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Official Rules: pub26.ezboard.com/fpacume...D=20.topic

In order to guarantee a complaint will be addressed, a poster must email a complaint to zlmbmoderator at hotmail dot com or even easier, use the Inbox mail system. Moderators are not obligated or able to respond to each possible violation on their own (in fact, it would be impossible to do so unless this was actually a fulltime job with salary) and therefore may miss something. To encourage this, moderators may even edit out a complaint in a thread as off-topic.

All complaints will be reviewed and treated seriously and hopefully without bias. We have both LDS and nonLDS moderators to help prevent this. Moderator discussion will take place in Administrative Task (the moderator only forum) among all moderators currently available (usually at least two and often more), but generally only one moderator will post the consensus findings in OL (note: we are still working on the procedure and haven't decided whether to post in OL on in the relevant thread; so far it appears that when necessary, the thread method is easier.) This will be done (except for emergencies) by the OmniMod (username zlmbmoderator), who is the only official spokesperson besides Pac for when it comes to complaint rulings. Other mods' comments in complaint threads are to be read as personal commentary except if explanatory board information.

If you have a comment on moderating, please email or inbox it to mods.

Continued ignoring of these rules to limit moderating and complaint comments may result in capping.

When making a complaint, a link to the relevant thread as well as a time stamp of the offending post AND the rule it is in violation of (either by citing the rule or identifying it, eg. 5a) is required. Moderators will ask for this information before making any further comments.

Board Traditions:

Rather than having moderators strictly enforce the on topic rule and end up turning the board into a totally stale academic debate, we operate under the 'tradition' that the person who creates a thread can determine how on topic s/he wants the thread to be. If the person does not mention a particular need for focus, we will often let the thread wander without comment. If the starter or someone else (at the early stages of the thread) asks to keep things focused, posters are to do so around the topic as defined by the original poster. While it has not been the habit of the moderators to delete or move off topic posts, we still reserve the right to not only delete off topic remarks, but to censure those who constantly engage in this behaviour by limiting their daily posting ability (capping).

We will attempt to preserve original posts before deleting by copying threads to The Vault Forum, a nonposting, read only "preservation" forum. However, there are glitches that have interfered with copying from time to time. Posts containing vulgarity or banned temple content are copied into a forum that is only accessible to moderators.

We prefer people to start a new thead for a new topic or even subtopic that is not the focus of the original post with a link back to the original thread and a paste of the post s/he is responding to (or you can just provide the link and the day and time of the post.)

Please note though that with the open ended threads, eventually it's likely to go off topic. How long it stays on topic is again a function of the desires of the person who started a thread. If s/he stops posting/loses interest in a thread, then the conversation can turn to things other posters are interested in.

No problem with opening up 'dead threads', just be aware of the dates and the fact that you may not get a response to your comments as the original posters may either be gone from the board or lost interest.

Etiquette:

The standard stuff, no vulgarity, some recognition of the other person as human. Other members will come down on posters who cross the line of common courtesy and it isn't always very pretty when they do. Please, as a courtesy, format posts that are relatively easy to read with short, unflashy sig lines, not a lot of smileys or other technical toys, and relatively decent (not perfect) spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

NOTHING justifies a rule violation, even in response to someone else doing so. If you break a rule, it will not be treated with regard to provocation, but only on its own merits or rather demerits. Continual disregard for this will result in capping, banning if significant.

Don't assume or make accusations just because someone hasn't responded in what you think is a timely fashion to your post. A lot of our members travel or have very busy lives and only post occasionally. Think of it as a way to develop the virture of patience. Just keep popping the thread forward by either "editing" one of your posts (without changing anything, this registers the post as 'new') or add a new post with a mention that you are waiting for a reply.

Personal moderating styles, for those interested and who have some time to waste reading this:

First off, while at least one moderator used to read every post, the traffic is way too high now (update: the daily post limit has removed this problem, but life has also intruded so moderators do not have the time to do much reading these days, results are the same as what follows). Moderators tend to read for enjoyment threads that interest them and are often unlikely to scold someone on those simply because they aren't in "moderator mode" and don't see posts from that POV. Assumptions that longer posts are less likely to be "flamers" than the short may lead moderators to skim longer posts and concentrate on shorter ones if they are short on time. Thus some of the posts that have "digs" embedded in them will be unaddressed and possibly unseen as well.

Also, simply because a moderator has posted in a thread below an offending post does not imply that the post has been seen. Often there is a problem of cross posting or a post just being skipped by accident due to the way a moderator scrolls down the page. Don't forget that an offense simply may not register no matter how offensive if a moderator is reading for enjoyment. Sometimes we "forget" we are mods and just screen out distractions like the regular posters.

Second, moderators will tend to scold as well as support newcomers more than those who have been around the block a few times. People who have been around awhile and posted a lot are more likely to have had contact with moderator commentary before, why would repeating the same ole, same ole for them lead to any significant change? We pretty much leave it up to others to criticize/police them unless a complaint has been made. We have found that moderators posting critical personal comments tend to be taken the wrong way (as a moderator warning) and the responses often derail a thread.

Third, when addressing a "tit for tat" tirade, we have always found that it involves at least two people if not more, so when we attempt to shut those down, we are talking to all involved even if we only specifically name one or two and refer generically to the rest. Being named does not mean we hold them more or less responsible for the contention than the others sharing in the rampage, it just may be that was the last person to respond.

Fourth, we perk up and pay attention when people complain, including closer attention to negative behaviour in the people who complain often (if they hold others to a high standard, we will hold them to one). Sixth, we always try to sign off as "moderator" when making actual moderator comments so a "scolding" post not signed with "moderator" does not have the same weight as one with it and the person should simply treat the post the same as coming from any other poster. Please note that while official censure only comes from the OmniMod, disregard of instruction from all moderators to modify behaviour may result in capping.

Bottom line: You want some moderator action to be taken, it is your personal responsibility to follow the procedure for moderators to address it, including contacting the moderators through the inbox or email system, stating the problem, quoting the offending material and providing a link to the thread or post it was made in.

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FYI as an example of moderator "bias", CR's standard of "perfect board behaviour" (in case you are curious) is actually a nonLDS, an angelic Evangelical whose name I won't mention so I don't embarass him. This person always accepts the other's POV as valid and not something to ridicule and tries to present his own POV in the framework that has been created by the one he is responding to; IOW, he actually listens to what the other person is saying, both on the surface and on the assumption level, and tries to actually interact with that person rather than just either criticizing the other's POV or proclaiming his own POV without addressing the other one. When he doesn't understand something, he sees the error as his own and not the other's. And he usually throws in a touch of humour as well.

While we have automatically censored/edited ("dinged") more nonLDS than LDS (haven't done many of either), it is because the nonLDS are the ones more likely to use vulgarity or post temple content which is the only things we actually delete withoug warning. In the past, we have actually warned LDS more often than nonLDS, most likely due to the numbers. This has changed with the balance toward nonLDS, again most likely due to the numbers.

NonLDS newcomers are more likely to be scolded than LDS ones simply because their style tends to be more aggressive, however they also tend to modify their style more the longer they are on the board and so they end up being targets less in the long run.

FYI, previous to the general cap limit of 5 per day, we have capped more LDS than non. Nowadays, we're still trying to figure out the pattern if there is one.

First you must be registered AND logged in from the main page, NOT on the reply page.

No edit function: pub26.ezboard.com/fpacume...D=61.topic and pub26.ezboard.com/fpacume...=215.topic

If you want to edit a particular post, locate that post and then click the 'edit' button located under your user name. After that, your post comes up in a Reply Box and you can change it to your heart's content. After editing, simply hit the Edit Post button below the Reply box.

When you edit, there is a chance that a glitch in the program may cause a deletion of your post and "HTML comments not allowed" will appear. In order to avoid extreme annoyance, save long posts before hitting the post edit button under the post box. The easiest way to save a post is to click on the box, do a "select all" than a 'copy'. A more foolproof method (I've had the browser crash and lost a post in the process, both the original and the copy in the scrapbook) is to save it as a word file before posting.

HTML comments glitch: pub26.ezboard.com/fpacume...D=35.topic
pub26.ezboard.com/fpacume...D=72.topic

ALWAYS check to see if your edited post has appeared in the thread. If it hasn't or you get the html glitch AND you've forgotten to save it, you may still be able to recover it by moving back through the pages until you hit the edit page.

Multiple 'false' quotes: Another problem is quotes within quotes when it's supposed to be text material. Probably due to missing a quote tag. This will most likely result in the loss of a few words or part of a word at the end of the last 'quoted' material. If you attempt to edit it, make sure you go through the entire post removing any weird ezcode formatting that pops up, otherwise you will end up with "no html comments allowed." And don't forget to add on the last couple of words that were cut off in the glitch.

Various options available. Pretty much all are useless. Best advice, make a list of threads you are interested in with links.

EZBoard : EZboard goes through updates and glitches. One can try these options, but no guarantee of success. Generally EZboard searches just the first two pages of threads in a forum. Either click on 'Search' in an individual forum to search there or go to the Main Page and search all forums (though one at a time) at one stop. One can search by username, key words or both.

Google : To have more successful searches, in the domain type 'ezboard.com'. This limits the search to the boards and while you may get hits elsewhere, still this significantly focuses your search. Recent posts may not appear here though. You can do a "find" on the google page for "pacumeni" to easily locate any posts from this board.

If you get an error message after clicking on a google link to a post, try going back and clicking on "cached". A stack of threads got deleted, first through a glitch and second though human error, but some of these can be found in a partial format.

In the past, one of the moderators was obsessive enough to copy and paste all the threads into word files making it very easy to search. Got cured of that after about a year. Now we are just trying to create indexes for each archive with the titles of the threads and what page to find them on, but even that is slow.

LDS Reference: Has lists and various others helps at locating something. Also the best place to ask for help with sources, recommendations, etc. If you don't get a response here, go repost in RT. Once your question has been answered, that thread will be moved to RRR for others to refer to.

This used to be a nobrainer, but due to the increase posting we will clarify what vulgarity is defined as here on this particular board.

First, all the standard words and phrases that are found offensive in any English and nonEnglish speaking country are included. If you are aware of one that is being used and the moderators have not caught it, please notify moderators in Outer Limits. CR in particular grew up sheltered and secure in her innocence, so she misses many references other moderators, more hardened by their sordid lives , catch. These usually fall under our "no tolerance" rule and are subject to immediately deletion without warning. Continued use will result in banning.

Second, using technical or normally allowed words to substitute for vulgar phrases is not allowed. For example using "copulating" or "excrement" (to name two examples from experience) is not allowed unless one is actually having a 'clinical' discussion about this (which I can't really see happening on this board though certain sexuality focused topics are discussed from time to time).

Third, slang and other terms that may be normally allowable in casual conversation in your experience may not be allowed on the board. What is and is not allowed is determined by moderators, not posters. An example that is considered fine line, but has been judged unacceptable is "asinine". Moderators have chosen to view this as "forbidden" because of the associations that some posters have made "ass". Normally we wouldn't have a problem with this, but since it was used to get around the "ass" no tolerance rule, we eliminated it. An example that is allowed is "butt", however if this is used in conjunction with another word it may still be edited depending on the crudeness of the reference.

Fourth, a post which is just offensive material will receive less tolerance than a post that is mostly substance even. In fact, the whole post just may disappear,

No better way to get yourself permanently banned without hope than to continue to be vulgar either in wording or topic.

Moderators are required NOT to edit a post that is merely offensive to any particular poster, no matter how offensive it is if there is no rule violation.

It is the responsibility of the "plantiff" to explain what rule has been violated.

Moderators may judge that an offensive post is intended to enflame and therefore treat it as a rule violation, but this is only likely if a pattern of such posts has been establish and there is no substance in these posts.

Moderators may pull a suspect post or not, depending on a variety of factors including time available.

Moderators are "enforcers" in that we respond to rule violations. We are not nursemaids that are here to keep threads inoffensive. We will intercede in threads that appear to be in a downward spiral to the depths of depravity, but we will not intercede on just possibilities.

We provide board rules to help posters self-police their own posts more than for them to look for ways to complain about others, but we want posters to complain if they feel a rule has been broken and there is no civil way to deal with it themselves. Posters should note that if they hold others to high standards, moderators will be more likely to hold them to high standards (that is one bias that we all have.)

All vulgarity, explicit temple content and spam should be immediately reported to zlmbmoderator by the inbox or email system for moderator action.

Moderator procedure morphs over time as different circumstances arise. We reserve the right to change procedures as needed. Such changes will be incorporated in any rule revison or incorporated into this thread if only policy, but most current procedures will likley be described in OL or special closed threads in Roundtable.

Posters will be judged according to most current procedures, but it is understood that all may not be aware of them. We will treat posters accordingly. ALL POSTERS ARE EXPECTED TO READ THE RULES AND POLICIES (this thread) THREADS. You will be judged on that basis, ignorance is no excuse.

Interpretation of correct application rests firmly with moderators, though you may mail your POV if appealing a ruling. Several letters challenging moderators' findings won't be appreciated. If you don't agree after an appeal's been made, then please just accept that moderators are fallible beings and learn to live with it....or find another board.

Moderators also reserve the right to treat each post individually as needed as each post is unique as well as to consider poster's history when appropriate. If unusual treatment appears to be deserved, a moderator will seek consensus with other moderators before proceeding or to confirm "emergency" actions. Among these actions may be temporary banning while further action is debated or limiting of daily posts as well as other possibilities yet to be seen. Certain 'habits' will be ruled by Pacumeni and therefore may take a long time to be addressed, but if you want to avoid this, then generously follow the rules.

Moderation includes private emails consisting of warnings or notification of action. Therefore other posters should not assume action has not been taken unless informed so by the moderators. Feel free to ask. You may not be told however if it doesnt' directly concern you.

Warnings: In the past, we have had complaints that posters have not received sufficient warnings before action is taken against them. Our reply to that is "Tough." Any poster that action is taken against should be aware enough of the rules and policies to be able to predict s/he is going to get hammered. Warnings, in the POV of moderators, include comments (both in moderator and personal mode) by moderators about others' difficulties with their posts as well as the standard OmniMod rulings and even complaints by others. IOW, if you are the target of a lot of complaints, even if you are not found to have violated any specific rule or policy, there is a good chance that action will be taken against you as a consistently inflammatory or difficult poster. (Difficulty does not only include uncivil conversation, but may include board functionality interference such as off-topic responses or confusing post format.)

Don't expect long or even any explanation of a capping from moderators, especially if you are a long time posters. Moderators will look on some requests as attempts at manipulation (as in a little kid having been scolded, looking innocent and proclaiming "but what did I do wrong?").

Posters will be notified of capping and banning actions by private Inbox where possible. However at times due to time constraints, problems with ezboard inbox system, if the poster does not have his/her inbox activated or other difficulties, posters may not receive these before becoming aware of the restrictions (can't post anymore). Under no circumstances is a poster to create a new persona to contine posting. Email zlmbmoderator@hotmail.com instead.

Use of the ezboard inbox system or emailing zlmbmoderator@hotmail.com is encouraged in these situations to maintain privacy and avoid embarassment or future references to these restrictions.

CARDINAL RULE: Do not email moderators' personal email addresses unless it's a personal (noncomplaint) email. Complaints must be sent to the ezinbox or zlmbmoderator@hotmail.com address. Failure to do so may result in immediate banning for the minimum of one week.

Requests for personal titles, searches for threads, and other help topics can be posted in About ZLMB.

Kevin, we'd love a decent search engine. But I haven't a clue how we would have one that worked for ezboard. ezboard doesn't give us a choice of different quality engines. All communities have to put up with the same one, no matter how much they pay ezboard.

Please complain to ezboard. And I mean that. I have complained to them myself over the years. I don't see any other way to get one (unless we end up completely moving the board to another site).