District 38
Alcoholics Anonymous - Area 59

Web Guidelines

1. The spirit of A.A. principles and traditions will be followed at all times. This means among other things:

   1. Anonymity will be preserved and protected: the complete names of individuals, individual phone numbers, postal and identifying E-Mail addresses will not be displayed on the Website. (Traditions 11 & 12)

   2. There will be no endorsement or affiliation with non-A.A. entities. (Tradition 6) Autonomy will be respected. The A.A. Preamble will be prominently shown on the Home Page of the Website. The Website will not link to web sites not sponsored by bona fide A.A. service entities

   3. Home Groups via their GSRs will decide for themselves what information they do and do not want given on the Website, as well as the extent of their participation in the District Website activity. (Tradition 4)

2. The Home Page will identify the Website’s focus on A.A. within District 38, making it clear there is no attempt to speak for A.A. as a whole. A link to the A.A.W.S.’s web site (www.alcoholics-anonymous.org) will be provided to access general information about A.A.

3. Copyrights shall be respected and registered trademarks, when used, should be acknowledged as such. (For example: Alcoholics Anonymous®, A.A.® and The Big Book® are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. The Grapevine® and AA Grapevine® are registered trademarks of The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.)

4. E-mail addresses will be issued to each District Officer representing their service position with redirects to their personal email.

   1. Officers and Chairpersons not on the internet are asked to provide a contact person in their place.

   2. All Website visitor messages should receive a timely reply, even if it’s nothing more than a “Thank You” for their message.

5. The following types of information are also approved for display on the District 38 Website; other information is not allowed:

   1. Home Group meeting information: type of meeting, time and location. (District 38 only.)

   2. District meeting time and location, mailing address, and answering service telephone number. (District 38 only.)

   3. Event information (location, time, agenda, registration form, etc.) for the following types of activities, primarily focused on events in District 38:

      1. A.A. general service functions (assemblies, conferences, special forums, workshops, etc.).

      2. Fellowship activities (roundups, speaker meetings, picnics, dances, camp-outs, etc.)

   4. Periodic District 38 Newsletter

   5. Links to web sites sponsored by bona fide A.A. service entities will be provided as a service to the Website visitor. It shall be made clear District 38 does not endorse these web sites, and our linking to their web site does not constitute their endorsement of the District 38 Website. Permissible links to A.A. web sites are:

      1. A.A.W.S. (www.aa.org), commonly referred to as the G.S.O. web site,

      2. The Grapevine (www.aagrapevine.org),

      3. Other Districts and nearby Intergroups within Area 59.

   6. Recommendations on how to submit information for display on the website (contacts, format, etc.).

   7. These Guidelines for the District 38 Website.

Domain Name Registration

1. The Website shall be owned and registered to District 38 with a domain name of district38-aa.org.

2. The District 38 Webservant or delegated representative shall be the Administrative Contact for the Website’s domain name.

3. The District 38 Webservant or delegated representative shall be the Billing Contact for the Website’s domain name.

4. The Technical Contact shall be the Internet Service Provider (ISP) who maintains the primary domain name server for the District Website.

5. The Registration will be held in a private registered account (Domains By Proxy, Inc.) so that no personal information will be revealed to the general public.

Administration and Maintenance

The Website Committee of District 38 through its Chairperson shall have direct oversight on all matters pertaining to the Website. In some instances this will require access to the Internet. However since Internet access is not a prerequisite for the service position, the Chairperson may seek help from our fellowship in performing some tasks. Specific responsibilities for the Chairperson include, but are not limited to, the following administrative duties:

1. verify the Website adheres to these guidelines and A.A.’s Traditions,

2. ensure Website expenses are paid and do not exceed the Website Committee Budget without approval.

3. mediate differences of opinion regarding the information displayed on the Website and the services it provides,

4. give Website status reports at all District 38 meetings, and update these Website guidelines to reflect the conscience of District 38.