Rules and Information

[Administrator]

Welcome to the ACWRT Discussion Area!

For those of you who may be hesitant about participating because you aren't familiar with Discussion Boards and how they work, here's a quick lesson:

Forum - Forums are categories of discussion. For instance, some of the categories or Forums that we have are

* Civil War
* General Discussion

Threads - Are the individual "Topics" that people start within a Forum.

Post - Are individual responses that people make within a Thread.

Participating in a forum is just like leaning over your back fence and talking with your neighbor, but instead of talking face to face you're typing.

Occasionally people don't behave as we would hope in forums, and unfortunately we have no control over that. If you ever receive a response or see a post you feel was rude or inappropriate, please do not post back to it! Instead please contact me privately and I will look into it and take care of it. Try to remember, there are many different personalities out there, and what seems funny or acceptable to some, may not be to others. Try not to jump to conclusions or jump down throats too fast. Sometimes things aren't meant the way they were taken. We cannot see each other's facial expressions or hear the tones in each other's voices, so it is difficult to judge how a comment was meant. But no matter what, don't let an occasional "bad apple" bother you. Posting back and arguing on the board just makes the problem worse and puts a damper on the whole group. Just ignore them, report the problem to us, and everything will be fine :)

There may be times when a thread becomes heated, especially in the Political forum, but if it gets too out of hand we'll throw some water on it and cool it off. But for the most part you'll find that everyone is friendly and civil.


Forum Rules

The rules listed within this site are common among most message boards, please take the time to become familiar with these rule of etiquette.

Be kind and honest
Don't issue personal attacks, use profanity, or post threatening, abusive, harassing, or otherwise offensive language or images. You also may not impersonate another individual or communicate under a name that you are not entitled to use.

Read the message board for a while before participating
It's best to browse a board for a while -- just reading -- before you post your first message. Read a couple week's worth of messages the first time you visit a board, and then read new messages for another couple of days. You'll see what topics are hot and which are cold, you'll get to know some of the key participants, and you'll become familiar with the demeanor of the board. Each one is different.

Communicate clearly
Write clearly when you compose a message. Review your message carefully before clicking Send; typos are confusing. Remember, if your message can be misunderstood, it will be.

Refrain from using ALL CAPS
Typing in all capital letters is frowned upon; it's the equivalent of screaming at everyone. It also makes your message more difficult to read.

Don't post meaningless messages
Posting messages that say nothing more than "Me too" is a quick way to irritate other members. If you agree with a posting, either enjoy your consent by yourself or reply with an informative comment about why you agree. Imagine how dull a board would get if it contained nothing but hundreds of "me too's."

Consider replying to a post privately
In some instances some replies are better sent as e-mail, rather than posted in a thread. It may be more appropriate to send personal messages and especially critical comments directly and privately. In the event that the message has reached it's end of life you may wish to carry on a discussion with the originator. In instances such as this email may be the preferred method. If the individual has chose to hide their email address you can use our Private Messaging system.

Be careful when posting personal information
Be careful about including private information about yourself, such as phone numbers and street addresses. Private information of that nature may be better sent by e-mail.

No Advertising, Promoting or Soliciting
There is no commercial posting or selling allowed on the boards. This includes using your company name or web address as a signature or in a post. It also includes using false names to post plugs for your company (yes we can trace you!). And it includes posting your e-mail address and asking people to e-mail you for info so you can sell them something. Also, do not use the boards to announce other websites or to announce any sales you are having. All advertising rights are understandably reserved solely for this site's owner and sponsors.

No Spam!
The e-mail addresses of the board users here are for board use only. Sending unsolicited spam mail is prohibited and will be reported to the proper ISP! This includes the unethical practice of e-mailing our board members to try and sell them products!

Deleted posts
Any & all posts that violate these rules will be deleted without notice. Any posts deemed inappropriate by our board moderators may be deleted at our discretion. So if you see a post disappear, just know there was a good reason. If a post of yours gets removed from the board, do not question it publicly on the board! If you have questions about it, or believe it to be an error, contact us privately and we'll give it due consideration. And please don't be offended! If we delete a post it isn't anything personal, so please don't send us hate mail! These boards are moderated by a small group of people who shall remain unnamed so they may have their privacy.


Abbreviations and Emoticons

LOL = Laughing out Loud

BTW - By The Way

HTH = Hope this helps

TIA = Thanks in advance

TY = Thank you

ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing!

IMHO = In my humble opinion

JMO = Just my opinion

IMO = In my opinion

FYI = For your information

OT = Off topic

L8R - Later (another way of saying "talk to you later")

OTOH - On The Other Hand

POV - Point Of View

:) = smiley face

:( = sad face

;) = wink

:p = sticking tounge out

Have fun and enjoy. If you have any questions you can email or PM (Private Message) me.

Admin