When AncientSites (AW's predecessor) was founded, no one realized that we'd have to have a code of behavior to prevent spammers, flamers, hackers, and all sorts of online behavioral problems, NOT to mention (for example - this happened!) groups who set up shop at AW to discuss non-ancient-history subjects like home improvements and current politics. Over a long time the Code has evolved - links to it are everywhere.

One of the issues we frequently have to deal with is - just how far do we enforce the Code? People have been banned, but it is a tool we use very, very rarely - and even then, unless the behavior is horrendous, like hacking or identity theft or obscene posts, we usually try to get at least one, over more than one, warning about bad behavior to give the person a chance to correct it.

However, we do NOT use the Code to make nasty persons pleasant, complaining persons silent, difficult persons amiable. We bend over backwards to permit free speech on the site, even speech that is anti-Administration, anti-AW, and more. This site is open to everyone, and everyone has an opinion (I won't complete the phrase). In my ten years here, I have seen people who adore upsetting other people, people who are snide, people who are unpleasant. We generally take the opinion that, unless you are actively harassing someone or otherwise fall clearly foul of the Code of Conduct, your behavior is up to you. When it is clear you are spoiling other people's pleasure in the site, then we think again. But throughout my time here, the general conduct is to be tolerant unless the behavior is constant, egregious, and deliberately harmful to others.

We do not, however, use the Code to change human nature, and sometimes that irritates members who feel that we should use the tools of banning members far more often to make them behave as the upset members feel they should - or simply remove them to remove thorns from the paws of the community at large. Admin feels, strongly, that this is a dangerously slippery slope, and once we start using the C of C as a weapon to ban those we disapprove of, it is easily used to remove those we simply don't like. In real life, you often have to work and live alongside people whom you may not like. That does not mean you benefit from weapons that forcibly remove them from your neighborhood.

Therefore, tolerance is a large part of a volunteer community; it has its flaws, but for those who snipe regularly at the site and try to upset others, unless they are clearly violating the Code, we recommend that you simply ignore them. Humans being what they are, and online communities in particular, there will always be those rather sad human beings who love creating trouble, stirring up anxieties, setting friends at each other's throats. As was first told to me a decade ago, ignoring them removes the fires that make them blaze.

So if you see someone clearly violating the Code of Conduct, targeting you in an unpleasant way, or otherwise causing real trouble, let a demi know and we will warn the person - sometimes frequently, sometimes leading to banning. But the rule here is generally gentle and, if you come here to enjoy the site and share with others, you will run no risks of violating the C of C.