E mail ETIQUETTE - Posting guidelines ©
CONIFER OBSESSION GROUPS

  • Respect for forum members is important. It is acceptable to disagree as long as it is done politely. For example, “I disagree with the treatment you’re suggesting because . . .” is okay, but “Your treatment is a stupid idea” is not okay. Profanity, insults and embarrassing remarks will not be tolerated.

  • Limit remarks that do not involve a discussion of the subject.  Short replies such as “Thank you”, 
    “I agree” or “Me, neither” do not contribute to the discussion and should not be used because they add unnecessary posts to the group.  At the end of your original message, use the phrase, “Thank you in advance for your help” and there is no need to send an additional follow-up “thank you” post.  It is not necessary to respond to someone for sharing unsolicited information or pictures; they know we were glad they shared.   If you think it is important that someone understands how you feel, send your remarks to their email address, not the group.  Their email address appears in the ‘From’ column in your inbox list of messages.

  • When typing, use both upper and lower case letters.  Typing in ALL UPPERCASE IS THE SAME AS SHOUTING and is considered rude.  When writing measurements, be sure to specify the unit in addition to the number so we know if you mean °C or °F, lb. or kg, inch or cm, etc. 
  • Be specific in the subject line of your post.  A generic post titled “Help, my tree is dying” will not get as much attention as “White pine needles have yellow spots” because people scan titles quickly to see what is of interest or in their area of expertise.  If you have follow-up remarks days, weeks or even months after a post, try to use the original post or thread of messages so we have the initial discussion.  It may take a long time to determine if a suggestion worked or not, but we want to know the results. If you change a topic, please change the subject line as well.
  • If you post a message that you have items or plants to sell, trade or give away, ask that members contact you at your private email address for more information and include the email address in your message.
  • If a forum member is disrupting the forum, that member’s ability to post to the group and/or their email address will be removed without notification at the discretion of the forum moderators. A forum member who has been expelled may not re-subscribe under a new name or address. If you need to bring problems to the attention of the moderators, send an email to our ’Help Line’: conifer_obsession@yahoo.com  with “Important - problem in the …….(name of the group)  in the subject line and we will investigate.
  • Failure to comply with any of these guidelines will result in expulsion from the forum.  
    This group is run by volunteers
    and requires the cooperation of all members for successful operation.
  • It is very risky publishing private emails without permission, for e-mails are protected by copyright. Emails are like letters...the copy you receive becomes your property, the copyright remains the property of the writer. In the USA, the legal liability is found in Title 17 of the United States Code Chapter 5. Fines per infringement can be as high as $ 150,000.-
  • Please respect our ‘Rules of Conduct’