Questions
- How do I register?
- Some users have small photos
of themselves show up in their posts. Isn't that due to "registration"?
- How do I log off the site?
- When reading a message, are
there ways to contact the writer of the message or learn more about
him?
- When I post, do I have to use my real name?
- When I post, do I have
to include my e-mail address?
- When I post, can I include
HTML and images in my post?
- May I post photos of minors?
- May I post photos or videos showing the cutting of hair?
- Can I use marks like tildes, accents,
and umlauts?
- May I post in foreign languages, use regional expressions, or use
"text messaging" lingo or similar abbreviations?
- I made a mistake in my post.
Can I correct it or delete it?
- Will my post stay on the board forever?
- How do I pick up
my mail if someone writes me through the mail system?
- I was shown a notice that
my post was not accepted. What does that mean?
- What subjects are considered "on topic"?
- Are women and transgenders welcome?
- Is "constructive" (negative) criticism permitted?
- Are posts on "off topic" subjects permitted?
- Are personal ads permitted?
- What do I do if a user makes me uncomfortable?
- Do you have behavior rules?
- I have a complaint. What do I do?
- There are other forum formats available. This one
is old and other formats are often used now. Why do you still use this
one?
- Do you have web pages
on hair care and on dealing with long hair discrimination?
- Do you have information about the chat room?
- How is the site paid for?
Answers
1. How do I register?
You can't. We don't have registration. You can both read and
post without it. We don't have registration because it annoys
users, and we prefer to not annoy users.
2. Some users have small photos
of themselves show up in their posts. Isn't that due to "registration"?
No, those photos, which we call "avatars", come from being in the
Users' Directory. Joining the directory is optional, and you are invited
to join it after you have been posting with us consistently for a month.
A page that explains how to get listed, and how to change or remove
your listing in the directory, is here.
3. How do I log off the site?
You can't, and you don't have to. Remember, we never made you
log in.
4. When reading a message, are
there ways to contact the writer of the message or learn more about
him?
If his name is a link, clicking on it will open a page that
will e-mail him through our mail system if you are a regular
user. You can read more about our mail system
here. If he
has an avatar, clicking on it will take you to his web page
if he has one, or it will show you a large photo of him if he
doesn't. If a user has a web page, often he will have a way
to contact him on his page. If you click the "other
posts" link by his name, you can see what other posts he has
on the board right now.
5. When I post, do I
have to use my real name?
You may, or you may use an alias. If you use an alias, please
use the same one all the time, and choose one no one else is using.
Using more than one alias is seen not as an attempt at anonymity, but
rather as an attempt to mislead other users, so that is prohibited.
6. When I post, do I have
to include my e-mail address?
No, entering your e-mail address is optional. Your e-mail address will
not be shown in your message if you do enter it though, so spammers
will not get it off the board. There are a few reasons why you might
want to enter your e-mail address:
- It will cause your avatar to appear.
- It will let regular users e-mail you through our mail system.
- Entered enough, it will cause the system to recognize you as
a regular user, which gives you outgoing access to the mail
system and access to the chat room.
- It will enable the moderators to contact you if they need to.
This can prevent your posting being suspended until you e-mail
them to find out why.
7. When I post, can I include
HTML and images in my post?
Just in the body of the message. We have a separate page that will help
you format text, include links, and include photos in your post, using
HTML codes. That page will also tell you how
to use shortcuts in the software to link a web page, link a photo,
or upload a photo from your computer into your message. You can see
that page here. If you don't use HTML, you
should still avoid using angle brackets <> in your messages
because they are read as HTML, and for example, if you use <g>
in a message it won't show up so use [g] instead. And instead of angle
brackets to show the other guy's words as is common in e-mail, use
colons : instead.
8. May I post photos of minors?
Photos of minors are only permitted if the minor is
suitably clothed and the photo is in no way suggestive.
Photos of minors are further limited to those of members
of your immediate household, of public figures such as
celebrities, or of yourself. If you are at or near
minor age, you may also include friends near your own
age in photos that also contain yourself, if you are
sure your friend would approve. However, if you are not
a regular user, someone we have come to know, the only
photos of minors you may post are photos of yourself.
(This policy does not limit use of photos where minors
are far in the background and their appearance is clearly
happenstance.)
9. May I post photos or videos
showing the cutting of hair?
No. We do not allow haircutting photos or videos, nor links to
them. Everyone knows what haircutting is, so such photos or
videos serve no educational purpose. Even more importantly,
haircutting photos and videos go completely against our main
mission and purpose for existing here - to provide support for
men to grow and KEEP their hair long.
10. Can I use
marks like tildes, accents, and umlauts?
The site accepts characters with such marks in some places but we
recommend against their use for three reasons:
(1) We have users from many parts of the world and these characters do not
get shown the same from one country to another as well as from one browser
or operating system to another, (2) words containing these characters will
not be picked up by searches of the archive, and (3) we cannot guarantee
that these characters will be handled the same in the future as they are
now.
11. May I post in foreign languages, use regional expressions, or use
"text messaging" lingo or similar abbreviations?
The purpose of our site is for us to communicate with each other, and
posts should be made to be as readable by others as possible. As
best you can, please post in English and use standard spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation. Avoid all but the most common
abbreviations. Try to avoid expressions that are not understood in
all regions or by all generations. Foreign language posts are fine
from users who do not know English or in the occasional banter
between users who share a language; however such posts will be
removed if the crew cannot ascertain their meaning. Use of "text
messaging" lingo or similar abbreviations is prohibited. There is no
need for them since most of our users are not viewing the site with
small handheld screens. Text messaging lingo and regional
expressions are difficult for some native speakers of English to
read, and these are nearly impossible for most users whose native
language is not English to read. The reason you post is to get your
words read, and we consider the writer's one-time effort to make his
post readable a more efficient use of everyone's time than making
several hundred users each spend extra time to figure out what the
writer meant. The purpose of this rule is not to discourage those
with no or limited English skills from posting. It is to discourage
those from using poor English who should know better.
12. I made a mistake in my post.
Can I correct it or delete it?
No. The moderation crew can do it but that is obviously a
hassle. If you've just really got to have a message deleted or revised,
then of course let us know.
13. Will my post stay on
the board forever?
No. We remove threads that have not seen activity in about ten
days. At that time they are put into the
archive. The archive
can be accessed from a link on the site's main page.
14. How do I pick up
my mail if someone writes me through the mail system?
Your mail will be instantly sent to your regular e-mail address.
Making you come to our site to pick up your mail, like some sites
do, is tacky. If you have a spam filter, see our
mail server info page for
suggestions on how to set your filter to recognize mail from our
mail server.
15. I was shown a notice that
my post was not accepted. What does that mean?
There are two kinds of notices like that. One is the "Screening
Notice," and that means your message was sent to the moderators to
look at first. The other notice, the "Posting Limit Notice", means
the timing, quantity, or content of your activity has tripped
sensors that detect high-impact spammers, and your message has been
discarded. If you get the Screening Notice, you need do nothing.
If you get the Posting Limit Notice, we recommend you go "back"
with your browser, wait about a minute, and try to post again.
We hate having to have those notices, but we hate seeing lots of
spam on the board more, and we feel most users agree. If you get
a Screening Notice every time you post, this either means you have
been naughty or someone else at your ISP has been. If it has not
been you and you post with us frequently, you can
contact the moderation crew for a workaround.
16. What subjects are
considered "on topic"?
The purpose of the board is to support men in growing and keeping
long hair, and posts in line with that purpose are on topic. We
also consider posts about subjects which are part of longhair
culture to be on topic.
17. Are women and
transgenders welcome?
Our site is intended for men who want to look like men and consider
long hair to be part of that look. Unlike with women and transgenders,
having long hair puts a man in a small minority, and our site's
purpose is to support that minority. Women and transgenders are
welcome if their purpose is to support men who have long hair.
There is infinite room on the Internet, and others are free to set up
their own sites or visit existing sites if our site's focus does not
meet their needs.
18. Is "constructive"
(negative) criticism permitted?
Yes, if from a regular user who has already established
a good reputation in the community. Negative comments from
little-known people will be taken as "troll" posts, and because
of that they serve no positive purpose so they are not allowed.
19. Are posts on
"off topic" subjects permitted?
Only from regular users. Such posts help us get to know
each other better, so they serve a positive purpose in building
our community. Off-topic posts from little-known people will be
seen by users as spam posts so they are not allowed. Also, off
topic threads may be removed if they overwhelm the general
purpose of the board. Most threads at any given time must be
on topic.
20. Are personal ads
permitted?
No. Also prohibited are replies to non-personal-ad posts that
respond to them pretending they were personal ads. If you are
male and interested in meeting longhairs, we suggest you visit
gaylonghair.com. If
you are female we presently have no recommendation. Sites
serving your interest seem to frequently come and go, and we
know of no major site at the moment for women seeking longhaired
men.
21. What do I do if a
user makes me uncomfortable?
Fixations are prohibited. Please notify the
moderation crew if you observe a user engaging in any of
the following behaviors:
- Repetitively asking another user to post photos, particularly
photos of his hair in certain positions or photos of him
engaging in certain hair care routines.
- Repetitively asking site users in general for the above.
- Repetitive discussion of another user or posting of his
photos or other web material.
- Hounding a user by e-mailing him after he has stated he
wants no further contact, or by e-mailing him more than
three times after he has not replied.
- Hounding a user by posting replies just about every time
he posts.
Behavior on our site, via e-mail, and on other sites frequented
by our users will be considered together to determine whether
its level is inappropriate.
22. Do you have
behavior rules?
Yes. Besides what you see on this page, we have a short list
of major rules on a separate page. The general rule is that
we are a gathering of men of all ages from age 13 and up, and
that behavior must be suitable in such a group. If many
35 year old longhair fathers would not see your material as
appropriate for their 13 year old sons, then it's not appropriate.
The short list of major rules is
here. It is intentionally
short. Etiquette mavens have written books on behavior in public,
and they still haven't covered everything. We have chosen to not bore you with
a book. Just be polite and act appropriately considering who else
is here and why they've come, and you'll do fine.
23. I have a complaint.
What do I do?
Contact the moderators, whether your
complaint be about the site
or about other users. Do not post complaints to the board.
Complaints are only dealt with after a two-way e-mail dialog with
the moderation crew has taken place. (An exception is that, if
you find a post is obviously inappropriate or harmful to others,
it is okay to warn others with a post to the board.)
24. There are other forum
formats available. This one is old and other formats are often
used now. Why do you still use this one?
An explanation is on a separate page.
25. Do you have web pages
on hair care and on dealing with long hair discrimination?
No, but some of our users do, and their information is shown on
our links page.
26. Do you have
information about the chat room?
Yes, it is on a separate page which is here.
27. How is the site paid
for?
By donations. There is a page to donate here.
Thanks for your support!
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