First and foremost I don’t want to make any unnecessary restrictions to making comments that will ruin the fun.  I would prefer to consider these guidelines as something to help organize the Blog so it is easier and more enjoyable for everyone to participate.  So I thought I should explain some of the basics of how I plan to administer comments.  I’m sure there will be some changes and growing pains as we move forward but I’ll try to keep them simple and up to date as we go.  There will be room to comment on the guidelines at the bottom of this page so feel free ...

 

The most basic rule I want to impress is the simplest and should go without saying, but I will say it anyway.  Be Civil.  I will remove profanity and/or bullying comments.  I will block anyone who persists in that activity.  I don’t think it will be a problem, but I have to say it.

 

You have to fill in the Name and Text areas (*) or the program won’t accept your input.  You can put anything civil in the name block if you don’t want to use your real name, but it would be nice if you were consistent in your nickname.

 

If you check the box marked: “Notify me of comments about this page.” — You will receive an email every time somebody adds something to the discussion on that page, but only on that page.  You must provide a valid email address for this to work.  This would be the only reason you would have to provide an email address.  As the administrator I receive a notification for every comment on every page. 

 

If you mark the box: “Hide my email.” — only I will see the email address.  If you leave this unchecked than others can click on your name and send you private email.  Again you have to provide an email address for this to work.

 

Comments you make will only appear originally on the page you commented on.  I would prefer that you comment on the page you want to comment upon.  For instance, if there is a link to a news article there will probably be a comment block at the bottom of that page to make comments.  If we keep our comments on the pages we are commenting upon it will be easier to follow.  I might also copy comments to those pages to help keep things organized but I don’t want to do a lot of that.  Again, it is more important to me that we have fun so I’m not going to get all bothered about organization if you aren’t ... but it’s possible nobody will see your comment if, for instance, you put it in a page from last week.

 

If you want to edit a comment or delete one, just tell me either via a comment on that page or by email.  I don’t want to leave something up if you don’t want it up.  If you see something from somebody else that offends you, let me know about that too and we will take care of it.

 

Don’t be bashful ... write all the comments you want about whatever you want.  I am especially interested in any ideas to improve the Blog or the comment sections.

 

Update!  I have added some text, image and hypertexting options.  Please click on Help in the comment section to learn what they are.