UPDATED Forum Guidelines

[LundLover]

User Guidelines - Revised 09/12/2008

The Nebraska Fish and Game Associate (NEFGA) website and forum were created for the use of the outdoor enthusiasts who participate in outdoor activities in Nebraska. As such, we have an interest in making sure that all who participate can do so in an environment that is conducive to education, encourages leadership in conservation and stewardship, and promotes brotherhood among the outdoors men and women who use this site.

As such, there are several guidelines that are in place to ensure that your online experience adheres to the above goals.

1. Please think before you type. This is a forum for discussion of topics to serve the need of sharing experiences and knowledge and mutual assistance. The forum is NOT a debating society for the winning of any kind of prize from forum staff or its members.
2. All forums, topics, threads and posts will adhere to a PG-13 rating. Profanity, adult content and threats (veiled or otherwise) will not be tolerated.
3. Don't post or respond to flame bait or trolls. (These are topics and/or questions in threads designed to create controversy for controversy's sake).
4. Direct threats to another forum member, (veiled or otherwise) will result in the permanent ban of the person or persons who made the threat. No exceptions.
5. Political topics that are outdoor related should be posted in their corresponding area. For instance, fishing related topics in the fishing forum. Hunting topics in the hunting forum, etc.
6. Keep it Civil - One thing that we all have in common is the outdoors, another thing that we have in common is that we tend to disagree. Just because someone differs from you in your catch and release philosophy, faith, political ideology, or particular viewpoint does not negate their opinion, or give anyone the right to harass, belittle, or insult that person or their integrity. Keep any criticism or discussion to the issues, not the person. Generalizing about a race, group of outdoorsmen, entire political party, political ideology, religion or denomination does little to advance your argument and will likely cause insult to the casual reader who is not even taking part in the discussion.
7. This is an outdoors forum, and as such, political topics that are national in scope (and do not relate to appropriate outdoor related themes), highly partisan, and inflammatory, are not welcome on the forum. There are other more appropriate places to discuss these issues. Please discuss them there, and then return here to talk about hunting and fishing. A thread that is posted that fits the above definition will be locked. Continuing to post topics of this sort may result in warnings, infractions, or bannings.
8. Pages linked to outside websites from the threads and posts in the forum that do not meet these same guidelines will likewise not be tolerated.
9. Use the "Search" button feature we have so thoughtfully provided for you if you come to the forum with a question, especially if it is of a general nature. Chances are there is a good thread out there with lots of answers for you that you can join in on. This keeps the forum well organized, easy to use and very useful for the folks that come after you. If you can't find a topic addressing what you need, by all means, please start your own. You are probably going to help many more people than yourself by asking a good question and that's what we want. Our motto should probably be "we know there is much more to know than the much we know".
10. Show us what you are doing this season!! Yes, show us the big ones (and not so big ones) and share the tales of your daring-do afield and on the water. Brag a little, and likewise find much appreciation in the sport of others.
11. All pictures posted to this forum are required to meet the PG-13 rating. Pictures posted should also be related to the discussion at hand. "Trophy" pictures and other material is perfectly acceptable as long as it depicts a subject and accompanies a post in such a way that reflects what any hunter or fisherman might expect to see in the course of any normal season.
12. If you have any questions about the appropriateness of any material before you post it, please get in touch with a forum staff member.
13. Forum members have access to all general forum areas and services upon registering for their FREE membership. However, in an effort to dissuade the growing number of folks who sign up on popular forums like this to advertise or otherwise post material that has no benefit or interest to the forum, new members are required to make 10 posts to the forum before they may post their pictures to any of the forum discussion areas.
14. Individuals joining the forum simply to spam or disrupt the forum will be immediately banned without any warning. You don't see such stuff on this forum because our list of folks banned for such activity is quite lengthy. Try it and you will be joining them very quickly.
15. Furthermore, in our effort to maintain the quality of this forum and its pg-13 rating, we require all avatars to be suitable viewing for this rating as well. If this is violated forum staff will immediately censor your avatar and you will receive a warning.
16. Public Threads and posts that attack forum members or others and material that in any way reflects poorly upon or discredits the forum including public protests or rants related to administrative decisions will not be tolerated in the general forum area.
17. Complaints, criticisms and suggestions for the forum are welcome. These should be PM’d or e-mailed to a forum director or moderator. The forum leadership will give every inquiry the proper attention it deserves and get you a prompt answer, so let the forum staff know your concerns. But be advised, do not vent your frustrations on the public forum. No one here is going to serve as any one's public punching bag. Failure to adhere to this rule may result in a warning, infraction, or banning.
18. If you ever have technical problems with the forum and cannot log on or reach us through the forum, please drop an email to administration@nefga.org and include your forum screen name and we'll do what we can to resolve the issue.
19. Respect the privacy of others. Also, keep personal conversations and correspondences (e.g. e-mail, IMs, PMs, etc...) private unless you have permission from your correspondent.
20. Make sure you completely read the post you're responding to; otherwise you could end up addressing something completely different.
21. Make sure your grammar and spelling are understandable. You don't have to be perfect, but it helps when you make your posts as clear as possible.
22. Avoid misunderstandings! Use smilies! Also, when reading posts, do not ignore the smilies!
23. Try to keep initial posts in the right area. It saves time and clarifies what your post is about.
24. Inflammatory or rude remarks are not permitted in your signature. Pictures are not allowed in member signatures.
25. Stay on topic within a thread. If you wish to discuss a matter that is not directly related to the current thread's subject matter, create a new thread. Again, the more organized we keep the forum as to topic, the more useful it will be for everyone.
26. In any other instance that is deemed detrimental to the overall forum, the forum leadership retains the right to infract members, close or remove threads, or ban members as is deemed prudent by the directors.

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If you post something found that is unacceptable or in violation of the above stated guidelines, forum staff will take corrective action up to
and including deleting your post and banning you from the forum.

You will be PM'ed regarding any action taken on your thread or post.

You will receive two warnings before you are banned. A warning will be erased if you do not receive another within two months of your last warning. For example:

Get warned on 1 August. You now have 1 warning against you.
Stay clean til 1 October, you now have 0 warnings against you.

Another example:

Get warned on 1 August. You now have 1 warning against you.
Get warned on 1 September, you now have 2 warnings against you.
Stay clean til 1 November, you now have 1 warning against you.

Another example:

Get warned on 1 August. You now have 1 warning against you.
Get warned on 1 September, you now have 2 warnings against you.
Get warned on 1 October, you are banned.


The board of directors reserves the right at any time to immediately ban or suspend anyone deemed to have exhibited any behavior that clearly exhibits a deliberate intent in a post or thread to disrupt, discredit or harm the forum in any way.

The above warning system is for folks engaged in the legitimate business of the forum who might step over the line as we all might be prone to do from time to time and is designed to improve the forum. If the forum director feels the forum is best improved by taking other action in regard to a member, that action will be taken.


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If you have any problems or concerns please begin by seeking the help of one of the moderators via PM. That's the reason we've assembled the great staff of moderators we have. The Directors are always happy to help as well, however, the first thing we are going to do to assist you is direct you to our moderators if you haven't sought their assistance first.

Above all make sure to have fun and show us those fish and game!!


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Forum Staff:

Moderators
Ty Stromquist, Outdoors Marketplace - Buy & Sell Forum
SKershaw, NEFGA Flyshop

Board of Directors:

IT Division
RedefiningFate
Mako

Membership Services Division
Holdemplyer
Chad

Finance Division
Burrodebo
OutdoorProf

Products and Projects Division
CatfishSteve
LundLover

Legal Division
JLKESQ

If you ever have technical problems with the forum and cannot log on or reach us through the forum, please drop an email to administration@nefga.org and include your forum screen name and we'll do what we can to resolve the issue.

Thank you for making www.nefga.org your Nebraska hunting, fishing and outdoor home on the web!!