Question about Forum Rules

[TearDrop1776]

_​I am here to start no issues, but I am curious about something. IF a person when posting a thread says "I only want people in Blue Shirts" to respond to this thread and someone in a RED SHIRT responds, is the person in the RED SHIRT breaking the rules? The rules clearly state that people wearing ALL SHIRTS or even NO SHIRT AT ALL can respond as long as it's not aggressive or offensive.

If the RULES of the forum clearly state that all people can post, can a MEMBER that is posting a thread demand that only a BLUE shirt respond? If this is the case, will you mods back up this discriminative post and request and go against your OWN RULES which clearly state that anyone can post on any of the public forums?

Nothing major here...just curious.

I would like to know if I gotta follow both the admins rules as well as the members demands as well.

I speak in code and not describing the actual event (I wasnt even involved) simply because I just want an answer in order for me to understand what is acceptable here and what isn't.

Thank you in advance for clarification and your answers.

[Alligator]

Please read over the user agreement if you have not already. No, the OP cannot demand adherence from the other member. If the OP thinks that another user is breaking the rules then the OP should contact a moderator with their concern.

1. 15. If a user believes a violation of WhiteBlaze Rules has occurred, they should advise a Moderator or Administrator by a Private Message (“PM”) with a link, if possible, to the post or problem in question. If it is a post you want to refer to them please click on the 'Report Post' icon (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) on the report post icon in the post in question.

A member responding to a post has more obligations about content than just avoiding being aggressive or offensive. There are additional guidelines in the user agreement. Two examples are keeping on topic and not reposting about deleted posts or threads. Further, we have many subforums on WB, several have additional posting restrictions as well, Straight Forward, Trail Running and Speed Hiking, and Dogs on the AT are all good examples for that. If you are totally against dogs on the AT, the questions asked aren't really directed to you in the Dogs forum. If a person consistently gripes against dogs in that forum, they might lose posts or even access to it.

So the OP would need to discuss it with a moderator who can then determine if any rules have been broken.

[TearDrop1776]

Outstanding! I appreciate the response Alligator.

So, for example, if in the woman's thread, if a woman said that her message was directed only to lets say "Single women" and it's about firearms (I admit, a played out topic), a male's perspective would be adherent to the rules as long as it was on topic? For instance, I could give my opinion on said matter without fallout from the mods as long as I am not being repetitive, starting trouble, or going off topic (for instance, bringing up politics)?

I have nothing to gripe about personally, I was just curious. I appreciate it.

[rickb]

Outstanding! I appreciate the response Alligator.

So, for example, if in the woman's thread, if a woman said that her message was directed only to lets say "Single women" and it's about firearms (I admit, a played out topic), a male's perspective would be adherent to the rules as long as it was on topic? For instance, I could give my opinion on said matter without fallout from the mods as long as I am not being repetitive, starting trouble, or going off topic (for instance, bringing up politics)?

I have nothing to gripe about personally, I was just curious. I appreciate it.

Rules or no rules, why men feel compelled to post in the woman's forum is beyond me. If guy has some special wisdom because he designs woman's shoes (for example) it's one thing, but on every topic?

Bad form, IMO.

[TearDrop1776]

Rules or no rules, why men feel compelled to post in the woman's forum is beyond me. If guy has some special wisdom because he designs woman's shoes (for example) it's one thing, but on every topic?

Bad form, IMO.

Yes, but opinions do not matter. The rules are all that really matters. For instance, some things are LEGAL here in Colorado that are NOT in Marlboro, MA, right? So, your opinion on what morally should be done here in Colorado doesn't matter because there are RULES put in place that are in black and white. I am not saying I DISAGREE with your opinion, I am only saying that it's the RULES and LAWS of the land so to speak that matter. Me personally, I do not think I have EVER posted in the female forum and I don't really feel a need to. HOWEVER, with that said, if the rules are in black and white and someone gets reprimanded for breaking a NON EXISTENT rule, that blurs things a little bit. That's all I am saying. I would like to know when UNWRITTEN rules are treated as WRITTEN rules and how many more of these unwritten rules exist? Maybe the guy LOVES the female forums and wants to hang with them. Hell, that's not for ME to judge. But being reprimanded for an unwritten rule is kinda like getting a jail sentence for eating mustard on your spaghetti. Who cares if everyone else likes mustard on their spaghetti? If its not against the law to eat it, there should be no reprimand.

Anyways, I was just curious about how these "unwritten rules" worked and how many more there actually were. I would hate to get BOOTED or BANNED myself for breaking a rule that I never knew existed in the first place. ESPECIALLY if I was a donating member. It would SUCK to love this place SO MUCH that you wish to contribute to it's financial success ONLY to be banned or reprimanded for a rule that NEVER EXISTED to begin with.

[rickb]

Yes, but opinions do not matter. The rules are all that really matters. For instance, some things are LEGAL here in Colorado that are NOT in Marlboro, MA, right? So, your opinion on what morally should be done here in Colorado doesn't matter because there are RULES put in place that are in black and white. I am not saying I DISAGREE with your opinion, I am only saying that it's the RULES and LAWS of the land so to speak that matter. Me personally, I do not think I have EVER posted in the female forum and I don't really feel a need to. HOWEVER, with that said, if the rules are in black and white and someone gets reprimanded for breaking a NON EXISTENT rule, that blurs things a little bit. That's all I am saying. I would like to know when UNWRITTEN rules are treated as WRITTEN rules and how many more of these unwritten rules exist? Maybe the guy LOVES the female forums and wants to hang with them. Hell, that's not for ME to judge. But being reprimanded for an unwritten rule is kinda like getting a jail sentence for eating mustard on your spaghetti. Who cares if everyone else likes mustard on their spaghetti? If its not against the law to eat it, there should be no reprimand.

Anyways, I was just curious about how these "unwritten rules" worked and how many more there actually were. I would hate to get BOOTED or BANNED myself for breaking a rule that I never knew existed in the first place. ESPECIALLY if I was a donating member. It would SUCK to love this place SO MUCH that you wish to contribute to it's financial success ONLY to be banned or reprimanded for a rule that NEVER EXISTED to begin with.

Hopefully a certain federal judge in NY thinks the way you do!

[Traveler]

Oy........

[TearDrop1776]

Hopefully a certain federal judge in NY thinks the way you do!

I will for the most part dodge this one and only say that getting the feds to follow any rules, you know, like our Constitution, isn't likely..ESPECIALLY in NY.

[TearDrop1776]

Anyways gentlemen, I meant no harm....just wanted a little clarification on an issue that I have seen come up. Hopefully that clarification will come and I can move on comfortably on this site, knowing what the actual do's and don'ts are.

[MuddyWaters]

Rules or no rules, why men feel compelled to post in the woman's forum is beyond me. If guy has some special wisdom because he designs woman's shoes (for example) it's one thing, but on every topic?

Bad form, IMO.

Womens forum is for womens issues, not women only.
Most men have a few women in their lives such as wives, daughters.
They are interested in topics which affect them, and have knowledge based on experience as well.

Many topics arent really female specific anyway, except from an emotional support standpoint.


You dont need a vagina to be a gynecologist. In fact, the best often dont have one.....

[Alligator]

Outstanding! I appreciate the response Alligator.

So, for example, if in the woman's thread, if a woman said that her message was directed only to lets say "Single women" and it's about firearms (I admit, a played out topic), a male's perspective would be adherent to the rules as long as it was on topic? For instance, I could give my opinion on said matter without fallout from the mods as long as I am not being repetitive, starting trouble, or going off topic (for instance, bringing up politics)?

I have nothing to gripe about personally, I was just curious. I appreciate it.

Are you a single woman? If not, you would inherently be off topic. Let's leave off the women's forum subject for a second. Consider this question instead. "Hey, I'm thinking of thruhiking next year but I'm concerned about how the hike might affect my relationship with my spouse. Any past thruhikers want to share their experience with this?" It's placed into the Thru-hiker Classes forum. Out of the first ten answers 9 people preface their remarks with "Well I never thruhiked" but yada...yada...yada.

Some possible reasons for the responses:
poster was clicking the What's New tab and didn't see that it was in the thruhiker classes subforum.
a newbie who had the same question and over exuberantly posted anyway.
some posters were deployed overseas and felt this qualified.
poster has no common courtesy and refuses to actually care whether they are actually staying on topic.
poster secretly wants to be a thruhiker and have this problem.

The OP does not own the thread once it is released. But they do have a right to solicit input from a targeted group of individuals. It is their question. Common courtesy would be to consider the OP's wants when answering the question, because you are trying to be helpful right? But if you don't fit the profile of the intended respondent, you might want to hold back a minute, hour, or even day before answering because you deciding your answer is what the OP needs can rise to the level of arrogance. The OP may have carefully considered who they wanted an answer from, then judiciously placed the question in the correct forum for getting an answer. If you don't fit the bill maybe you shouldn't presume that what you have to say is what the person needs. Let the question sit. If it isn't targeted correctly it won't get responses. If it is targeted correctly, the targeted respondents will provide the input the OP is actually wanting.

Now we don't often need to apply heavy moderation to a situation such as this. Sometimes it corrects itself. People note what forum the question is in, or re-emphasis the OP's desired responder group, or a bunch of people from the targeted group respond to the question and it becomes clear the question was crafted appropriately, etc. Or the mod can put a reminder in what subforum the question is in, ask the OP to clarify or rephrase the question, move the question to a different subforum, or the mod may need to hit the reset button.

Back to the Women's forum. Part of the reason that forum was set up is so that women could have the opportunity to ask questions of other women about women's issues. If the question is stated clearly and asks for a lady's perspective specifically, answers from a bunch of men aren't really fitting the bill. Restraint from the men on the board is expected in that situation. It was not and the reset button was hit.

[Alligator]

Womens forum is for womens issues, not women only.
Most men have a few women in their lives such as wives, daughters.
They are interested in topics which affect them, and have knowledge based on experience as well.

Many topics arent really female specific anyway, except from an emotional support standpoint.


You dont need a vagina to be a gynecologist. In fact, the best often dont have one.....

We're not going to keep arguing about the Women's Forum. Put that subforum on ignore if you can't get over it.

[TearDrop1776]

What I dont understand is what needed CORRECTED in the first place. If no one broke rule, what was there to correct?

Arrogance is not against the rules from what I see. If a female asked for single female hikers only and is talking about protection on the trail, yes, that is her TARGETED audience. However, most of us do not read every topic just to "Help the OP"...This is a form of entertainment and discussion for us.

I never knew it was EXPECTED of us gentlemen to stay out of the female forum and to let them run their own little country over there. I personally thought the ladies forum was JUST AS MUCH about the reader of that forum as the OP of a particular post.

So, for example, if someone is posting about women's safety and firearms, ME as a MAN am going to want to get involved in that convo whether she asked for us or not. Why? Because that thread MIGHT be read by a wife, daughter, cousin, or any other female that I am interested in. If they read a thread with a female freaking out about her safety (not saying that happened), then why wouldn't I want the READER to get every opinion on that situation. IF ONLY SINGLE FEMALES answers are acceptable, then thats the ONLY answers the readers are gonna get and it's INSANE to think that ONLY the SINGLE FEMALE ANSWERS are gonna be the right one.

Muddy Waters may chime in with some EXCELLENT info about single female hikers and firearms. With his experience, I am gonna want the females in my life to read HIS ANSWER to help them make their final decisions on what to do within that topic. If his opinion is deleted just because he isn't a chick that has no man and is intimidated by the woods, then only 1/2 the story is getting told. The OP's request shouldnt matter when it comes to the integrity of the thread.

Im not telling you how to run your site, I was just telling you that none of this was in the rules and I was concerned about it. I was concerned about what would happen if I financially donated to your cause only to have my opinion rubbed out because the OP said she wanted single women that feared the woods ONLY on her post.

If I posted a post that wanted to know the opinions of ONLY OTHER FAT PEOPLE with TATTOOS, I am sure that skinny people with glasses would comment too and that would be ACCEPTED and EXPECTED.

[TearDrop1776]

Sorry if that all seemed jumbled...I just woke up.

[BirdBrain]

As a poster who is about as thick as any can be at times, even I can grasp the triplicate message of a woman in a woman's forum asking what a woman would do. I often miss wording and answer where I should not. This type of thing is hard to miss. To me, that is vastly different than answering a question about a trowel. The dirt does not care who is digging it. The questions about objects are one thing. Questions asking what you as a woman would do is entirely different. Such wording infers the object is secondary to the gender. I like a debate as much as anyone. I don't get this one though. This is my only comment here.

[TearDrop1776]

Bird Brain, based on your comments in OTHER threads that most of us cant see, I assure you that you DO understand the debate here. However, this isn't even a real debate....

I simply just wanted to know if UNWRITTEN rules either could be made WRITTEN rules or explained...It aint that big of a deal. I am NOT involved in what goes on in the women's forum NOR was I involved in the original situation. I just simply KNOW of it and found it to be a little unclear about what the actual rules were and if there were UNWRITTEN rules that need followed.

If the logic I presented is NOT understood or even actually debated, there is no more that can be accomplished here. BECAUSE of stuff like this, I just wanna know how much more is unwritten that we need to know about. REGARDLESS of whom the OP asked for answers from, we either are all free to answer it according to the rules or we are NOT.

I have actually been part of this forum for many years and have commented MANY times and seen many people comment in the females forum with no problems at all. This problem seems to stem from the OP's request for a certain demographic. That request was NOT honored by at least 9 or 10 gentlemen...NOR should they have had to since it's not an actual rule.

MANY PEOPLE have women issues that they deal with in terms of hiking whether they are a male or female. Hell, I have read the forum over there a few times just to see if any of the stuff could help previous women that I have taken hiking with me. I PERSONALLY did not comment on that thread because most people ALREADY know my stance on guns and things like that, so I choose not to beat a dead horse. HOWEVER, I saw all comments before they were deleted and its OBVIOUS that they were deleted and someone was even put on restriction SIMPLY because the OP asked for a target audience.

This person is a paying member that cares very much about this forum. This person posts CONSTANTLY in efforts to help others and stimulate quality discussions. I was sad to see this happen to this member. AT ONE POINT, I also donated and was then told that I couldn't link to my YOUTUBE videos in my journal on here simply because there is CURSING in the videos. I accepted that and moved on....I removed all YT videos from the said journal and even eventually stopped posting (I forgot the login info and password after going months without not even coming here).....

THAT DAY a donating member was turned away basically due to ANOTHER unwritten rule. THAT particular unwritten rule is that our YT accounts that many of us link to in here DAILY could not contain cussing. FORGET THE FACT that I refrained from cussing in the forum and always have...the fact that I was even linked to another website with cussing was INSANE. I have paid attention SINCE THEN and seen many other links to YT videos that ALSO have cussing. Those people are still posting them...Which told me that the powers that be simply just didnt like the CONTENT of my videos and my opinions (which has nothing to do with profanity)....

So, when I saw this kinda thing happen to a donating member for something that HE never even knew was a rule, it was something that I wanted to bring up...

The topic isn't actually about the women's forum...It's about WRITTEN RULES vs. UNWRITTEN rules. If you don't know that something is illegal because it's actually never made a law, then how do you know if what you are doing is against the rules or not? You may think this is a petty argument, and that is fine....But I DOUBT you will feel that way when you ACCIDENTALLY break an unwritten rule and you all the sudden turn into a bad guy.

[Lone Wolf]

dude, stay out of the women's forum. real simple. i posted there and was reminded i wasn't a woman

[BirdBrain]

Apologies to TearDrop1776. I did not grasp the scope of your grievance. As usual, I should have listened to my instincts and stayed out of the thread. I was also unaware of the details you list. Again, sorry for getting in the fray.

[TearDrop1776]

Apologies to TearDrop1776. I did not grasp the scope of your grievance. As usual, I should have listened to my instincts and stayed out of the thread. I was also unaware of the details you list. Again, sorry for getting in the fray.

No need to apologize my friend. I was trying NOT to put too many details out there. I really am NOT trying to complain, only gain clarification on something....

[TearDrop1776]

dude, stay out of the women's forum. real simple. i posted there and was reminded i wasn't a woman

Hey Wolf...Yea, I know what you mean....I dont post there, but I may want to some day...

I think unwritten rules just need to be made written rules. This isn't about me. I could care less about the women's forum to be honest. I prefer my women communication to be in real life and a little more intimately.

HOWEVER, I saw a good dude have to deal with some crap because he was just trying to help. So, a WRITTEN RULE would probably prevent that. He is a good dude and a follower of ALL RULES in here. He would have followed the rule.