[Russ's Note]: From time to time, it is good to review the rules here at Purple Row. I'm not bringing any of this up because the rules have been violated; since the Matt Holliday trade, new members have signed up for the site, and this seems like a good time for everyone to have a refresher course on the rules. These rules have been re-written, but they capture the essentials from the rules you may or may not have read when you signed up.

There are a few rules here at Purple Row.

First/Golden Rule: Practice civil discourse.

Second Rule: Rox Girl and I (Russ) are each a judge, jury, and executioner combined into one role. We do have other moderators and they have similar authority. While their decisions will be reviewed by the two of us, we will likely side with their decisions. As one former incarnation of these rules stated: "Same as in baseball, you can't argue balls and strikes with the umpires or you could get ejected." We reserve the right to delete comments without notice or comment as to why.

Third Rule: Do be a Rockies fan. That's why we are all here: because we are fans of the Rockies. We all have different views about the Rockies, so just remember the first rule.

Fourth Rule: Fans of opposing teams are welcome. Just remember to follow the rules.

Fifth Rule: Game threads are for discussing the game. Ocassional off-topic comments are acceptable, but they should not go on for long.

Sixth Rule: Religion, sex, and politics are topics best left to other blogs. This is a blog about a sports team. So, those three topics are only acceptable discussion points if they are somehow related to the Rockies or an important baseball issue.

How to use FanPosts:

The only Community Guidelines for posting a FanPost are:

* A FanPost must be a minimum of 300 characters in order to be published.

* A FanPost must in some way belong on PR--in other words, it must relate to the Rockies, or to baseball, or to PR, or to an existing thread or FanPost, etc.

Tips on writing good FanPosts:

Some of the qualities that the most popular FanPosts often have in common are:

* They expand upon the main idea with supporting examples, or statistical data, or a link to a relevant article, or a "thinking question" for others to consider, etc.--something beyond just the main idea itself.

* They explore a topic, idea, or question that has not been explored recently, or at all, on PR.

Keep in mind that if your FanPost contains only one point or idea that is not developed, expanded on, or supported with arguments or data, it is really not a FanPost--it is a comment that should be posted in an existing thread, FanPost, or FanShot.

FanShots:

Here is a link to learn how to use FanShots.