Thank you but i still feel like a heel. But i do feel better and not so critical. After the street dance tommarow i should be tired but awesome. This time of year is important to us. We have carnival, rodeos. Bbq parades car shows. Musem running steam machine. Gymkanna. Kids wresting or wrangling chickens or pigs. Parade on the fourth. Busy week for us. And skunk train runs from willits to fort bragg with black bart gang on it..

I dont think those of us commenting on this thread were talking abt U brats....u haven't belittled or harrassed anyone that I have seen.

I agree with ram and one said it before this thread was made...see a post or thread someone don't like ...move on. Not anyone's job to say anything about it for or against the rules. and if you think about it if it was so against the rules like some are saying. Them why hasn't Andre deleted it? Prolly cus he knows that a bad thread will just simply die and fall off the radar due to no posting. If u all haven't noticed....when someone posts a phone number. Andres right There editing out cus Thats a rule of his. And yet this u all act like a thread about sexting which is not listed in the rules btw...a horrible act of breaking the rules. If people want to sext and such then let them be. I don't do it but at the same time I couldn't care less if other people do. It's there business. Same with "rate Me" threads. If u don't like it. Don't reply to it and keep the thread alive. Let's it die off. Sorry but I don't normally jump in on forums generally and will most likely not post on this subject again. I tend to be more bias about things as to not get involved and stay out of the public eye. As for andres. I didn't mean any disrespect and Ifi said sonething wrong on ya There please do correct Me. I don't want to have misguided or incorrect information.

I stuck this thread because I'm genuinely interested in hearing everyone's opinion about the Forums.

I've seen a few reported posts now thanks to this thread that I had obviously missed, and to be frank, I don't like what I'm seeing, especially with regards to personal attacks.

As a result, it's time to whip out the big stick to keep things civil. One of the great features of the Forum backend script that we use is that it has an Infractions System that can be fully customized and which automatically temporarily bans users from the Forums based on how many infractions they have. This will allow me to quickly give out infractions whenever the Forum rules are violated, and let the Forum automatically take care of the automatic banning. Infractions will add 1 point to your total tally, and expire after 180 days. Nothing will happen until your 3rd infraction in 180 days, at which point the increasing temporary bans will commence based on the table below. In other words, if you only commit 2 infractions every 180 days, nothing will ever happen to you (consider them freebies). [Edit: These rules have since become more strict.]

Infraction Table (180 days)

3 points - 1 day ban
6 points - 3 day ban
9 points - 6 day ban
12 points - 10 day ban
15 points - 2 week ban
18 points - 3 week ban
21 points - 1 month ban
24 points - 2 month ban
27 points - 3 month ban
30 points - 4 month ban
33 points - 5 month ban
36 points - 6 month ban
39 points - 1 year ban
42 points - 2 year ban


For example, say today you post your phone number in a thread, a week from now you personally attack another user, and two weeks from now you hijack a thread and throw it completely off-topic. You will receive one infraction in each case, so after your 3rd infraction from hijacking the thread, you will get just a 1 day ban to remind you to respect the rules. If you get 3 more infractions before 180 days from your first infraction, you will then get a 3 day ban. If you get 3 more after that, then a 6 day ban. And so on.

The temporary bans will give you time to cool off and remind you to respect the rules, and repeat offenders will get increasing temporary bans to make their next infraction that much more painful.

Unfortunately, due to the fact the Forum script is separate from the main site script, you will not be notified of an infraction. I will try to see if I can fix this at some point as I think it will be important for everyone to know not only when they have received an infraction, but which post lead to the infraction. For now, however, think of it as negative Karma, which you are also not notified about until it's too late.

Furthermore, since I do not read all the threads, I will have to rely on the community to report any and all posts that violate our rules. No one will know who reported the post, and it will make it easy for me to quickly see the post in question and whether it deserves an infraction. If a post isn't reported, don't expect any action on it as I probably won't see it.

The infractions will apply equally across the board, regardless of how long a user has been a member. You get plenty of freebies, and the initial temporary bans are quite short, so I don't think this is excessive. Since you get a few freebies, I will be quite liberal with how I hand out infractions, so please respect the rules at all times. Of course, I'm not a robot, and I can tell the difference between a personal attack and just banter between friends, among other things, so infractions in those cases will only be handed out where I judge the intent to be malicious.

It's really quite simple, be friendly and respectful at all times, follow the simple forum rules, and you'll never have a problem.

I don't want any more fights, I don't want any more personal attacks, I don't want people instigating their fellow members, I don't want any more flame wars, I don't want any more drama, I don't want people throwing threads off track and scaring off the OP, I don't want new members to feel unwelcomed, and I don't want anyone to feel like they can't speak their mind in a respectful environment without being judged. I just want cool, honest, and healthy debates and discussions about anything and everything in a friendly and neighborly environment that gives rise to opportunities for soul mates to meet as has happened several times already.

Disagree with someone? Then Disagree without being disagreeable. Don't like a particular member? Dump them. Don't like the topic of a specific thread? Move on to the next one. Want to have a personal conversation with someone in the middle of a thread? Send them a private message. Someone violated a rule? Don't call them out on it publicly, simply report their post (which is a silent process) and I'll deal with it using the new simple Infractions System. If you respond to a personal attack with another personal attack, both of you will receive infractions. If you really feel the need to respond to blow off steam, just say "I've reported your post" and leave it at that.

Folks, I don't have just the "Rat Pack" of regular Forum users to worry about, I have all my users, lurkers, new, future, and the rest, to worry about and I cannot possibly please everyone. Furthermore, most of you will come and go, but I'm the one who's going to still be around in 2, 5, 10, and 50 years (hopefully!) and I have to think about the long-term health of both the Forums and the site for the sake of future members.

I had a very laissez-faire attitude with the Forums at the beginning in order to get them sparked up, but now they have a life of their own and need a bit of structure to keep them from rotting and to ensure they prosper and fully blossom.

The Wild Wild West days are over. There's a new Sheriff in town. Starting now.

I like the way that was put Andres. you r very good with words

Thank you andres, perhaps we can all go back to being funny now and most importantly back to lauhing at ourselves. Getting to know new people is supposed to be fun and i thank you for providing an interesting way to do that :-)

@samstone: Hey sam, u gotta a lil sumthn brown on ur nose....

*hands Sam a tissue*

@Ram318: must be from the funny female parts thread, had the phone upside down lol andres just said everything i've been saying in his own way and i do appreciate him ending the drama.