HuntingNut Rules and Guidelines


HuntingNut.com exists with 3 purposes in mind:

1. To offer support and downloading of PointBlank Ballistic Software for free,
   
2. To offer an enjoyable, relaxing environment where people can chitchat, discuss hunting, firearms, outdoors and other related issues,
   
3. To offer photo hosting for those who lack the ability to host pictures on their own, yet wish to share pictures of their successes with others. Secondary to the above, HuntingNut will offer additional features such as Recipe's, guides such as Field Dressing, FAQ’s, Reloading and Muzzleloader load Databases, State F&G Agencies. Some of these are online and functional now, others soon to be.

With this in mind, we must set forth some rules of conduct. Failure to follow said rules will result in warnings, enough warnings will result in account suspension.

Here are the general rules:

Forums:

1. Treat others with respect.
   
2. No Threats, Racist or Derogatory comments towards others.
   
3. Arguments and heated discussions may take place as long as the above rules are not broken.
   
4. Posts advocating illegal behavior are forbidden.
   
5. Advertising of other websites or services is allowed if done rarely and tastefully. Links to other websites in taglines is preferred however
   
6. Thread replies should be about or related to thread topic.
   
   Pointless off topic spamming, tangents or Hi-jacking of the content of a thread will result in a warning from the moderators. If an interesting or useful discussion tangent develops within a topic, the moderators may split the thread into two different topics so that interesting discussion can take place in each thread without straying from the original threads content.
   
   If a user who has created a thread, feels the discussion has strayed too far from from the original topic, may ask a moderator to split the unrelated discussion from his thread into a new one.

Photo Album Pictures:

1. All pictures uploaded must be approved by an Administrator. The photo album software allows for easy viewing and validating of pictures so the delay in getting something approved should be very minor,
   
2. No nudity or offensive content. "Offensive content" is subjective so if you have a question about a picture, contact an Administrator. I hope to be pretty easy going about things,
   
3. Pictures of wildlife should not be demeaning. Hunters are encouraged to remove blood, hide tongues, pose the animal etc etc before taking their pictures. Trust me, its worth the effort,
   
4. No Pictures depicting illegal behavior,
   
5. No submitting pictures of copyrighted material. If you are the legal copyright holder of a picture known to exist here at HuntingNut please contact an administrator immediately to have it removed,
   
6. Pictures hosted at HuntingNut.com may be linked to other websites as long as the traffic of said pictures does not become excessive. Pictures receiving excessive download bandwidth may be removed temporarily or permanently,

Misc:

1. All submitted stories, articles, guides, FAQ’s or other content must adhere to the above rules. By submitting content, you are authorizing HuntingNut to post said material and manage it as needed on the website. HuntingNut will not use any submitted content for commercial purposes without permission of the author.

We may add more rules in time if needed. If anyone has comments, suggestions, changes etc etc please let me know.


-DallanC

Due to several complaints from people getting frustrated from off topic posting and tangents, a discussion among the moderators took place discussing the best way to deal with it. Its understandable due to the nature of some friendly people that some really off topic discussions blossomed in some threads. Due to there not being a rule in place it was hard to enforce beyond a friendly "stay on topic".

There is a new Forum rule now in effect. I encourage everyone to please read the new Forums rule #6:

Quote::

Thread replies should be about or related to thread topic. Pointless off topic spamming, tangents or Hi-jacking of the content of a thread will result in a warning from the moderators. If an interesting or useful discussion tangent develops within a topic, the moderators may split the thread into two different topics so that interesting discussion can take place in each thread without straying from the original threads content. If a user who has created a thread, feels the discussion has strayed too far from from the original topic, may ask a moderator to split the unrelated discussion from his thread into a new one.

After a bit of discussion the Mods unanimously approve the new rule.

To clarify I don't expect 100% on topic discussion, minor tangents are fine as long as the topic of the original thread is preserved. If a interesting, useful or important tangent emerges within a topic, the mods will split the topic into 2 discussions where each can continue without interference.

I am as always, open to feedback and discussion regarding any rules we have in place here.

Thanks for understanding!


-DallanC

[*]Thread replies should be about or related to thread topic.

Pointless off topic spamming, tangents or Hi-jacking of the content of a thread ...DallanC[/quote]

It sounds as if they are a good, commonsense set of rules. There are enough people out there that don't like hunters, so that a little care will go a long way.

But, I have stupid question #387: WHAT is spamming? I have heard the term, but do not know what it is, and don't wish to ignorantly and accidentally become involved. Thanks.

But, I have stupid question #387: WHAT is spamming? I have heard the term, but do not know what it is, and don't wish to ignorantly and accidentally become involved. Thanks.

Spamming in this context is posting messages that are completely irrelvant to the discussion topic presented. If I for instance, start a discussion about coyote calls, and someone else started posting about how "xxxx trucks are horrible", that would be concidered spam.

This rule came about as we started getting a large amount of message threads that were getting spammed or would turn into a discussion on something completely unrelated. Original posters asking honest questions were getting frustrated about not being able to carry on a reasonable discussion and were complaining.

The big problem is we had half the active posters wanting the boards to remain serious and have meaningful discussions... the others saw no harm in their tangents and spamming... so a compromise was made in the "Spam" forum where they can do it as they want. Alot of lively discussions take place there. Sometimes spam invades other posts outside of the spam forum and we split that off into another thread and move it back into the spam forum.

Overall I thought it was a reasonable compromise but sadly, it now appears the previously active posters who wanted the site to remain serious thought it was a bad compromise and it looks like they have moved on to other sites with stricter rules.

I feel there is no best solution at the moment.


-DallanC

HuntingNut Rules and Guidelines-Forums: para 6. wrote:

Thread replies should be about or related to thread topic. Pointless off topic spamming, tangents or Hi-jacking of the content of a thread will result in a warning from the moderators. If an interesting or useful discussion tangent develops within a topic, the moderators may split the thread into two different topics so that interesting discussion can take place in each thread without straying from the original threads content. If a user who has created a thread, feels the discussion has strayed too far from from the original topic, may ask a moderator to split the unrelated discussion from his thread into a new one.

Seems to me that the current political situation in the USA has caused a lot of us to get all screwed up in the head and run off on tangents and head way off topic on a regular basis.

Maybe it behoves us to take a step back, and before posting something, have a look at the title of the thread, and if our current thought doesn't apply to that thread, then open a new thread using our thought as the heading. Also, if our thought doesn't apply to hunting or its associated customs and ideas, then put your thought into the Spam-O-Rama...thats why it exists.

This way those that ask a question, or wish to chat, about about hunting, reloading, using a trail cam, fixing/upgrading a rifle, etc don't get plastered with "thoughts" that bear absolutely no resemblance to the subject or thread.

I know for one that I have been guilty of doing this and I am making a concerted effort to curb this uncouth habit. I ask that others consider doing the same.

Apologies to Dallan, Chris and Joe (The Mod Clan) if I have "stolen your thunder" guys, but this is something that has been on my mind for a little bit lately.

Cheers, Vince

May I suggest that the website rules be posted with a link to them on the home page? Honestly this is the first time I've seen them, since I wouldn't normally go back a couple years to read announcements. They make excellent sense though.

gulp....Ive been on here now for what is it now???must be close to 10 years??? and have FINALLY got around to reading these..... considering how smoothly things run I think you got things dead right DallanC...... thank you for making this place "home".