What Happened to that thread ?????? Please Read. Site changes

So before I find new pics can the parameters be defined clearly, please. So no naked torsos, or bare bottoms. Are we ok to have a head shot of 2 guys kissing on the m/m thread? Or is that deemed too much? I feel kind of hypocritical having m/m authors on , but not being able to have their book covers shown. Nothing on a cover that Amazon has listed is remotely explicit IMO but I get that people are nervous about pics on work pc's so I respect that, just need to know what is acceptable. Cheers

And we in fact did have Lover Mine as a thumb nail before on JRWard thread, as has Sno Ho cover been used before,which is why I wrongly thought it could be recycled from before

I'd think it would be ok if it just showed their heads. If anyone at my workplace complained about that on my computer I could defend it. But showing bare chests...well, I don't think I'd have a leg to stand on.
The parameters are simply what others might find offensive and what somebody in a conservative workplace would be unable to defend if called into HR about it. Bare torsos and butts are out.

I like the Gizmo avatar Swede, but I hope you didn't change that on my account. I personally think anything at least one click away from the home page (with that content warning) is fair game.

You're right, we have had NSFW pics on the home page before. The site redesign is the perfect time to make improvements, and I think cleaning up the home page is an important one to make. We've been concerned about liability over other things before too, and this deserves the same consideration.

No I didn't change my avatar purely for you, but yes, it is all part of this issue. For sure. But no biggie... I can live without anime cock shots I know at my work the whole site is unacceptable - any chat or forum based sites should not be used at work. Period. According to the IT dept. I do have a plan however that will have all risqué photos in fact 2 or maybe 3 courteous clicks away from the disclaimer, but still part of its designated thread/theme. I promise though... They will not be OTT - safe shots like we have in the gallery or the birthday thread.

No hard feelings Dopp - hopefully on anyone's part. If people see me as being thread editor on something that they're not happy about, I would like to think they would feel they can pm me direct... I don't bite. Always. but I think Nikki did enjoy sending me to the principals office LOL

I did bring this up in a PM over a week ago....and was ignored. I thought it was important enough to bring up on the forums because I can't possibly be the only one affected, and it's harder to ignore me when I post publicly.
Sorry if I aired something publicly that could have been handled privately, but I did attempt that first. It certainly isn't aimed at any one person, more of a general request for the site redesign.

God no... No secrets v public forum - I didn't get the pm or I would have acted on your concerns before today. And it is my bad that I really don't wander out of the m/m area. Not that THAT is a bad thing per se but I would have been aware before today is all I meant. But it is all good - I will fix it all up as soon as I get on the computer rather than the iPad

Oh hush Barb. You know better than that

Ok I just want to pitch in my two cents worth. I work in a very professional workplace. We have big IT folks that at anything can remote op in and see what is on my screen. This is why I'm very careful about the length of time I can spend on the site. Now I have put up with a lot of snide comments from friends and family when they see that not only do I read about vampires, witches, demons, etc; that I'm into Satan and shit. It pisses me off. I am not one of those people that think what I read can really happen. When I show the forum and they see the banner and topics, it's the same ol dance.

But I really don't care. My eventual point here is we had book covers that may have been offensive if someone was to walk past and see fangs, wolves, demons and magic. So finger pointing to only the semi nude torso... I don't see a problem with. But again this is purly my opinion only. The bare bum to be honest I never paid much attention too but this one cover, yes I agree.

The cleaning up the site was to make it more manageable and to give it a new feel. Covers will still be used when we feature author's. So from here yes we can be a little more careful of what we choose but that should be for all genres and not just the m/m ones. Right?

Ok I'm don't now. Lol
Oh and I apologize in advance if grammar or spelling is off. I'm typing on phone

and bTW

Pm's were not ignored. I get them but when at work it's very easy to lose track between clients coming in, answerig phone, etc. There was a response that was sent back if I remember correctly.

In the mist of trying to finish not only the topic threads which I'm still trying to complete. I have a seriously old laptop and it sucks. It takes me twice as long then most because it's crap. But I've been also creating an actual Website that will tie into the forum. This gives us the space for reviews, and other fun things that is separate for the message boards.
So again I apologize but damn I'm only freaking human here

All is good

I do love all your new smilies on the new threads too cute!!

I love playing with smilies

It's not about personal embarrassment. I don't give a rip what other people think of my book reading habits.

I wouldn't want to get myself into trouble, or inadvertently cause anyone else to get into trouble with their employer. I am quite surprised that anyone would think a half naked man is SFW. It is absolutely not safe for my place of employment. It's not even a gray area.

Yes, I do think we should be careful on the home page with all genres. (The bookclub avatar was one of the three I thought were NSFW.)

Just wandering around a lot of book club websites, even Amazon itself has had me frantically minimizing my screen LOL personally, if I came on a site expecting knitting patterns and found a man chest or a naked butt I would either think "hello!!" or else i wouldn't come back again. To be honest it is the book cover like JFrost with Vamps sinking their fangs into a chicks neck are more cause for embarrassment then a man chest - which really is a natural and beautiful thing.

But it is more what we all are happy with; and I think the issue has been sorted now. I hope so, anyway. I am not commenting on it anymore - but nor am I ignoring it lol. Is that possible ?? ... You know what I mean

And hooray.. Future concerns averted !!

Those are not good comparisons, Swede. Amazon does have NSFW content, but not on their home page.
I troll other online bookclubs too. Literal Addiction uses pictures of the authors instead of bookcovers to advertize their live chats. They get in more authors than we do, including several we've had here.
Yes man-chests are natural and beauriful. But if you think it is appropriate to display them at work then I envy your naivity.

All i'm saying is that the home page should be SFW. I don't care about the rest of the site's.content.

I found a thread yesterday for the gripes and stuff, but I swear I can't find it today. I liked it!

Anyway I have a problem and can't think of another place to ask. My 14 year old great niece got a kindle fire for Christmas. I just talked to her on the phone and she is reading The Hunger Games. My nephew and his wife won't let their kids (3) read or watch Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or anything like that because of their religious beliefs. They don't won't the kids to be exposed to anything magical or paranormal...shit, the list is long. I haven't read The Hunger Games, and know nothing about it. Help. Tell me if this book is age appropriate or if the uber-religious will find it offensive. Why? Because I gave her a big-ass amazon gift card for Christmas and don't want her mom and dad on my ass. Help!

That.s a tough one, Shay. There is nothing paranormal in HG, but there is a gay stylist, an alcoholic coach, and a lot of violence.
There are also themes that criticize reality TV and the beauty industry in thought provoking ways. The heroine is responsible and intelligent, which is refreshing in YA.

I personally love the book, and think it's destined to be required classroom reading in the future. (Future classic) *I* would let my kids read it at 14. But there are some things that would make it a judgement call for your neice.

Thanks, Dopple. That is useful information. Sorry about posting on an inappropriate thread.

On the other issue, though. Dopple, I know I shouldn't care what other people think about my reading choices, but I do. I won't even pull facebook up on my big monitor in my office because of some of the book covers writers use as profile pictures. Are they beautiful? Yes. Do I want them screaming off the monitor at my nearly fundamentalis Christian customers? Hell no! Do I want PURLS to be a totally PG-13 site? A much, much bigger HELL NO! But, I would like to be able to relax a little if I am on PURLS and someone comes in the back door instead of the front. Being a nervous nelly just cause my book forum is up is a little distracting. When I am busy at work with a lot of people coming in and out, It just isn't worth it to even log into PURLS. Or facebook. I stopped posting on goodreads because of the explicit book covers and tag lines. Pretty covers is not worth losing even one customer, to me. Now, the rest of the story. I have dealt with the explicit pictures on the home page from the beginning. If the rest of the members want it to stay the same, I will continue to do what I've been doing. Should this be entirely up to the admin/mods? Or should the rest of the membership get to vote.? Just asking. I just hate to see a change simply because it might impact me. Well, and Dopple, obviously. I haven't seen many opinions on this.

Well, let me rephrase. The only opinions I have seen on this subject are admin/mods....and me. Damn I can be an opinionated bitch. Carry on.

ETA: Plain Brown Paper Covers! Just screams x-rated content. And it's retro and it's funny.

Why are we even stressing about this? The pictures have gone. End of story. No hard feelings on my side. Let it go,

I'm guessing my request for 2 shirtless guys embracing on the main banner is a no-go Just. Kidding!!!

Okay. No stressing. But, Swede. dp upi jave an opinion on my other question? About The Hunger Games? And where the heck is the thread about things we don't like in our books? I've lost it!

Sorry Shay I havent read them. My daughter just read the Poison Apple series (I think that's the name) they have a paranormal vibe - she loved them

Brown paper bags! Snort!

Well, I said it was funny!