How you decide to create your group's rules is totally up to you. Some may decide to start their group without any rules, and then create them as needed. This may work for you. However, as time goes by, it gets harder and harder to enforce a new rule on an old or established member.

One way to work from both ends, so to say, is to have at least some very basic rules for the group when you first create it. Letting all new members know that the rules will be altered as needed is another good thing to do so that your 'old timers' don't suddenly feel put out by a new rule.

What are good basic rules to start with?

The one rule that always comes to my mind is the No Spam rule. This can be altered to include all advertising, or just spam. The best way I have found to compose such a rule is by being very plain about it. "NO SPAM: All spam posts will be removed by the owner/manager, and the member sending the message will be removed and banned from the group. No excuses, no exceptions." To this a definition of what spam is can be added, but I have yet to meet anyone that does not know.

Another rule that may be useful for most groups is the 'language' rule. This can include obscene, offensive, profane, hate, derogatory, and defamatory messages. What you decide to include or not include is up to you, and the type of group you are planning to create. This is also easily worded to be very plain and understandable: No derogatory, profane, obscene, or foul language will be tolerated! No excuses. The offending message will be deleted and the member will be removed from the group. There should be no need for any definitions.

Another simple and basic rule I have used many times is: If you think that your message could be offensive in any way, do not post it! Although this may seem like common sense to many, having it listed with the group's rules is also common sense.

How do I let the group members know about the rules?

The best way to do this is to send them the list of rules when they join the group. Yahoo! Groups has a files area where you can add things like rules as a plain text message that is sent to new members upon subscription, and or every 2 weeks or every month. Keeping the group members up to date on the rules is not only smart but in many cases necessary. It is also a good idea to include with the rule what the consequence is if it is broken. We will learn more about this in Lesson 4's Effective Rule Enforcement.