Forum Information And Rules

Forum Information And Rules Last Update: Mon, 8/29/11 (Monday, August 29th, 2011) at 12:00 PM

The purpose of this forum is to collaborate, organize, and share discussions, events, ideas, opinions, questions, recommendations, reports, research, and suggestions to make informed proposals and solutions to our public officials. We encourage everyone to get involved, and for each and every Burke County citizen to be represented! Forums are only as helpful and useful by the contributions (posts) made by its members.

This public forum had originally started for the sole purpose of sharing information about our BCPS (Burke County Public Schools), but has now expanded into all facets and realms of government and politics, that encompasses the local, county, state, and even federal/national levels that concern or involve Burke County residents.

Online Forums
Online forums are much like sending an e-mail to a large group of people. You can even reply to other members' posts, and attach your own signature at the end of each post, just like you can in an e-mail. And like e-mails, you can categorize, organize, list, search, and sort through forum topics, something of which can't be done via most social networking groups. To post a new topic (discussion, information, or question), simply click on the "New topic" button. To reply to someone else's topic, simply click on the "Post reply" button. If you've never used an online forum before, please refer to these websites and pages:

• How To Use A Forum
  
• How To Use an Internet Forum
  
• How To Use A Forum To Find Information
  
• 25 Forum Posting Etiquette Tips
  
• FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
  

Guests and Forum Member Registration
Anyone may view the entire contents (posts) of this forum, but you must register as a member to post or reply to forum topics, create calendar events, and vote on polls. To become a forum member, click on "Register", read and agree to the "Forum Terms of service", and fill-out the form. This forum is completely anonymous, so any forum member can post and ask questions without worry. Forum registration approval is immediate, so there's no waiting to get involved!

Behavior and Conduct
We ask everyone to follow the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. Please no "bashing", cursing, ethnic or racial slurs, "flaming", harassing, profanity, swearing, or threatening posts. However, constructive criticism with positive feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Categories and Navigation
This forum has several categories, much like folders, to help organize discussions, information, and questions...

• "Announcements And Suggestions" is where forum announcements are posted, and members can post suggestions to make this forum better and easier to use. Please do not post any political topics in this category.
  
• "Contact Information" is where you can post or find local or state public officials' contact information, contact the local news media, or ask how to contact someone or an organization.
  
• "Events" is where forum members can organize and post local, state, and national events, such as fund-raisers and meetings. You may also create calendar events here as well.
  
• "Introductions" is where forum members may introduce themselves to everyone else on the forums. I ask for all current forum members to please welcome our new members!
  
• "Issues And Solutions" is where people can post and find documented official reports released by our local or state public officials, or by the local news media, and also post discussions, ideas, information, opinions, proposals, questions, recommendations, and solutions regarding these issues and reports.
  
• "Miscellaneous" is just a place for forum members to collaborate, discuss, or ask questions that may not fit into a category listed above. Whenever possible, please find a forum category that best fits your post.
  

You can navigate through forum areas and sections by either clicking on items in the navigation bar towards the top of the screen (underneath the logo), or on the left-side of the screen under "Navigation". "Latest topics" are the last several topics posted. Please refer to the website links posted above on how to use an online internet forum.

Burke County Forum on Google
Burke County Forum is also located on Google. Please visit the following Google links:

• Blog
  
• Calendar
  
• Group
  
• Sites
  

Files
Although all forum administrators, members, and moderators may upload and post files, please remember that we only have a 20,480 KB (20 MB) size limit due to this being a free forum, so please keep files to a minimum. For documents, please copy and paste the document contents into a post instead of uploading the document itself. Please reference all online documents (such as PDFs) as a website link. However, BCPS Forums is also using Google Docs to store documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, etc., so if you need to post a file, please e-mail me the file to bcpsforum@gmail.com, and I'll upload it to our Google Docs account. I'll then send you a message back with the file's Google Docs link so that you can reference it in your post.

Please Share And Get Involved!
Please bookmark this forum's link (https://bcps.forumotion.org) in your web browser favorites, and share this link with others! We are needing active members to post discussions and information, and answer other members' questions! We are also needing forum administrators and moderators to help with this forum's efforts, so if you're interested, please register as a member and then send me an e-mail to bcpsforum@gmail.com.

Please refer to this post occasionally as its contents may change periodically, and thank you again for your interest in Burke County!