Everyone is welcome to participate in the Lightweight Backpacking Community.
FORUMS ARE MONITORED
The boards are monitored. That is, each board has at least one monitor who manages the board according to this policy statement. They will routinely review posted messages to ensure that message content meets the requirements set herein. Messages not in line with this stated policy will be edited or deleted, at our discretion, with no subsequent notification. Repeat offenders of policy will be educated or temporarily or permanently banned. This sounds harsh but has rarely happened.
NEW MEMBERS
Each new member that registers is automatically assigned to the "New_Users" group. In order to protect existing membership from SPAM and those who might register just to sell their stuff, promote their business, post polls or use our search engine for research purposes, or for similar reasons other than participating as a member in this community, we place temporary restrictions on new members.
Upon reaching 15 approved postings in the community forums, each new user is automatically moved to the main users group and gains full member standing and benefit.
Another option, soon to be installed, newly registered users may make a donation or purchase one of our subscriptions. This option, which clearly indicates an intent to join and support the community, will also result in an automatic move to regular member status and benefit.
Restrictions on new users until one of the two options above is satisfied:
(1) no write access to the Classifieds (Buy/Sell) Forum
(2) no signature block available within your postings
(3) no "shout box" write access
(4) 60 second delay between searches
(5) PM (personal msg) to only one member at a time
(6) no creation of polls within postings
(7) cannot view other member's profiles
(8) no upload of attachments
RULES
:: NO Foul Language (read notes below)
:: NO Photos deemed inappropriate for family consumption
:: NO Flame Wars (read notes below on acceptable flaming artistry)
:: NO Unauthorized Advertising (read all the notes below)
The standard rules apply. No foul language in any way, shape or form, and this includes partially disguised spellings such as "sh!t" and "fukin". No advertising of any kind. NO FLAMES! NO SPAM!!! Follow the rules & guidance of good NetiQuette. Also read the guidance provided in the "General Discussion Forum" section, below.
As stated above, messages which the administrator or the monitors judge to be offtopic, overly arrogant, confrontational, or disruptive such to promote wars of words will be deleted - without comment. Worst case scenario is that repeat offenders will be banned - without comment.
Also, all messages posted become the property of The Lightweight Backpacker™. Basically, that means we can republish them in other parts of this website, in order to preserve them over a longer period of time - e.g., gear tips, gear reviews, gear lists that are posted in the "gear talk" forum could be republished in the "Knowledge Repository", and so on.
Buy & Sell classified ads posted in the Buy & Sell Gear Here! forum will be maintained for approximately 45 days and then deleted. If your gear hasn't sold by then, you can repost your advertisement.
Personal messages (PM) will also be maintained for approximately 45 days and then deleted. If you wish to keep an archive of your PMs, then cut & paste them to your personal computer.
CROSS POSTING
The TLB Forums (and its sister board "Knowledge Repository") have mulitple boards, each with its own subject matter. This could lead to confusion about which board to post in. Accordingly, your response may be to post in multiple boards, in order to compensate. Please don't do this! This cannot be allowed because it would quickly flood the databases with unnecessary, duplicate content. Take a couple of additional seconds to make your best choice of boards then post in only one. If your choice is erroneous, a moderator will probably move it for you.
ADVERTISING
Innovators, entrepreneurs, inventors, if you have new ideas you'd like to test out on the "lightweight community", please feel free to do so, but don't confuse interacting with advertising. Unauthorized advertising is not allowed! If you have a legitimate advertising offer for us to consider, please contact us.
Cottage-Gear Advertising. Gear makers from small shops (which we refer to as "Cottage Gear Manufacturers") may advertise in the forums for a small annual fee. To request more information about this opportunity, please inquire HERE !
Policies for Specific Forums
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The guidance below is appropriate for the TLB Forums, in its entirety, but moreso for the General Discussion forum because that is the appropriate forum for backcountry discussions related to the environment, society, culture and so on where heated arguments, beyond your control, can occur. We hope this guidance will clarify the intended direction of the TLB Forums -- what we can and cannot accommodate:
::: If you are a person who wants to discuss politics for the purpose of arguing political issues, if you want to discuss environment for the purpose of arguing environmental issues, if you want to argue for the sake of listening to yourself and your debating skills, if you want to argue for the sake of argument or if you want to test the mettle of the moderators in carrying out the forum's policy, then we have to tell you that this forum was not designed to accommodate you. This forum was never, never intended to facilitate such and the moderators want no part of it. If the foregoing fits your motives and desires, then we might recommend to you the "rec.backcountry" forum. I believe that un-moderated argument of political, environmental, socioeconomic, etc. issues is a mainstay at that forum. Nothing negative personally is intended by these comments, but sometimes what you want and what we intend to provide are not compatible. :::
BUY & SELL GEAR HERE!
The Buy & Sell Gear Here! forum is a "member's only" service wherein forum members may negotiate gear-exchange transactions amongst themselves. The original intent of the Buy & Sell forum was and is as a convenient place for registered members to sell used gear to each other - period! Unless otherwise noted (see eBay Policy below) any other uses, such as advertising for established outdoor retail stores or for advertising personal businesses, are prohibited and messages posted will be deleted without comment.
eBay Policy: If you have a business in eBay, you may not advertise your business nor your goods within the forums nor link to your business from within the forums. This is viewed as doing business, as mentioned above. If on the other hand, you as a member see a hot deal (unrelated to your business) on eBay and want to pass-on the tip to other TLB Forum members, this is okay - this is acceptable. If you are selling a piece of personal gear in eBay it is okay to post the link to your personal auction.
Also, read the section regarding the Buy & Sell Gear Here! forum in our TLB DISCLAIMER. In addition to the disclaimer, there are helpful tips on how to conduct business in this forum more safely.
Thanks, and let's keep building a warehouse of "lightweight knowledge".
Definitions
COTTAGE-GEAR MANUFACTURER - "Cottage" denotes "small" as well as "in the home" and "manufacturer" implies that something is being manufactured (e.g., sleeping bag, stuff sacks, backpacks, tents, bear cans, etc.).
SPAM - Spam is the internet equivalent of junk mail. Spam is bad manners, breaks the rules of all reputable service providers, and is often illegal.
FLAMES - Flaming has come to refer to almost any mail insult. For more information, click here!. There is an art of flaming that is acceptable, and although is little more than the exercise of creative, mature communication skills, it is practically a lost art and the meaning of flaming now has a very negative connotation. To learn more about the art of flaming, click here!
NETIQUETTE - How to behave oneself while online. To learn more about the practices of good NetiQuette, click here! Also, here is a link to "The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette"
