FAQ
Main »» Private Areas (Schools, Clubs, etc.)| Does GLOAMING.us offer private areas for clubs, schools, and organizations? |
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Yes. GLOAMING.us is proud to offer private areas for clubs, organizations, and schools to use as on-line meeting spaces. These private areas can be used in any number of ways:
Individuals can also seek to have a private area dedicated to a specific topic (such as "survivors of sexual assault" or "dealing with alcoholism"). |
| How much do the private areas cost? (Are they really free?) |
Private areas on GLOAMING.us are free. We only ask for the following in return:
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| How do I find the existing private areas? |
| To find an existing private area, go to the Discussions section and scroll down the page. All areas are grouped in appropriate categories; for instance, all school groups are located in "The Student Union." Private areas on GLOAMING.us are indicated with an orange "PRIVATE" icon. Simply click on the name of your area to enter. |
| How do I gain access to a private area? |
| Private areas are, well, private. Only those users who are authorized may enter. Otherwise, they wouldn't serve much purpose, would they? For this reason, anonymous users obviously don't have access to private areas. Therefore, the first step to gaining access is to register an account. Once you have registered your account, you will need to log in and go to the list of private discussion areas in the "System Announcements" section. (Note that unless you are currently a member of a private area, you will not even be able to see it on the regular Discussions list. The only place to see it is in the specified list of announced private areas.) Each private area is managed by one or more moderators, so you will need to find the private area you wish to enter and look in the description for the name(s) of the moderator(s). Also check for any special instructions or qualifications required for entry. (For instance, most private areas for students require that you be a student at that particular school.) If there are no other instructions for gaining access to the private area, click on a moderator name, and you will be taken to that moderator's profile. Send a message--using either email or the PM ("private message") option--indicating your username, the area you wish to enter, and any information required for entry into the area. The moderator will verify any information that is required for entry if appropriate, and then grant access. You will be notified by either email or PM when access is granted. If access is not granted, you will be notified and told why. If you wish, you may appeal this decision to SYSOP. Be aware, though, that moderators have very broad discretion on who may or may not enter private areas, so only substantively significant appeals are likely to succeed. |
| How do I create a new private area? |
| Only SYSOP or the administrator in charge of Discussions (currently Steven_Shelton) can authorize the creation of new private areas. To request a private area, you will need to send email to SYSOP or Steven_Shelton. When submitting a request, please include the following:
Once your message is received, a decision will usually be made within 24 to 48 hours on the creation of the private area and you will be notified of this decision by email or PM ("private message"). If it is decided that the area will not be created, you will also be notified and told why. Decisions on whether or not to create an area can be appealed to SYSOP, but the decision of SYSOP is final. Please note, however, that GLOAMING.us does not guarantee that any requested are will be created; we reserve the right to create, decline to create, or even delete existing private areas at our own discretion for any reason, including purely arbitrary ones. It is in our best interest and consistent with our philosophy to be as accomodating as possible in the creation and maintenance of these areas, of course, but we cannot guarantee that all requests will be honored. |
| What are the guidelines for private areas? (Who can request a private area?) |
| Anyone may request the creation of a private area. If GLOAMING.us administrators feel that the request is reasonable, that the private area will be used, that the private area would serve an important function, and/or the private area meets the general guidelines for such creation, the request will probably be granted. The following are general guidelines for the creation of private areas. Note that a private area must conform to all of these guidelines; requests for private areas that will not conform to these guidelines will not be honored:
Additional guidelines may be added as deemed necessary. |
| How private are the "private areas"? |
| Nothing on the internet is truly 100% private. Let's say this again for emphasis: Nothing on the internet is truly 100% private. Any presumption that there is a real expectation of privacy--even in our private areas--is unrealistic. Having said that, we do try to limit access to private areas as much as possible and protect the information posted in such areas (unless such protection is obviously not necessary, such as information posted in some of the law school private areas related to class material). Access to the private areas is limited as follows:
Although they have access to private areas, policy of GLOAMING.us is for administrators to not access areas to which they have not been invited except to investigate allegations of rules violations or malfunctions. SYSOP, of course, is ultimately responsible for the site and may need to access private areas from time to time for any number of reasons, but great pains are taken to honor the spirit of private areas by limiting such access to necessary functions and not distributing private or sensitive information posted in such areas. Other information you should know:
Per our privacy policy, GLOAMING.us does not distribute or sell this information. It is used only for internal administration and enforcement of the rules. |
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