Part IV: Some additional clarifications to the rules

Breaking the rules in part 2 may result in your postings being edited and/or a warning, and sometimes, a ban. Most of the time you won't get a ban without getting a warning first. However, serious intentional violations of the worst cases described in the first 6 rules may result in an instant ban. Precise details are described in the moderation guide.

The Ziu (Lobby, Cosa, Senate) and Court boards have their own rules which are administered by their own moderators. However, rules 1 to 5 still apply there for online safety/privacy reasons and all rules still apply to non-MZs posting in the Ziu without invitation to avoid consequences elsewhere.

If you are a citizen and do get a ban typically you will still be allowed to post in the Courtroom. Members of the Ziu will also still be allowed to post in the Ziu. However, if you abuse these exceptions (for example by posting things in the courtroom that are not relevant to proceedings there or by breaking the rules again) your ban may become forum wide. All bans are temporary but can be extended if you break the rules again.

Part III: Some well intentioned advice

Posting online
is not the same as talking in the street. There are some important differences. If you have an argument with someone in the street, when the argument is over, the nasty things you may wish you hadn't said only exist in memory. Online, however they are likely to stay there for a while, confronting both you and the recipient. The audience is wider too. When you talk about at someone you do so for an audience of dozens of (future) readers. Thankfully though, conversations also happen much slower, which gives you a chance to breathe, count to ten, and most importantly, think before you post.

Talossa is a county, but also a community.
A small community of actual people (with actual feelings) who want the best for Talossa and are willing to spend part of their free time in it. If arguments turn into nastiness remember that this might turn people off, both prospective and older citizens. This will harm Talossa. Also keep in mind that most officers are held by citizens who are not professionals but are still willing to serve Talossa for free.

Argue in good faith.
Some tips: try to separate the political from the personal. That means if you disagree with someone try to focus on the relevant topic rather than attack the person. At the same time don't get too easily offended if someone attacks your politics. Be honest about your positions. When someone argues with you it's often best to consider the argument rather than dissect the motivation behind it. In most arguments both sides genuinely believe their position is best for Talossa.

Some things are not for everyone.
Posting on most boards means everyone can see it, including people who are not Talossan citizens, but who might be, for example, children, or future employers of fellow citizens. If you are about to post something that someone might not want the entire internet to know, you could consider doing so in the chatroom, which can only be seen by accepted members. Immigration boards also can not be seen by the outside world. Personal details of immigrants are best discussed there (especially when they have not had the chance to adopt a Talossan name). In some cases you may also consider using personal messages to communicate rather than posting on the forum.

Everything in its right place.
Wittenberg is divided into various boards and subboards, each with their own purpose. Some of these may have their own rules, which you should keep in mind. Before you create a new thread, please consider what the appropriate place is. In most cases this should be pretty straightforward.
Note that the Cosa and Senate boards should only be used by members of the Cosa or Senate or people specifically invited to comment there. Similarly the Courtroom or the Lobby (Ziu) should only be used by those with specific business there (Ministers addressing the Ziu, parties to a court case, etc).
The Hopper is free to be used by anyone including non-MZ's, as long as the subject concerns legislative proposals.
If a topic does not belong in any specific category please use the General board for announcements/discussions that are relevant to the community as a whole, or where it is important that certain people see them. Games, memes, random thoughts etc usually belong in the chatroom.

New and prospective citizens
are very welcome to participate, especially in the chatroom, but in other boards as well, provided you keep in mind the above advice. Coming up with new initiatives and ideas is fine of course, but do also keep in mind that Talossa has many traditions and a long history, which is worth understanding first before you get upset people don't like some of your proposals. Finally if you are a citizen of a different micronation, it is fine to talk about this (preferably in the chatroom), but don't spam people to death with it. Not everyone is going to be interested.

Part II: Some very hard rules

• Do NOT post personal/contact information (phone numbers, email addresses, etc) without someone's consent.
  This includes the Non-Talossan name of those who prefer to use their Talossan name!
  
  


• Do not post any malware or infected links. If you have doubts about whether a link is safe, don't post it.
  
  


• Don't do anything illegal (duh!) or with obvious malicious intent.
  This Includes:
  
  
  
  • Making claims/allegations about Talossans that could be considered libel/slander
  • Pyramid schemes, other attempts to scam Talossans out of their money
  • Incitement of Violence
  • Revenge porn, or posting any material that is intended to personally humiliate someone.
  • Blackmail.
  
  


• Do not post any extreme violence, gore, pornographic material or anything that is inappropriate for 14 year old viewers.
  
  


• When posting material that includes mild violence, contains nudity or might be considered disturbing for whatever reason exercise restraint and consider whether your post has a purpose first.
  
  


• Do not post gifs/animations that may induce epileptic seizures (i.e. change luminosity/colour at high frequency).
  
  


• Do not use abusive language. This may include swearing, wishing harm upon or threatening to harm other users. Definitely do not use any discriminatory slurs.
  
  


• Don't be a troll or otherwise post in a way that is intended solely to annoy people or infuriate them.
  
  


• Don't de-rail or take a thread off the original topic by posting another topic or changing the subject.
  
  


• Don't engage in disruptive posting. This may include:
  
  
  
  • Excessive posting, especially in a way that does not contribute anything
  • Repeatedly posting in incorrect threads or boards
  • Excessive inclusion of large media files.
  • Changing your signature to be excessively large.
  • Wildly excessive use of capitalisation, large fonts, colours, moving items, symbols, swearwords, gibberish, etc.
    
    
  
  
  
  

Part I: Introduction

Wittenberg is the main forum used by the Talossan community and official Talossan organisations and the government. In a sense it is a digital representation of Talossa itself. A townsquare of sorts where Talossans gather to discuss matters important to them, surrounded by various buildings which host governmental organisations and agencies including the Ziu and the Court.

For the most part this provides Talossan citizens with the freedom to speak, joke around and argue, like one might in any real public space. However, this is not the full story, because while we may sometimes act like we are talking face to face, there are some real differences between online and offline communication. Freedom is also not absolute. There are some rules for keeping public order that must be followed in order to be allowed to participate here. These are listed in the second part of wittiquette. Finally, while Talossans are mostly free to do and say as they please that does not always mean doing so is always the wisest course of action if you want to be a valuable part of the community. This is why the third part contains some advice that you are free to ignore, but would be wise to keep in mind.

I'm really not convinced this is a good idea at all.

But if we absolutely have to, I think we should avoid any of the following:

- Anything that results in citizens joining thinking that they might one day become King.
- Anyone campaigning to become King.
- Anyone taking up civil service duties because it might make them King someday.
- Any parties campaigning to make their members King.
- Electing anyone we are not sure will be around for a long time (I can honestly think of very few Talossans who have been as consistently present for such a long time as King John). The best way to ensure this also means not...
- Electing anyone who hasn't already been around for a long time.
- A method that is so straightforward (or I guess simplistic) that it essentially turns the King into just another elected office.
- A method that results in someone being elected based on the hype of the day rather than long term appreciation (remember this is supposed to be an appointment for life.)

Sorry for the late response.

The election was supposed to be held starting 1-2 weeks after the General Election, so we're running behind a bit. The first question now is whether you want to conduct the election yourself (with my help) or appoint someone else to run it (I'm willing to do it if needed). Note that if you run it yourself you cannot also stand as a candidate, but that's up to you.

Quote from: Miestrâ Schiva, UrN on January 06, 2020, 06:32:22 PMI can't believe no-one noticed until now that there are all manner of other references to this defunct Cort floating around in El Lexhatx

I find that very believable

Very sad news indeed. Fritz was hugely important to the community and the story of Talossa. May he rest in peace.

First of all, is the Hopper part of the Ziu and should it therefore fall under Ziu moderation rules? On the one hand it obviously has a function related to legislation and is primarily used by the Ziu, on the other hand the OrgLaw states that the hopper is administered by the SoS, who is not a Ziu member. Also, we allow non MZ's to post in the hopper as well...

Secondly, what is even the hopper. The OrgLaw mentions it as a venue for inspection of bills, but inspection is not the same as discussion, which is what the hopper is now, a discussionboard. The lexhatx also mentions that after X days legislation can be removed from the hopper (language that originally came from the Orglaw, I think?), but how would that work? I dont plan on removing entire discussion threads... Maybe the Hopper, as Organically defined should just be a single thread in the hopper that lists which bills and which versions are currently active, as in, not removed from the hopper or withdrawn to be clarked.

Thoughts?

Also, should there be a standard for whether bills should be amended by editing the original post or by creating a new post with the amended version. Currently, everyone seems to be doing something else...

@Amada Merþedes
can I point you to this matter, which needs your attention: talossa.proboards.com/thread/13844/

It is my pleasure to open call for bills of the February 2020 Clark.

Eventually, the clark can be viewed in real time here:

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=54&clark=2 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=54&clark=2 (for the bills )

It is NOT too late to submit bills, of course, as you have OFFICIALLY until the morning of the 31th of this month, provided your bills have been in the Hopper before end of business day the 26th, of course. I will make the Clark on February 1st's morning and bills submitted up to a few hours before that will probably also be taken.

PLEASE note that in order to support a bill, you need to:

1 ) Be a Senator, the Secretary of State or the King
or
2 ) Have been nominated as a Cosa Member for the upcoming Clark BEFORE the 26th,

To vote on the Clark, you will have 3 options:

1 ) You will be able to vote in the Clark thread (which will be created later on the 1st of January), or in a separate Senate voting thread, as usual. I will enter your votes in the DB.

2 ) You will be able to vote directly in the database, using your usernumber and DB password (which you can retrieve at: www.talossa.ca/files/login.php using the PSC of the election) or by login via Facebook (which requires manual activation on my part).

3 ) Votes cast on the Senate/Cosa boards on new Witt will also be counted.

[p][img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://heraldry.talossa.com/LesserStateSeal.gif"][/p]

Glüc da Dhi
Secretary of State

!IMPORTANT: Bills will still need to have been posted in the hopper on Old Witt!

Azul citizens of Talossa. The Chancery is currently hiring for a number of positions. I do not expect to fill all of the listed positions. I do also not expect to accept all applications., but feel free to apply anyway.

Sadly, there is little reward I can offer. All positions are voluntary, which means there is no financial compensation. You will however have a chance to serve your community, perhaps get more tasks in the future and if you do well be considered for even more respectable offices (all of which also unpaid presumably.)

Workload and requirements depend on the position. In generally you are expected to be a citizen of Talossa in good standing, be reliable (not suddenly go AWOL) and either have knowledge of or be interested in learning about the laws and traditions that are related to your office. You are also expected to be a regular visitor of witt. Many of the functions require you to have access to sensible information, which means you need to be highly trustworthy. Depending on the position partisan activity (campaigning, filling a party office) is either discouraged or not allowed. Being a party member is allowed for all functions, but in some cases discouraged. Many of the positions also require you to deal with me and accepting that your decisions may sometimes be overruled. Communication skills and showing initiative are also generally a pre.

New citizens are advised to apply for State Elf in charge of the Hopper or State Elf in charge of Preparations.

Apply by replying to this post, sending me a pm, facebook/whatsapp message or email. Please include what position or positions you are interested in and how much time you expect to be able to spend on this.


Vacancies:
•   Wittenberg admin (x1)
You will be, together with the other admins, enforcing Wittiquette (yet to be created) on new Witt in accordance with the moderation guide (yet to be created). You will also move, (un)sticky and/or (un)announce acting on the requests of various officeholders. Finally, you will be a member of the adminboard which decides on the enforcement on wittiquette and will eventually be asked to evaluate and update Wittiquette.

•   Second deputy Secretary of State
You will conduct approximately half of all clarks (entering and checking bills, entering votes, posting results). In addition you may be asked to conduct elections and censuses if the Secretary of State is available.
Finally you are expected to take on at least one of the tasks associated with a State Elf function (see below).

•   State Elf in charge of Wittenberg
You will be the main administrator of the new Wittenberg forum. You will take on regular admin duties (see above) and be a member of the admin board. In addition you will eventually be tasked with evaluating an updating the admin hierarchy, hiring and firing of admins, communication with CpI/Ziu admins and officeholders, board structure  and communication with the technical forum staff (secretary to the cabinet). (Essentially you will be responsible for all functions the chancery is given by the Ziu relating to wittenberg, but you will still report to/be bound by the decisions of the Secretary of State).

•   State Elf in charge of Legal affairs.
You will represent the Chancery in some legal cases. You will also be asked to provide legal advice when a member of the Chancery is in doubt about the interpretation of the law. Finally you will occasionally evaluate whether chancery practices are compliant with the law and report to the Secretary of State about this.

•   State Elf in charge of Citizenship
You will issue grants of citizenship following petitions (after checking a prospective citizen has met all the requirements. You will update wittenberg profiles accordingly. You will also restore citizenship when requested and remove citizens who struck out from the rolls following elections.

•   State Elf in charge of preparations.
You will review internal and public discussion following elections and referenda, stay up to date about election laws being passed and submit recommendations on potential changes in advance of a census or referenda. If approved you will work with the database admin to implement these changes.

•   State Elf in charge of Emails
You  will keep a manual list of various email databases, subscriptions and opt-outs and opt-ins. You will email government emails to the appropriate email list. Eventually are expected to submit recommendations to the SoS and the Ziu to clean up the current email list mess.

Filled•   State Elf in charge of Provincial Assignment
You will keep track of provincial assignments. Particularly whether locations provided in the census match current provincial assignment and contact citizens about whether they would like to change province.


•   State Elf in charge of the Hopper.
You will update a public list of bills in the hopper and make early determinations on the Organicity, proper layout and votes required to pass. You will remove bills from the list that have been in the hopper too long.