General Site Rules

No personal attacks. If you don't agree with what someone posted, debate their post... not the person that posted it. Criticizing a concept is ok--criticizing the person is not.

No profanity or racial/religious slurs. Keep in mind that these forums are visited by people of all ages and backgrounds. Besides.. a foul mouth doesn't really impress anyone.

Post in the appropriate forum. Please take the time to read the forum descriptions and post your new topics to the appropriate forum. A moderator may see fit to move your post to a more appropriate forum--you will be notified if your post is moved. If we happen to move a post, don't publicly throw a tantrum concerning it... contact us if you believe it was moved in error.

Pornography or "adult material" will not be allowed in any way, shape, or form.

Multiple accounts are not allowed. Users trying to pull this trick risk having their membership in these forums revoked.

Postings consisting only of links are not allowed. If your post contains a link to another site, please explain the purpose of the link or write some thoughts about the content you're linking to.

Political and religious topics are prohibited. We've already tried allowing these and decided against it. Non-argumentative religious topics will be allowed at the moderators' discretion (ie, a "Please pray for so and so" topic is fine.) Religious and political debate are not allowed.

For Sale links posted in the Swap Shop forum must follow special guidelines. Visit the "Linking to eBay (or other Stores) in the Swap Shop" page for more info.

Guidelines and Recommendations

Search Before You Post
If you want to ask a specific question, please search the site using the sitewide search found on the left-hand side of all pages to make sure the answer isn't already out there! If you search and find some answers but believe they're incomplete or out of date, feel free to create post a new topic.

Positive Framing
Instead of posting the name a product with the question, "good or bad," try framing the question as "pros and cons." This is more civil and will invite discussion without placing value judgements that probably aren't intended. Another approach might be "What do you like about (insert product name here)?" In the same way, try to frame your responses as your opinion without implication that another opinion is incorrect.

Good Communication
Communicating on the Web in an all-text medium is a challenge, and it's always good to think before you hit that "Post" button. Realize that each time you reply, you're replying to a real person, with real feelings just like yourself. Try to write messages that cannot be misunderstood or misconstrued to mean something you didn't mean. And please, please use descriptive subject lines when you post a new topic!

Help the Moderators!
If you see a post that you believe violates any of the forum rules, please notify Eric Schlange (the forum administrator) at eric@banjohangout.org, or contact any of the moderators. We will handle the issue as promptly and correctly as possible, and request that you be understanding if we don't handle the issue as you think we should.