Lavender Liberal Forums FAQ About the Lavender Liberal Forums Who We Are Joining LLF What is Expected of You, and What is Prohibited The Basic Rules Recommendations Addenda Boilerplate Technical FAQ Login and Registration Issues Why can't I log in? Why do I get logged off automatically? I've lost my password! I registered but cannot log in! I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore! User Preferences and Settings How do I change my settings? The times are not correct. I changed the time zone and the time is still wrong. How do I show an image below my username? How do I change my rank? Posting Issues How do I post a topic in a forum? How do I edit or delete a post? How do I add a signature to my post? How do I create a poll? How do I edit or delete a poll? Why can't I access a forum? Formatting and Topic Types What is BBCode? Can I use HTML? What are smileys? Can I post images? What are Announcements? What are Sticky topics? What are Locked topics? User Levels and Groups What are Administrators? What are Moderators? What are Usergroups? Private Messaging I cannot send private messages! I keep getting unwanted private messages! I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this board! About the Lavender Liberal Forums Who We Are The Lavender Liberal Forums (LLF) is an international community of LGBTQQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, questioning, and intersexed) people and our straight friends, family, and allies, created for the purpose of exchanging information and ideas on issues related to our experience in a generally gay-unfriendly world. LLF was launched October 29, 2006, in the wake of the announcement of the New Jersey same-sex union decision. LLF was originally created for a small group of LGBTQQI friends, most of whom first met on DemocraticUnderground.com. LLF is not a spin-off of DU, has no affiliation with DU, is not an "anti-DU" board. Rather, there was a need for a more "queer-intensive" forum, in which the initial core group of LLFers could delve into specific LGBTQQI issues more deeply than we could reasonably expect from DU's GLBT forum; thus, LLF was born. Joining LLF Bear in mind, membership is not automatic, and registration is only the first step. The safety and security of all our members is of supreme importance to us, and we want to provide the most positive experience for everyone. Thus, LLF requires that you answer a few brief questions before your account can be activated (which you will receive via email after your initial registration): 1. Your real name, first and last. Yes, this is a requirement. Your real name will never be revealed to any third party, unless: 1) the administrator is legally obligated to comply with any United States court order or law-enforcement warrant, or 2) you try to spam, hack, abuse or attempt to disrupt operation of any part of the LavenderLiberal.com Web site, or otherwise harass or threaten any of LLF's members, in which case we will turn over all your information to your ISP, and/or the appropriate law enforcement agency/ies. If you're not a troll, a spammer, or a criminal, you don't have to worry about any of that. The reason the administrator wants to know your real name is simple: LLF operates on a system of trust -- and if you're not willing to reveal your real name to the host who has invited you to a party in her home, why should that host allow you past the front door? (To be perfectly fair, the administrator will tell you her real name too, in the initial validation email you will receive immediately after your initial registration -- and before you provide yours. Fair enough?) 2. How did you learn about the Lavender Liberal Forums? 3. In just a few sentences, why do you want to join the Lavender Liberal Forums? 4. You will also be asked if you have read and agree to the rules in the LLF FAQ (what you're reading right now), as well as LavenderLiberal.com's broader Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. What is Expected of You, and What is Prohibited We value diversity, in both people and opinions. Note, however, the "Liberal" in the name "Lavender Liberal"; while you are not expected to lean to the left of Abbie Hoffman, you are expected to possess a political philosophy supportive of socially liberal and progressive ideas and goals. This means that you are generally supportive of all minority groups and their individual issues, including but not limited to women, non-Christians, the disabled, immigrants, and all ethnic and religious minorities. ("Generally," however, does not mean "unconditionally"; we recognize that there will be differences of opinion on specific issues, and healthy, constructive debate is encouraged, as long as debate remains restricted to issues, personalities aside.) In fact, we encourage discussion of such issues beyond the LGBTQQI "lens," as we recognize that all oppression originates at the same source: the attempt by the majority to control the lives of the minority. Or, to paraphrase the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: your destiny is tied to our destiny, and your freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. And vice versa. You will find the vast majority of (if not all) LLFers are pro-choice, and 100% in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples. If you do not believe in a woman's right to choose, you will likely have a difficult time here; if you do not support complete equality, including full marriage equality for all non-heterosexuals, without reservation, exception, or condition, then you definitely do not belong here. If, after all that, you believe you've found your home at LLF, we welcome you to register as a new member. The Basic Rules (subject to change without notice) 1. You may never make any post bigoted against any person or group based on affectational/sexual orientation, gender or gender identification, race, ethnicity, religion, agnosticism, atheism, physical or mental ability/disability, sexual practice*, or other innate/inherent/immutable trait or characteristic, or arguably "mutable" characteristic such as physical appearance (including but not limited to obesity). * By "sexual practice," we mean anything [i]consensual and legal[/i]. For example, you may not ridicule a person or group for being "into" sex toys, or infantilism, or BDSM, or any non-"vanilla" sexual activity between consenting adults. On the flip side, bear in mind that posts advocating illegal activities (nonconsensual activities, bestiality, underage contact, etc.) are not permitted, period. There are no exceptions to Rule Number One; while we recognize and take into consideration that we all make mistakes from time to time, a repeated pattern of violating Rule Number One may lead to suspension or permanent banning. You may say (almost) anything you want about any political party, in any country, as long as you abide by all other LLF rules. Yes, you may freely criticize the U.S. Democratic Party -- as long as you agree to do so at your own risk, as a significant percentage of our membership consists of devoted, yellow-dog and blue-dog Democrats. You may say (almost) anything you want about any public figure, from world leaders to Paris Hilton, provided that you follow all other LLF rules. 2. You are expected to treat every other member of LLF with respect. You can disagree all you like with another LLFer's opinion, but you may not engage in personal attacks. If you have a personal conflict with another LLFer, take it off the forums; use private messaging (PM) if you must -- but bear in mind that reports of abusive PMs may be used as grounds for suspension or permanent termination of your membership. In addition: Any personal attacks, "calling out," or otherwise abusive, slanderous, libelous, or otherwise hurtful or actually injurious defamation of any other LLFer, in any other medium, is grounds for permanent banning from LLF. "Any other medium" includes, but is not limited to, any other Internet message board/forum, Web site, or any other form of printed or spoken word, or image. Naturally, this includes LLF's moderators. Our moderators are unpaid volunteers who work to make LLF a safe and satisfying experience for everyone. Do not abuse them. You will recognize our moderators by the username Modx (where x is a number). However, do not assume that just because you don't see a user called "Modx" logged in that LLF is not being monitored; our moderators are also regular members of LLF, who are free to engage in discussion when not performing moderator duties. Our moderators are anonymous for two reasons: 1) to avoid any claims of favoritism (remember how you felt about the classroom monitor?), and, to a lesser extent, 2) so that no one knows whether a moderator is present or not at any moment. Do not challenge our moderators or the administrator publicly, or you may be banned. If you have any questions or complaints about the way LLF is run, and/or about a specific moderator, PM the administrator. You are welcome to post questions asking for clarification of LLF rules and guidelines (and about technical issues) to the "Ask the Admins" forums, as long as you do not misuse this forum to "call out" LLF, its administrator, moderators, or any other member of LLF. 3. You may not use LLF to harass or stalk anyone, whether a member of LLF or not. You may not post another person's personal information (real name, phone number, etc.) anywhere on LLF. 4. You may not post, publicly or in PMs, any message that even remotely suggests or advocates harm or death to anyone. Death threats and threats of injury are verboten; LLF takes such threats as seriously as any law-enforcement agency, and we [i]will[/i] report any such messages to the appropriate authority/ies. Likewise, you may not post any message that could be construed as advocating violent revolution or overthrow of any government. Even though LLF encourages spirited debate about public figures, you may not deliberately make misleading statements (or just plain lie) about any public figure. For example, you would be permitted to post that you suspect George W. Bush is gay*, but you would not be permitted to say that George W. Bush is gay. * It would be a really bad idea to say you even suspect that George W. Bush is gay; that's major flamebait we've all heard before, and you will probably get "piled on" (and rightly so) if you say it. 4. No disrupting, trolling, or flamebait. This means you may not post messages that are deliberately inflammatory, in order to get a "rise" out of others. Similarly, do not hijack threads with wildly off-topic posts. Of course, sub-conversations will pop up from time to time, and the occasional off-topic reply is OK. It's when a thread is taken far afield from its original topic and dissolves into meaningless noise there's a problem; when that happens, posts or entire subthreads may be deleted, or moved into their own threads. 5. No spamming. You may not use LLF to sell anything or raise money for any purpose (personal or non-profit), without express permission from the LLF administrator. You may include a link in your sig line to your favorite charity, CafePress shop, or other external Web site, provided that the content of that site does not violate any of the basic LLF rules. 6. No discussion of or linking to right-wing (and certain other) message boards. In short, we do not want to deliberately bait communities diametrically opposed to our goals and ideals. If all you want to do is monitor other message forums and mock their members and/or ideologies, there are plenty of other places you can do that -- but LLF is not one of them. If you do inadvertently post a link to a site on our (undisclosed) banned-sites list, the URL of that site will be censored automatically, and rendered useless. 7. Linking to DU. You may post live links to DemocraticUnderground.com, as there are many, many subjects worthy of healthy debate at DU every day. However, you may NEVER discuss the operation of DU; criticize DU's admins; "call out" any DUer, whether active or banned; or use LLF to organize any "attack" on DU. Not only are many LLFers also DUers, but we do not wish to foster ill will between LLF and DU. Present and former DUers are required to maintain a supportive, respectful relationship with DU while interacting on LLF. The administration of LLF holds the administration of DU in high regard; no attacks on DU, its administrators, or members, will be tolerated. 8. You may not copy, in part or in full, any post, public or private, from LLF to any other Web site, including other message forums. Do not post any links to LLF from another Web site or message forum without clearing the external URL with the LLF administrator first. No, we can't stop you from linking to LLF from anywhere you want -- but if you bring the "wrong" kind of attention to LLF through a link from another site, the amount of trouble you cause LLF could lead your being banned. 9. You may not post pornographic content or any kind, either graphic or textual. You may discuss issues pertaining to human sexuality, as long as those issues, and discussion, are not designed solely to titillate (yes, titillate). If this is not clear, then think of it this way: Keep your discussion of sexual subjects to the maturity level of a PBS documentary -- not HBO's "Taxicab Confessions." You may never post any image, photographically realistic or otherwise, depicting human genitalia. 10. Do not post images of graphic gore or violence (e.g., dead Iraqis, PETA-like images of animal experimentation, etc.). There are no exceptions. You may link to such off-site images, provided you include a clear warning about the content of the image. 11. Follow any rules for posting specific to a given forum (posted in an "announcement" thread at the top of each forum). Posts unrelated to serious discussion of social issues, politics, or relevant news items (i.e., personal, "vanity," "fun" posts, etc.) belong in the Stonewall Inn. All other rules above apply to conduct in Stonewall. 12. Do not misuse your avatar or signature line, or choose a username, to deliberately "get around" any of the above rules. If you have any question about what this means, ask. Recommendations For your own privacy and safety, we recommend that you do not delve publicly into sensitive issues involving your personal life, which might come back to haunt you at a later date. There's a big difference between posting that you're devastated by your recent divorce, and posting that you were so devastated by your recent divorce, you went out last night, got blind drunk, and had anonymous sex in an alley. LLF has no hard-and-fast rules regarding profanity, although you are expected to use maturity and discretion -- and the LLF administration reserves the right to delete, move, and/or edit any post that abuses our no-censorship policy. It is strongly recommended you avoid using the c-word (not spelled out here, as doing in this public FAQ would guarantee LLF being blocked by some "Net Nanny"-like software), as the c-word is far more offensive to many people than any other term of profanity. Think twice before posting any opinion on Israel, and especially about the Israel/Palestine situation. You are not prohibited from discussing I/P, but you should be aware that this is a highly inflammatory topic, and you are practically guaranteed to get embroiled in a very heated argument, no matter what your position. Too, the LLF administration would rather not become involved in this kind of "mediation," and the moderators are more likely than not to simply shut down discussion of I/P altogether than attempt to "bring peace to the Middle East." Thus, we strongly advise you avoid discussion of I/P issues altogether, and/or take I/P discussion to another forum -- such as DU. Avoid starting a new thread about a subject that is already being discussed in a currently-active thread. Avoid posting ALL IN CAPS. It's yelling, it's rude, and other LLFers will probably come down on you for it. Addenda The Lavender Liberal Forums are free of charge. You are not required to pay for access, and those who donate money to help cover the costs of running LLF do so voluntarily, without receiving any special privileges (although donors get a "patron" image above their avatars, as a small token of recognition). If you want to help keep LLF running, and help pay for future enhancements to LLF, you are welcome to make a donation through the link found in the upper righthand corner of every page of LLF. Donations are accepted through PayPal; bear in mind that you are freely donating to an individual, and not to any company or organization, public, private, or non-profit. If you want to support LLF without donating cash directly, you are encouraged to visit the main page of LavenderLiberal.com and browse through our big directory of T-shirts, bumper stickers, art prints, and other gifts for political lefties, from a wide variety of vendors. When you use our links to make a purchase, we receive a small commission on the sale (and you do not pay even one extra penny). You are also encouraged to visit the Lavender Liberal Store directly, for our own line of left-wing gifts. We also do custom work, whether political or personal! Boilerplate Technical FAQ Login and Registration Issues Why can't I log in? Have you registered? Seriously, you must register in order to log in. Have you been banned from the board? (A message will be displayed if you have.) If so, you should contact the webmaster or board administrator to find out why. If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot log in then check and double-check your username and password. Usually this is the problem; if not, contact the board administrator. Why do I get logged off automatically? If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you log in, the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc. I've lost my password! Don't panic! While your password cannot be retrieved it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click I've forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time. I registered but cannot log in! First check that you are entering the correct username and password. If they are okay then one of two things may have happened: if COPPA support is enabled and you clicked the I am under 13 years old link while registering then you will have to follow the instructions you received. If this is not the case then maybe your account need activating. Some boards will require all new registrations be activated, either by yourself or by the administrator before you can log on. When you registered it would have told you whether activation was required. If you were sent an email then follow the instructions; if you did not receive the email then check that your email address is valid. One reason activation is used is to reduce the possibility of rogue users abusing the board anonymously. If you are sure the email address you used is valid then try contacting the board administrator. I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore! The most likely reasons for this are: you entered an incorrect username or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered) or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter case then perhaps you did not post anything? It is usual for boards to periodically remove users who have not posted anything so as to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get involved in discussions. User Preferences and Settings How do I change my settings? All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the Profile link (generally shown at the top of pages but this may not be the case). This will allow you to change all your settings. The times are not correct. The times are almost certainly correct; however, what you may be seeing are times displayed in a time zone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, you should change your profile setting for the time zone to match your particular area, e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. Please note that changing the time zone, like most settings, can only be done by registered users. So if you are not registered, this is a good time to do so, if you pardon the pun! I changed the time zone and the time is still wrong. If you are sure you have set the time zone correctly and the time is still different, the most likely answer is daylight savings time (or summer time as it is known in the UK and other places). The board is not designed to handle the changeovers between standard and daylight time so during summer months the time may be an hour different from the real local time. How do I show an image below my username? There may be two images below a username when viewing posts. The first is an image associated with your rank; generally these take the form of stars or blocks indicating how many posts you have made or your status on the forums. Below this may be a larger image known as an avatar; this is generally unique or personal to each user. It is up to the board administrator to enable avatars and they have a choice over the way in which avatars can be made available. If you are unable to use avatars then this is the decision of the board admin and you should ask them their reasons (we're sure they'll be good!) How do I change my rank? In general you cannot directly change the wording of any rank (ranks appear below your username in topics and on your profile depending on the style used). Most boards use ranks to indicate the number of posts you have made and to identify certain users. For example, moderators and administrators may have a special rank. Please do not abuse the board by posting unnecessarily just to increase your rank -- you will probably find the moderator or administrator will simply lower your post count. Posting Issues How do I post a topic in a forum? Easy -- click the relevant button on either the forum or topic screens. You may need to register before you can post a message. The facilities available to you are listed at the bottom of the forum and topic screens (the You can post new topics, You can vote in polls, etc. list) How do I edit or delete a post? Unless you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic that lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied. How do I add a signature to my post? To add a signature to a post you must first create one; this is done via your profile. Once created you can check the Add Signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio box in your profile. You can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box on the posting form. How do I create a poll? Creating a poll is easy -- when you post a new topic (or edit the first post of a topic, if you have permission) you should see a Add Poll form below the main posting box. If you cannot see this then you probably do not have rights to create polls. You should enter a title for the poll and then at least two options -- to set an option type in the poll question and click the Add option button. You can also set a time limit for the poll, 0 being an infinite amount. There will be a limit to the number of options you can list, which is set by the board administrator How do I edit or delete a poll? As with posts, polls can only be edited by the original poster, a moderator, or board administrator. To edit a poll, click the first post in the topic, which always has the poll associated with it. If no one has cast a vote then users can delete the poll or edit any poll option. However, if people have already placed votes only moderators or administrators can edit or delete it; this is to prevent people rigging polls by changing options mid-way through a poll Why can't I access a forum? Some forums may be limited to certain users or groups. To view, read, post, etc. you may need special authorization which only the forum moderator and board administrator can grant, so you should contact them. Formatting and Topic Types What is BBCode? BBCode is a special implementation of HTML. Whether you can use BBCode is determined by the administrator. You can also disable it on a per post basis from the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page. Can I use HTML? That depends on whether the administrator allows you to; they have complete control over it. If you are allowed to use it, you will probably find only certain tags work. This is a safety feature to prevent people from abusing the board by using tags which may destroy the layout or cause other problems. If HTML is enabled you can disable it on a per post basis from the posting form. What are smileys? Smileys, or emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether. Can I post images? Images can indeed be shown in your posts. However, there is no facility at present for uploading images directly to this board. Therefore you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.some-unknown-place.net/my-picture.gif. You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor to images stored behind authentication mechanisms such as Hotmail or Yahoo mailboxes, password-protected sites, etc. To display the image use either the BBCode [img] tag or appropriate HTML (if allowed). What are Announcements? Announcements often contain important information and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. Whether or not you can post an announcement depends on the permissions required, which are set by the administrator. What are Sticky topics? Sticky topics appear below any announcements in viewforum and only on the first page. They are often quite important so you should read them as soon as possible. As with announcements the board administrator determines what permissions are required to post sticky topics in each forum. What are Locked topics? Locked topics are set this way by either the forum moderator or board administrator. You cannot reply to locked topics and any poll contained inside is automatically ended. Topics may be locked for many reasons. User Levels and Groups What are Administrators? Administrators are people assigned the highest level of control over the entire board. These people can control all facets of board operation which include setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or moderators, etc. They also have full moderator capabilities in all the forums. What are Moderators? Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) whose job it is to look after the running of the forums from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material. What are Usergroups? Usergroups are a way in which board administrators can group users. Each user can belong to several groups (this differs from most other boards) and each group can be assigned individual access rights. This makes it easy for administrators to set up several users as moderators of a forum, or to give them access to a private forum, etc. Private Messaging I cannot send private messages! There are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged on, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you individually from sending messages. If it is the latter case you should try asking the administrator why. I keep getting unwanted private messages! In the future we will be adding an ignore list to the private messaging system. For now, though, if you keep receiving unwanted private messages from someone, inform the board administrator -- they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages at all. I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone on this board! We are sorry to hear that. The email form feature of this board includes safeguards to try to track users who send such posts. You should email the board administrator with a full copy of the email you received and it is very important this include the headers (these list details of the user that sent the email). They can then take action.