Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.
We took the forum down after some messages posted in the lounge that questioned what exactly the terms of content posted to the site is. Unfortunately, fixing this issue took immediate precedence. Updating the terms and conditions was something that none of us had considered when we moved from phpBB to Invision, and this kind of situation hadn't come up, so we didn't really have to think about what our terms had to say about it.
Our thought has always been that things you post on the Internet are permanent. This is actually true, from a technical standpoint, and has been how the 68kMLA has operated since it was started. We believe that with the exception of threads that get particularly bad, posts should stick around as they were started. We've had situations come up where users deleted or very significantly altered their own posts, causing a thread not to make sense after the fact, which is why we have a 45 minute edit limit set up in the forum software, and why as a policy, we don't edit or delete old posts, and don't delete old accounts.
In certain, extreme circumstances, we have previously accommodated requests to have old posts edited, this is on a "best effort" basis. An administrator or moderator needs to be around, and the request needs to make sense. We have avoided making any changes to the Snitz Archive due to the labor involved.
We've posted our new Rules, Guidelines, and Terms of Service here. Please take a moment to review them. These will go into effect in 60 days. If you don't agree with the new terms, please send a PM to Cory5412 or wthww. We can disable or remove your account. If you choose to have your account removed, your posts will be deleted, so please take this into consideration. If you choose to have your account disabled, your posts will remain in place.
The new terms are listed when new users register, and are posted on the rules page, here. The terms will be updated from time to time, but notices will be posted when they go into effect. Each time we update the terms, it will be to protect the community and its members.
At this time, we also want to introduce new policies for vendors. In the past, our policies is that you may not use the 68kMLA for commercial activity, and there were no "vendors." For a few years now, we've essentially been ignoring that policy, as there really is a pretty thin line between an active trader, and a for-profit business venture.
The new policy is that you may have one personal forum account, as you do today, for participating in the community and one that will be a vendor account. The vendor account may only be active in one forum thread at a time, and they may only post in the Trading Post, but may be active in multiple private messages.
To go along with this, vendor accounts will be able to edit their posts indefinitely, which is going to be helpful for keeping a vendor listing up to date. At this time, normal member accounts will have the same trading post restrictions. We're looking into whether or not we can improve that situation.
To make a vendor account, just register for a new account, and then notify us that it is a vendor account. We will convert it as quickly as we can. There are a few more policies for these accounts, located here.
We are adding a new subforum for seller feedback. There's not a very good way to handle this automatically, or with a special application. There will be a new thread created for each forum member, and members that complete trades can provide feedback.
We're also going to be updating the rules. As I mention from time to time, many of the rules were in place before I became a moderator or administrator. A few of them are newer, but may need to be re-worded or might not make sense today. Not all the changes we eventually plan on making have made it in today, so keep an eye on this space.
The first major rule change is that we're no longer going to edit out links to software downloads. We still ask that you don't actually upload software to the site, but we're aware that the chance these days that somebody's going to sue for a link to a download of software that was modern over twenty years ago is pretty remote. We're going to honor DMCA requests that come through, but I haven't seen one since I've been working with the site.
The next major rule change is that we're adding some information about the new trading and vendor policies to it. The rules page is probably not the most appropriate place for this, but in the interest of expediency, it'll have to do for now.
We haven't yet got the pictures fixed, but it is something wthww is working on. We're aware that it's a high priority for the forum members, and thank everybody again for their patience, because the site is run on a best effort basis, and sometimes, best effort happens with respect to the fact that wthww and I each have full-time jobs and other commitments.
We took the forum down after some messages posted in the lounge that questioned what exactly the terms of content posted to the site is. Unfortunately, fixing this issue took immediate precedence. Updating the terms and conditions was something that none of us had considered when we moved from phpBB to Invision, and this kind of situation hadn't come up, so we didn't really have to think about what our terms had to say about it.
Our thought has always been that things you post on the Internet are permanent. This is actually true, from a technical standpoint, and has been how the 68kMLA has operated since it was started. We believe that with the exception of threads that get particularly bad, posts should stick around as they were started. We've had situations come up where users deleted or very significantly altered their own posts, causing a thread not to make sense after the fact, which is why we have a 45 minute edit limit set up in the forum software, and why as a policy, we don't edit or delete old posts, and don't delete old accounts.
In certain, extreme circumstances, we have previously accommodated requests to have old posts edited, this is on a "best effort" basis. An administrator or moderator needs to be around, and the request needs to make sense. We have avoided making any changes to the Snitz Archive due to the labor involved.
We've posted our new Rules, Guidelines, and Terms of Service here. Please take a moment to review them. These will go into effect in 60 days. If you don't agree with the new terms, please send a PM to Cory5412 or wthww. We can disable or remove your account. If you choose to have your account removed, your posts will be deleted, so please take this into consideration. If you choose to have your account disabled, your posts will remain in place.
The new terms are listed when new users register, and are posted on the rules page, here. The terms will be updated from time to time, but notices will be posted when they go into effect. Each time we update the terms, it will be to protect the community and its members.
At this time, we also want to introduce new policies for vendors. In the past, our policies is that you may not use the 68kMLA for commercial activity, and there were no "vendors." For a few years now, we've essentially been ignoring that policy, as there really is a pretty thin line between an active trader, and a for-profit business venture.
The new policy is that you may have one personal forum account, as you do today, for participating in the community and one that will be a vendor account. The vendor account may only be active in one forum thread at a time, and they may only post in the Trading Post, but may be active in multiple private messages.
To go along with this, vendor accounts will be able to edit their posts indefinitely, which is going to be helpful for keeping a vendor listing up to date. At this time, normal member accounts will have the same trading post restrictions. We're looking into whether or not we can improve that situation.
To make a vendor account, just register for a new account, and then notify us that it is a vendor account. We will convert it as quickly as we can. There are a few more policies for these accounts, located here.
We are adding a new subforum for seller feedback. There's not a very good way to handle this automatically, or with a special application. There will be a new thread created for each forum member, and members that complete trades can provide feedback.
We're also going to be updating the rules. As I mention from time to time, many of the rules were in place before I became a moderator or administrator. A few of them are newer, but may need to be re-worded or might not make sense today. Not all the changes we eventually plan on making have made it in today, so keep an eye on this space.
The first major rule change is that we're no longer going to edit out links to software downloads. We still ask that you don't actually upload software to the site, but we're aware that the chance these days that somebody's going to sue for a link to a download of software that was modern over twenty years ago is pretty remote. We're going to honor DMCA requests that come through, but I haven't seen one since I've been working with the site.
The next major rule change is that we're adding some information about the new trading and vendor policies to it. The rules page is probably not the most appropriate place for this, but in the interest of expediency, it'll have to do for now.
We haven't yet got the pictures fixed, but it is something wthww is working on. We're aware that it's a high priority for the forum members, and thank everybody again for their patience, because the site is run on a best effort basis, and sometimes, best effort happens with respect to the fact that wthww and I each have full-time jobs and other commitments.
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