Rules and Guidelines

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Rules and Guidelines

Post by DLRA »

Rules and Guidelines

To help you gain the most from the Forum, please familiarize yourself with the rules and guidelines below for participating in the message forums and chat rooms.

Please note this list does not include the full terms of service (also known as your user agreement). These rules and guidelines are designed to help give a better understanding of what behavior is expected and make your experience more enjoyable and safe.


Rules (DON'Ts):

1. No discussion of any illegal activity or threats of violence. (ie. illicit drug use, including medical marijuana use, threats of suicide or self-injury, or threatened or intended physical harm). Discussions of suicide or self-harm that are deemed negative and therefore potentially injurious to others are also not permitted.

2. No use of explicit, obscene or vulgar language or images and/or messages.

3. No threats, racist remarks, or other type of posts that attack, insult, "flame", or abuse members or guests.

4. No advertising or links to advertising or "Spam" is permited (including signatures).
Advertising or Spam is defined as posting a link for the purpose of selling, soliciting or promoting by someone that has ownership or other "vested interest" to the web site involved, including efforts to promote other online forums or web sites by web site owners.
If you are a web site owner and have a link that fits into this category that you want to share, please submit it to our resource directory and we will review your submission.
Posts and links about fundraising (including nonprofit fundraisers) are NOT permitted.
Only links to personal home pages are allowed in signatures and member profiles.
Links to helpful web sites (commercial or otherwise) are allowed when they are posted by someone without any "vested interest" AND whose purpose is NOT to solicit, advertise, promote, fundraise, etc.

5. No links to any web site or use of any username that fits into rules # 1-4 above.

6. No use of multiple usernames. Please register and use only one username for the forums. Posting under multiple user accounts will result in administrative action (ie. banning).

7. No posts of copyrighted material. Information copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the person posting should not be posted on the message boards without the consent of the owner.

8. No posts of lengthy articles. Sharing information is allowed, but the forums are not to be used to publish articles. It is an improper use of critical forum resources.

9. No posts of an overtly political or religious nature OR posts promoting advocacy of particular personal, medical, legal, religious, political, or non-profit causes. Debating controversial subjects should be taken elsewhere. Limited religious references are allowed (ie. "my prayers are with you" or a brief quote as part of a larger post), but the forums should not be used to convert others.

10. No cryptic posts. Using cryptic messages to "skirt" the rules is not permitted.

11. No Flaming. Respect other members of the community and don’t belittle, make fun off, or insult another member. "Flaming" and insults, however, will not be tolerated. Agree to disagree. This applies to both the forums and chat.[/b]

12. If it shouldn’t be viewed by minors, then it shouldn’t be posted to the forums or chat rooms. This is a public, family-friendly forum. In addition, if something would not be considered “work safe” (to a boss or co-worker), then it shouldn’t be posted.

13. No SHOUTING. Remember, using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in posts is considered yelling and rude, plus it is difficult to read.

14. Do not post offline personal contact information (ie. your home address, phone numbers etc.) and do not ask for personal information from others. Modify your member profile in the Control Panel to set privacy settings for your account. Use of full names (your first and last name) is allowed but strongly discouraged. This is to protect your security and identity.

17. No duplicate posts. To delete accidental duplicate posts, login first, then open the message you want to delete, then select the Delete Post button (VIEW IMAGE) on the top right hand corner of the message box.

18. No irrelevant or off-topic posts. Posts which are not relevant to the forum topic may be deleted at the moderator's discretion.

19. No lengthy signatures. Limit signatures to 10 lines or less. Moderators will edit and/or remove signatures that are too long.

Guidelines (DO's):

1. Check for open topics. Before posting a new topic, please check to see if there is already a topic open on the subject.

2. Ignore bothersome members. If there is someone on the forum that bothers you, select the Ignore button (VIEW IMAGE) at the top right corner of the post. You won't see any posts from this member again.

3. Report posts that violate the rules and guidelines. We will act on the report as quickly as we can. Do not reply to the offending post as that typically only encourages the poster.

4. Use good judgement. NEVER rely on information or opinions exchanged via the forums or chat rooms to replace necessary, personal consultation(s) with qualified professionals. Remember that what's right or has worked for one person may not be what's right for you or your situation.

5. Lend a helping hand. At sometime or another, we all need or want help or simply someone with whom we can share our burdens or successes.

6. Welcome new members. When newcomers arrive, say "hi" and welcome them. Help new folks "learn the ropes" about how to find information and resources, save time, and how to get involved. You will also find a lot of help using the forums themselves.

7. Use descriptive titles for new posts. Avoid "generic" post subjects like "Help" or "Question". You will receive a better response to your posts by being more descriptive about the content of your post.

[b]Please Remember:


Users that do not abide by the rules may be subject to having their posts edited or deleted, their member account permanently banned from further access and/or deleted without notice.

Rules and guidelines may change at any time, please re-read them regularly.
Keep the shiney side up........
DLRA WebMaster / Editor
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