Daiku, the intent of the topic was about poster liability, the intent of the E.D. definitely addresses the Guilds need, as sponsor of the forum. Any tf poster or imposter should be responsible for their words as honest statements reflecting their own patterns of thinking not free technical definitive services.

Garage? Sheer luxury. There are many reasons why some dropout of membership. I have, but not for reasons relating to the Guild, its programs, its leaders or its people. The reasons are private. I post because I think I can aid and pass something on.

IMHO this forum's biggest liability is it's name; "Ask the Experts".

When I first started reading here I knew what timber framing was but nothing of how it was done. It took me several years to get (at a gut level) the fact that this was much the same as any of the forums I have posted in.

There are in fact no 'experts' anxiously waiting at the keyboard for the next question. There are only members volunteering what they know based on their own experience and their understanding of the question.

I agree with Raph. Regardless of intent, this forum is a timber frame discussion board. Experts of varying degree may hang out here, but since no one is appointed such, the name is somewhat.... inaccurate. CB.

I personally take what I read in all forums with a grain of salt. The old idiom of "you get what you pay for it " is appropriate here.
Joel
Is there any way that visitors would be hit with the disclaimer every time they visited and members would only be reminded on an annual basis?
Bob

I like Will B's suggestion of a shorter, more to the point disclaimer at the top of the forum, and I also like the idea of a button that would expand on the disclaimer, as in the third paragraph of the current version:

Before relying on technical advice received through the forum, published written reference material should be checked in order to confirm the accuracy of the advice. In searching for a timber framer through the forum, as with hiring any subcontractor or professional from any other source, ask for several recent references (including those of other professionals on past timber framed projects, such as the general contractors) and check all references as to the timber framer's apparent skill, punctuality, safe construction practices, ability to stay within budget and general professionalism, as well as whether the job was completed on schedule, whether errors in the framing were made that needed to be corrected and the reference's overall satisfaction with the completed job.

this paragraph is advice for an owner builder... something that would not apply to everyone coming here. Heck, some of us are just coming to share info, not neccessarily even about timberframing all the time. Information such as that above could be part of an expanded disclaimer, not part of the forum title. I'll just paste in Will B's suggestion here to rehash:

"DISCLAIMER:
Ask The Experts is a public forum, open to all, and is not formally monitored by the Guild staff. Therefore, we make no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the information found there.
Membership in the Guild is also open to all. While many members are highly skilled timber framers, membership is not certification of that skill, but rather an expression of a person's interest in the art and craft of timber framing."

only problem for me is that this doesn't actually say "don't rely only on information from this forum to build your timberframe" clearly enough....

Roger has written a good line that I keep going back to:

I think there should be a "proclaimer" such as, a statement on how to use the forum as a poster and reader, what to expect, the nature of construction design and specific problem solving and specification vs. the format of vague or non specific questions and equally vague, general and nongraphical answers

this is a good description of the problem of asking questions about timberframing in an online forum. There are times when you may answer a question, and you have the feeling that the person who asks the question has not understood things, and then they disapear from the forum... it can get a little weird just relying on words to talk about structure. The word I really like in Roger's peice above is "nongraphical".

Just a random thought not strictly on the subject of a disclaimer. I was scrolling down the main page when it occured to me that the "Health and Safety" section should be brought up to a more prominent position. It's currently in the out of site out of mind position.

huh

...likes advice... -NO- ...doesn't like advice that isn't there...

OK. Got it.
(did I give any advice...?)