Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2016 12:34:32 GMT -5
Our Mission
With that in mind, let's be conscious of the fact that we will be made up of people from all walks of life. There will be new smokers, veteran smokers, codgers and maybe even a hipster or two. While I want this to be an open community and encourage lively discussion and debates, it is necessary to have some guidelines laid out. Call it what you want, but the fact is this community will not survive in a state of anarchy. By browsing, posting or interacting in any way with this forum, you are indicating that you accept and understand these guidelines.
If you have questions or comments about any of these guidelines, please notify the Admin. If you feel that anyone has violated the guidelines, please let a member of the staff know. I think these are simple enough that everyone can adhere to them.
"The Briar Patch is dedicated to providing a content rich, interactive community dedicated to pipes and tobacco. With a strong focus on promoting and supporting local pipe clubs, we intend to facilitate the collection and sharing of as much knowledge and information as possible with the hope of acting as a central hub for the community. By providing an open, accessible source of information, we can continue to foster the growth of our hobby."
With that in mind, let's be conscious of the fact that we will be made up of people from all walks of life. There will be new smokers, veteran smokers, codgers and maybe even a hipster or two. While I want this to be an open community and encourage lively discussion and debates, it is necessary to have some guidelines laid out. Call it what you want, but the fact is this community will not survive in a state of anarchy. By browsing, posting or interacting in any way with this forum, you are indicating that you accept and understand these guidelines.
Politics & Religion
First, lets get this out of the way... absolutely positively NO politics or religion. This includes imagery, pictures, statements, etc. Sorry, but there are hundreds of forums on the web that offer this type of platform. I have learned first hand that these are conversations that you don't even have with the best of friends. While they may go fine at first, they usually melt into a steaming pile of anger and hurt feelings.
Personal Interaction
Personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. Hopefully I do not need to spell this out further. You might enjoy the anonymity of the web, but do not think that you will use that to your advantage here to get some web muscles and treat others like second class citizens. You will treat others with the same respect that you expect to be treated with. If you don't have very high expectations of respect for yourself, I can suggest a few self help forums that might be more appropriate for you.
This forum will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We don't care about your race, ethnicity, religious or political affiliation, disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, financial status or your age (minimum age of 18 required). Respect others ideas, opinions and ethics, no matter how antithetical they may be to your own. It's 2023 people. While you may not approve of all people that fall into the various categories I mentioned, here they will be treated equally regardless of who they are. If you don't like that, as I said before, there are plenty of forums on the web. I'm sure you can find one dedicated to spouting off about your various levels of hatred toward specific or even general groups of people.
Content in Posts & Signatures
Unlike most other forums, we encourage active participating members to share information from other sites, blogs, etc. As stated in our mission, the goal here is to share knowledge and information. If that has been found elsewhere, by all means share it with the group. If you would like us to utilize that information as a feature on the site, please reach out to one of the staff to see if we can accommodate that. However, please do not post generic commercial links in your signature.
Nudity, pornography or anything that would violate any applicable local, state or federal law, will be removed without notice. Use common sense. If you don't want your kids to see it, don't put it up here.
Please be cognizant of copyrights. If we think that you have posted something that is in violation of that, we will be obligated to remove it.
Let's do our best to keep the language clean. Just like I mentioned above, let's not post anything that you would not want your kids to see... and if you don't mind them swearing like a trucker, keep it in your house and not on the forum.
Avatars
This one is simple. Keep your avatars PG. No nudity, pornography, etc.
Advertising
If you are a vendor, retailer or commercial site of any kind, you MUST contact one of our staff before posting any sort of advertisement or link to your website. This includes another website that sells advertising space as a means of funding their site. The goal of this site is not to become a billboard for people to hawk their wares. It is focused on the community and that community will not be used as fodder for commercial ventures. Advertising of any fashion is done at the discretion of the ownership of The Briar Patch and will be done in a way which fits in to the community standards.
Do not solicit anyone via the private message system. If someone attempts to solicit you, please notify the staff.
Buying, Selling & Trading
The Briar Patch is not responsible for any transactions that take place between members and unless otherwise noted, does not endorse any activity related to buying, selling or trading among members. With that in mind, Buy, Sell & Trade notices will be limited to the specified board. Access to that board will be restricted to members with a post count of at least 100. Please use common sense people. Deal with those that you trust and avoid those that you don't.
Auctions & Raffles
We are not opposed to auctions and raffles. Hell, they encourage participation. However, all auctions or raffles must be approved by the admin before being posted. As with Buying, Selling & Trading, members will be required to have a minimum post count and place auctions/raffles in the Buy, Sell & Trade section of the forum. Just like before, The Briar Patch is not responsible for any transactions that take place between members and unless otherwise noted, does not endorse any activity related to buying, selling or trading among members.
Moderation
While we encourage the community to police itself as much as possible, we all know that every forum needs moderation. It's just the way it works. They have a tough job and are essential to keeping the community running in a smooth and efficient manner. Please be aware that the admins and moderators have the right to remove posts and threads without notice if they feel that it does not fit within the community guidelines. Additionally, if you continuously violate the community guidelines, your posting and or membership privileges may be revoked. Our moderation will not be heavy handed as that does not encourage a free flow of information, but we will adhere to our guidelines. This is all about creating an open and inviting community.
First, lets get this out of the way... absolutely positively NO politics or religion. This includes imagery, pictures, statements, etc. Sorry, but there are hundreds of forums on the web that offer this type of platform. I have learned first hand that these are conversations that you don't even have with the best of friends. While they may go fine at first, they usually melt into a steaming pile of anger and hurt feelings.
Personal Interaction
Personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. Hopefully I do not need to spell this out further. You might enjoy the anonymity of the web, but do not think that you will use that to your advantage here to get some web muscles and treat others like second class citizens. You will treat others with the same respect that you expect to be treated with. If you don't have very high expectations of respect for yourself, I can suggest a few self help forums that might be more appropriate for you.
This forum will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We don't care about your race, ethnicity, religious or political affiliation, disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, financial status or your age (minimum age of 18 required). Respect others ideas, opinions and ethics, no matter how antithetical they may be to your own. It's 2023 people. While you may not approve of all people that fall into the various categories I mentioned, here they will be treated equally regardless of who they are. If you don't like that, as I said before, there are plenty of forums on the web. I'm sure you can find one dedicated to spouting off about your various levels of hatred toward specific or even general groups of people.
Content in Posts & Signatures
Unlike most other forums, we encourage active participating members to share information from other sites, blogs, etc. As stated in our mission, the goal here is to share knowledge and information. If that has been found elsewhere, by all means share it with the group. If you would like us to utilize that information as a feature on the site, please reach out to one of the staff to see if we can accommodate that. However, please do not post generic commercial links in your signature.
Nudity, pornography or anything that would violate any applicable local, state or federal law, will be removed without notice. Use common sense. If you don't want your kids to see it, don't put it up here.
Please be cognizant of copyrights. If we think that you have posted something that is in violation of that, we will be obligated to remove it.
Let's do our best to keep the language clean. Just like I mentioned above, let's not post anything that you would not want your kids to see... and if you don't mind them swearing like a trucker, keep it in your house and not on the forum.
Avatars
This one is simple. Keep your avatars PG. No nudity, pornography, etc.
Advertising
If you are a vendor, retailer or commercial site of any kind, you MUST contact one of our staff before posting any sort of advertisement or link to your website. This includes another website that sells advertising space as a means of funding their site. The goal of this site is not to become a billboard for people to hawk their wares. It is focused on the community and that community will not be used as fodder for commercial ventures. Advertising of any fashion is done at the discretion of the ownership of The Briar Patch and will be done in a way which fits in to the community standards.
Do not solicit anyone via the private message system. If someone attempts to solicit you, please notify the staff.
Buying, Selling & Trading
The Briar Patch is not responsible for any transactions that take place between members and unless otherwise noted, does not endorse any activity related to buying, selling or trading among members. With that in mind, Buy, Sell & Trade notices will be limited to the specified board. Access to that board will be restricted to members with a post count of at least 100. Please use common sense people. Deal with those that you trust and avoid those that you don't.
Auctions & Raffles
We are not opposed to auctions and raffles. Hell, they encourage participation. However, all auctions or raffles must be approved by the admin before being posted. As with Buying, Selling & Trading, members will be required to have a minimum post count and place auctions/raffles in the Buy, Sell & Trade section of the forum. Just like before, The Briar Patch is not responsible for any transactions that take place between members and unless otherwise noted, does not endorse any activity related to buying, selling or trading among members.
Moderation
While we encourage the community to police itself as much as possible, we all know that every forum needs moderation. It's just the way it works. They have a tough job and are essential to keeping the community running in a smooth and efficient manner. Please be aware that the admins and moderators have the right to remove posts and threads without notice if they feel that it does not fit within the community guidelines. Additionally, if you continuously violate the community guidelines, your posting and or membership privileges may be revoked. Our moderation will not be heavy handed as that does not encourage a free flow of information, but we will adhere to our guidelines. This is all about creating an open and inviting community.
If you have questions or comments about any of these guidelines, please notify the Admin. If you feel that anyone has violated the guidelines, please let a member of the staff know. I think these are simple enough that everyone can adhere to them.
