The trouble with that is that it wouldn’t say what the consequence of such behavior might be. Then we’ll get inconsistency, and that will be much more destructive of the community than the odd incident of bad conduct.
Oh, no! Please don’t do that! Not unless you really want to turn the forums into a torrent of legalism. Because then you’ll create two problems: (a) what happens when the two conflict, and (b) what happens when the two say similar things, but one is a rule and one is a guideline?
Either we want rules or guidelines. Don’t even consider having both.
I’m strongly in favor of rules, because then everyone knows – or is capable of knowing if they care to take a look – what will happen, and there’s no question of any judgement being personal or playing favorites. Yes, we still might have the occasional issue when something unforeseen crops up, but those will be minimized.
If we have only guidelines, then one of two things will happen. Either decisions will be inconsistent and arbitrary, or else they will be consistent and predictable. The former is a terrible idea; the latter is just rule-making by the back-door. So let’s do this properly and in a transparent manner.
I don’t think listing behavior that is unacceptable precludes stating possible consequences.
And if it’s rules or guidelines, I’ll come down on the side of rules, in as concise a form as possible.
I’ve seen Wade’s doc and it’s very gentle and readable. I actually think that users might be able to get to the end of it without nodding off. Would it be OK if it made no reference to either rules or guidelines and was instead called something like “Introduction to the ClassicPress Forums”? It could then include a link to the full rules. Could that still be seen as a possible cause of conflict?
Funny thou, I read the forum rules the first day you posted it, and I meant line by line, although I agree that it’s only a few that does this but then rules are rules. We hardly adhere to regulations on anything, be it your country or forums, but as a good guy that has a good understanding of how things are constituted, you know what is wrong is bad, and what is right is good.
In short, rules are made to be broken because if everyone adheres to the rule, I am not sure we can expand as a community.
Challenge the rules and make sure you step out of them when it’s right, and that doesn’t mean you should break them for the mere goal of just breaking the rules.
Imagine if you guys had effected a rule on me when I was new here, but instead, @wadestriebel took me up and encouraged me to ask for help even after posting in the wrong place, wadestriebel guided throughout that section, and I will be forever be grateful. Those are the kind of rules you should break.
I love this place so much, please don’t turn it into WordPress forum, their mods are like a semi-god, harsh voice as if life isn’t too short.
Thank you for the opportunity, break the rules when it’s right, and make sure you read them thoroughly. So you know if breaking them is worthwhile.
A new user posted in the wrong thread? Tell them nicely and guide them. Don’t close their thread shabbily. Break rules on stuff like this
I absolutely agree. Moderating should be done nicely, more guidance than jackboots and barbed wire. And I’ll say it again… the point of transparency is that we can keep an eye on this. If a mod is turning into a “little dictator” we can all see it and the other mods or the team lead can take them aside and counsel them.
[But we still need rules, cos being nice doesn’t always work]
Yh, sweet and simple! Please go on with the rules formatting, at least I read all already. I read the rules because of the way the community helped in here, I wanted to understand how things are structured, you know, so I’ll apply common sense next time I post.
It is this experience that I want to ensure that no matter what we decide this is the experience all users get. My concern from the beginning is the risk of rules taking away from the experience users get.
And I have heard everyone’s input, I see there is a general consensus around needing more rules. But, I have taken it slow and been methodical about what and how we word and enforce these new rules to ensure experiences like this aren’t lost to a sea of rules. We can’t be rushing into red taping everything because of one post and some aftermath, we shouldn’t approach this from a panic point of view. I have already stated I am working on new rules and guidelines.
Until then, I think this thread has gone off topic, if there is still some discussion to be made please start a new linked thread, in the meantime I’m closing this thread.