We have grown from about 200 users to over 3,000 in less than 18 months. This is what we consider as active users because we periodically delete those that haven't logged in for a while. Our status has turned from "refugee camp" for a forum that closed down their grocery coupon sections (FW/GC) into our own little vacation island.

You know, vacation. Where you go to get away from it all, but still find people yelling at each other and being selfish and rude.

We've made various posts in the past asking people to be considerate of others, follow the rules, etc., but we still end up repeating the same requests every few months or so. We've also been purposefully general (vague) on the rules because we don't want "Well, you said we couldn't do this. I didn't. I did This, instead." Unfortunately, hints and suggestions don't seem to work for a handful of people. We have two basic rules on DAGG; "Nothing illegal", and "play nice". However, "nothing illegal" apparently leaves room for "Well, it's not illegal, and if you do this, you can usually get away with it." I'm adding a third rule; one that has been stated as a request many times. It is no longer a suggestion/request. "No discussions on circumventing the usage intent on a coupon." Examples include, but are not limited to, using coupons on items other than the intended wording/description or using an expired coupon (unless store policy allows it), "because the scanner lets you get away with it."

In the past, we have attempted to PM each individual every time we took a moderation action (edit, delete, or move a post). We are now getting just under 1,000 new posts every day and that is no longer practical, even with the increased number of mods. If you find your posts getting deleted, you are doing something that violates our policy. Not necessarily something "wrong", but just something that violates our policy.

DAGG has been on the periphery of legal action due to posts made by members. We didn't enjoy it, and we have no wish to go through anything like it again. We are now also very visible to larger corporations and coupon companies. Moderation action will be guided by our three basic rules, but they will be taken based wholly on our own judgement. This attitude/policy puts a damper on some posts that "any sane person would see was perfectly fine." Unfortunately, BigCorp, Inc. and the law don't always act in a sane manner. DAGG doesn't have a legal team, lots of money for lawyers/defense, etc., so we take the easy way out. If there is anything questionable, it goes away. We have to act in a manner that keeps us out of trouble, not necessarily a manner that makes sense. There have been many posts deleted that "there was nothing technically wrong with," except they could be seen as encouraging fraudulent or illegal activity, or otherwise bringing attention to us that we don't want.

We have also been described as basically trying to be a perfect place where nothing is allowed to go wrong and that we don't have a firm grasp of the real world. Well, it's a nice theory, but we actually do have a good understanding of the ugliness that can happen in the real world. It's the reason we've developed our policies and the reason we enforce them the way we do. There are plenty of other boards that let you do things that DAGG doesn't. However, those are other boards - they aren't DAGG. We know we are not all things to all people. We know there is no way we can be. DAGG is right for some people, and not for others. If it's not right for you, please go elsewhere.

• No discussions on illegal activity.
• No discussions on circumventing the usage intent on a coupon.
• "Play nice." There is no need to be rude.
• Moderation will be based on the above, but will be wholly within the judgement of the moderation/admin team.

Related topics:
http://www.dealagogo.com/showthread.php?t=31185 (fraudulent use of coupons)
http://www.dealagogo.com/showthread.php?t=42168 (let's play nice)
http://www.dealagogo.com/showthread.php?t=9919 (rules for posting)

There shouldn't be much discussion on this, and not really a lot of wiggle-room, but there is a seperate discussion thread for this at: http://www.dealagogo.com/showthread.php?p=305209.
I'm locking this thread to leave it as a reference and not have it get bogged down in any discussion.