FORUM GUIDELINES
When posting to the Patriot Guard Riders forum we would like everyone to consider these guidelines. Our families, children, clergy, military, law enforcement and press view these forums. Many are members. Please keep this in mind when posting to any of our forums.
These guidelines were compiled from and written based upon our policies and experiences over the past year or so since the inception of this website. They are not merely a list of rules written that we expect you to follow. Many members have given their input over the months and this guide is a result.
Threads that are deemed “dead horses” but may contain valuable information for members will not be deleted but locked for further viewing by new members as long as the guidelines were not violated.
Our forums are not provided to be a political soapbox. There are millions of sites on the internet for political debate and the PGR is not one of them. Discussions calling for members to act on legislative/political issues, call to arms, or similar posts are not permitted. Posts alerting members of the issue is permitted, but the post should be sent to forum moderators to be a locked topic. (ie, a state vote on helmet laws). Due to our non-profit status we must remain politically neutral. Any hot button threads determined to be so by moderators, after a panel review, may be deleted.
Our organization is based upon respect. Personal attacks are not acceptable. If you have a problem with a post made by another member please contact them via email, private message or alert the moderators via email at mods@patriotguard.org. If you find you must disagree with a post you are well within your rights to do so, however, please keep in mind that respect is first and foremost on this site. Please state your disagreement without derogatory or denigrating remarks as a response.
Posts regarding protestors in our mission forums will be removed. We do not want to cause any further upset to our families. Discussions in the other forums regarding protestors may be removed for moderator review and may also be deleted. As a rule of thumb, if the main subject of the post is about protesting or protestors it will be removed. If the main subject of the article is about the PGR or another event and protesting is mentioned “in passing”, the moderators, after a panel review, may determine it fit for our forums.
Our forums should not to be used to recruit for other organizations or events. Any post deemed to be an attempt to recruit will be removed. If you have an event that may be in keeping with our mission statement, please contact your state captain with the information.
Advertising your own business or personal items for sale in our forums is prohibited. Our members are here to get mission information and we protect their right and ability to do so without fear of solicitation. Links to your business website are not permitted in your signature line. All posts will be removed and you will be given notice to remove the link from your signature line. If the link is not removed within 3 days it will be removed for you. We are not a website for yard or garage sales. If the sale is to benefit a hero, the family, or a veteran please contact your state captain or Help on the Homefront. They will help you determine how to post the event.
Links in your signatures to sites not rated PG-13 will be removed. If your MySpace or website contains photos not acceptable for viewing by children, the link will be removed.
In keeping with our mission statement of respect we do not post pictures of the family and caskets from our missions. We have no desire to control websites outside of our own, however, out of respect to the family we ask that you refrain from posting pictures of this type on your photo sharing albums. Any links to albums in our forums containing these types of photos will be removed in order to protect the families. Posting of mission pictures in our Photo Gallery is done by an assigned team so that they may be reviewed before posting. Send in mission pictures “zipped” and at a manageable file size, i.e. probably no larger than 4mb per email just to be safe. Send your picture files clearly labeled as to which mission to photos@patriotguard.org.
Physical and mailing addresses or phone numbers of heroes, their families, and PGR members should not be posted in our forums in order to protect their privacy and for security purposes. Names of minor children will not be posted in our mission forums if you are listing survivors.
Full articles can not be posted in our forums due to copyright infringement. Links to online articles are permitted. As always there may be an exception to this guideline, however, it should be reviewed by the moderators before posting. News articles regarding missions must be sent to the state captain first before posting in a thread. Some articles may contain details of the manner of death of the hero and some family members may not wish to see that posted or may not be aware of the details. Some families may be protecting children from reading the details, it is not up to us to publish them. Please be careful when posting links to news articles.
Discussions regarding the manner of death of a hero should not be posted in mission threads. These threads are reserved for mission itinerary and condolences only.
Missions are only scheduled and posted upon approval of the state captain. We do not post missions using a news article unless the state captain has already made contact with the CAO or at the families’ request. Members may not post missions. Moderators post the missions after receiving the information from the State captain or his/her designee. If you become aware of a potential mission please see the directory on the home page for the email address to send the mission request. These include, but are not limited to, Pending, Confirmed, Welcome Home, Send Off, HOTH, Memorial and Special Missions.
Mission information is not posted in any of the state or regional forums. A link to the official mission thread may be placed in a locked thread in your state forums by the state captain or his/her designee.
Addresses of churches, funeral homes or cemeteries or discrepancies in times or location which may be published in local news papers and may be contrary to official mission information should not to be posted in mission threads by members. If you notice a discrepancy please contact your state captain or the ride captain for that mission with your information. Please remember that our captains are in close constant contact with the Casualty Assistance Officers and family representatives and will probably have the most accurate information. Many times circumstances warrant a schedule or location change of which the press is not aware.
Requests for donations and help for our families of the fallen, wounded, veterans and current active duty service personnel should not be posted in our forums without approval of the Help on the Homefront department. There are several programs set up to assist our military and their families.
Even though we have an off topic section, please remember why we are here. With that being said, off topic subjects that you wouldn't want your mother or child to see should probably not be posted and will most likely be deleted.
We maintain a forum specifically for humorous posts. All posts must be within a PG-13 rating. Again, the PGR is neutral when it comes to politics, political humor will be removed from the forum. In this forum and this forum only, the moderators are not required to email the author of the post if it is removed. The guidelines for that forum are pinned at the top of the forum. This forum will be maintained at no more than 3 pages with any one thread being no longer than 20 pages. Pictures must be kept to a minimum and should also fall under the PG-13 rating.
The editing and deletion process of a post or thread is not at the whim of any one member of the moderator team. The moderators are required to follow these guidelines when working the forums. When a thread has become questionable it is first moved to a non viewable area for moderator and national officers' review with a final post in the thread indicating it has been moved to Mod Review. After consideration by said people, it is either deleted or edited and placed back for public viewing.
Posts that are deemed not in keeping with these guidelines will be edited and signed by the editing moderator who will follow up with an email to the author of the post; OR deleted with an email to the author giving an explanation for the deletion with the National team cc'd on the email for complete transparency.
Please remember, the moderators are doing their job at the direction of the National Board of Directors. This website is privately owned, not a public entity and, as such, the Board of Directors retains the right to determine the content therein. If you have any doubts about the propriety of a post you wish to make, you can ask the moderators before posting at mods@patriotguard.org. One of the team members will be happy to answer any questions you have or assist you with the post so it remains within these guidelines. We would prefer to take the time to answer your questions before you post.
In closing I would like to say the number one rule you should remember when posting here is culled from our mission statement available on the home page:
Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities. Thank you, each and every one of you for being a Patriot Guard Rider.
With Respect,
National Forum Administrator
Patriot Guard Riders, Inc.