Frequently Asked Questions: A-Z Index
C
Entries:
D
Entries:
- Do you have word filters or auto-moderation in place?
- Do you comply with data protection laws / can I download or purge my data?
H
Entries:
- How do you protect against spam?
- How do you keep links up to date?
- How do you keep content on the site up to date?
- How do I get age / identity verified so I can upload media?
- How do I change which theme I want to use?
- How long must the description be when adding gallery entries?
I
Entries:
- Is the software running Midwest Nudists open source, and can I look at the code?
- Is Midwest Nudists limited to people / places / events in the Midwest?
- Is Midwest Nudists bound by the Social Media Parental Notification Act of Ohio?
- I didn't mean to break the rules. Can you go easier on me or appeal my warning?
- I am offended by something someone said. What can I do?
W
Entries:
- What happens if I violate the rules / Terms and Conditions? (the warnings system)
- What is the Burden of Proof?
- What is karma / the bars below people's avatars?
- What are the ranked usergroups and their rewards?
- What is Probation?
- What is voting power?
- What are points, and what are they used for?
- What is escrowing points?
- Why does Midwest Nudists condemn discrimination based on relationship status (even if for safety)?
- What is my Account Standing?
Newest 10 Entries
Question | Do you have word filters or auto-moderation in place? |
---|---|
Answer | We only have a very conservative (small) list of words which, when used, will result in submissions getting blocked. These words are widely considered as extremely / patently offensive in almost all use cases and contexts with little to no discretion. Therefore, there should be no confusion. We generally do not believe in using word filters or auto-moderation for the following reasons:
Granted, this does not mean you can say whatever you want on Midwest Nudists. We still have clearly-outlined rules of conduct. And violating the rules will result in punitive actions / warnings. Remember, freedom of speech does not apply to the internet; platforms have the right to moderate as they see fit for their interests and mission. But we also do not take moderation to the overly-censoring extreme. |
Question | How long must the description be when adding gallery entries? |
---|---|
Answer | We impose a requirement of at least 128 characters of text for the "description" field when adding or editing an image or video in a gallery. This is because we want to prevent members from simply spamming the website with pictures of themselves. We want members to provide some context for their gallery entries, such as a description of what's going on in the photo, who took it, where it was taken, the story behind the photo, fun facts, etc. By providing context to an image, not only can those using assisted technologies understand what the photo is, but more value is shared with the community. We do not enforce this as a rule in the Terms and Conditions; the website software will physically prevent anyone from submitting or editing an entry if the description does not have at least 128 characters of text. |
Question | Is Midwest Nudists bound by the Social Media Parental Notification Act of Ohio? |
---|---|
Answer | Yes. Midwest Nudists is an Ohio-based social media website. As such, we must comply with this new 2024 law. We believe we are in compliance due to the following regulations and systems we have put in place:
You can read more about the law here: https://governor.ohio.gov/administration/lt-governor/071123 |
Question | Is Midwest Nudists limited to people / places / events in the Midwest? |
---|---|
Answer | Not at all! We accept people, places, and events from anywhere in the world. The "Midwest" in Midwest Nudists means three things:
|
Rule | All people depicted in any/all content you publish must be at least 18 years old |
---|
Question | What is escrowing points? |
---|---|
Answer | IntroductionYou can use your points balance as a virtual currency with other members for goods or services. Our "escrow" system allows for a trusted system to exchange these points. When a member "escrows" points to another member, those points get held by a third party (in this case, Midwest Nudists) until both members indicate the stated agreement terms have been met. Once both members mark the agreement has been satisfied, the points will be released and sent to the escrowed member. If the agreement has not been met, one of the members can "dispute" the escrow, resulting in the escrow being raised to the Midwest Nudists staff for intervention. Creating an EscrowLet's say, for example, you want to exchange points with another member in exchange for a piece of art they will make for you. Here is what you would do:
After Creating the EscrowWhen you create the escrow, your points are deducted from your balance and held by Midwest Nudists. An escrow transaction is created between you and the other member... and the other member is notified of it. Both of you can view the escrow at any time through the link provided, and take action. When you deem that the other member has satisfied their portion of the agreement, you will mark the escrow as satisfied. Once both you and the other member mark it as satisfied, then the other member will receive your points, and the escrow will be closed. Disputing an EscrowIf the other member is not cooperating with their portion of the agreement, or you wish to refund the escrow or have the agreements changed, you can dispute it from the escrow screen. You will be prompted to explain your dispute so staff can get a better picture of what happened. When either member disputes the escrow, it enters "dispute" state, meaning no more actions can be taken on the escrow until the staff review the dispute and resolve it. Resolution can come in the form of one of three actions:
|
Question | What are points, and what are they used for? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Answer | IntroductionPoints are the rewards system / virtual currency of Midwest Nudists. You earn points through various contributions on the website and in the community. Those points can then be used for various things as a virtual currency. We will explain all of this here. Points Balance, Life-time Points, and Gift PointsHere is an explanation of the differences between each of these three terms used on your points profile:
Earning PointsThe following is a list of ways you can earn points automatically:
You can also earn points through various other means:
Using PointsYou can use the points you have in your balance in a number of ways:
|
Question | What is voting power? |
---|---|
Answer | You might have noticed "Voting power" on your profile's points tab. Some polls in the forum are weighted, meaning that when members vote on the poll, the amount of influence they have on the poll results depends on their voting power relative to the voting powers of all the other members who voted. In short, the more voting power you have, the more you influence the poll results with your vote. Voting power is based on the number of points you have. This means that as you contribute content and engage with the community, you earn points, which therefore increase your voting power. Voting power is exponential, meaning as your points increase, your voting power will increase at a slower and slower pace. This is to ensure anyone with a huge amount of points do not completely overshadow the votes of those with much less points. The maximum possible voting power is 10, which is achieved at about 94,000 points. Often, polls specific to making decisions for the website will be weighted based on voting power. This means those who contributed and engaged more with the community will have a bigger say in the decisions for the website. Note: in the future, voting power will be based on life-time points rather than your points balance. That way, spending points will not have a negative impact on your voting power. |
Question | Can I appeal a warning or ban issued against me? |
---|---|
Answer | When to AppealYou can appeal a warning or ban issued against you. The following are acceptable times (reasons) to file an appeal:
When NOT to AppealDo not file an appeal under any of the following circumstances:
How to AppealTo appeal your warning, do one of the following (we listed each in order of preference from highest to lowest; we prefer you try the top items and only use the lower ones if the top ones are unavailable to you):
In your appeal request, you must include the following:
Appeal Decisions Are FinalOnce the staff return to your appeal request with a decision, the decision is final. You cannot make any more appeal requests for that warning / violation. It is therefore important to make your appeal count. You will often have no opportunity to amend or resend your appeal before a decision is made. |
Top 10 Entries
Question | What is Probation? |
---|---|
Answer | Probation is an implicit usergroup used to significantly restrict a member's privileges on Midwest Nudists. Since our software does not utilize suspensions / temporary bans, probation is used instead. Probation is mainly used for problematic members who need to be kept under close supervision for a temporary time. When a member is issued probation, the following happens until probation ends:
|
Question | What are the ranked usergroups and their rewards? |
---|---|
Answer | IntroductionMidwest Nudists utilizes a simple rank system to reward members for their activity and contributions on the website. We use 7 usergroups themed after the 7 primary Chakras of the human body (from Reiki) to make ranks a little more fun. As members rank up, they will earn additional incentives on the site as explained below. Ranks / promotions are based on the number of points a member earned in their life-time. These ranks and rewards are subject to change at any time. You can view your rank and the privileges you have unlocked at any time by going to your profile and viewing the "Ranks" tab. RanksThe ranks / usergroups, and their incentives, are as follows, which can change at any time:
* This feature is subject to you having completed age / identity verification with Midwest Nudists. See the FAQ > Uploading Media for more information. |
Question | What is karma / the bars below people's avatars? |
---|---|
Answer | Karma is a measure of a member's reputation on Midwest Nudists as decided by other members and by staff. It is displayed on member profiles and forum posts under the avatar as a bar. Members who are on probation will not be able to see the karma / bar of others while on probation.
You can view a member's good and bad karma values by hovering over or tapping the karma bar. Good karma is earned in the following ways:
Bad karma is earned in the following ways:
Karmic influence is how much a member can impact the karma of other members from giving ratings, sending points, or sending virtual gifts. The karmic influence of a member is not visible anywhere. The following criteria determine a member's karmic influence:
Please be honest when performing any actions which will affect your or another member's karma:
Abuse of the karma system is a violation of the Community Guidelines / Terms and Conditions and may warrant a warning / disciplinary action. Staff randomly monitor the use of karma for potential abuse. |
Question | What is the Burden of Proof? |
---|---|
Answer | For Midwest Nudists, the burden of proof before disciplinary action is considered for a Terms and Conditions violation is clear and convincing evidence. For context, there are three burdens of proof known in the United States:
If staff cannot meet the required burden of proof in an incident, they cannot [reasonably] issue disciplinary action for that incident. They can, however, remind members to follow the rules and to inform them their recent actions are not tolerable and could be disciplined in the future. Keep in mind that Midwest Nudists considers the big picture / community as a whole when making decisions regarding violations. Neither excuses, intent, nor motivations will reduce the disciplinary actions taken. |
Question | Is the software running Midwest Nudists open source, and can I look at the code? |
---|---|
Answer | Absolutely! Not only is the software that runs the Midwest Nudists website (Composr CMS) open source, but the repository I created to make the specific customisations for Midwest Nudists is also open source. The git repository for Midwest Nudists can be found at Patrick Schmalstig / Midwest Nudists · GitLab . The "production" branch is the code currently used on the site. Note that personal media uploaded to the site via the uploads folder is not included in the repository, nor is server configuration via _config.php, for privacy and security reasons. The code base for the software itself, Composr CMS, is at Composr ecosystem / Composr · GitLab . Note that we are running version 11, so the v11 branch is the most relevant. |
Question | What happens if I violate the rules / Terms and Conditions? (the warnings system) |
---|---|
Answer | IntroductionWe take the safety and integrity of the community very seriously and will take action for rule violations. When you violate the Terms and Conditions / rules, if the staff have clear and convincing evidence, you will be assessed a warning against your account that will also include punitive actions. This will arrive to you in the form of a Private Topic and email with the subject, "Terms and Conditions: Notice of Violation." And it will include information pertaining to what you did and what actions were taken. It may also include further steps you should take to prevent further issues and violations. The purpose of warnings and punitive actions is to decrease the amount of harm your violations may cause (damage control) and to discourage you from repeating those actions again. Note that warnings do not expire, but they can be appealed if you believe you did not violate the rules or that the violation does not justify the punitive actions taken. Punitive ActionsThe actions taken for a violation will depend on the severity of the violation / how much impact was caused on the community as well as your Account Standing. The following are a list of actions that may be taken against you:
How Warnings Affect Account DeletionIf your account has one or more formal warnings on it, then your username, e-mail address, and IP address will be blacklisted if you later delete your account. Blacklisting means that your username / email can no longer be used on any accounts on Midwest Nudists. And no one from your IP address can create / edit member accounts anymore. This is to help prevent a moderation loophole where a member could potentially delete their account and create a new one with a clean slate. Do You Issue Warnings For Small Violations?Sometimes yes, if the staff have clear and convincing evidence. Often, warnings for small violations will contain very minor punitive action, if any at all. Staff may elect instead just to give you a nag message to follow the rules if they do not feel a warning is necessary. But the point is that action will be taken whether it's a small warning or a nag message. We believe any incident however small needs to be addressed so others do not end up conditioning themselves that their wrongful action is tolerable (which often leads to them doing more severe things whether they intended to or not). Be aware that, while we do understand this may give the impression of us being overly censoring / moderating, we are far from that. In fact, by having the many tools we do have at our disposal for addressing bad behavior, we can avoid having to ban people when it really isn't necessary to do so. Furthermore, every warning can be discussed and appealed. So if you disagree, so long as you are civil about it, the staff will have an open mind and consider your points (this does not mean they will agree with them but that they will listen to you). Automatic Actions for Spamming or HackingThis site has automatic spam prevention features. When these features detect spam, they will take action (either requiring approval for submitted content, blocking the attempt to submit content, or banning the IP address entirely). Additionally, this site features automatic security features that will ban IP addresses if they try to hack the site or brute force login. These automatic actions are not associated with the warnings system. Therefore, they do not come with a warning. But you will see a message from our website when these features intercept your requests. If you trigger an automatic system, it is important that you do not repeat your action again, even if it is a bug / error. Doing so could get you auto-banned. Instead, let us know in a Support Ticket or [email protected] if there is an issue. Your Warnings HistoryYou can view the list of (formal) warnings that have been assessed against your account by going to your profile and clicking the "Account Standing" tab at the top. |
Rule | Disclose use of Artificial Intelligence, and include your own original transformations |
---|
Rule | Use the report links when you find content that violates the rules / Terms |
---|
Rule | Do not share personal or identifiable information of others |
---|
Rule | Use English for all content |
---|