Welcome to SENIORSonly CLUB

It wouldn't mess anything up, @Chrissy Page << I meant flagged but tagged would mean the same thing, in context.

 

We have been fortunate enough to have gained a few members recently, so I thought I'd add a post to this notice for their benefit. I am the administrator and only moderator of this forum, but I rarely spend time in the forum under my Admin account, preferring to be just another forum member. This account has no administrator privileges because that help me to see what you see, and also because I just want to be a part of the forum, as you are.

If there is something that I need to do in the administrator part of the forum, I'll log into that account. Otherwise, I just check it for messages from time to time.

If you've come here from another forum, you might find that we're a little different. I hope so, anyhow, because there's little point in doing the same thing that someone else is already doing.

You'll notice from my posts in the political sections that I'm a little on the conservative side and, from the religion sections, that I am a Christian; as are some others here. Those are my my positions as a member of this forum, however. It does not necessarily follow that this is a conservative Christian forum.

If you are a liberal atheist, I'll probably disagree with you often in the hot topics part of the forum, but that would be me disagreeing with you as a fellow member of the forum, and that's not the same thing as a warning from the administrator of the forum. If I get angry with you in a political or religious discussion, I am probably just expressing a human emotion. Plus, the chances are very good that I'm not even angry, as strong disagreement is often misinterpreted as anger in a forum discussion.

I try to keep a fairly loose hand on the forum, so you are unlikely to get in trouble for posting something in the wrong area of the forum or even for a spontaneous display of anger or a poor choice of words, as long as I don't get the idea that you're trying to start a fight with someone.

We're human, hopefully. I try very hard to prevent the non-humans from establishing accounts here. As humans, we might go off the deep end from time to time. If you find that you have said something that has angered someone else in the forum, apologize. Even if you are sure that you are in the right, it doesn't hurt to apologize. It is very easy to misunderstand the words of others in a forum discussion, particularly if it is someone who disagrees with you. I've had people get angry with me when I was trying to be agreeable. It happens. Sometimes I can see where I might have used words that were misunderstood. With me, the problem is usually that I used too many words, and only part of them were read or correctly interpreted.

Anyhow, I want you to feel comfortable here. The simple version of our rules are this:

1. Try not to be too offensive.
2. Try not to be too easily offended.
3. Play well with others.

 

Be nice. I will be running a Facebook ad for the next three days, so we will probably have more lurkers than usual. Usually, a three-day advertising campaign will yield perhaps one new member, and sometimes none, but it does bring a lot of people here and it doesn't cost a lot.

 

Yes, please. Wash your faces and your hands too.

 

We have been fortunate enough to have had several new members recently, and I don't always greet everyone individually.

Oh, I could easily set up an automatic greeting that would post a pre-made welcome notice that would be displayed to everyone who created a new account, but that would be phony, and a waste of space and time.

So I will try to greet new members as I notice them, and realize that they are new, but I'll also miss people. No matter, because if you become involved in our forum discussions, there will be plenty of people to greet you. Their greeting is as good as mine, and a whole lot better than a canned message.

Anyhow, if you're new here, welcome to the forum.

If you have had experience with other forums, you might find that this is a little different. Not in its look, because this is basic forum software, without a lot of bells and whistles.

But things are a little on the informal side here. I am the forum administrator, but I generally log in under my Admin account only once a day or so, unless I have some administrative matters to take care of.

I prefer to use a regular member account, and you should treat me like any other forum member.

If I have something to say to you regarding forum rules or administrative stuff, I'll often use this account, simply because I am usually here under this account. But if you ignore me, and it's important, I'll contact you under the Admin account. That is not usually necessary, though.

As you read through the posts here, you will find that I have opinions on most things, but unless it has to do with forum rules or stuff, my opinions are no more valid or invalid than your own.

I am not going to ban you because you disagree with me on politics, or because you chose a different religion, or none at all.

There are some longer rules and policy stuff, but the basic rules here are pretty simple.

1. Try not to be too offensive.
2. Try not to be too easily offended.
3. Play well with others.

If you can't handle being disagreed with, don't play in the Hot Button Issues area. While I still expect a large degree of cordiality and respect in that area, I am well aware that subjects of politics and religion can involve strong emotions, and sometimes these are not expressed as nicely as they could be. We should still try to respect one another, wherever we are, but, as we would in a person-to-person encounter, if we realize that we have maybe crossed a civility line, then an apology will usually suffice. A sincere attempt to avoid crossing these lines is better, but I do make more allowances in the Hot Button Issues section than in the rest of the forum.

Although I have, I do not often ban people, and am doing so less now than I did at first. I have learned that, as adults, you guys are usually able to work things out for yourselves, and I prefer it that way.

We have no moderators here, other than myself, and I am not here all the time, although I am here frequently throughout the day and night. At some point, perhaps I'll appoint a moderator or two, but I would want them to act more like a welcome wagon than a police department.

Anyhow, I want you to feel comfortable here. In real life, meaning outside of forum life, we probably don't always say the right thing, or don't always say things in the best way, particularly when we find ourselves disagreeing with someone. I will accept that from you as I would ask you to accept it from me, and from other members of the forum.

In real life, most of us will apologize once we realized we have hurt someone's feelings or stated our position too harshly. Not everyone will, but we probably all have people in our lives who are a PITA, but who also contribute something valuable to the conversation.

I know that I have found, here as well as in the town I live in, that there are people who I didn't much like at first, but whom I have come to love, or at least to tolerate.

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy it or I'll ban you.

 

Most of you probably already know this but, for those who are new, or who may have missed it, this is not a profit-driven forum. Many forum owners own several forums, and they make money from advertising. Some have private areas of the forum that forum members can pay to subscribe to. Many of them have hopes of selling their forum at some point in the future, after which they can start another one, build that up, and sell it as well.

I have had two inquiries from people wanting to buy this forum. I don't even know what they might have offered because I am not interested. I have run other forums and, while I have given two of them away, I haven't sold one yet.

There is no profit motive for this forum. I have paid for the forum software, and I pay for any upgrades to it, which I am going to have to do soon because it's been awhile. Any additions to the forum are paid for by me. Once a year, I pay for hosting. I have paid for various incentives in the past, and will probably do so again in the future. There have been costs involved with search engine optimization and advertising. All of this is paid for by me.

Some of you have contributed to the costs of running the forum, and I thank you for that. I don't nag people to contribute, and I certainly don't strong-arm anyone, and that's not what this post is about. You contribute to the forum through your posts, your threads, and your presence, and that's good enough for me.

There is no secret plan for me to somehow recoup this money or to profit in any way from this forum. This forum is here because I enjoy it, pure and simple. The fact that some of you enjoy it as well adds to my own pleasure in being able to make it available. That's what it's about, and nothing else.