Forum Rules


1. No use of explicit, obscene or vulgar language or images and/or messages, including racist remarks.

3. No posts that attack, insult, "flame", or abuse members or guests. Respect other members of the community and don’t belittle, make fun off, or insult another member. Everyone is entitled to individual choices of thoughts. "Flaming" and insults, however, will not be tolerated. Agree to disagree.

4. No advertising or links to advertising or "Spam" is permited.
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.

Posts and links about fundraising (including nonprofit fundraisers) are NOT permitted.

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 # 1-3 above.

6. You may use your forum signature to promote your personal website or a product/service that you are marketing.

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

8. 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.

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. The forums are intended for offering mutual personal support. 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. 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.

11. Do not disrespect moderators. Be respectful in both the forums and any private communications with moderators. Moderators are volunteers that donate many, many hours of their own time to help in the forums and chat rooms. Violations of this rule will not be tolerated.

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

13. 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 User CP 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.

14. No duplicate posts.

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

16. 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.

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. Lend a helping hand. A bit of compassion can go a long way toward helping people with life's challenges and reaching out can help alleviate feelings of loneliness. We're all different, but we're really all the same. At sometime or another, we all need or want help or simply someone with whom we can share our burdens or successes.

5. 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.

6. 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.