Originally Posted by Admin

If you want to post an argument for or against something, that's great. But please make sure to back your point of view with logical reasons and try to provide a solution. Please refrain from posting "empty" opinions such as "I like it" or "I don't like it" without any justification attached to it.

*I wholeheartedly agree. I also believe you should always post a positive if you are going to post a negative. I don't mean "that's great but", I mean "I love the colors and pattern but don't understand why you quilted that dead bug into it."

Common sense vs. strict guidelines

And when I ask them not to do that, they shift into the kindergarten mode on me. After that, communicating further is pointless.

* This is unfortunate but as Mark Twain stated, "common sense isn't very common", and I believe he is right. Some truly need to have things spelled out for them and when they are, they understand and follow the rule. However, we should be able to filter what is appropriate and what isn't. If some act like kindergardeners, maybe they ought to be in time-out from the board for a day or so. :cry:

Escalation of joking (or anything else) on the board

Does she even want to stick around to learn what a wonderful group of people this crowd really is or will she simply move on based on what she just heard?

* I agree with this and that point tend to close that thread and move on. This is a personal decision and that new person probably won't leave based on one or two threads that are unappealing.

If you don't want to read it, then don't open it

Often, I get the following argument from people who want more liberal guidelines on the board.

"If you don't want to read about something, then simply don't open that topic."

* I agree. It's really not that difficult. Not everything is going to interest you because the board reflects a variety of people.

What if you are not interested in reading jokes, prayer requests, discussions about personal problems and so on? Yet, the first 3 pages of the GCC section are filled with them.

* This a quilting board. Sure, other things happen in people's lives but to scroll or not to scroll is a choice, as is to post or not to post or to respond or not to respond.

Not enough time to check all sections of the board

*ahem...I'm sorry but I don't see how this is admin's issue. :roll:

Attention seeking and negative posts

We love attention. That's human nature. Unfortunately, it's easier to get attention when you post about problems than when you post about achievements. In short, negative stuff gets higher response than positive stuff.

Sharing on a personal level is what turns people into friends. So instead of completely prohibiting such posts or "randomly" deleting them, we set up the diary/personal section. Aside from other things, it allows people who really need help and support get it.

*This was a great addition, but it isn't being used the way I thought. IMO PDA should house interests personal to the person posting. Animals, gardens, births, tough times, announcements, pets, kids, vacation pics. You could open 2 additional sections for animals and announcements to clear things up. I do not feel these should be in GCC. GCC should be for topics of interest to the general public, such as what is posted in the daily newspaper.

My post is deleted

*This should be a statement in itself and you should not have to respond to the question.

Personal vs. interesting

It seemed simple to me. If you think that what you are about to post would be interesting to the majority of users, then post it in GCC. If you think it would only be interesting to your close friends on the board, then post it in PDA.

That didn't work out well. Some people believe that everything they post is interesting to other people. Otherwise, they wouldn't be posting it in the first place. On some level, it makes sense.

*I think this happens because some people's posts get viewed and replied to more than others, regularly, and attention is a great motivator. If someone posts an exquisite piece of work and there are 67 "great jobs!" I won't reply. Chances are the person knows its beauty before it's posted. If it's your first exceptional quilt or technique or quilting, great, but not each time. To me, this may be intimidating to those who are just starting out.

If you can come up with a way to clearly formulate the gist of what's required to address all the points I mentioned -- without a huge list of "do's and don'ts" outlining every conceivable topic for discussion, then please let me know and we might adopt it as the official guidelines.