Proposed update to the Site Policy

[Bas]

Proposed changes highlighted in red below. The prohibition for commercial/ non woodworking advertisements would extend to the Classifieds, Forums, Download Library, Photo Gallery, Personal Messages etc.


General Policy
The goal of ncwoodworker.net is to provide a welcoming atmosphere that fosters a unique sense of community for any North Carolina woodworker who wishes to participate or lurk. The four main aspects to meeting this goal are:

1. Guests and members surfing our site should feel that they are welcome and that participating in our site is a worthwhile and pleasant experience. We strive to maintain a polite and helpful tone in our posts, replies, and questions.
2. We seek to ensure that guests and all members of their family are comfortable viewing site content. Every effort is made to monitor User names, avatars, signatures, biographies, and posts in pursuit of that goal.
3. Members may post threads, comments, replies, questions, and make suggestions without fear of abuse from other members or staff.
4. Members can sell woodworking related items in the Classifieds, as described in the Classifieds policy. Lumber can be sold in the Wood forum. Commercial sales and advertisements for non-woodworking items are prohibited throughout the site.

 

[TracyP]

Works for me. Thank You. Should we say commercial or personal sales.....

 

[Mt. Gomer]

I'd amend it to read "woodworking and DIY". We have a DIY forum and frequently have conversations about things that are not specifically woodworking (home/yard maintenance, car/engine repair, etc) that have never been discouraged and I think are related enough to the subject of the site (cousins perhaps?) that they should continue to be allowed.

Just my $.02

Travis

 

[Bas]

I'd amend it to read "woodworking and DIY". We have a DIY forum and frequently have conversations about things that are not specifically woodworking (home/yard maintenance, car/engine repair, etc) that have never been discouraged and I think are related enough to the subject of the site (cousins perhaps?) that they should continue to be allowed.

Good point. Of course, 'woodworking' is already a pretty broad category since it also covers woodworking workshops. For example, a conduit bender would be an acceptable item in my opinion for the Classifieds, since a lot of people deal with adding electrical circuits to a shop.

My preference would be to define the policy narrowly and then have a relaxed attitude about interpretation/ enforcement. If we add DIY, that would also allow drain cleaners, curtain fabric and lawn fertilizer, which are somewhat out of scope for NCWW.

 

[ScottM]

I agree with the suggested changes. Good job Bas.

 

[cskipper]

I think we're getting closer. Does the last statement mean that commercial accounts can't advertise special sales or promotions?

 

[Bas]

I think we're getting closer. Does the last statement mean that commercial accounts can't advertise special sales or promotions?

Excellent point Cathy, and it looks like we have some inconsistencies to address

We don't really have commercial accounts. Advertisers are often members as well (e.g. Paul from Klingspor), but they do not have any special privileges.

Promotions/ sales are a gray area. We definitely do not want any of our sponsors directly advertising/ selling individual products (this is not eBay), but information such as "Everything is 20% off this Saturday" is useful and desired.

The Classifieds Ads policy expressly allows promotions/ sales:
Commercial Members may post notice of woodworking events or classes for woodworkers in the User Announcement Forum.

I don't like the term "commercial member", again because there is no such thing on the site. We could reword that to "Advertiser".

Suggestions:
- Replace the term "commercial member" with "advertiser"
- Augment the statement about selling stuff:
4. Members can sell woodworking related items in the Classifieds, as described in the Classifieds policy. Lumber can be sold in the Wood forum. Relevant sales and event information may be posted in the "User Announcement" forum. Commercial sales and advertisements for non-woodworking items are prohibited throughout the site.