In response to threats and misogynistic comments left on the blog of Kathy Sierra, Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media proposed a Bloggers Code of Conduct, self-regulated rules that bloggers would abide by as they run and develop their site.

We thought the concept was worthwhile and that any disciplined effort to deal with inflammatory or bigoted comments is essential for established writers online. So, courtesy of Wikipedia, here is the conceived Bloggers Code of Conduct:

1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
4. Ignore the trolls.
5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
7. Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person.

I think that’s a pretty comprehensive and fair set of commandments, wouldn’t you say? Do you follow any blogging creed to help you deal with the pressures of writing in the open?