Moderation Policy

WalkLakes aims to be a friendly and supportive place where you can share your trips, enjoy some banter with like-minded folk, or indeed debate controversial outdoors issues. Moderation will be kept to a minimum but for the benefit of all do please observe the points on this page.

Why have moderation?

The intention of moderation is not to censor free speech. If the forums were completely unmoderated then the site would soon be filled with commercial plugs placed by companies, would contain racist and sexist material, links to pornography and lots of slander and personal fights between users. This isn't what most people would want from a forum so moderation is needed. On the other hand it is not our policy to generally remove critical posts - it should be possible to have sensible debate.

Trolling

For those unaware, 'trolling' on the internet means making posts with the intention of starting a row, or of causing a row between other members. Sometimes the 'trolling' is easy to spot for those familiar with it, but unfortunately there are also 'trolls' who try to create conflict by making deceiving posts or private messages - both under their own username or whilst pretending to be several different people using multiple accounts. This type of 'troll' often appears not to be actually involved in the row, or to be the injured party, but the usual aim is to manipulate and mislead other users into arguing with each other; the troll often hopes to create a blazing row. Both types of 'troll' are common on internet forums, often working across many sites; repeated trollers will be banned. If you think someone may be trolling, please IGNORE them and report the post using the 'phpBB' button.

Commercial posts

The other common problem is users posting commercial messages about their company or organisation, or using the forum to promote or gather users for their own website. The forum is not the place to promote your company, product or website. Whilst you are free to include a link to your own website or company in your profile, please do not make posts to promote it. Commercial posters and PR companies should note that WalkLakes offers a range of advertising options, and it is unfair on the companies that pay for the site to try to freeload. Commercial posts also become very annoying for other users. Deceptive posts where a poster from a company or PR firm pretends to be a member of the public will lead to a ban; if you register on the site and your first post is praising a commercial company then you will be treated with suspicion.

Other problems

Please avoid:

How to report a post

If you read a post you feel breaks any of these guidelines, do report it using the exclamation mark button by the post title (phpBB) - this way all the moderators will be able to see your report.

WalkLakes recognises that hill walking, or walking in the mountains, is an activity with a danger of personal injury or death.
Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.