Consideration, Respect, Moderation, Whitney.
[Guiding Principles of Classic Whitney Discussion Forums]

Classic Whitney Discussion Forum has proved to be a unique opportunity for fans of Whitney Houston to come together to discuss all aspects of Whitney's legacy, career and life: past, present and future.

With the increasing popularity of the forum has come a need to be more transparent about the guiding principles that posters should understand in order to make their - and others - experience of posting and reading an enjoyable one.

Please ensure you are familiar with the 'rules' of posting at Classic Whitney.  If you have been banned, you should refer to this page first before contacting the Administrator as a ban would only have been made in the event of one or more of these rules being broken repeatedly.

Consideration:  Posters should think about what they are posting before they submit their thoughts to the forum.  Often, it is the knee jerk reactions that provoke hostilities between individuals and this ultimately leads to posters being banned.  Personal attacks are strictly forbidden.  You should not hide behind your keyboard.  Just because you are posting in what is essentially an anonymous domain, the aspiration for Classic Whitney has always been to create an environment of thoughtful exchange so that matters can be discussed in a mature, open and honest manner.  By thinking about the language and tone you apply at Classic Whitney, you will be demonstrating consideration for others and in return, even during heated exchanges and disagreements, you can be assured that others will treat you with the same consideration.

Respect:  Classic Whitney is a community of people from across all walks of life, experience, age, race, nationality, sex, sexuality  and religion.  It is this diversity that inspires hope that a Forum created in celebration of the artistry of Whitney Houston - an entertainer that has crossed all genres and boundaries enabling her to reach such a diverse fan base - can connect people through their common and mutual appreciation of Whitney Houston.  This can only be achieved by Respecting the thoughts and opinions of others, even when they do not agree with your own.  Members of this community should provide the Respect that they would expect to receive.  They should respect other artists and fans of other artists that come to read Classic Whitney's Forums and indeed, it is naturally expected that people joining Classic Whitney would only do so out of respect for Whitney Houston in the first place.  This does not take away anyone's right to disagree with others or engage them in a dialogue that might challenge opinions.  It simply asks them to do so in a Respectable manner.

Moderation:  Posting at Classic Whitney is subject to a building profile system (explained below) which allows more access over a period of time.  This does not mean you have to post to the maximum limit you have been assigned each day.  Equally, being Moderate means considering how you express yourself.  Whilst, at times, expletives are/can be used to punctuate a particular point, the use of bad language should not be assumed as a natural way of expressing yourself at Classic Whitney's Forums.  Examples of not being moderate would include over-use of emoticons, repeatedly posting without contributing anything meaningful to a discussion, excessive use of profanity and over-reacting: sometimes, it is better to step back and consider how to react than to react in a way that is not Considerate, Respectful or Moderate.

Whitney: Classic Whitney is a forum that celebrates Whitney Houston's artistry and was designed first and foremost as a place for Whitney Houston's fans and supporters to come together and share the experience.  If an individual is not a Whitney Houston fan, they will very easily be found out and have their posting rights removed.  This also applies to the Classic Divas Forum.  Classic Divas is not a hiding ground for non-Whitney fans to celebrate their own favourite artist.  Classic Divas inception was to slow down the main Classic Whitney board where potential key discussions were getting lost.  Posters at Classic Divas should also be Whitney Houston fans and whilst they may primarily post at Classic Divas, it is expected that a level of interest in Whitney Houston be shown.  Posts at Classic Whitney should primarily be about Whitney Houston.  Off topics are allowed, but they should not over-run the Forum.

Posting Rights:   By introducing these user levels, the Forums have been less exposed by the disruptive minority. It has also a fun way of identifying members posting rate at Classic Whitney specifically:

New Release - as a newly approved Classic Whitney member, you will be restricted to 5 posts per day until you have had 100 posts.

Bronze - members who have posted between 100 - 249 times can make up to 10 posts per day.

Silver - members who have posted between 250 - 499 times can contribute up to 20 times per day.

Gold - these members have posted between 500 - 999 times at Classic Whitney and they will be able to contribute up to 30 posts in one day.

Platinum - as a Platinum member of Classic Whitney, you will have posted between 1,000 - 1,999 times and will be able to post up to 40 times a day.

Diamond - having proved you have way too much time on your hands, Diamond members will have posted over 2,000 times at Classic Whitney and can continue to feed their Classic Whitney fix with up to 50 posts per day.

ALL POSTERS SHOULD REMEMBER THAT EXCESSIVE MEANINGLESS POSTING WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE BAN.

Maintenance of Ezboard Profiles:

Administration Point 1

Please ensure that you do not have "Accept Administrator Emails " tuned off (i.e. unchecked). Checking this box allows the Classic Whitney Administrator to send you messages via email.  Unchecking this box prevents this from happening.  It is not accepable that any user not be accessible through the private ezboard system as this will be used to address issues/concerns directly with an individual.

If an attempt to contact a poster through the Administrator Emails process fails (usually through incorrect or obsolete email address associated to the user profile), that individual will be banned immediately.

Poster Action Point:  Log into your ezboard account, select Account Preferences and ensure that Accept Administrator Emails is checked.  If you need to change your email address, login to your Control Center and click on the Edit Profile link. Under the Contact Information heading, click on the Change Email Address link.  Enter your new email address in the first field and again in the field below it.  Click on the the Save Changes button.

Caution: Changing your email address automatically changes your password. Your new password will be sent to your new email address. If you enter an invalid address, you will lose access to your account.

Administration Point 2

To avoid confusion about the way in which individuals should post News at Classic Whitney, here are a few simple guidelines for posting News (and general posting too):

1. Check to see if there is already a topic of discussion on that subject or that a discussion has not already evolved owing to time (i.e. Whitney checking out of rehab and being seen a few days later at a gig and then her attorney confirming she's still in the programme are considered one related topic).

2. When posting news, always cite an original source by URL or just naming which original news source the information comes from.

3. If you are taking information from another Whitney website, I would expect you to have:
A: Already checked that it hasn't been posted on the Forum somewhere (see point 1);
B: Checked to see that it hasn't already been posted on the Newsfile.  If this is the case, you may still post the article on the Forum assuming it is not already there, and the correct source of the report should then be cited as the original news source &/or Classic Whitney.

4. Posts about other female artists should be posted at Classic Divas. There have been a few exceptions where I've allowed posts on the main board but that would really only be if an artist is totally unknown. 99.99% of posts about female artists that aren't called Whitney Houston should be posted at Classic Divas. Perhaps the only exception would be posts about Cissy Houston as they usually relate back to Whitney anyway. If you are in doubt about which board a certain topic should go on, it should start off at Classic Divas, not Classic Whitney.

Having to spell out a defined set of Rules for Classic Whitney outside of 'Consideration, Respect, Moderation, Whitney' is disappointing, however the majority of posters at Classic Whitney are unaffected by this as they continue to post naturally in the way that makes the community an enjoyable experience for all.

UPDATED: JUNE 2004 / SEPTEMBER 2009