Hosts are exemplary citizens of our online community, who offer help and support to other users, and who are willing to share their knowledge and experience in specific subject areas.

Among other things, hosts facilitate interaction and maintain an environment for stimulating discussion. Hosts have a variety of resources and technical tools to assist their efforts.

Hosts collaborate with other hosts and staff regarding nearly all aspects of creating and maintaining a thriving online community.

WHAT IS A GOOD HOST?

Good hosts write easily and conversationally. They are supportive and interesting. They are consistent in their participation. They actively "listen" to others by asking questions, trying to clarify what others say, and inviting responses. They do not dominate conversations, or always try to win others over to their way of thinking. They often stimulate further discussion, and they start new topics or make suggestions to refocus conversations. The online world is an integrated part of their lives, but they're not addicted.

PUBLIC FORUMS

The duties of a host include keeping the forum running smoothly, managing it within the limits and possibilities of the software, ensuring that users can navigate the forum as easily as possible, and helping maintain an open and dynamic conversational environment .

Staff and hosts jointly agree to cooperate in maintaining a hospitable environment for forum users. Hosts are selected and supported for the benefit of the forum participants and the community.

TECHNICAL FORUM MANAGEMENT

Hosts install or modify the Welcome, Banner and Bulletin on the forum home page.

Hosts select the period of previous posts that will be seen as new by first time visitors to the forum, attempting to strike a balance between an engaging and representative introduction and an overwhelming one.

The host of a public forum is given the capacity to hide or erase any responses, and freeze or delete topics.

Censoring another user's response (by means of the hide or erase commands) should be never be done lightly. Erasing another user's response should be considered only in extreme circumstances, and only where simply hiding the response is insufficient to accomplish the host's purpose.

The host can convert inactive topics into read-only topics which may still be accessed from within that forum.

Hosts of public forums may link appropriate topics from other forums, with the permission of the Hosts of the other forums.
(THIS IS NOT TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE, YET.)

Hosts should post a notice in the forum some time before deleting topics, so that users have time to download topics if they wish. Hosts are also encouraged to consider archiving topics before they are deleted, and making them available to users, if practical for the Host.

MAKING FORUMS EASY TO NAVIGATE

If the number of topics is allowed to grow indefinitely, the list may grow so long as to be almost useless. Hosts should remove selected inactive topics periodically. In particular, hosts should occasionally remove outdated or relevant topics (such as a notice of a past event), or other information that forum users will probably not find interesting or useful.

Occasionally, a topic will be started with an inappropriate or incorrect title. In such instances, the host can correct or alter the topic name.

Hosts are encouraged to establish a topic devoted to announcements, administrative matters, questions for the host, and discussions of forum matters.

SUPPORTING THE CONVERSATION

Hosts of public forums are empowered to establish appropriate procedures within their forums, subject to overall Cafe policies and goals.

The purpose of most public forums is open conversation. Hosts should develop strategies with an eye toward the goal of maintaining a good conversational environment.

New users, new voices and new perspectives are an asset to the conversation. Therefore, hosts are encouraged to pay particular attention to inviting the contributions of newcomers to the forum, particularly users who are new to the Cafe or to online conferencing. Hosts should evaluate whether their forum is welcoming and interesting when seen through the eyes of a newcomer reading it for the first time.

Hosts must recognize that due to their position of authority, they may unintentionally intimidate users in their forums. Consequently, if a host takes a strong position in a controversial discussion within the forum, the host should keep this possibility in mind and work to mitigate it. At all times, hosts should resist any temptation to misuse their technical powers to the disadvantage of opposing viewpoints.

Personal attacks by a host on a user within the host's forum are not appropriate. One way of dealing with a user with whom you have a personality conflict is to communicate with a co-host who could handle communications with that user. In any case, hosts are expected to deal with personality conflicts in a way that does not infringe on a user's ability to participate constructively in the forum.

Hosts are responsible for being aware of what is happening in their forum. Any host using the user-filter or ignoring topics within the forum must make sure that this responsibility is covered; for example, by making arrangements between co-hosts to make sure no topic is forgotten by all hosts. All topics should be read by at least one host .

OBLIGATIONS OF THE HOSTS AND THE CAFE

The Cafe Utne Manager is the hosts' liaison to the Cafe's staff, and should be the first contact for questions or requests for support. Hosts will be notified if complaints are received regarding forum contents. The Cafe Manager will confer with the host if a forum appears to be poorly hosted, and will work with the host to improve the forum.

Hosts are expected to visit their forums at relatively frequent intervals. Each forum is different and some require attention considerably more often than others. It is important for hosts to notify the Cafe Manger if they are planning to be away from the forum for more than a few days.

A vacationing host without a co-host should inform other hosts, and may wish to ask either another host or, if necessary, a reliable and regular forum participant to watch the forum during their absence. If you need help in finding a host or a temporary substitute, ask the Cafe Manger for assistance.

Hosts are expected to keep up-to-date on the discussion in the private Hosts Forum, where policy and other discussions between hosts and staff take place, and the public Feedback Forum.

Hosts have no proprietary rights to the material in their forums, with the exception of material they have authored.

TERMINATION OF A CAFE HOST

The Cafe awards and revokes hostships at its sole discretion. Either party has the right to terminate this agreement at any time. The Cafe reserves the right to change the conditions of the relationship. These changes will be preceded by a period of discussion, the length of which will vary depending on the urgency of the change, but will normally be at least one month.

The Cafe does not install forum hosts for a specific or limited period. In most instances, hosts will continue to host or co-host a forum until they choose to hand it over to someone else, or in an exceptional instance where , for one reason or another, Cafe management has determined they are either unable to maintain their responsibilities or have conducted themselves in an unacceptable manner.