Charter for ca.wanted

This is a proposed charter for ca.wanted. Please post comments and suggestions in ca.news.group and ca.wanted. This does not currently deal with net abuse - upcoming policy discussions in ca.news.group will deal with that and then the result of the discussion will be added to all the charters.

ca.wanted is for posting items wanted in California only. Acceptable topics for ca.wanted include

desire to purchase/barter goods/services
inquiries about the existence or location of goods/services

The following items do not belong in ca.wanted. Use ca.forsale instead.

offers of sale/barter/giveaway of goods/services
notices of auction

Articles posted in ca.wanted should be one-time or limited-time announcements, not recurring solicitations. Recurring ads should be on web pages - then make a one-time announcement about the location of the page. However, it is OK to post an article about the same item up to once a month while the need remains, as long as the re-posting is temporary. Articles for the same item should be posted no more often than every 4 weeks because local news sites tend to keep local news articles longer than mainstream (and higher-traffic) UseNet groups. (Also, readers have good memories and don't want to see the same article repeated.)

Articles and the items they discuss must have a direct tie to California. In particular, this requires that the item is

relatively immobile/unshippable (couches, grand pianos),
located exclusively in California (apartments, real estate),
of particular interest to area residents or visitors (books such as "Yet Another Vacation Guide to California"),
the buyer does not want to buy from out of area (perhaps preferring to deal face-to-face),
mobile but more convenient to acquire nearby (vehicles, boats, aircraft), or
for anything else, it must be sought from and requested within California.

If the item does not meet these requirements, it does not matter if the poster thinks that people in California might be interested. One person posting from outside the area may not see how their article adds up, but the non-local articles do add up to make it difficult or impossible for local readers to find local articles.

As with the rest of the ca.* newsgroups, ca.wanted is specific to California and is not appropriate for articles that can fit for larger or smaller distributions. For example, the following newsgroups may be better choices depending on your circumstances.

For a nationwide or worldwide distribution, misc.wanted may be a more appropriate newsgroup.
In Los Angeles and Southern California, la.wanted may be a better choice.
In the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, ba.forsale.* may include a more appropriate newsgroup. (There is no *.wanted newsgroup in the ba.* hierarchy.)
In the San Diego area, sdnet.wanted may be better.
In the San Jose/South Bay/Silicon Valley area, sbay.forsale may be a better choice. (There is no *.wanted newsgroup in the sbay.* hierarchy.)
Or ask your site news admin if your city or county has a regional newsgroup hierarchy.
When looking for an item, Californians should also read the forsale newsgroup for your local area first, then try ca.forsale, us.forsale, and misc.forsale.*.

Always check for charters and/or guidelines before posting in any newsgroup. Do not cross-post to regional newsgroups for areas you are not in or near. Do not use more than the minimum number of newsgroups necessary. If one newsgroup fits best, use only that newsgroup.

[Idea credits: this borrows from the charters of dc.forsale and sbay.forsale.]

Newsgroups file entry:

ca.wanted               Items wanted in California.  (regional articles only)

Rules in common among all the ca.* newsgroups:

The ca.* newsgroups are only for discussion of subjects related to California. They were made for residents of California and others interested in California. They are intended for topics directly relevant to residents of California. The general policy is that any topic not at least partly related to California is considered off-topic, though the specific newsgroup charters may list exceptions.