Community Guidelines & Forum Rules
The basics
- PNWFF Golden Rule: Don’t be a jerk
- Try to keep it on topic
- No spam
- No political talk – If it’s on CNN or Fox News, it probably doesn’t need to be here
- Posting a “for sale” classifieds ad requires being a site supporter
Read on for a longer-winded version of the above…
Don’t be a jerk
This is the Golden Rule around here. Just don’t be a jerk. Be kind to others. Be patient with those who are just starting out. Ignore stupid posts if you can’t give a useful reply. When discussing a contentious topic, talk about how that topic affects YOU, don’t talk about how stupid you think other people are for not agreeing.
Just assume that every person here is genuinely a good person at heart and is someone you’d be happy to share the river with some day. We don’t all have to agree on everything, but we do all have to make the effort not to be assholes about it.
On that note, if you see someone who can’t seem to follow this rule, please alert us using the “report” feature. We’ll take a look into it. Most of the time, it’s just someone having a bad day and taking it out on the forum. But sometimes we boot people who just don’t care to make the effort.
Try to keep it on topic.
This is, first and foremost, a fishing forum. That’s the reason the site exists and what connects us all together. We enjoy tossing a line for fish. But there are a lot of related topics that most of us also love. Camping, cooking, boats, photography, etc. And like all the best fishing trip campfire conversations, we tend to also talk a bit about sports, family, life, and so on.
We aren’t hardcore about the “on topic” stuff. But it’s also important to remember that fishing is the core of this community. If you need to talk about which wedding photographer to use or all the recent parent gossip in your kid’s sports league, Facebook is going to be a better place for that.
No spam
This should be pretty explanatory. If you see blatant spambot/porn/scam type spam pop up, use the report function so we can delete it.
But more importantly, this extends to personal businesses, for-profit events, fly industry promotion, and so on. I’m sure your carwash in Renton is awesome, but this site is not the place to make posts promoting it. We aren’t a social media network.
Similarly, if you are a shop or other business in the fishing industry, please do not join just to make posts promoting yourself. Instead drop us a line and we can talk about how we could work together. We love fly shops. We love fishing companies. But we also don’t love our hard work and the site’s community being used by someone who isn’t giving anything back.
We do have an event subforum that is a bit of a gray area for promoting things, and posts there are moderated on a case by case basis. But this post should give you an idea of what is and isn’t okay to post there. Drop us a line if you have any questions.
No political talk or debates
This is REALLY important.
Leave all political debates at the door. If it’s on CNN or Fox News, it probably doesn’t need to be here.
We don’t care what your political “leanings” are, what “side” you’re on, what you think of those on the left/right, or anything of the sort. The bottom line is, if you use this site as a place for trolling and arguing instead of posting about fishing, we’re probably going to ask you to leave because that’s not what PNWFF is about. There are many other places on the internet you can troll and argue to your heart’s content. Twitter, Facebook, hell, start up your own “fishinandshitpostin.com” forum. It’s not that hard, the software is out there for anyone who wants it. But don’t do it here.
We built PNWFF to be a place where we can all hang out together and be connected by our love of fishing and the outdoors. Not as a place for us to be pulled apart by the outside forces that profit from us hating each other. We don’t mind what background, gender, ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs you have. As long as you are here to talk about your love of fishing and can do so without being a dick, you are welcome and don’t deserve to be treated otherwise.
The rare exception to this rule is when politics and fisheries/hunting cross over. WDFW, North of Falcon, US Forest Service, DNR, etc. Those things are often op-topic and it is understandable to post about them. But we will moderate those conversations very tightly to prevent any wandering into off-topic political bickering or insults.
If you want to post a “for sale” ad, you need to be a site supporter
This one is pretty simple. If you are going to use the site to put some cash in your pocket, you should be willing to contribute towards keeping the site running. Please do not attempt to post a “for sale” ad without being a site supporter.
In addition, all for sale ads should be in the classified subforum. Please familiarize yourself with the rules for that forum by reading this before posting.