The following post was posted by Andy, one of the site administrators, on the Board Etiquette thread, I felt an overwhelming need to post it here.
Reading some of the recent posts, I feel it is time to remind some of you about the rules when posting on the board. The primary one is to show respect and consideration. I think all of you are old enough to understand what that means, so I will not spell it out. If you are confused by what is appropriate behaviour, please contact me and I will be happy to explain. If you have something negative to say, please do so privately. If you disagree with another poster and feel the need to express your feelings publicly, take a deep breath and send them email.
This board has been in operation for a very long time (since 1995) with very few instances where a moderator or administrator needed to intervene or delete posts. This is a credit to so many of you who, over the years, have had only one motive: to share with others your passion for birds. Unfortunately, as with any passion, emotions can quickly run high and the resultant keyboard tapping only makes matters worse. Like I said, this board has a remarkably well-mannered history, and I am sure we would all like that to continue. So please keep your posts informative and polite.
I ask those of you who have posted comments recently that are not in the spirit of the above, that you edit your posts so that they fall within them. I really hate deleting posts, but will do so if I feel they do not meet the standards of common decency and manners.
Finally, remember this is a public forum for the dissemination of information to a community of users. It is not a substitute for email or PM's. Unless your post is of interest and worth to the community, contact the poster privately via email or this board's private messaging function.
