Commenter’s Code

(Or, How to Avoid the Banhammer)
Version 1

Hello, and welcome to the official City on a Hill Press website! We’re glad you’re here. Please, come on in, pull up a chair, and let’s chat.

City on a Hill Press strives to build a strong community of interested and involved community members. One of the ways we do this is encourage people to post comments on our site’s posts. We want to hear what you have to say! Heck, we may even want to join you in the conversation, too.

But wait just a moment… before springing into the waters of the community, let’s cover some ground rules, ok? After all, we want to make sure our community is a place for constructive discussion, or is entertaining at the very least. So (and we can’t stress this enough) read the rules below before you post! And remember, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email the Mod Team at mods@cityonahillpress.com.

Follow the Golden Rule

Our Community Guidelines are built upon the general philosophy that people deserve to be treated with respect. Or, as the old saying goes, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Or, in layman’s terms, don’t be a jerk.

Remember, we don’t want to ban anyone. But we also want to make sure our community doesn’t devolve into pointless ranting. As long as you’re acting in good faith, we’re pretty forgiving.

Stay on Topic, and Keep it Interesting

Random comments “out of left field” won’t do much to forward any discussion whatsoever. Please make sure your comment has something to do with the topic at hand. Shouting stuff like “OMG BUNNIES” probably isn’t relevant and won’t create any good discussion (well, unless we’re talking about bunnies, in which case we’ll probably be the first to say “OMG bunny! Awwwww!”).

Also, keep in mind that comments don’t have an edit button. So, please make sure that your comment is doing something to help forward the conversation along. Simply posting “First!” doesn’t do anything besides declare your victory in some sort of imaginary posting race. Posting comments isn’t a race, so please take the time to make sure you’re saying what you mean to say.

Read the Other Comments First

We’d like to avoid repetitious post after repetitious post. Beyond that, we’d like our comment threads to be a dialog between members, not an endless stream of random quips. So please take a moment before your post to make sure you’re not covering something that’s already been said. Perhaps you’ll find buried in the comment stream a really cool point to reply to that you hadn’t previously considered. (Well, at least we can dream…)

No Inappropriate Stuff

Do we really need to describe what this is? Generally speaking, if the greater community would find what you’re posting insulting or inappropriate, outside the realm of free speech, it’ll likely get removed. So, no hate speech, porn, links to shock sites, excessive cursing, spam… et cetera, et cetera.

No Flame Wars

We can’t even begin to stress how much we don’t care to see two people making personal insults back and forth. It’s boring, it’s not constructive, and it just makes everyone feel bad. Remember, debate the issue, not the people (or their spelling/grammar, for that matter).

Full Disclosure

Be up front about who you are. If you work for a company or group mentioned in a post, or you mention such a service in your comment, it’s best to explicitly note your relation to the company or group.

Don’t Break our Site (or our eyes)

Posts with OMG EXCLAMATION POINTS AND EXCESSIVE CAPITALIZATION!!!!!!!!!!! get really old after a while and really don’t add much to your point-of-view.  Please take it easy on the capitalization and punctuation, ok? (By the way, you know all caps on the internet equates to yelling, right?)

Along that same strain, long strings of characters without spaces can end up breaking the site layout. Don’t make these posts.

Let the Mods Moderate

Please, let the CHP Moderators (or, Mods) handle comments that break this policy. We’re trained professionals who know how to handle the banhammer with care. Should you run across a comment that breaks these rules, here’s what to do:

1. Slowly walk backwards, away from the commenter. Don’t incite the commenter or write back comments like “Reported!” or “You are soooooo getting banned!” (See No Flame Wars above).
2. Email us about the comment at mods@cityonahillpress.com.

And What if I Break the Rules?

Well, why do you have to ask that? We have such high hopes for you… we know you’d never dream of breaking the rules… right? Right?

Well, to put it simply, we decide on issues on a case-by-case basis, keeping in mind the simple rule that commenting on our site ultimately is a privilege. Unless you do something way out of bounds, we’ll likely give you a warning when you break the rules, and likely remove the offending comment, or disemvowel it. If you do post something way out of bounds, or you choose to ignore warnings from the mods, you’ll likely end up on the wrong end of Ye Olde Banhammer, losing all commenting privileges.

Should you get banned and feel that such a ban is unwarranted, please contact us at mods@cityonahillpress.com and we’ll see if we can work something out for you.

What happens when a comment is “Disemvowelled”?

Oh, that’s when we remove all the vowels in comment, making it nearly impossible to read. We do this for posts that aren’t ban-worthy, but are still not quite appropriate. If your comment gets disemvowelled, take it as a serious warning that what you posted isn’t really appropriate and you should really reconsider what you’re posting, so you don’t end up getting banned.

And the Last Rule…

Have fun! We really want to make sure that you’re having a great time posting on our site, so feel free to let loose a bit and chat it up with our fellow community members. As long as you’re following the spirit of our Community Guidelines and the Golden Rule, you’ll be fine. So take a moment and breathe, then we’ll see you in the comment threads!

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Legal Mumble Jumble

Okay, we couldn’t make one of these Commenter’s Code posts without adding a disclaimer. Here’s ours:

We do our best to ensure inappropriate comments are removed as quickly as possible. Though, we’re not perfect, and sometimes a comment that breaks the above rules or is otherwise offensive slips by and ends up publicly displayed for a short time.
By browsing and/or commenting on our site, you acknowledge that comments are the opinion of the indicated author (even CHP Staff Posts) and that the comment tools are provided As-Is, without any warranties.

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How to Become a Commenter:

1. Sign up for an account at www.cityonahillpress.com using your desired username and email.
2. We’ll email a password to you. Use the username you picked when you signed up and your temporary password to log in to your account.
   Note: We suggest changing your password once you log in from the Edit My Account page.
3. Your account is now activated. Yay!
   …Though, please note your first comment must be approved by a Moderator before it will appear on the site. This is known as your “audition” comment. Once we approve a comment of yours, comments you make from then on will appear on the site instantly.