see if it has already been asked - and answered! You can do this via the "Search" link on the menu bar at the top of every page of the forum.

Various options are available, both for how the search term is specified and for controlling how much of the forum's database you want to search. This is where the specificity of thread subjects is important, making it much easier to locate precisely what it is you're after from a list of search results.

"What If I Post In The Wrong Forum?"

Let the forum moderator know - he/she will be able to move it for you. You cannot delete or move your posts, you may only edit your posts. If you goof on the topic name, ask one of the moderators to edit the topic name for you.
Using The Forum To Send Another Member A Personal Message

Please do not use the forum to post personal messages to another member, we have forum email for this purpose.
Thank you for taking the time to read these rules and for registering on the The Mountain formerly known as Mountain Man’s forum.

Happy posting!