Received this from another forum which was just formed, recently. Makes a lot of good gd sense to me and I'd like to see some, if not all of it adopted for Mudcat. I don't want to see anymore good people run off by sniping, attacks, etc. as has happened over the past 2-3 years. Seems to me the following would take care of a lot of the problems. I have removed the name of the forum from which I received this. I wouldn't feel comfortable if we used it verbatim without their permission; and, of course, we could rewrite it. Any emphasis is mine:

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RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

The success of your forum is dependent on the individuals who
participate. A collaborative, respectful exchange of ideas is encouraged. Simple principles:

    1. No personal attacks. Stay focused on the issues.
    2. No foul language. (Might have to define this!:-)
    3. If someone has already stated your position
       -- rate it or amplify on it, don't repeat it.
    4. When you have a new idea to contribute, keep it brief and clear.

This part would need some tweaking. The forum it is written for has a rating system for each discussion/idea/concept posited. I don't think we need that for Mudcat, BUT the idea behind it is good and I like the way they requested courteous postings.

BLANK is user moderated. We do not edit or censor -- you do.
By rating respectful, insightful, well-spoken comments as "important", you make them more likely to be seen. By rating disrespectful, off-point, run-off-at-the-mouth comments as "unimportant" or even "inappropriate", you help them fall to the bottom of the list where they are seldom seen.

BLANK is designed to have the good drive out the bad, rather
than the bad driving out the good.

BLANK asks that users observe the same common courtesies that
they would observe at any face to face gatherings. Users should avoid ad hominem attacks (criticisms that are aimed at the person rather than at the ideas being espoused). BLANK reminds users that, because tone of voice and facial expressions do not easily travel over the Internet, the intent of a message can easily be misinterpreted by others. BLANK asks that users make the effort to type those extra few words that can change what would otherwise be a rude message into a polite, but vigorous questioning of an idea or concept.

Thanks,

kat