I’m currently drafting a community guidelines and code of conduct page before we go Officially Public™️ . I’ll keep this topic updated with my drafts for those interested to comment or give feedback.
A list of things I’d like to have on the community guidelines page:
Protection for oppressed and marginalized peoples before all else
Maybe resources to learn more? Not sure what though
Respect guidelines, for general discussion and language discussion
Something I’m thinking about is how people should respect different ways of speaking languages, in a descriptivist mindset
Standard forum etiquette (don’t spam, use tags correctly, &c)
What counts as explicit/adult content so that people know why something NSFW is banned
Clearly defining what is illegal content so I don’t get sent to jail or get the server taken down or something (we’re based in the US!)
This looks very complete and well-thought-out, in my opinion. One thing I would add is something along the lines of “well-founded criticism of a conlang’s features is acceptable, but criticism of a conlang or its features based on ‘I don’t like it’ is not”
I think “well-founded criticism” is a bit of a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down, but I think adding a clause about giving constructive criticism is good!
Additionally, there are some guidelines specific to topics on this forum, as this is a constructed languages and linguistics focused space. Examples of welcome behaviors in this facet include, but is not limited to:
Being respectful towards those who speak a language differently
Having a descriptivist mindset, especially when talking about natural languages
Giving constructive criticism instead of hurtful attacks
Asking first before criticizing someone’s personal work or project
I think we can moderate this as necessary. I think the code of conduct so far has gotten a bit big and it might need to be cut down in the future for conciseness.
Well-formulated, clear, covering very important points. I’m amazed how quickly and professionally the forum is developing.
One thing we could maybe consider is adding some kind of “or other” to this list, so as to discourage rules lawyering:
conlangs, from space! and all members pledge to making participation in our forum a harassment-free experience for everyone—regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion (or lack thereof), or sexual identity and orientation.