This is a reminder to all about what this discussion board is about, and what it is not about, and a plea for everyone to do their part in keeping this an informative and friendly place of support.

The object here is to share what we have learned through our experiences so that others can be helped by it and to provide support to those who are seeking it.

This is not a place for waging a campaign against a person, a doctor, a hospital, or ideas. It is also not a place to post advertisements or collect information about people to use outside of this site. On that note, be sure you do not display your email address in your public profile, and definitely do not post personal information in the public forums.

This brings me to the point about decorum. We have all sorts of people come here, from all sorts of places, from all over the world. While we don't have to pretend this is the Disney Channel, we should act as if we are talking to children in a classroom or your grandma at the dinner table. That means, try to be as polite as you would be in person in a public place, where you care about what people think of you. That may sound dumb and condescending, but we have people coming here who are frightened and do not know what is going on. We have children that come here. The last thing they need is to wade through a flame war or a debate. That may sound boring to you, but it has been the trend here since Bill J took his time and money and started this safe haven.

Sure it is fine to complain about your problems. But, unless you want help, support or advice, think twice about posting it. Nobody likes to waste their time trying to help, when their efforts are dismissed. I am sure there are web sites for people who want to compare complaints.

Internet trolling is more and more common these days and we all are aware of the intentional trolls- those who disrupt sites for entertainment. But, any of us can become an unintentional troll. That is when your behavior is disruptive, but you did not intend to disrupt. It can happen when you are just having a bad day, or over react to someone else's remark. The result is the same as the intentional troll, with things spinning out of control and away from the topic.

If you see a post that bugs you, try to resist the urge to respond to it, other than the content that is related to this site.  You can also click on the member's name and choose to block that person, and they cannot message or follow you.

If you want to have a personal exchange with someone, use personal messaging instead of "airing dirty laundry" on the public forums.

If you find that a post or thread is particularly offensive, inflammatory, or off topic, please use the report post function, to bring it to our attention. If no one complains, we have no way of knowing it is a problem. Don't assume someone else will report it. Reporting does not guarantee that a post will be deleted or edited, but it will be reviewed. Also report offensive private messages.

If you find that you could not stop yourself and post something that does not conform to the site's standards, by all means, use the edit feature on the post to edit or delete your post. Don't think it has to stay there.

All these requests require a certain level of maturity and I have faith that we are capable of it. I thank you all in advance for your cooperation and help!

As Bill J's helper, I do not intend to edit or delete posts unless warranted. I plan on giving a lot of leeway. Here are some examples of what may trigger it:

1. Flame wars- arguments that get heated and out of control, high-jacking the thread

2. Hurtful language and personal attacks (identifying people by name and directly attacking them)

3. Political or Religious posts (I don't mean things like "I'll say a prayer for you or God loves you", but things like Bible quotes or prayer threads that get out of hand)

4. Advertising links (unless it is for a product relevant to the topic)

5. Off topic posts/threads (again, leeway here, but let's not start a fantasy baseball camp or trading card thread)

Hope that makes it clear.

Jan