Posted by TitleGalCA on 9/15/06 12:42am
Msg #146250

A new upgrade to this board n/m

Reply by Harry [NR] on 9/15/06 12:47am
Msg #146251

Re: A new upgrade to this board

Actually, a slightly enhanced look for the site, free notary training for California notaries public, and a couple other minor enhancements.

We are still working on some small forum upgrades. In the meantime, we have revised Section II, Item 3 of the Rules & Guidelines to read:

"Please keep off-topic posts to a minimum and avoid topics that others may consider offensive, such as politics and religion. Under no circumstance should the forum be used to further a political, ideological or religious agenda; these topics have nothing to do with the inherent neutrality of notarial functions and our board is therefore not an appropriate venue for them."

Violators will be prosecuted.

Harry
Notary Rotary

Reply by Becca_FL on 9/15/06 12:50am
Msg #146252

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Harry! n/m

Reply by Jenny_CA on 9/15/06 1:07am
Msg #146255

Re: A new upgrade to this board, I like it. n/m

Reply by hcampersFL on 9/15/06 7:48am
Msg #146286

Good job Harry! Thanks for all you do. n/m

Reply by MichiganAl on 9/15/06 9:08am
Msg #146299

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. n/m

Reply by Teddog/CO on 9/15/06 11:23am
Msg #146349

Re: A new upgrade to this board

Thanks Harry!

Glad to see the new RULE! It was starting to get very old. "prosecuted" Yikes ! lol

Reply by JanetK_CA on 9/16/06 12:41am
Msg #146477

Very well put! Thanks. n/m

Reply by TitleGalCA on 9/15/06 12:51am
Msg #146253

Re: A new upgrade to this board this weekend/as promised!

Please refer to the rules and guidelines posted at the top of this page:

II. Netiquette

1. Do not TYPE IN ALL CAPS. THIS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING and has been proven more difficult to read than Mixed Case.

2. Please check your message for spelling and grammar errors before posting. Generally, you should write long messages in an application like Microsoft Word and then copy them from there into our message box.

3. Please keep off-topic posts to a minimum and avoid topics that others may consider offensive, such as politics and religion. Under no circumstance should the forum be used to further a political, ideological or religious agenda; these topics have nothing to do with the inherent neutrality of notarial functions and our board is therefore not an appropriate venue for them.

4. Do not personally attack, insult or degrade other users or companies. If you are going to bash a company's reputation, be prepared to provide concrete and substantial proof of your allegation. If you are going to confront another user or dispute a post, do so on a rational and constructive basis with the facts in hand. Debate is always healthy.

===================================================================

Please pay special note to number 3 and 4. In my experience, it is number 3 that LEADS to number 4.

If we can all respect the fact that we come to this place to discuss NOTARY issues and INDUSTRY issues, then perhaps - now that the Rules have been made ABUNDANTLY clear, it will avoid the problem posts in the recent pasts.

I am very happy the Shoemakers have (once again) included this in the rules. Most polite folks know that "politics and religion" have no place in a civilized gathering of peers....unless you want dissention.

I hope that you as a responsible member of the board help encourage others to refer to the rules when you see them being bended for someone's ideology. We can all help enforce the rules when we seem them streched to a place that donesn't further notary work.

Thank You All.

Reply by Merry_CA on 9/15/06 11:44am
Msg #146355

Re: A new upgrade to this board this weekend/as promised!

TitleGal, may I respectfully suggest that an additional posting simply copying and pasting the rules & guidelines and then adding your own admonishment everyone to follow them is the kind of thing that irritates so many on this forum. Your first post that simply pointed out the new upgrade was sufficient. No one here is smarter or more important than anyone else.

Reply by Charm_AL on 9/15/06 11:50am
Msg #146357

Re: A new upgrade to this board this weekend/as promised!

Merry, the only thing appearing to be irritated this morning is you, as evidenceb by your three posts so far. Good Morning to you too!

Reply by Merry_CA on 9/15/06 1:31pm
Msg #146379

Re: A new upgrade to this board this weekend/as promised!

Let's see... my three posts this morning...

1. *I want to be a fly on the wall when Charles, anaotary and Cali all wind up at the same dinner party!*

Now, you must admit... that would be funny!

2. *This is one of those situations where many on the board will chime in with their interpretation of the situation. The correct answer will come from the TC.*

Good advice and the proper way to handle this situation. And... I said "chime in" not "charm in!" so...???

3. *TitleGal, may I respectfully suggest that an additional posting simply copying and pasting the rules & guidelines and then adding your own admonishment everyone to follow them is the kind of thing that irritates so many on this forum. Your first post that simply pointed out the new upgrade was sufficient. No one here is smarter or more important than anyone else.*

Oh, well... TG has contributed much it's true... but her post has an air of self-importance. And golly, I said "respectfully!"

Reply by kathy/ca on 9/15/06 12:13pm
Msg #146360

Merry, In view of the great info TG contributes to the board

I would be inclined to overlook something like this, even if it DID "irritate" me. (which it doesn't). Hi TitleGal!

Reply by Brenda/CA on 9/15/06 2:57pm
Msg #146388

Re: Merry you need to read TG's post again!

If you read the whole post she wrote at the bottom that someone breaking rule # 3 is what leads to others breaking rule # 4. By pasting the rules in the message everyone is clear exactly what rules # 3 & # 4 are. Did you really misunderstand the post, or just want to stir the pot?

Reply by Merry_CA on 9/15/06 4:31pm
Msg #146416

Re: Merry you need to read TG's post again!

Oh Brenda,
I read it again and am not unclear at all... still seems redundant to cut & paste what is already at the top of the page "rules & guidelines"...everyone here knows that #3 leads to #4 and everyone plays with it at their whim. It just seemed to me that TG was playing the role of "teacher."Interesting how easy it is to misinterpret "stirring the pot".... kind of ties in with what I was getting at yesterday.... depends on who you like and who you don't.

Reply by Brenda/CA on 9/15/06 5:06pm
Msg #146423

Re: Merry you need to read TG's post again!

Merry,

This is not school, and we are not children, it is not about who likes or dislikes who. It is about understanding what does or does not belong on this forum. Politics and religion have always been topics that cause disagreement, and yes anger when some cannot seem to comprehend that not all people have the same beliefs as them. And, a notary forum is definitely not the appropriate place to debate these topics. Futhermore, if everone here already knew and understood that the breaking of rule # 3 leads to the breaking of rule # 4, then we would not be having this conversation in the first place. Because you disagree with someone does not mean that you dislike them, it simply means that you do not see things the same way they do.

Reply by TitleGalCA on 9/17/06 12:40am
Msg #146578

Merry, I went back and looked at my post.

after reading yours and Brenda's.

What you don't know, is that for over a month now I have been emailing the owners of the board about the garbage that has been taking over what was a good notary forum. It really bothered me alot, because everytime one individual came online it was not for good notary forum material, but to promote political, religious and (in Harry's words) ideological propaganda. So I wrote several times and encouraged others to do so as well - to keep the fourm a place where notary issues were the main focus.

All that other stuff did was stir people up emotionally - and the best of someone never comes out when they are stirred up. (Case in Point).

You can imagine how happy I was when I saw the new format! I was soooo happy I managed to beat Harry to the Post, so to speak.....so ended up a few lines down. Not knowing Harry had made that post...I copied it, and yes I DID add my comments, and pointed out that one can cause the other.

What's so bad about that?

If I were you, here's what I'd be mad about....I said "Thank you all". IT WAS NOT MY PLACE TO THANK ANYBODY. If those words sound familiar they should, because that's what Jahari said to all about his 9/11 post, "Thank you all" that sent me into the stratosphere.

I took ownership of that one change to the forum, because I had petitioned for it, so it became personal to me. Probably the same way Jahari's post about 9/11 became personal to him (and said very similar "thank you" words).

So my point is that never should these elements of politics,religion or ideologies be a part of the forum. IT BECOMES TO PERSONAL, AND THEREFORE EMOTIONAL. Everybody has read the damages that result.

I'm just glad there's a rule that says "no". I think it's a good thing. If you had jumped all over me for saying "thank you" - that would have been understandable. But you said my comments weren't appropriate and I think they were.

Reply by Michelle/AL on 9/15/06 1:19am
Msg #146256

Your hard work paid off, Harry. The site looks great! n/m

Reply by Brenda/CA on 9/15/06 1:47am
Msg #146262

Re: Thank you Harry. n/m

Reply by Ndwa on 9/15/06 2:11am
Msg #146265

Re: Well done, well done n/m

Reply by LilyMD on 9/15/06 7:00am
Msg #146275

Re: Well done, well done n/m

Reply by cyndi_ca on 9/15/06 7:19am
Msg #146282

Re: Well done, well done! Looks great!!! n/m

Reply by SarahBeth_CA on 9/15/06 10:56am
Msg #146331

An Imense Improvement Harry n/m

Reply by BrendaTx on 9/15/06 12:28pm
Msg #146369

What that??

I can't get my political and religious news here anymore?????

Well, okay then. Guess I'll have to watch the news, and listen to talk radio.

(Thanks, Harry.)