LUGNET STAFF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
A. Purpose
B. Staff Positions
C. Staff Duties
D. ToU Enforcement Procedures
E. Staff Code of Conduct
F. Member Appeal Process
Appendix I: Letter Boilerplates
Note: This should be broken out as a top-level index page with links, and an option to show everything on one page, like the FTX guide. But for editing, it’s just as easy to keep it all here for now. -kjm
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A. Purpose of this Document
Describe the duties, responsibilities, and code of conduct for all LUGNET
staff members. This document will be updated periodically and available for
review by all LUGNET readers and members. Feedback and suggestions are
welcome, and all changes to this document are at the discretion of the site
owner(s).
A community as large as LUGNET requires many people to maintain it. By the
site’s nature as a discussion venue, it’s unlikely that there will be
agreement of all members and staff about exactly how LUGNET should be run.
It is important for everyone (members and staff) to understand that LUGNET
is ultimately governed by the site owners, who have granted levels of
responsibility and authority to staff members. When a staff member exercises
authority, that authority is a direct extension of the site owners and
should be regarded as such.
This document provides both visibility into administrative processes used,
as well as a set of guidelines that govern the behavior and actions of staff
members.
This document will outline what actions are required for each staff
position; under what circumstances each action is implemented; procedures
used in implementing each action; a code of conduct for each position; and
consequences for either not following, or inadequately following, the
actions or conduct code as stated here.
Staff members are appointed by the site owners and remain part of the staff
unless and until the site owners, at their discretion, revoke staff status
for an individual.
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B. Staff Positions
There are currently eight (8) types of staff positions within LUGNET. Each
carries its own set of responsibilities and privileges. All persons
designated as a LUGNET Staff Member are bound by the Staff Code of Conduct,
as described in Section 5 of this document.
An updated list of current staff members is available at url TBD
Volunteering for staff positions: There are typically more positions open
than qualified personnel willing to put in the time and effort to fulfill
each position’s needs. If you feel you would make a good addition to the
LUGNET staff, please contact the LUGNET administrators at admin@lugnet.com
with the position you are interested in, along with your name, short
description of yourself, and why you feel you would be a good fit. Curator
requests must include your LUGNET member ID and the full group name and
hierarchy. The administrative staff will review your application and let you
know the results. Final decisions on all staff positions rest with the admin
staff and site owners.
1. Site Owners
2. Curator Adminstrators
3. Curators
4. Set Database Administrators
5. Technical Services
6. Infrastructure Administrators
7. Policy Administrators
8. LUGNET Transition Team
Note: When referring to the “Administrative Staff” generally indicates
Infrastructure and Policy Administrators; other staff members, sometimes
including the LUGNET Transition Team, Technical Services, and Set Database
Admins, are involved as necessary.
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C. Staff Duties
The following position-specific duties and their actions are detailed. There
will be times when the precise procedure is not or cannot be followed, but
the following represents the “ideal” process to be taken when an action is
required.
1. SITE OWNERS
LUGNET site owners have no current specific duties, other than acting as
final arbiter(s) in policy questions or membership issues. Site owners can
and do participate within various levels of administration, at their
discretion.
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2. CURATOR ADMINISTRATORS
Curator Administrators (sometimes called “metacurators” ) are responsible
for administering curatorships of the various groups. They have the power to
add and remove curators to groups and subgroup trees (for example,
administering lugnet.build.* affects curatorship lugnet.build and
lugnet.build.mecha and all the other build subgroups).
The Curator Administrator team receives requests and makes suggestions for
new curatorships or revisions to existing ones. After internal discussion
and consensus the changes are effected. As a matter of policy, consensus is
sought from current curators when contemplating an add or removal to a group
that already has curators.
Actions Required:
- Add Curator
- Remove Curator
- Seek volunteer for identified need
When actions are required:
- Add curator
- When a volunteer has been identified or steps forward, and consensus has been reached
- Remove curator
- On request, or when a curator needs removing for cause
- Seek volunteer
- When the last curator of a group is removed, or a new group created that needs curation and would benefit from it.
Procedure in implementing actions
- Add Curator
- Via the administrative interface, there is a mechanism to manipulate the list of all groups that a particular member number is curator of. Use this mechanism to add a group to the list of groups for that member (or add the member to the list if he or she has no groups active)
- Remove Curator
- As above, use this interface to remove the group from the list of groups for that emmber. In both cases the member number must be known
- Seek curator
- Review the group to identify likely volunteers who have shown an interest in the area. Post to the group and related groups seeking volunteers. Mail identified candidates to encourage them to volunteer.
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3. CURATORS
LUGNET curators are responsible for updating the sidebar and subpage content
of a particular group within the overall newsgroup hierarchy. A
current list of all LUGNET curators can be found at
http://news.lugnet.com/admin/curators/curators.cgi.
The name and email address of curator for a given group should be placed at
the top level of that group. The email address may be partially obscured and
only human-readable to prevent email harvesting for use in spam.
It is expected that curators are active in monitoring the areas within the
LEGO community that correlate to their group, and have the capability to
update sidebars and other information in a timely manner. In the event a
curator is no longer able to continue their duties in a timely manner, they
should notify the curator administrators of issues, and request they be
removed as curator, temporarily or permanently. Prolonged inactivity when
there is adequate content available for updating the sidebar or subpages is
grounds for removal upon the discretion of the administrative staff.
Actions required:
- Keeping the sidebar content (especially links and timely news) updated
- Creating and managing appropriate FTX-coded subpages within that group’s
- Responding to questions about that group
When actions are required:
- Sidebar content
- When first joining as a curator
- When new information (e.g. news, web site, event, etc.) is submitted
- Subpage creation/editing
- Upon curator’s discretion
- When new information is submitted or found
- Upon request from LUGNET site administrators
- Questions
- When a new question is received via email, as a post within that
Procedure in implementing actions:
- Sidebar content
- Curators click the “Edit Sidebar” button and adjust the page in FTX format.
- Subpage creation/editing
- Determine a page with the intended content does not already exist
- Following the FTX guide
- Questions
- If the question arrived as a post, post a reply
- If the question arrived as an email, email a reply, even if it’s
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4. SET DATABASE ADMININSTRATORS
NOTE: This section will be completed after
consultation with Set DB administrators.
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5. TECHNICAL SERVICES
The people behind the scenes that keep the server running, the software
updated, and the entire system connected to the Internet. NOTE: For security
reasons, portions of this position’s description are intentionally vague.
The technical services staff act as advisors as necessary when new projects
are being contemplated, or during any activity that may require a change in
server environment.
Actions Required:
- Monitor connectivity
- Monitor server performance and overall health
- Perform system upgrades and apply software patches
- Install new software services
- Configure additional hardware and software as needed
- Advise policy administrators on technical issues as needed
When Actions are required:
- Connectivity monitoring
- During periods of known instability with the Internet or physical location of servers
- Server performance
- See above
- System upgrades
- When security warnings are issued
- When significant software patches are released
- On request from administrative staff
- New software
- On request from administrative staff
- As circumstances warrant
- Additional Hardware/Software config
- On request from administrative staff
- As circumstances warrant
- Advise admins
- On request from administrative staff
Procedure in implementing actions:
- Connectivity monitoring
- MOnitoring description to come
- Server performance
- See above
- System upgrades
- System upgrades are typically performed during the lowest traffic time of the day
- Backups are confirmed prior to applying system upgrades
- If the site will be offline for any length of time (e.g. longer than 5 minutes), a maintenance post will be put online at least 24 hours prior to the upgrade, unless it’s an emergency installation, notifying the audience when the maintenance will begin, and an estimate of how long it should last.
- The specific installation readme.txt is followed and tested
- The upgraded software or hardware is tested. If all appears nominal, the site is returned online (if it was taken offline). Otherwise troubleshooting begins.
- New software
- See above.
- Additional Hardware/Software config
- Industry standard Best Known Methods are followed in creating new hardware or software instances.
- Advise Admins
- Provide as detailed or top-level advice as possible
- Act as part of the decision process as appropriate
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6. INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATORS
Provide vital behind-the-scenes actions on “administrivia” that keeps the
site running. This position has a round-robin structure and is monitored by
no fewer than three people at any time. These staff members function as a
team to efficiently process the routine actions and answer questions about
the LUGNET infrastructure. These administrators may also be involved in
setting and enforcing overall policy (see POLICY ADMINISTRATORS), but
such is not required.
Actions Required:
- Monitor and respond to emails from “admin@lugnet.com”
- Process membership email registrations (these allow posting)
- Process membership applications
- Respond to questions posted within the .admin heirarchy
- Contact members when administratively necessary
When Actions are required:
Procedure in implementing actions:
- Monitor emails
- Read email
- Check to make sure another admin hasn’t acted on the request
- Send an email fwd to rest of admin@lugnet.com, indicating this action has been claimed
- Perform action or research as requested in email
- Reply to email, cc: admin@lugnet.com
- Posting setup
-Visit a URL to review current pending posting setup requests. A list of URLs for each request is presented along with the “first” one to act on but any URL can be clicked at any time to defer that one and work on another.
- For each request, click the URL to get it to be active, review the true name and email looking for obvious falsehoods
- Review the posting name for suitability (non profane, etc) and likely spoof names
- Review the posting email, if it is different than true email, is it easily decodable by a human
- Decide about pass/fail. If fail, use convenient shortcut buttons to send messages (last name in wrong place, missing @ and several others) or type message in box, then press the fail button
- If pass, press the pass button
- After some or all requests processed, press the process button to enter them in DB and to send emails notifying
- Repeat until all requests have been processed.
- For truly confusing ones, seek consensus with other admins.
- Membership applications
- Visit a URL to review the current membership requests, select URL of request from list or work on “first” one.
- Ror each request review all the information entered looking for obvious spoofs or known dups
- Fix capitalisation problems or missing information problems if obvious (use the edit button to edit fields)
- For unobvious fixes, send a note to the member seeking clarification, skip a decsiion on this member and select another one from the list by clicking their URL
- After reviewing (and possibly editing) press the “pass” or “fail” or “duplicate” button as appropriate
- After some or all requests processed, press the process button to enter them in DB and to move them to next stage
- To come: payment processing
- Respond to .admin posts
- Read lugnet.admin regularly
- Research any issues or questions as necessary
- Confer with admin team as necessary
- Draft reply
- Post reply
- Contact members
- Compose message
- Email message
- Implement any reply if necessary
- Follow up if necessary
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7. POLICY ADMINISTRATORS
These folks are the public faces of LUGNET administration,
and post regularly within the newsgroups. This group collectively decides
how best to implement policy decisions within the LUGNET infrastructure.
Additionally, they are responsible for maintaining order within the
newsgroups themselves, including enforcement of ToU (Terms of Use)
violations. Not least, they help shape the tone of discussion by acting
as positive role models within the community.
The principal form of “rules” for behavior within LUGNET is the Terms of Use
page. This document is a set
of guidelines for behavior and etiquette, and is an overall guide to what
the staff would like LUGNET to be. It is not, and cannot be, a complete set of
rigid rules, but is rather a set of guidelines meant to demonstrate expected
behavior. Every effort is made to eliminate ambiguities when possible, but
there will always be “gray areas” that require interpretation. The Policy
Administrators are responsible for interpreting those gray areas; notifying
members who are in violation of the ToU, and enforcing any disciplinary
action needed when the ToU is not followed. Any member who has a question is
encouraged to contact a policy admin, or post in lugnet.admin.general, to
receive clarification. Once clarification has been provided, the results are
as binding as those within the ToU. If the clarification is substantial, it
will be added to the ToU rather than simply referenced. Policy admins will endeavour
to maintain a reference to posts that are useful clarifications and ToU
augmentation candidates, although all of them may not be present.
The overall purpose of policy administrators is to:
- Provide leadership within the LUGNET and overall LEGO communities
- Provide positive examples
- Maintain the atmosphere of friendly discussion LUGNET wishes to foster
- Assist members who have questions on LUGNET policy
- Interpret specific instances the ToU does not explicitly address
- Enforce disciplinary measures when the ToU is not followed, or when members disregard specific requests and/or ToU interpretations by LUGNET administrators
Please see Section 4, ToU Enforcement Procedures, for more information about
how LUGNET administrators deal with member-related issues.
Actions Required:
- Answer LUGNET-related questions throughout the newsgroups, as circumstances permit
- Answer general LEGO-related questions throughout the newsgroups, as circumstances permit
- Provide clarification of ambiguous or undefined areas within the ToU
- Acknowledge issues via discussion groups or email
- Provide warning posts when conversation contradicts the letter and/or spirit of LUGNET’s ToU
- Send warning emails
- Set concealment flag (“murfling”) on posts that contradict the ToU
- Review current policy and evaluate the need for changes or new policies
When Actions are required:
- Answer LUGNET questions
-Upon spotting a question in the lugnet.admin.* group, and when the admin is available to provide a constructive answer
- Answer general LEGO questions
- Upon spotting a question anywhere within the LUGNET newsgroups, and when the admin is available to provide a constructive answer
- Clarify ToU
- Upon spotting a question about LUGNET policies within LUGNET newsgroups
- Upon receiving an email question about LUGNET policies
- Upon reading a post within LUGNET newsgroups that may contradict the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon reading a post that definitely contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon reading a discussion with multiple posts that contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Acknowledge issues
- Upon receiving an email stating an issue, which the admin(s) cannot resolve immediately
- Upon reading a post or multiple posts that state an issue, which the admin(s) cannot resolve immediately
- Warning Posts
- Upon reading a post within LUGNET newsgroups that may contradict the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon reading a post that definitely contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon reading a discussion with multiple posts that contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon receiving an email or reading a post indicating a potential ToU violation with a specific post
- Send warning emails
- Upon reading a post that definitely contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon reading a discussion with multiple posts that contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon receiving an email or reading a post indicating a potential ToU violation with a specific post
- Murfle Posts
- Upon reading a post that definitely contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon reading a discussion with multiple posts that contradicts the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Upon receiving an email or reading a post indicating a potential ToU violation with a specific post
- Upon receiving an email or reading a post indicating the poster will not cancel their post, and the post contradics the spirit or letter of the ToU
- Review current policy
- Upon indication from members that one or more policies should be reviewed
- When it becomes apparent that an existing policy is no longer adequate for its intended purpose
- As circumstances within LUGNET, the LEGO community, and so on warrant
Procedure in implementing actions:
Due to the complex nature of implementing policy procedures within LUGNET,
Policy Admin procedures are outlined in Section D of this document.
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D. Terms of Use Enforcement Procedures
The owners and administrators of LUGNET wish to foster a generally positive
atmosphere of discussion. That’s not to say members are unable to freely
discuss issues of concern - but certain actions which are demoralizing or
otherwise detrimental to the health of the overall community are
discouraged. Examples include: personal attacks within discussion, posting
with the intent to elicit extreme negative or personal responses (aka
“baiting”), using language that is not fitting with the intended atmosphere
(specifically, strong profanity), and so on.
The ToU is designed to discourage these types of behaviors. Historically,
this has been a self-policing community, but the growth of the hobby and
increase in number of LUGNET members has made that approach more problematic.
Portions of the ToU have been interpreted many different ways by various
people over the years, so much so that the overall spirit of the ToU has
become less apparent. Periodic cleanup and revision of the ToU is a
necessary part of helping the spirit remain clear, but it is apparent more
clarification is necessary, hence this document has been created.
LUGNET Policy Administrators will attempt to assist members in
understanding where portions of the ToU apply in specific instances, but in
the end it is the member’s responsibility to understand and acknowledge the
ToU and the Policy Admins’ interpretations of the ToU. The
owners of LUGNET have delegated enforcement authority to Policy Admins
in maintaining the overall spirit of LUGNET, as embodied in the ToU.
Some important things for members and admins to understand:
- When posting from an @lugnet.com email address, the administrator is speaking FOR LUGNET, as an official representative of all policy administrators. Members should understand the content of these messages are as binding as what is stated within the ToS.
- The ToU is a guideline to behavior, not an absolute set of rules that define exact expectations. The ToU embodies the spirit of what owners and admins believe LUGNET should be. It will often be open to interpretation by Policy Admins.
- Major issues and their interpretations will be added to the special newsgroup lugnet.admin.announce, which will act as a codicil to the ToU.
- Administrators are not exempt from any ToU guideline; in fact, when acting as an official spokesperson for LUGNET, they are held to additional, more rigorous standards (see Section 5, Staff Code of Conduct).
- Administrators are also members, and as such are free to voice their opinions and viewpoints when not posting from within their LUGNET admin email address. As with all other members, all ToU guidelines apply to administrators at all times.
- Disputes regarding ToU violation enforcement can follow the procedures listed in Section 6 of this document, Member Appeals Procedure.
- Administrators are appointed by the site owners and are not subject to a vote of no-confidence or recall requests by LUGNET members.
- Administrators do what they do on LUGNET for the overall good of the community, and not for personal gain or agenda.
ToU Enforcement Process
The following steps are taken in this order, depending on the severity of
ToU violation. Steps are not mandatory; increasing severity or timeliness
may dictate going directly to an advanced step, bypassing earlier steps.
Each case will be based on an administrator’s judgment. An admin may take
steps A-D without consulting the rest of the admin team (although standard
practice has been to consult when time allows), while applying a
timeout (step E) requires the agreement of at least one other admin.
- Casual, non-official message from admin
- Official LUGNET notification/warning from admin NOTE: should this be public or private? This question is directed to the review committee.
- Murfling of message(s) in question
- Warning email to member(s)
- Timeout of member(s)
1. Casual, non-official messages from admin
Most admins are generally regular posters within LUGNET. As such, they are
accustomed to respond to questions, help people find information, provide
constructive criticism when they feel it appropriate, become involved in
sometimes heated discussions, and so on; much like any other good member of
a healthy community.
The content posted by administrators not using an @lugnet.com email address
is no more binding or “official” than any other member’s post; but like any
long-time member of a community, they generally have a wealth of knowledge
about different topics. Members should treat these posts as they would from
any other respected member of the community.
For example, if a conversation is bordering on violating the rules or spirit
of the ToU, depending on the admin(s) and member(s) involved, the admin may
choose to post as a “regular” member, recommending adherence to the ToU and
possibly giving specific examples or suggestions. This is not an official
action, but it should be taken as good advice. A non-official post is not
required prior to administrative action being taken.
Boilerplate Sample
2. Official LUGNET notification/warning from admin
If the member(s) involved choose not to heed such a post or email, or if
infringement is severe and in the view of the admins stronger measures are
needed, the admin(s) will likely post (or mail) an “official” message,
possibly reiterating the previous post or mail if one was made. This message IS an
official pronouncement of policy and should be heeded by all parties. Such a
message will be posted from an @lugnet.com email address, and if viewed in
the web version, will have a small LUGNET icon next to the poster’s name.
Such messages will ALSO have the full name of the admin and “LUGNET
Administrator” at the bottom of the post, so there is no doubt this is an
official LUGNET message. An official post is not required prior to
administrative action being taken, if the infringement is severe enough.
There is currently no exact boilerplate text for a warning, as the content will
depend on the circumstances of each warning.
Boilerplate Sample
(modified as circumstances warrant)
3. Murfling of message(s) in question
Specific posts that contain material the admin(s) deem in conflict with the
letter and/or spirit of the ToU are subject to being obscured from initial
view. This is known as “murfling” and does not remove or change the message.
A visitor will see the following text when encountering a murfled post:
This message has been flagged - it contains content
which may not be appropriate for all viewers. At your
own discretion, you may view the content by clicking
the "View Raw Message" link above.
If you post a reply to this message, please remember
to be courteous, respectful, and mature, and remember
that people of all ages and cultures participate here.
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The visitor can click the “View Raw Message” link to view the unobscured
message. The message will be in raw text format and will display no images,
hyperlinks, or other parsing. Readers will need to copy and paste text into
a browser’s Location field to see links or images.
Notification to a member that one or more of their messages was murfled is
not mandatory. Administrators may choose to send a courtesy email to the
message author, depending on circumstances. Admins will not demand a post be
canceled, but they can suggest it when appropriate.
Purpose of Murfling
Since its inception, one of the core tenets of LUGNET has been that each
member should be able to express themselves without fear that their messages
will be edited or canceled without explicit permission. This is exceptional
within nearly any community, and is done in respect to each person’s unique
perspective.
Following that core belief, while at the same time maintaining the type of
community as described in the ToU, LUGNET has implemented post murfling.
This in no way changes the content of the message, nor does it remove it
from view of those who wish to see it. It does, however, add a new layer of
action necessary to view material that the administration deems in violation
of the ToU. This is not a perfect solution, but it maintains the core
beliefs of avoiding unnecessary censorship while preserving the overall
LUGNET vision.
4. Warning email to member(s)
Depending on the level of ToU infringement, the admin may also choose to
email the poster and request they reconsider and cancel their post. The member is
not obligated to do so. In most cases, murfling a particular message should
be sufficient. In some cases where a member repeatedly posts messages that
require murfling, a warning may be sent by email. The member may be warned,
depending on the severity and number of murfled messages, that they could be
subject to a timeout unless they discontinue posting messages that require
murfling. Members are not required to respond to this email, however they
are encouraged to do so, especially if they have questions or concerns they
would like addressed. The intent is to avoid a timeout altogether.
Boilerplate Sample
5. Timeout of member(s)
Should a member post enough marginally ToU-infringing messages,
or messages with content that substantially violates the ToU agreement,
that member may be subject to
timeout. A timeout is not a punitive action, rather it is a chance for
members to reconsider and “cool off” when discussion becomes too heated. An
email warning may be sent by an admin prior to a timeout being applied, but
depending on the severity of the message(s) in question, this is not a
requirement. Nevertheless, it is preferable to avoid timeouts whenever
possible.
Timeout Process and Structure:
i.
| | Admin is made aware of a situation that may need addressing, either by direct discovery or upon notification from another LUGNET member.
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| | As outlined above, depending on the circumstances, messages and/or emails may be sent to the member(s) in question. The member(s) are not required to reply, but not replying may increase the chances of receiving a timeout.
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| | iii.
| | If the situation is not resolved by the member agreeing to adhere to the spirit and letter of the ToU, Admin recommends a timeout to the rest of the admin team, along with a recommended time limit.
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| | iv.
| | At least one other admin must agree to a timeout for it to be implemented. Each admin can recommend a time limit. The minimum time recommended is used.
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| | v.
| | Before a timeout is implemented, if any admin disagrees with the recommendation, or recommends a time limit of zero, then no timeout is implemented.
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| | vi.
| | The advisory process is currently managed through an email list and is non-realtime. The amount of time between recommendation and implementation therefore necessarily depends on availability and feedback of other admins. An admin can never implement a timeout unilaterally. For severe violations, waiting for one other admin is sufficient, if that admin agrees to the timeout recommendation. It is generally best to wait for a general consensus, to give all other admins a chance to review the recommendation, but that isn’t always possible and is therefore not an absolute requirement.
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| | vii.
| | If a timeout is agreed upon by the available admins, it is implemented immediately and the member notified (see Appendix I, Warning Letter Boilerplate). The member is required to answer this email, acknowledging the timeout, and agreeing not to repeat the actions that instigated the timeout. If the member fails to respond, their posting privileges will remain suspended. At least one follow-up email should be sent by the admin if no response is received from the member.
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| | viii.
| | The actual timeout “clock” begins once the member has replied and acknowledged the timeout. For example, if a 24 hour timeout is given to a member, the member’s posting privileges are revoked immediately and the appropriate email sent to their email address on record. If their reply is received one hour after the email was sent, the timeout term will begin upon email receipt by an admin, and end 24 hours later, for a total non-posting time of 25 hours. At least one follow-up email should be sent by the admin if no response is received from the member, but failure to keep mail correctly up to date, or failure to set up spamblocks correctly to allow mail from admins is not grounds for waiver of the acknowledgement starting the clock.
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| | ix.
| | Once a timeout is implemented, it cannot be cancelled before its minimum recommended time without unanimous agreement of the admin team. Retroactive “veto” votes by administrators after timeout implementation have no affect.
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| | x.
| | The technical implementation currently demands a human in the loop - timeouts are an entirely manual process. Therefore, the length of the actual timeout may vary somewhat, depending on circumstances. If the admin is unable to re-enable posting privileges at the exact time of the timeout term, they should either request another admin to assist, or re-enable posting privileges not more than an hour before or after the end of the timeout period. However, understanding is asked, no slight is intended if the exact time cannot be adhered to.
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| | xi.
| | If the member receiving a timeout is a staff member, they will not be allowed to submit recommendations on the term of the timeout. The following adjusted per Todd’s comment: The staff member will continue to perform any LUGNET duties unrelated to the purpose of the timeout.
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Timeout Notification Boilerplate
End of Timeout Notification Boilerplate
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E. Staff Code of Conduct
Just as the all members of LUGNET are expected to comport themselves in
accordance with the Terms of Use agreement, LUGNET staff members must be
held accountable to a code of conduct. The following are basic rules of how
staff members are expected to interact with members in general, and with
each other. Consequences of repeatedly failing to follow these guidelines
are detailed at the end of this section.
- All members are expected to follow the ToU. Staff members are not exempt from needing to follow the same rules as all other LUGNET members. Their actions are subject to the same scrutiny and procedures as everyone else, whether or not they are posting as an official LUGNET representative.
- Staff members, by virtue of representing LUGNET in particular and the overall LEGO community in general, should always be cognizant of the extra attention being in that position brings. Consistently poor actions of a LUGNET staff member, regardless of whether or not those actions occurred while the staff member was representing LUGNET officially, reflect poorly not only on that person, but on LUGNET and the entire LEGO community.
- Being a LUGNET staff member does not, in itself, confer automatic respect. It is the actions of the staff member that earn respect.
- Staff members are human beings, just line everyone else, and are not expected to be perfect, any more than any other LUGNET member. These guidelines are a code and not a set of absolute rules. They are as open to interpretation as the ToU is.
- When posting in an official capacity, administrators should always use their @lugnet.com email address. They should also put their full name and the words “LUGNET Administrator” at the bottom of any official posts.
- LUGNET admins are not required to use their “official” personae in all instances, like when making recommendations or reminding members of specific ToU requirements. However, those messages are not binding and are not considered official statements by LUGNET staff.
- When at all possible, a reasonable escalation of warnings should be used in dealing with ToU violations. For example, an unofficial post is not necessarily adequate warning before recommending a timeout. If, in the opinion of an administrator, a situation may warrant an eventual timeout, then a message should be official.
- Except in extreme circumstances, communication or issues outside the scope of LUGNET.com should not be invoked or considered when posting an official LUGNET message, or in recommending or considering timeout requests.
- Messages should be murfled only when they appear to violate the letter or spirit of the ToU, and NOT because the staff member disagrees with the content or argument of the message.
- When composing official LUGNET messages, every effort should be made to avoid personal judgments; value judgments between those in dispute; reprimands; and other statements that may appear biased one way or another.
- Official statements should be as neutral as possible in phrasing.
- Official LUGNET messages should be polite to anyone referenced.
- Personal opinions should not be expressed in official LUGNET messages.
- Personal agendas should not be expressed in official LUGNET messages.
- Any perception of favoritism should be absent in official LUGNET messages.
- Staff members should not feel that they are obligated to answer questions or provide detailed rationale for decisions made in an official capacity.
- On the other hand, valid concerns expressed by members should be passed to the entire admin team for discussion, as appropriate.
- Official LUGNET messages should be as concise as possible, and deal with specific issues rather than vague generalities. Examples and links should be provided whenever they would be helpful.
- Staff members should not feel that they cannot express themselves as freely as any other member when they post non-official messages.
- Except in unavoidable circumstances, messages authored by LUGNET staff members but posted under their personal email addresses should not be construed as being reflective of official LUGNET policy. In the case of a non-LUGNET address being used for technical reasons, there should still be a very clear statement that this post DOES reflect official policy, with the pro forma signature, and the post should be cancelled and replaced with one with the same content but from the official posting identity as soon as practicable.
- Tone and content of unofficial messages authored by LUGNET staff members can and should be quite different from official LUGNET messages they may author. One should not be compared against the other.
- Administrators should always be aware that their interpretations of given issues can and will be reconciled with the ToU. Interpretations of the ToU should be based on prior interpretations when possible, and in no cases should an interpretation directly conflict with the ToU or an earlier interpretation.
- If the issue is important enough, and has not been detailed in an earlier interpretation, a message succinctly describing the issue and outcome should be posted to lugnet.admin.announce where it can be used in the future.
- Admin rulings/interpretations posted within lugnet.admin.announce are subject to review by the entire administrative team. Until and if a given message within lugnet.admin.announce is rescinded by the majority of the administration team, it will carry the same weight as the ToU and all LUGNET members are expected to abide by it.
- Official LUGNET messages are announcements and not invitations for debate. Feedback is always welcome, of course, but it will not necessarily have any effect on an official message.
- Administrators should not engage in debates stemming from an official message post, or debate LUGNET policy in general. Unsolicited suggestions, criticism, demands of explanation, and so on should all be answered briefly and courteously.
- Staff members who, in the view of the rest of the admin staff, do not or cannot abide by the staff code of conduct will be asked to either step down as a staff member, or cease executing the functions that are in question.
- Administrators are appointed by the site owners and are not subject to a vote of recall by LUGNET members.
- All LUGNET members should understand that staff positions are all completely voluntary, and there is no tangible reward for volunteering. These members have chosen to help the community and LUGNET.
Review and Removal of Staff Members
Staff members are appointed by Site Owners and the admin team, and as such,
can only be dismissed by those groups.
A person may leave the LUGNET staff in one of four ways:
- Resignation
- Request (and grant) a leave of absence
- Dismissal by unanimous vote of the admin team (minus the staff member in question)
- Dismissal by one or both of the Site Owners
Action will be taken, at the discretion of the admin team and/or site
owners, on one or more of the following conditions:
- Repeated noncompliance with the LUGNET staff code of conduct
- Chronic or severe breaches of the ToU
- Failing to perform routine duties over an extended period of time
- Conduct on or off LUGNET which places LUGNET in a poor or unfavorable light
- Conducting or allowing illegal activities to occur on LUGNET
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F. Member Appeal Process
In cases where members feel that actions taken by the administration did not
reflect all the facts of the matter, or were not warranted, members can, and
should, communicate privately with the admin team, sharing additional
information, or explaining why they think the situation did not warrant the
actions taken.
The administration will review the mail and make a determination as to
disposition, which determination is final. There is no appeal from
administration decisions once reviewed. The user’s only recourse is to
discontinue use of LUGNET.
The LUGNET Admins will not engage in debate with users about administrative
actions. Posts to admin.general should be couched in general terms rather
than referring to specific actions.
APPENDIX I: Letters Boilerplate
- Mild warning
- Official warning
- Notice of time out
- Suggested boilerplate reply (by user being timed out)
- Notice of end of time out
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