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Administrative questions and policy statement



No, operating this list in a non-digest format is not an option.  Sorry.  

Modifying the search capabilites is a pretty tall order and something I'm not willing to ask the list administrator of Actwin.com to do, especially since the space for the list and archives is provided to us free of charge.   I think we're pretty fortunate to have archives that can be searched; many lists do not.

As to religious sigs or comments within a post, I guess I'm going to have to make a policy on this; I had hoped the whole issue would just die but apparently it won't.  

I shouldn't have to say this but it seems I do: proselytizing of any type - other than for the Church of Aquatic Plants :) - is completely inappropriate on the APD.  This is not a religious/spiritual forum and should not be treated as such.  If you feel the irresistible need to promote your religious convictions, find an appropriate format or start a Christian/Buddhist/Hindu/etc. aquatic plants list.

I am not, however, willing to dictate what people can and can not have in their sig files as long as it's within the "no advertising"  and 4-line limit guidelines and the obvious (to me) bounds of "the grandmother rule"  (if you wouldn't say it in front of your grandmother, don't say it here).  If anyone expects to go through life without encountering things they find annoying, distasteful or offensive they have some re-thinking to do because it won't happen.  Not liking something is not, IMO, grounds for expecting it to be removed from your sight/hearing/reading by anyone other than yourself.   I don't care for religious references myself and would love to forbid them entirely from this forum but I just can't justify telling someone they have to edit or remove their sig file just because I, or someone else, doesn't like it.

Furthermore, I don't think a sig file can be banned for being off-topic because it's not part of the topic unless someone makes it so.  If I had a sig file promoting another discussion list, or my Web page, no one would care.  

HOWEVER - I am rabid about the no proselytizing policy and will be actively policing the list for things *I* think are in violation of the policy.   Be aware that individuals will not be chastised or called on the carpet publicly though; I deal with problems on the list via private email.  As gratifying as can be to see someone who has annoyed you get chewed out, it won't happen here; don't assume I'm ignoring or unaware of a problem just because I don't post about it publicly.

Thank you to the people who took the time to write to me about their views on both sides of this issue.  


Cynthia Powers
Listmom