Posting Guidelines and Rules

[flowermama]

The Gentle Christian Mothers (GCM) message board is for all mothers-to-be, mothers, and grandmothers. It's a wonderful place of encouragement, and we invite you to come and be part of it! We welcome those who are new to the board with open arms.

Before you begin posting, please read our Statement of Beliefs (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/aboutgcm/beliefs.php) so you can get a feel for what we believe. One of the primary focuses of our board is to provide a safe haven for like-minded mothers, and we stand confidently firm in our support of these beliefs. As such, please do not post things to the board that are purposefully or argumentatively contrary to our statement of beliefs.

You are still very welcome to join the GCM community even if you don't agree with all the points in the GCM statement of beliefs. We'd love to get to know you and to encourage you as we seek together to grow in gentleness and love for our children, our husbands, and, most importantly, our Lord.

To those who are reading this prior to filling out your application to join the GCM community: Please note that lying on your application will be grounds for immediate banning.

Before posting, please also take the time to read our Netiquette Guide (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=114028).

Specific Rules

Beyond the broad rule of not posting things which are against the GCM Statement of Beliefs (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/aboutgcm/beliefs.php), here are some specifics.

Things Not to Post

1. No posts promoting or supportive of punishments, including spanking and traditional timeouts, or other punitive ideas.

2. No posts promoting or supportive of crying it out (CIO). CIO is when children are left unattended to cry themselves to sleep. We do not support leaving a baby to cry alone. Neither formal nor informal methods of CIO are endorsed here.

3. No profanity, obscenity, or using abbreviations or typographical symbols to represent either specific or nonspecific swear words. These will be edited out or censored.

4. No commercial postings, except for in the WAHM's Items and Announcements forum, and no spam. Such postings will be deleted, including links to websites that pay you for directing people to their site. A text link to your website in your signature line is fine.

5. No posting duplicate posts or threads directing others to a thread you started in another forum (no cross-posting). Duplicate posts will be merged, or one of them will be removed, as appropriate.

6. No posting copyrighted materials to the board—brief excerpts allowed, except do not post posts from other message boards, from mailing lists, from blogs, or from Facebook pages (see our copyright policy (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5781768#post5781768)).

7. No soliciting copies of copyrighted videos/DVDs or other media.

8. No posting in support of alcoholism, drug abuse, or illegal drug use. Posts may be removed or discussions closed if they appear to support illegal substances or the abuse of alcohol or legal drugs in any way.

9. Because Jesus equated lusting in our hearts with adultery, all posts and threads that go down the path of giving undue attention to anyone other than your husband (including, but not limited to, celebrities) will be removed.

Treatment of Other Members

10. No name-calling, fighting with, flaming, or harassing other members. No name-calling family members, past or present. No trolling.

11. No handing of personal disagreements on the message board. If you feel offended or hurt after reading a post, pause, breathe, and pray. If you decide to respond, assume the best and seek clarification. If you want to work through the issue with that member and discuss it more fully, in order to avoid causing unnecessary board drama or shaming her, and to keep the thread on track, gently and prayerfully contact her privately. If unable to find peace with each other, an admin of your choice can assist with communication. If during private exchange either of you feel intimidated, scared, or harassed, contact an admin or report the other person's PM.

12. No posts to the board debating or venting disagreement with GCM policy. Posts seeking clarification and dialogue about policy are welcome, or you may contact an admin to discuss your disagreement with policy. If you need to discuss a personal disagreement about actions taken by admins and mods, you are welcome to discuss that directly with them, but not on the board.

13. To help other members feel welcome to respond in threads, avoid putting a member's name in your subject line when seeking feedback from that member. Instead consider sending her a personal message (PM) letting her know you would value her response.

14. No using GCM to promote personal crusades or preoccupations (aka single-issue preaching). We're not here to help you pursue specific agendas or win converts.

Privacy and Safety

15. No letting anyone else, including your husband, read or post to the board with your account or use your account for any reason.

16. No posting personal addresses or phone numbers to the board.

17. No posting photographs of your children in public forums (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5862638#post5862638).

18. No posting regarding anything that requires exchange of addresses between members including but not limited to requests for pen pals or to items for sale, swap, or free. Items can be offered for sale or for free or swapped or purchased only in the Swap n' Shop forums.

19. No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board. Do not discuss posts or threads with anyone who does not have access to the forum where they are posted. Note: Ideas and concepts learned here may be discussed. (See Expectations of Privacy on GCM (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5793502#post5793502).)

20. No posts on the board or via PM requesting donations of any sort. Giving on a personal level from one member to another is appropriate only as long as you realize the responsibility is wholly yours and GCM holds no liability.

Links to donation causes may be posted only under the following conditions:
1) with prior admin approval
2) without exhortations to donate

21. No using the PM system to solicit clients or customers: this means you may not approach or make first contact with people to offer your services or products via PM. Conversely, if you contact another member and choose to engage them professionally, you do so on your own authority, and GCM holds no liability in the outcome.

22. No sharing personal messages (PM's) without the author's permission unless you need to report or discuss one with the admins for possible violation of board guidelines.

In Regards to Other Websites and People Not on GCM

23. No hotlinking (http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-linking), which is displaying an image on our message board by linking to that image on another website; each time the image shows up here, it steals bandwidth from the other website. The exception to this would be if that website gives you the code to do so, in which case, they have given you permission.

24. No posting live links to sites that violate our statement of parenting beliefs. Posting live links to all other sites (that are appropriate to be linked-to on GCM), including those that violate our statement of faith, is acceptable.

25. Out of respect for other online communities and to stay true to the purpose of GCM, no linking to other message boards or encouraging GCM members to participate in debates or controversial discussions elsewhere online, including blogs and social networking sites (such as Facebook).

26. No posts harshly dissecting parenting moments of others seen or heard about either in real life or online since we desire to humbly cultivate a heart attitude of grace and not judgment towards other mamas. We all struggle at times as parents and have much to learn, and GCM's focus is to provide tools and information for each of us to parent more effectively. Posts voicing some frustration regarding choices made by others can be okay, but it needs to be within the overall context of seeking understanding or ideas for better responses in the future.

Other

27. Do your best to start threads in the forum that best matches the topic of your thread: for example, post about food prep in The Cookbook forum. If a mod or admin feels a different forum would be a better fit, she will move your thread, leaving a redirection topic in the original forum so you can easily find it.

28. If you decide to leave GCM, you may post a "good-bye" thread or deactivation request in the Official Deactivations and Breaks (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=500379) forum or PM an admin. Every effort will be made to deactivate your account within 24 hours. Contact the admins (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/sendmessage.php) if you are interested in returning. See our Deactivation Policies (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=500379) for more information.

29. Discussions outside of the GCM Statement of Beliefs should not be carried out via GCM's PM system, and please do not solicit emails on topics that contradict the Statement of Beliefs.

30. The final determination for any rule will be made by the administration. The board owner reserves the right to lock or remove any post or thread for any reason she considers necessary.

Please keep in mind these standards when posting:
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things." ~ Phil 4:8


Also see Policy for Posting Copyrighted Materials to the Board (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5781768#post5781768) and Rules for Signature Lines (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=505650).

[flowermama]

Please note: Number nine in the rules was updated today. It now reads, "If you announce on the board that you are leaving, your account will be deactivated within 24 hours, at which time your "good-bye" thread will be locked."

Also added this clarification to number 7: "Do the best you can at choosing the proper forum, and an admin or mod will move it if we feel that it might fit better in another forum."

[flowermama]

Added "obscenity" to number three on May 3, 2005.

[kris10s]

A site to help determine if something is in the public domain can be found at
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

[flowermama]

On May 29th I added...

this to number five: "Also, no name-calling family members."

this clarification to number 10 (even though it's already mentioned in the copyright guidelines -- just wanted to make sure people saw it) "except do not post posts from other message boards or from mailing lists"

11. No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board.

12. No soliciting copies of copyrighted videos/dvds.

13. No letting other people post to the board using your account.

14. No posting personal addresses or phone numbers to the board.

[flowermama]

On July 29, 2005, in the signature guideliness I broke number one up into two points:

It was like this....

1. You may put emoticons and small blinkies in your signature line.

It now reads as follows:

1. You may put emoticons in your signature line.

2. You may put up to three small blinkies in your signature line (choose blinkies no bigger than 150 width and 21 height).

[flowermama]

Added "or Counter Box™" to signature line rule number 3. :)

[flowermama]

added "15. No hotlinking."

[flowermama]

For clarify's sake, rule number one has been changed a little.

It used to read:

1. No posts promoting or supportive of spanking, traditional timeouts, or other punitive discipline.

It now says:

1. No posts promoting or supportive of punishments, including spanking and traditional timeouts, or other punitive ideas.

[flowermama]

Some additions were made on October 29, 2005. . .

Added to number nine. It now reads as follows:

9. If you announce on the board that you are leaving (or if you ask to have your account removed), your account will be deactivated within 24 hours, at which time your "good-bye" thread (if you have one) will be locked. If your account is deactivated, you may ask to have it reactivated again, but please note that when an account is deactivated, membership to MBA forums will be removed and your post count reset to 0 (though your posts will still be there).

Added number sixteen:

16. No posting pictures in public forums.

Added this to signature guideline number three:

No "ticker pictures" (images attached to tickers), please.

eta: also recently number seven of the signature line rules was added to a little. Where it says, "7. You may put a link (text only -- not using a graphic) to your website in your signature line," "(text only -- not using a graphic)" was added.

[flowermama]

Removed number 16 while we discuss it some more. :o)

[flowermama]

Okay, here's rule 16 again, a little different. ;)

16. Should you wish to post photographs of your children to the board, please do so only in non-public forums. (Public forums are those which can be seen by non-members and are labeld "*public*"; all the others are considered "non-public.")

[flowermama]

Added this to number three to help clarify... "and combinations of asterisks, exclamation points, etc., put together in order to stand for an unnamed profanity or obscenity."

[flowermama]

Adding... 17. No posting items for sale, swap, or free without approval.

[flowermama]

18. No posting live links to sites that violate our statement of parenting beliefs (example: sites that promote CIO or punitive parenting). You can easily break such links by adding a space after www. -- example http://www. gentlechristianmothers.com/mb. No linking whatsoever to Christian discussion boards where punitive mothers go for support. Please Note: Posting live links to all other sites, including sites that violate our statement of faith, is acceptable; if we have a concern about any other links, an admin or moderator will break the link for you, so please don't worry about it.

[flowermama]

"No linking whatsoever to Christian discussion boards where punitive mothers go for support" was removed from 18 and is now is part of a new rule -- number 19.

*****************************
18. No posting live links to sites that violate our statement of parenting beliefs (example: sites that promote CIO or punitive parenting). You can easily break such links by adding a space after www. -- example http://www. gentlechristianmothers.com/mb. Please Note: Posting live links to all other sites (that are appropriate to be linked-to on GCM), including those that violate our statement of faith, is acceptable.

19. Out of respect for other online communities and to stay true to the purpose of GCM, no linking to other message boards or encouraging GCM members to participate in debates or controversial discussions elsewhere online.

[flowermama]

Okay, let's make it an even 20. :giggle :shifty This is one we've meant to add for a little while now. We had something similar regarding PM's on the old board, but we never had a rule posted here on this board, so without future ado, here is rule number 20...

*****************************
20. Discussions outside of the GCM Statement of Beliefs should not be carried out via GCM's PM system, and please do not solicit emails on topics that contradict the Statement of Beliefs.

[flowermama]

Number nine changed from this:

9. If you announce on the board that you are leaving (or if you ask to have your account removed), your account will be deactivated within 24 hours, at which time your "good-bye" thread (if you have one) will be locked. If your account is deactivated, you may ask to have it reactivated again, but please note that when an account is deactivated, membership to MBA forums will be removed and your post count reset to 0 (though your posts will still be there).

to this:

9. If you announce on the board that you are leaving (or if you ask to have your account removed), your "good-bye" thread (if you have one) will be locked, and your account will be deactivated within 24 hours. If your account is deactivated, you may ask to have it reactivated, but please note that when an account is deactivated membership to MBA forums will be removed, and access will be restored at the discrection of the administration.

[flowermama]

Changed siggy line rule number seven from this:

You may put a link (text only -- not using a graphic) to your website in your signature line, but we reserve the right to ask you to remove it if it is a link to a site that promotes things which are against our statement of beliefs.

to this:

You may put a link (text only -- not using a graphic) to your website, including personal WAHM websites, in your signature line, but we ask that you not put partnered revenue-linked sites in your signature line.  We reserve the right to remove or ask you to remove it if it is a link to a site that promotes things which are against our statement of beliefs.

[flowermama]

21. No sharing Personal Messages (PM's) with another person without the author's permission unless there is a need to report it for violating board guidelines.

[flowermama]

Added this to signature line guidelines:
6. You may add a graphic of your name -- no bigger than 150 pixels wide x 45 pixels high -- in your signature line.

[flowermama]

7. Post your messages in the proper forums, and only post them once. Do the best you can at choosing the proper forum, and an admin or mod will move it if we feel that it might fit better in another forum.

That rule was split into two rules as follows:

7. Post posts only once. No cross-posting (x-posting) the same post in mulitiple forums. Also, no making posts directing others to a thread you started in another forum -- that is considered to be a x-post. When a post is x-posted, one of the x-posts will be removed and x-posted threads will be combined if approriate.

8. Start threads in the proper forum. For example, posts about breastfeeding go in the Breastfeeding forum, posts about food prep go in the Cookbook forum, posts about your toddler go in the Little Explorers forum, etc. Which forum is the best fit can be subjective, so do the best you can, and an admin or mod will move it if we feel that it might fit better in another foum.

[flowermama]

Removed this rule:
17. Should you wish to post photographs of your children to the board, please do so only in non-public forums. (Public forums are those which can be seen by non-members and are labeled "*public*"; all the others are considered "non-public.")

It was removed because a modification was added to the board that makes it so that one has to be logged in in order to view images posted in threads.

[flowermama]

edited signature line rules to say that "'Ticker pictures' (images attached to tickers) are allowed."

[flowermama]

Today I added this:

To those who are reading this prior to filling out your application to join the GCM community: Please note that lying on your application will be grounds for immediate banning.

[flowermama]

I just added number 22:

No posts harshly dissecting parenting moments of others since we desire to humbly cultivate a heart attitude of grace and not judgment towards other mamas. We all struggle at times as parents and have much to learn, and GCM's focus is to provide tools and information for each of us to parent more effectively. Posts voicing some frustration regarding choices made by others can be okay, but it needs to be within the overall context of seeking understanding or ideas for better responses in the future.

[flowermama]

Today number six was changed from this. . .

6. No trolling, spamming, or flaming. SPAM and commercial postings will be deleted. A text link to your website in your signature line is fine.

to this. . .

6. No trolling, spamming, or flaming. SPAM and commercial postings will be deleted including links to websites that pay you for directing people to their site. A text link to your website in your signature line is fine.

[flowermama]

I added to number 11 and 19 for clarification purposes. Please note that to help show what was changed, I've put the changes in blue.

Changed this:
11. No posting copyrighted materials to the board -- brief excerpts allowed, except do not post posts from other message boards or from mailing lists (see copyright policy below).

to this:
11. No posting copyrighted materials to the board -- brief excerpts allowed, except do not post posts from other message boards, from mailing lists, or from blogs (see copyright policy below).

Changed this:
19. Out of respect for other online communities and to stay true to the purpose of GCM, no linking to other message boards or encouraging GCM members to participate in debates or controversial discussions elsewhere online.

to this:
19. Out of respect for other online communities and to stay true to the purpose of GCM, no linking to other message boards or encouraging GCM members to participate in debates or controversial discussions elsewhere online, including blogs.

[flowermama]

Small update in sigline rule for blinky size. Changed sigline rule two from this:

2. You may put up to three small blinkies in your signature line (choose blinkies no bigger than 150 width and 24 height).

back to this (re-added the word "approximately"):

2. You may put up to three small blinkies in your signature line (choose blinkies no bigger than approximately 150 width and 24 height).

Initially when the rule was made back in the summer of 2005 it didn't say "approxiately," but sometime toward the end of 2005 or so the word "approximately" was added. Somehow, sometime that word got removed (and I can't figure out how or why it got removed). I guess I must have accidentally removed it or something? Anyway, so I've added it back. Please do try to choose blinkies which are no bigger than 150 width and 24 height, but if your favorite blinky is a few pixels bigger, we'll understand. :heart

[flowermama]

This was added today:

To help other members feel welcome to respond in threads, avoid putting a member's name in your subject line when seeking feedback from a specific member. Instead consider either PMing her with your question or (if you also want input from others) posting and then PMing her letting her know about your post and that you would value her response.

[flowermama]

Changing this:
14. No letting other people post to the board using your account.

to this:
14. No letting anyone else, including your husband, post to the board with your account or use your account for any reason.

[flowermama]

Re-adding this rule: 16. Should you wish to post photographs of your children to the board, please do so only in non-public forums. (Public forums are those which can be seen by non-members and are labeld "*public*"; all the others are considered "non-public.")

[flowermama]

This 18. No posting items for sale, swap, or free without approval.

is being changed to this:

No posting without approval regarding anything that requires exchange of addresses between members including but not limited to requests for pen pals or to items for sale, swap, or free.

[flowermama]

"From Facebook pages" has been added to number eleven.

11. No posting copyrighted materials to the board -- brief excerpts allowed, except do not post posts from other message boards, from mailing lists, from blogs, or from Facebook pages (see copyright policy below).

[flowermama]

Number 20 was changed from this:
20. Out of respect for other online communities and to stay true to the purpose of GCM, no linking to other message boards or encouraging GCM members to participate in debates or controversial discussions elsewhere online, including blogs.

to this:
20. Out of respect for other online communities and to stay true to the purpose of GCM, no linking to other message boards or encouraging GCM members to participate in debates or controversial discussions elsewhere online, including blogs and social networking sites (such as Facebook).

[flowermama]

Added this:

No posting in support of alcoholism or illegal drug use. We reserve the right to remove posts or close discussions that we feel are questionable or promoting the use of illegal substances or abuse of alcohol.

[flowermama]

The part in bold was added to guideline 23:

23. No posts harshly dissecting parenting moments of others seen or heard about either in real life or online since we desire to humbly cultivate a heart attitude of grace and not judgment towards other mamas. We all struggle at times as parents and have much to learn, and GCM's focus is to provide tools and information for each of us to parent more effectively. Posts voicing some frustration regarding choices made by others can be okay, but it needs to be within the overall context of seeking understanding or ideas for better responses in the future.

[flowermama]

Some misspellings and grammatical errors in the guidelines were corrected tonight.

Also, for clarification purposes, the words "read or" were added to guideline 14:

14. No letting anyone else, including your husband, read or post to the board with your account or use your account for any reason. Part of guideline 19 was changed. It used to ask that we break certain links and gave an example of how to do that. Now it instead explains how to make a link inactive by using "noparse" tags.

19. No posting live links to sites that violate our statement of parenting beliefs, such as sites that promote CIO or punitive parenting. An easy way to make a link inactive is by putting tags around the link.
Example: Doing this http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community gives you this result http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community.
Please Note: Posting live links to all other sites (that are appropriate to be linked-to on GCM), including those that violate our statement of faith, is acceptable(In the guidelines above, the parts in bold were added tonight.)

[flowermama]

Number 26 was added today.

26. Jesus equated lusting in our hearts with adultery and our Statement of Beliefs express the purpose of the board to uphold marriage as a sacred covenant. In that spirit, all posts and threads that go down the path of giving undue attention to men not our husbands (including, but not limited to celebrities) will be removed.

[flowermama]

Thought I'd better note that on the 8th I split the Policy for Posting Copyrighted Materials to the Board (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5781768#post5781768) and Rules for Signature Lines (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=505650) off into their own threads.

Because of that number eleven had a very slight update.

It did say this:
11. No posting copyrighted materials to the board -- brief excerpts allowed, except do not post posts from other message boards, from mailing lists, from blogs, or from Facebook pages (see copyright policy below).

And now it says this:
11. No posting copyrighted materials to the board—brief excerpts allowed, except do not post posts from other message boards, from mailing lists, from blogs, or from Facebook pages (see our copyright policy (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5781768#post5781768)).

The changes made were that the word "below" was removed and now the words "copyright policy" link to the new sticky about copyright policy (copyright policy is the same -- the new sticky was made so that the copyright policy would have it's own thread, to shorten the OP and hopefully make it less overwhelming to read).

[flowermama]

On May 29th [2005] I added...

. . .

No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board.



Now it's being changed to this:

12. No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board. Do not discuss posts or threads off our board with anyone who does not have access to the forum where they are posted. Note: Ideas and concepts learned here may be discussed.

[GCM_Admins]

Twelve was updated to add (See Expectations of Privacy on GCM (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5793502#post5793502).)

Now 12 looks like this:

12. No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board. Do not discuss posts or threads off our board with anyone who does not have access to the forum where they are posted. Note: Ideas and concepts learned here may be discussed. (See Expectations of Privacy on GCM (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5793502#post5793502).)

[flowermama]

For clarification's sake, the words "off our board" have been removed from guideline 12 because posts or threads should not be discussed anywhere, either off or on, the board with anyone who does not have access to the forum where they are posted:

12. No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board. Do not discuss posts or threads off our board with anyone who does not have access to the forum where they are posted. Note: Ideas and concepts learned here may be discussed. (See Expectations of Privacy on GCM (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5793502#post5793502).)

Now it says this:

12. No copying/pasting any thread or part thereof from our board to anywhere off our board. Do not discuss posts or threads with anyone who does not have access to the forum where they are posted. Note: Ideas and concepts learned here may be discussed. (See Expectations of Privacy on GCM (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5793502#post5793502).)

[flowermama]

Number 19 has been shortened to hopefully make it easier to read.

It has been changed from this:
19. No posting live links to sites that violate our statement of parenting beliefs, such as sites that promote CIO or punitive parenting. An easy way to make a link inactive is by putting tags around the link.
Example: Doing this http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community gives you this result http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community.
Please Note: Posting live links to all other sites (that are appropriate to be linked-to on GCM), including those that violate our statement of faith, is acceptable.

to this:
19. No posting live links to sites that violate our statement of parenting beliefs. Posting live links to all other sites (that are appropriate to be linked-to on GCM), including those that violate our statement of faith, is acceptable.


---------- Post added at 11:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 AM ----------

Number 3 has been updated for clarification.

It has been changed from this:
3. No profanity or obscenity (including abbreviations and combinations of asterisks, exclamation points, etc., put together in order to stand for an unnamed profanity or obscenity)—it will be edited out or censored.

to this:
3. No profanity, obscenity, or using abbreviations or typographical symbols to represent either specific or nonspecific swear words. These will be edited out or censored.

[flowermama]

Eight has been updated from this: 8. Start threads in the proper forum. For example, posts about breastfeeding go in the Breastfeeding forum, posts about food prep go in the Cookbook forum, posts about your toddler go in the Little Explorers forum, etc. Which forum is the best fit can be subjective, so do the best you can, and an admin or mod will move it if we feel that it might fit better in another forum.
to this:
8. Do your best to start threads in the forum that best matches the topic of your thread: for example, post about food prep in The Cookbook forum. If a mod or admin feels a different forum would be a better fit, she will move your thread, leaving a redirection topic in the original forum so you can easily find it.

[flowermama]

Seven has been updated from this: 7. Post posts only once. No cross-posting (x-posting) the same post in multiple forums. Also, no making posts directing others to a thread you started in another forum -- that is considered to be a x-post. When a post is x-posted, one of the x-posts will be removed and x-posted threads will be combined if appropriate.

to this:
No posting duplicate posts or threads directing others to a thread you started in another forum (no cross-posting). Duplicate posts will be merged, or one of them will be removed, as appropriate.

[flowermama]

Number 16 has been reworded, but the meaning is the same:

16. Should you wish to post photographs of your children to the board, please do so only in non-public forums. (Public forums are those which can be seen by non-members and are labeled "*public*"; all the others are considered "non-public.")

16. No posting photographs of your children in public forums (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5862638#post5862638).

---------- Post added at 06:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:22 PM ----------

Just changed the wording a little bit. The mean is the same. Number 9 was changed from this:
9. No using the boards to promote personal crusades or preoccupations. We're not here to help you pursue specific agendas or win any converts. Single-issue preaching is not allowed.

to this:
9. No using GCM to promote personal crusades or preoccupations (aka single-issue preaching). We're not here to help you pursue specific agendas or win converts.

---------- Post added at 07:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------

Number 9 has now been moved up to 7, because organizationally I feel it fits better there.

---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:06 PM ----------

The wording of 2 has been updated, but the meaning is the same.

It's been changed from this:
2. No posts promoting or supportive of crying it out (CIO). CIO is when children are left unattended to cry themselves to sleep. Babies cry and that is to be expected, but on this board we do not support leaving a baby to cry alone. There are formal and informal methods of CIO, and neither are endorsed here.

to this:
2. No posts promoting or supportive of crying it out (CIO). CIO is when children are left unattended to cry themselves to sleep. We do not support leaving a baby to cry alone. Neither formal nor informal methods of CIO are endorsed here.

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 PM ----------

For clarity's sake, number 24 has been updated to change the words "a specific" to "that."

24. To help other members feel welcome to respond in threads, avoid putting a member's name in your subject line when seeking feedback from a specific that member. Instead consider either PMing her with your question or (if you also want input from others) posting and then PMing her letting her know about your post and that you would value her response.

[flowermama]

For clarity, the wording of number 18 is being updated in this way (the part in blue is being added):

No posting without approval regarding anything that requires exchange of addresses between members including but not limited to requests for pen pals or to items for sale, swap, or free. Items can be offered for sale or for free or swapped or purchased only in the Swap n' Shop forums.

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:07 PM ----------

The wording of number 10 has been changed from this. . . 10. If you announce on the board that you are leaving (or if you ask to have your account removed), your "good-bye" thread (if you have one) will be locked, and your account will be deactivated within 24 hours. If your account is deactivated, you may ask to have it reactivated, but please note that when an account is deactivated membership to MBA forums will be removed, and access will be restored at the discretion of the administration.

to this. . .
10. If you decide to leave GCM, you may post a "good-bye" thread or deactivation request in the Official Deactivations and Breaks (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=500379) forum or PM an admin. Every effort will be made to deactivate your account within 24 hours. Contact the admins (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/sendmessage.php) if you are interested in returning. See our Deactivation Policies (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?t=500379) for more information.

[flowermama]

For clarity, the wording in 6 has been changed from this: 6. No trolling, spamming, or flaming. SPAM and commercial postings will be deleted including links to websites that pay you for directing people to their site. A text link to your website in your signature line is fine.
to this:
6. No commercial postings, except for in the WAHM's Items and Announcements forum, and no spam. Such postings will be deleted, including links to websites that pay you for directing people to their site. A text link to your website in your signature line is fine.

---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 PM ----------

Five was this: 5. No name-calling, fighting with, or harassing other members. Also, no name-calling family members.

Now it is this:
5. No name-calling, fighting with, flaming, or harassing other members. No name-calling family members, past or present. No trolling.

---------- Post added at 06:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:02 PM ----------

Number 26 has been shortened and the wording changed slightly. It was this:
Jesus equated lusting in our hearts with adultery and our Statement of Beliefs express the purpose of the board to uphold marriage as a sacred covenant. In that spirit, all posts and threads that go down the path of giving undue attention to men not our husbands (including, but not limited to celebrities) will be removed.
Now it says this:
Because Jesus equated lusting in our hearts with adultery, all posts and threads that go down the path of giving undue attention to anyone other than your husband (including, but not limited to, celebrities) will be removed.

eta: Edited on 12/31/2014 to add a comma (seen in blue above).

[flowermama]

Here are three new guidelines:

27. No posts on the board or via PM requesting donations of any sort. Giving on a personal level from one member to another is appropriate only as long as you realize the responsibility is wholly yours and GCM holds no liability.

28. No using the PM system to solicit clients or customers: this means you may not approach or make first contact with people to offer your services or products via PM. Conversely, if you contact another member and choose to engage them professionally, you do so on your own authority, and GCM holds no liability in the outcome.

29. The final determination for any rule will be made by the administration. The board owner reserves the right to lock or remove any post or thread for any reason she considers necessary.

---------- Post added at 01:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 PM ----------

22 has been updated for clarity and changed from this:
No sharing Personal Messages (PM's) with another person without the author's permission unless there is a need to report it for violating board guidelines.
to this:No sharing personal messages (PM's) without the author's permission unless you need to report or discuss one with the admins for possible violation of board guidelines.

---------- Post added at 01:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

On 12/26/2014, for clarity's sake, number 24 has been updated to change the words "a specific" to "that."

24. To help other members feel welcome to respond in threads, avoid putting a member's name in your subject line when seeking feedback from a specific that member. Instead consider either PMing her with your question or (if you also want input from others) posting and then PMing her letting her know about your post and that you would value her response.

Today it has been updated to shorten it:
To help other members feel welcome to respond in threads, avoid putting a member's name in your subject line when seeking feedback from that member. Instead consider sending her a personal message (PM) letting her know you would value her response.

[flowermama]

Updated 17 to add a definition, changing it from this: 17. No hotlinking (http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-linking).

to this:
17. No hotlinking (http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-linking), which is displaying an image on our message board by linking to that image on another website; each time the image shows up here, it steals bandwidth from the other website. The exception to this would be if that website gives you the code to do so, in which case, they have given you permission.

---------- Post added at 01:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 PM ----------

Number 25 has been updated from this:25. No posting in support of alcoholism or illegal drug use. We reserve the right to remove posts or close discussions that we feel are questionable or promoting the use of illegal substances or abuse of alcohol.

to this:
25. No posting in support of alcoholism, drug abuse, or illegal drug use. Posts may be removed or discussions closed if they appear to support illegal substances or the abuse of alcohol or legal drugs in any way.

[flowermama]

Number 4 is now two different guidelines. It was this: Any personal disagreements including discussions about actions taken by board admins and mods should not be done on the boards. If you need to discuss it, then please directly contact the person who you disagree with. Do not bring other people into it. This follows the Biblical outline for how to deal with conflict. (MT 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.")

Now it is this:

<edit> I think I posted the wrong one. I'll right back! :) eta: Here it is! My apologies for the mistake.

No handing of personal disagreements on the message board. If you feel offended or hurt after reading a post, pause, breathe, and pray. If you decide to respond, assume the best and seek clarification. If you want to work through the issue with that member and discuss it more fully, in order to avoid causing unnecessary board drama or shaming her, and to keep the thread on track, gently and prayerfully contact her privately. If unable to find peace with each other, an admin of your choice can assist with communication. If during private exchange either of you feel intimidated, scared, or harassed, contact an admin or report the other person's PM.

No posts to the board debating or venting disagreement with GCM policy. Posts seeking clarification and dialogue about policy are welcome, or you may contact an admin to discuss your disagreement with policy. If you need to discuss a personal disagreement about actions taken by board admins and mods, you are welcome to discuss that directly with them, but not on the board.

I'll be posting a newly numbered and re-ordered list of the guidelines soon.

Here is a link to the Summary of changes (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5875560#post5875560) in wording/clarifications/updates and additions made to the guidelines within the past year.

[flowermama]

Noticed a small change I had meant to make but forgot about. I'm removing the word "board." If you need to discuss a personal disagreement about actions taken by board admins and mods. . .

---------- Post added at 03:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:04 PM ----------

The order of the rules has been changed and headings added to try to make them easier to read and understand and to make specific rules easier to find.

You can see how they used to be ordered here (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5875560#post5875560).