Policy Guidelines

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Revision as of 22:51, 14 February 2009 by Fitzmorgan (talk | contribs)
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Purpose of Site

The Ansteorra we live in today was not created according to any one plan or under any single authority. It was created over many years by many different people doing what they thought best at the time. Ansteorra today is the product of over 37 years of success, failure, joy, sorrow, laughter, tears, friendship, love and loss.

This site was created to save and share the stories of how we came to be who we are today, in the same way that those stories were lived, by each person contributing what they can, when they can, and in their own way. Over the years many people have tried many many things, some of the things they tried worked and some didn't. The things that we as a people liked were kept, and the things that we didn't like were left behind. Many things will be written here. Some of them will work and some of them will not. Those things that work will be kept and those that don't will be left behind.

The purpose of this site is not to create an "official" history of Ansteorra. There is no "official" history, nor should there be. Ansteorra's history does not belong to the Kingdom Historian, the Crown or the SCA, Inc., It belongs to the people of Ansteorra, past and present.

Standards of Behavior

People in Ansteorra are expected to practice chivalry and courtesy and to behave with honor. We choose to hold ourselves and one another to a higher standard of behavior than is common in 21st Century America. Those same standards apply here. Treat others with courtesy. Behave honorably.

Though Ansteorra was created by individuals doing what they thought best for their own individual reasons, that has never meant that anyone could do anything they wished without regard to the opinions and feelings of others. When, from time to time, someone's words and deeds have outraged the community, it has sometimes been necessary for the community to take action to correct the offender or even remove them from our community and repair the damage. The same principle applies here on this site. Anyone abusing this site can and will be banned. You might get a warning first or you might not depending on the severity of the offense.

The following is a list of things which are not appropriate for this site. It is not an exhaustive list. Commercial advertising of any kind (spam), personal attacks, mundane politics, mundane issues in general unless they are significantly relevant to the development of Ansteorra.

As a community develops here this list may be altered to reflect the community standards.

SCA politics may be appropriate, but need to be handled with discretion, consideration for the feelings of those involved, and with a neutral point of view.

Controversial Topics

It would be easiest and safest to simply skip over and ignore the unpleasant areas of our history. In my personal opinion it would also be dishonest and render some areas of our history difficult or imposable to understand. I also believe that it would be a disservice to those who stepped into the breach and brought about peace and cleaned up the mess. It is often the hard times that bring out the best in people. However I understand, and share the reluctance to bring up old hurts and air our dirty laundry.

I am asking that we not post on emotionally charged topics that are likely to lead to conflict until we have developed an active community of posters here, and we have discussed this as a community and decided how to proceed.

Copyright

Don't post copyrighted material unless you have permission. The poster is responsible for any copyright violations they create.

Images

At the moment there are technical issues with adding pictures. Once this problem has been resolved I will post procedures and policies.

Authority

At this time I am the final word on what is or is not acceptable on this site. As a community develops here I look forward to the day when the community as a whole will police it's self, and decisions can be made by consensus of those who have worked on this site and proven their dedication to making it something Ansteorra can be proud of. The Wiki model can work here, but it requires a community of people dedicated to making it work. I look forward to seeing that community here, when I can be one editor among many.

Robert Fitzmorgan Kingdom Historian