Thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot to floss ;)

The rules are suposed to be dry. This is the final draft, of which I will then send to a lawyer who will make it even less funny and type it in all uppercase so you are very sure to understand. Humor is not allowed here at all. No sir. Not allowed.

no. no "haha" or "hehe" funny. just sad. you can post sad comments. only. thank you for your understanding.

I should add, I probably will not answer any questions directly in this post. I kind of winged this rules thing this morning, so your questions are all valid ones that I'll address in the final revision of "The Rules".

good lilbit. you are learning. now add a touch of sadness to your post. maybe it rained today? maybe your toast is a little too burnt? maybe they didn't put folgers in your cup this morning?

my post has sadness, the old lady hands, that's sad because they are wrinkled, and the leaves are about to die. All very very sad IMO of course.

The canon truck driver was very nice and offered to take pictures at the pet semetary. ................... Sorry, had to break to cry. One lens cap did break in the accident. I believe the driver teared up as he picked the broken black lens cover off the cold hard pavement.

No damage to the Canons? SG, cory said a little depressing, but that's a bit extreme.

I bet this is kinda like you job around here lately. http://www.homestarrunner.com/vcr_poop.html

Some of the parts that you guys are taking as banning innocent ribbing were my suggestions... That's really not the case. I don't know how many of you are familiar with a site named kuro5hin... cory and i used to be regulars on that site. That site, in my opinion, has basically degraded to the point where neither of us visit anymore - all of the comments are flames, trolls, etc. The purpose of the rules is to eliminate any sort of conversations that amount to "This is porn take it down", "no its not", "you suck", "no, you suck more", "on top of that, it's photoshopped, and photoshop sucks", "your mom took a picture of me last night and that was even better than your crappy photoshopped porn", etc.... basically I think cory wants to keep the site fun, interesting, and not bogged down in a whole bunch of angry flamewars. I think, for instance, making fun of cory for his oft-metro taste in clothing, his ridiculously bad spelling ability, his mom's presence at my house last night, well, you get the idea. Cory (and the rest of the upstanding citizenship here) want a site that's welcoming, fun, and not frustrating or aggravating to visit; that's the point of the rules, in my opinion.

Thanks for taking a stab at this guys - I think I understand what you're trying to get us to. Can I take some of your "no fun!" rules as just a bit of sarcasm?? Seems you're trying to say "fun is fine", but let's try to keep on topic (at least most of the time) which is helping each other be better photographers & sharing some of our passions (good ones you can talk about in front of the grandkids, I mean :-o ), hobbies, lives, etc. And, let's just be adults & treat each other with respect (and that does include having some good natured fun)?

LOL....last time...$&^&$#*__)^%$ !!

Ok... I'll be good....

Nicely put John...

Things that I have never found in short supply here since my somewhat recent arrival at Photographica: Good work, good folks, appropriate critique, encouragement to all levels of photographers. Mixed in with a good amount of humor and sense of community. I believe that is what Cory and most of us would like to keep. I tried to keep it dry and professional Cory, as per the rules. Didn't even throw in a Lol or anything remotely confused as whimsical..... gotta work on this....

Trying again to see if I'm signed in in the comments....shows I am signed in under my account.... Ok,it worked.

Rules are OK, desirable actually, so there are clear guidelines for members to follow. The site owners are entitled to set, and enforce, the rules, and members are free to stay or leave. Suggest in your final draft concentrate on brevity. Excess length and verbage only serves to open debate on interpretation. My recommendation would be to decide the minimum number of rules you can live with, and state each one of them in very few words. Example: NO PORN, JUST ART. EDITORS WILL MAKE THE CALL Experience on how each rule is enforced will in a fairly short time clear up any questions of interpretation. I enjoy Photographica a lot and think well thought out and articulated rules will be a plus for the site.

Okay, Okay....with the exception of the occasional sarcastic smarty pants (moi) and those darn perverts (moi squared) the site is a great community to be in. I know my behavior this morning was not appreciated by the editors of this site, but I did at least feel free to speak my mind...until told I was out of line. I'm in agreement the rules should be fairly bare-bones...most of us (not moi) know how to act in public/photographica. Cory, don't punish everyone just because some bi-polar nut is in a manic phase because someone in her corporate office called her a liar at 6:30 in the morning and she took out her anger on the "new guy". My apologies for speaking my mind and stepping on toes, Jo

I've lurked for over 3 months before my first post and was very pleased with the response and respect received by all. No flames, no trolls, no weenies (OK maybe a couple). I think the rules are appropriate and grounded in common sense. I also find the back and forth banter (expecially between the regulars) enjoyable. It conveys a true sense of community. To AH's point, the technical discussions are there to be had if you ask the questions. I've found folks more than willing to discuss how they got their great shot if you ask. And my final thought/request is for Cory to reinstate his smiley cat avatar so my 6 year old daughter will stop yelling at me to bring it back. Please Cory, I'm begging you......

I have to apologize for Cory. His sense of humor and sarcasm comes across very serious if you don't know him. We're not trying to keep humor off this site. Both in comments and photos, humor has always been a huge part of this site. We had a theme on it last month. Come on. Cory's avatar is a smiling kitty. (Ok, he's since changed it to a guy picking his nose, either way...) If that's not humorous, I don't know what is. What we're asking is that everyone remember that the primary focus of this site is to share our photos and receive feedback on them. If you want to banter with your favorite photographers, feel free to do it whenever they post their photos. But it's not fair to new photographers here to have their requests for feedback hijacked by friendly chatter or forceful reminders of rules. If you wouldn't consider yourself at least an online acquaintance of the photographer, stick with commenting on the merits of the photos until you get to know them.

Let me first say that I am one of the guilty ones. Yes, I was one of those, along with KayN and SuferGuy, that tried to point out to newbies that the rule, though not in writing, was one post in a 24 hour period. So, I stand guilty as charged. Why the three of us? I think because we are on line earlier than some of you. Therefore, we see the multiple posts before many of you. With the tremendous influx of posters over the past few months, I have been seeing posts disappear to page two in fewer than 24 hours, and I'm sure the time on page 1 will continuously get shorter. I have been glancing in occasionally today and have watched this debate build. I think rules are good, and I will do my best to follow them as I think we all will. But shame on us. A few posts up, I see that one of our posters-of-stories says he will cut back on the number of words he uses in his posts. I, for one, have always looked forward to the stories some of our posters use to enhance their images. Are we going to curtail the number of words used in a post? Are the stories gone? Are the poems gone? After all, doesn't it say, "Post New Story"?

I don't believe the length or number of photos affects how long post stay on the front, I think it holds a set amount of post.

dirk, excellent idea! You are truly blessed with logic.

We for one and us three for all... does that make any sense.. anyway... we three Don, Ms. N and Me (SG... He He ) pledge to be nice to the newbies from this day forward... Hope I didn't speak out of turn ..Don... N... Okidokie... Wooo Hoooo.....

I'm relatively new to the site. I think the rules make sense. I for one appreciated the advice to read the help file and on how to get a description for the pictures other than DESCRIPTION_HERE. From my perspective, I think the community here is great and the comments constructive. One general rule that I've followed is that I don't offer constructive criticism unless the person has asked for it. I've always believed that feedback is best received if solicited.

I am probably one of the greatest offenders of the rules. I try damn hard to produce good photos, and I know I am not near the quality of most here, but I enjoy the hobby and like sharing it here. I love having fun and went a bit overboard with the mouse posts and I apologize for that. No more of that stuff. It was only meant for a few laughs. I would like to continue to post on this site and will keep it hopefully up to your expectations.

It would be nice if this site was a site that used terms of photography and explained them to each other... that for no other reason than we are just here to share and learn, and might not know all the tech..terms, but are embarrased " maybe " to ask ... and maybe have a section on basic terms..just a thought ...then more people could use those terms to understand better what their reaching for, and then be able to use them in a comment and not feel they have a scarlet letter on their chest...I know your going to say that we're not a teaching site..but we seem to be a family..and some might need a little knowledge....knowledge is power. And for 1 would like some power in this field

I am glad things are spelled out in the rules. I agree with an earlier posting (somewhere??) that it would help to have the rules somehow pop up for new people, maybe as they register? I also lurked/read posts for many days before registering. I find most of the comments helpful and/or funny, but can understand how someone would be put off if the subject completely changed and they weren't receiving any helpful comments about their photos. The frequent posters are obviously good friends and that gives me hope that I can get to know all of you. I guess sometimes though I can feel like a kid looking through the candy shop window, not a part of things since I am so new and not sure how to get to know people. (whew, all this soul bearing is tiring! ) Anyway, Cory, thanks for the rules.

Hi, Jellybean. My name is Jo. And I'm a photo-holic. (hi jo). I have been clean and sober and not posted for 24 hours (hee hee). I realize I am helpless in my pursuit of interesting pictures. We are happy to have you join us. Once SurferGuy and AnyMooseHero start picking on you...you may decide you don't want buddies like us!

thanks guys! (sniff) like i said, the rules have been a great thing for clearing up many questions I know I had. yes, today is my one month birthday for posting (thanks for noticing jo!) and i really do want to soak up the advice and continue to get better with the photographs.

Hey Beh... i figured out that no one would REALLY bite (hard) (snicker). This is the first time I've ever shown my photographs to anyone, but figured I'd never get any better if I didn't.

mmmm cookies, I hope they're Oatmeal.

Pyro, your hose is showing...yowza!

Good idea dirk, it's the only way to learn, but be specific about what it is we need to correct and tell us (ok me) how.

one of the things I LOVE about this site is to see the growth in photographers from when they first posted to now. Yeah, I'm talking about you, Lil, but I'm also thinking about Kay and others. Heck, I think I've vastly improved since I started, and it's thanks to feedback from you and all the members here. Even "I like the third one" helps me...because then I think something must be good about that shot that it struck a cord with someone...now I need to figure out why!

ohhhhh, that was the nicest thing I've heard in like forever. Thanks John, yer swell mister...wink wink nudge nudge

rotflmao

*snicker* pyro made a funny!

am I ever serious? LOL nice hose ya got there mister.

Well Lil if you would lengthen your skirt you little.....witchy one.

LIL! You're gonna make them impose a dress code if you aren't careful! We will all hafta wear short skirts...do you really want to see SurferGuy, Pryro or Moose in a skirt?

so about the rules, I think they're great and we should all stop cluttering up the site with things other then something worth while to hear about pertaining to the photos....((ehem)) Penny that shot of alien gut was amazing, Your son has true talent, and so do you for taking the shot, it was very clear and the light was perfect.

great now you just scared my dog, he ran out of the room.

You don't have a dog!! Black cat...pet bat?

No, will kilts do?

traditionaly nothing.

for penny and lilbit My friend's head ps'd on J-Lo's body...critique away.

need to run it through another filter to get it a little clearer and smoother, like Moose's butt. but other then that, great job, do me now do me now. I want somebody else's body too.

I wonder... I know how that pizza would feel in my belly, but I wonder how it would look in B&W, or for that matter in sepia. Gee, jo, I was hoping you put your friend up for the guys.

Okay, SG. We shared the pizza. Now you share the brownies. Please?

Don't eat a bug, SG, jimmy might need it......I know John meant to put your name in there, too......you have surpassed anything I could do......

Oh, yeah, so Cory, is this what you mean by staying on subject and don't hi-jack someone's post?

The Pizza?

I'm still down at my post trying to hijack it by myself.

Lil you really shouldn't be yelling, Do me now, Do me now.

Hey what happened? Damn I miss everything

hey! I missed the pizza AND the kilt??

Good and to the point.

wow, I just came back from a bible study group..and this is what I find....cool

Well, maybe not so cool

hey, i made your avatar, and it's photoshopped, so it doesnt belong on this site!