TBAAngel List Rules and Posting Guidelines

I expect everyone here to be polite and tolerant with one another and to show
consideration for the list as a whole. You're not going to agree with everyone
here; take that as a given and enjoy your differences, rather than seeing them
as a threat.

Don't use these rules as a filter through which you view others' behavior, they
are here to help you know how YOU should behave. But do read them all; it took
me a lot longer to write them than it'll take you to read them, and I won't have
much sympathy if you tell me you broke one because you didn't read it.


________oO0Oo________

What can get you banned, moderated, or your hand slapped with a wet noodle:

FLAMING: Please remember that everyone has a right to their beliefs and
opinions here and I expect you to treat all of those beliefs and opinions with
respect, even if you happen to believe they are wrong. No matter how wrong you
think someone is, try to watch how you phrase things. There is usually a
gentler way to disagree with them if you think about it. If a post is obviously
intended to harm, upset or embarrass someone, I will consider it a blatant flame
and take action. If you are only teasing someone, you need to make sure that's
clear, in your post, to everyone on the list, or it may *look* like a flame.
Also, avoid teasing someone about things they seem sensitive about, especially
if you don't know them well.

If you feel someone has flamed you, feel free to let me know and I will do my
best to help you both work it out if I can.


PORNOGRAPHY: This refers to graphic stuff that is clearly not appropriate for
our younger listmembers and would be objectionable to most of the rest of us,
here. Sometimes the list conversation will get suggestive; nothing wrong with
that.


SPAMMING THE LIST: Deliberately posting a lot of material, especially off topic
material, just to be annoying or because you refuse to accept that you can't
post it here. See "MOST FORWARDED MAIL" for more about spamming the list.


FORWARDING PRIVATE MAIL TO THE LIST WITHOUT PERMISSION: This is usually only a
problem if it's done maliciously - to get revenge on someone for some private
mail the poster didn't like. I take a very dim view of this sort of behavior
and will very likely ban people for it. When an honest mistake is made, I
generally recommend an apology but will not take further action myself unless
there have been other problems.


LOOKING FOR A FIGHT: Complaining on the list about someone or their posts, or
arguing with list policy on the list, are strictly prohibited. If you have a
problem you want to bring to me privately, fine - I will try to help you with it
as much as I can. Anyone trying to get more attention for their problems by
posting them to the list *will* get more attention - long enough for me to ban
them. I will also ban people if they inform me that they intend to ignore the
rules whenver it suits them to. I figure if they won't make any effort, why
should I?

It's also important to remember that we're all on the same side here. I've got
no problem with joking about "us vs. them" (i.e. - Gloria's Geeks vs. Monica's
Mocha Latte Freaks) but don't take it seriously or it is YOU looking for the
fight. Not the person who posted such a silly concept. Not everyone will share
your tastes, but that doesn't make them the enemy.


MOST FORWARDED MAIL: This is frequently a problem, as many common forwards are
nothing more than spam to most of us, so I have a simple way of deciding if you
should forward something to the list - is it about the show or the people who
work on it? If not, don't forward it here. Also, don't forward anything
regarding Madalyn Murray O'Hare by any spelling of her name, even though it
probably will mention the show. Many listmembers are very well meaning and want
to help people, but most of what gets forwarded around the 'net are hoaxes, and
even the jokes, poems and prayers get old after the first twenty copies you get.
If you think some warning might be real, send it to me at TBAAngel-owner @
yahoogroups. com - I recognize a lot of 'em on sight and can give you a fairly
quick answer on many of them.


SOLICITING: Don't try to sell anything on TBAAngel unless I've given you
permission to post about it. This includes TBAA related merchandise, and I
would appreciate it if you'd clear charity related posts with me first as well.
Lately, the most common problem we have with soliciting is people advertising
other lists here. If you've got a list with a related topic, ask me first.
Otherwise don't send list invitations here. A brief note about your list in
your .sig on an on-topic note would be all right, of course.


OFF TOPIC POSTS: People get confused about the topic of the list a lot. The
topic is the television show "Touched By an Angel." It is not religion or
angels or your personal life, although you may discuss any of these things IN
RELATION TO THE TV SHOW. It's a discussion list with a specific topic, so this
is only common courtesy! Anything about the show, its characters (as portrayed
on the show, and this does include God) and/or the people who work on the show
is considered on topic. Articles referencing the show are on topic. Poetry and
works of fiction involving TBAA may be posted here ONLY if they're short - less
than 200 lines or so - but you might want to check out the TBAA fanfic list
anyhow; that's at yahoogroups.com and it's for all sorts and lengths of fiction
so it is the more appropriate forum. I encourage list members to post a short
intro when they first join; these are considered on topic.

Prayer requests are NOT on topic. I will allow a brief prayer request to be
added to the end of an on topic note, but there are several forums for prayer
that are more appropriate and this forum is for discussion so I won't feel
guilty for not allowing you to post them here. Keeping your posts appropriate
and on topic is one part of that 'consideration for the list as a whole' I was
talking about up at the top.


INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE: Keep your language clean, please, and avoid vulgar or
obscene language. We do have some younger subscribers so we need to be mindful
of how we are saying what we say when we post. That being said, not everyone
sees the same words as vulgar or obscene, so try not to get too upset at another
list member for language.

________oO0Oo________

Other posting guidelines

Try to keep .sig files to no more than six lines, including all addresses and
quotes. These can really eat up space in people's mailboxes and make the
digests difficult to read, otherwise.

SPOILERS: If you get advance information about a reunion movie or some new
project a TBAA cast or crewmember is working on, put "SPOILERS" somewhere in the
subject line if you post any details about the plot, and consider leaving some
space at the top of your post so people are less likely to accidentally glimpse
something they don't want to know. Info on who's in a show/movie, where it's
filming, the basic premise and when it will air aren't spoilers.

Try to avoid "me too" posts - we want to hear what YOU are thinking, not just
that you agree with someone else.

Don't quote more than four lines of a note you're replying to per point, unless
you absolutely have to. It gets hard to find what YOU said when there's more of
what THEY said, and we already read that bit.

You can combine replies into one note, even with more than one topic, rather
than sending six short notes in a row to the list. It's often easier on
mailboxes and eyes if you do this.

Don't send attached files through the list; the list is set to remove them from
messages. If you have a picture or file to share, that can be uploaded to our
list space at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TBAAngel - follow the shared files
link.

Some listmembers will not be able to read formatted text. Your best bet is to
set your mail software to send plain text rather than 'styles', 'rich text
format (rtf)' or 'html'; most software will be able to do that nowadays. Also
try to keep each post under 250 lines, again because some mail systems can't
handle longer posts .

If you have questions about any rules, feel free to contact me with them at
TBAAngel-owner @ yahoogroups. com.

Take care,

Jennie
TBAAngel-owner @ yahoogroups. com (remove spaces)