When I setup Forem (the CMS running Zig NEWS) initially, I inherited a standard boilerplate Code of Conduct.
I've now replaced it with a list of rules that I originally created for the Software You Can Love & Zig SHOWTIME Discord server (invite link).
The original rules from my Discord server are:
No watercooler complaints: you're allowed to complain about something in direct proportion to how much work you're doing to improve said thing.
The best opinions come from first hand experience. You need to write Zig code to have an opinion on Zig worth listening to, for example.
The stronger your opinion on something, the more thorough your arguments need to be.
A discussion is only worthwile if both parties engaging in it can get something out of it. Discussions made only for the sake of debating constitute misuse of the communication channel we're all sharing, and thus are banworthy.
Corollary to [4] and [3]: politeness and willingness to explain yourself is mandatory when interacting with other people in the server. If you're not in the mood for that, go do something else instead of baiting others into low-quality exchanges.
Don't be afraid to ask questions and clarifications and conversely don't assume everybody always shares your same context and knowledge about a subject. Help minimize the number of misunderstandings and don't be afraid to let others help you get up to speed on the topic at hand.
For Zig NEWS I've replaced the first rule with the following:
- Zig NEWS is meant to be used as a blogging platform, see https://zig.news/faq for more details.
I'm making sure to open with that point because other Forem instances allow using top-level posts for general forum-style discussion, while Zig NEWS is meant to be a blogging platform.
Those who want to have forum-style interactions might want to check out https://ziggit.dev.
Also, this rule change doesn't mean that watercooler complaints are OK on Zig NEWS. I originally added that rule because it's common to have this kind of discussion in chat servers, while I don't expect it to be something people will do much on Zig NEWS.
The other rules are more about how to interact in comments than what to write in an article, but that's just because people usually are well behaved and eloquent when writing one.
I'm happy to say that in two years since I started running Zig NEWS, we've had great posts and almost zero need for moderation on my part (except occasionally deleting spam accounts), but all good things come to an end. Today was the first time I had to suspend somebody from Zig NEWS so I took the opportunity to make the rules more clear to everybody.
You can find the Code of Conduct here: https://zig.news/code-of-conduct
Top comments (3)
I read the exchange that lead to the ban and I'm very surprised that it seemed banworthy to you.
On second thought, I think from your perspective you basically gave a warning shot to the other party, but that was no the way I read it. I read it as you being what the other person accused you of being, i.e. rude. If this is an accusation you can't handle in a constructive way, then maybe the community work is becoming a bit much for you. You've been doing this for a long time and sometimes stress accumulates without you noticing it yourself necessarily. Take care, relax a little if possible. I think with a little distance you'll likely judge differently.
Thanks for your concern, I'm personally not really interested in coming out on top in debates and such, I just became aware over time of community economics and the cost of disagreeable behavior, which includes things like looking at discussions as something that one has to win or lose (which was the main attitude the suspended user was assuming). One big reason why Zig has so many great contributors is that we have a zero tolerance policy on that.
Also note that the comment chain was edited multiple times and so reading it after the fact doesn't show you what was written originally. Unfortunately this CMS doesn't show edit history so you will have to take my word for it.
Oh, ok, that's my bad! I hadn't considered that the other guy might have done some editing, Rookie mistake.