View Full Version : Posting Etiquette and Forum Guidelines


Brandi
11-23-2007, 05:02 PM
I want to remind everyone that although we have very lax moderation, we do have a few very basic posting guidelines that we ask everyone to follow.

The guidelines we have are there to ensure that our self expression and differences of opinion are exchanged in a positive, mature manner, without taking away from the supportive, positive nature of this site.

I hope all of you will take the time to review these, even if you've read them before. It never hurts to have a refresher.


Civility and Consideration

It is inevitable that you will have personality conflicts and disagreements at some point during your time on this site. We ask that you keep things respectful and avoid harassment, personal character attacks and individual or group berating of other members.

Due to the nature of this forum, it is essential that we maintain an overall positive environment and atmosphere. Members with "troll" like behavior, and whose attitude is disruptive of the general atmosphere, may have access to the site temporarily or permanently revoked.



Mature Language and Censorship

Mature language is allowed under three conditions.

1. Do not use it in thread titles
2. Do not use it in excess (does not apply to the venting forum)
3. Do not direct offensive language towards any other member (calling names, offensive language when speaking directly to a member)

We do not use a word filter, but please keep in mind that not everyone cusses like a sailor even if they are married to one. So, use it sparingly and with discretion.



Participation and Inclusion

Discussions occurring on the public forum should be inclusive of all community members. If you wish to discuss something of private nature with another member or group of members, please take advantage of our private messaging system.



Links and Advertising

During the course of a discussion, relevant, noncommercial, extenal links are permitted as long as they do not conflict with the best interest of MilitarySOS.com or it's sister site, theWomanHood.com.

You may include your personal homepage in the "homepage" field of your profile; however the other fields of your personal profile, including your signature, may not link to or contain a commercial web site, regardless of whether or not you are the owner. Advertising by means of private messaging, using the member email feature or making a post for the sole purpose of advertisement is strictly prohibited.

Links to a personal home business may be approved on a case by case basis. Please PM an Admin for approval, prior to adding a link to your business.



Signatures

Signatures are enabled for all members but please be sensible and follow the signature guidelines. We have a wonderful feature called a userpage where you can add all of the information and items that can’t be put into your signature.

The following signature guidelines are in place and will be very strictly enforced:

* No “slideshows” (this includes any type of banner, block or cube that rotates pictures) of any type. I know they are fun and seem like a good way to fit multiple pictures into your signature, but they make the posts load slowly and cause some people’s computers to freeze.
* Signatures for standard members must be 600x250 (600 pixels in width by 250 pixels in height) or less. Signatures for Jewels must be 600x500 (600 pixels in width by 500 pixels in height) or less. That means ALL text, graphics and pictures must fit within that area. For more information and examples of what is acceptable, please see our signature guidelines in the Help Desk section.
* Links in signatures must follow the guidelines outlined in the Advertisements and Linking section.
No scrolling (marquee) text.
* Tickers must count up (how long your loved one has been gone) not down (how long until they return. Dates of return are considered OPSEC violations.



Privacy and Anonymity

Please use extreme caution when posting personally identifiable information on our site, including private messages. Personal information such as last name, phone number, address and social security number are not permitted on the public forums.

You may exchange your own personal information (such as address and/or last name) through private message only, for group games, exchanges, meet ups, etc. You are doing so at your own risk and are advised to be extremely cautious.

Posting any personal information about another member is not allowed under any circumstances.

Generally speaking, once a post has been made, it will be considered a permanent addition to our site. For this reason, we ask that you put careful thought into a post before hitting that submit button.

We take your privacy very seriously and believe that you should, as well. When choosing a username, we advise you to use something generic instead of unique. Searching for your username via search engine will pull up your information and posts from our site if your username is very unique and identifiable. Something such as “Jessica” or even “JessicaL” will be much less identifiable than “JessicaL1981”.

For more information about our terms and policies , please see our privacy policy and terms of service.

=Mrs.AiNokeA=
11-23-2007, 05:04 PM
:thumbsup

Brandi
11-23-2007, 07:29 PM
I've gotten a few PM's about the advertising (which means you read through everything! yay! :) ) and I wanted to clear up any confusion on that one.

Home consultants are okay, as long as the posts don't get spammy.
Nonprofits are usually okay also.
Strictly informational links that pertain to a certain topic we're talking about are okay.
Ads for things that you're selling are okay.

What's not okay is SPAM, which is basically any ad that is repeatedly posted or bumped.

Posting sites with intent of drawing members away from this site and to a different one.

Pyramid schemes and other "opportunities" that may be determined as a scam.


When in doubt, just send me or another staff member a message. Typically, we don't have too many problems with spam, so I don't feel that this is a big issue here. You're absolutely free to send me a message any time you're in doubt about something though and I really appreciate those of you who have read through everything! (L)

Lckychrmzz
11-23-2007, 07:44 PM
Thank you Brandi!

brentscrystal
11-23-2007, 07:44 PM
Signatures

Signatures are enabled for all members but please be sensible and follow the signature guidelines. We have a wonderful feature called a userpage where you can add all of the information and items that can’t be put into your signature.

The following signature guidelines are in place and will be very strictly enforced:

* No “slideshows” (this includes any type of banner, block or cube that rotates pictures) of any type. I know they are fun and seem like a good way to fit multiple pictures into your signature, but they make the posts load slowly and cause some people’s computers to freeze.
* Signatures for standard members must be 600x250 (600 pixels in width by 250 pixels in height) or less. Signatures for Jewels must be 600x500 (600 pixels in width by 500 pixels in height) or less. That means ALL text, graphics and pictures must fit within that area. For more information and examples of what is acceptable, please see our signature guidelines in the Help Desk section.
* Links in signatures must follow the guidelines outlined in the Advertisements and Linking section.
No scrolling (marquee) text.
* Tickers must count up (how long your loved one has been gone) not down (how long until they return. Dates of return are considered OPSEC violations.

Thanks for the reminder...

Kris
11-23-2007, 08:11 PM
okey dokey

Del
11-23-2007, 08:25 PM
Thanks for the reminders!

I'll try to watch my cursing. :P (I told my sailor I thought it was a bad sign that he was starting to curse like me... Does that mean that I curse worse than sailors?! :eek)

Cat
11-23-2007, 08:46 PM
thanks Brandi for the reminders. Hopefully I havent done anything wrong as far as my business goes on here.

Brandi
11-23-2007, 08:55 PM
Thanks for the reminders!

I'll try to watch my cursing. :P (I told my sailor I thought it was a bad sign that he was starting to curse like me... Does that mean that I curse worse than sailors?! :eek)

I have a bad mouth too :giggle I think it's more about the usage than it is about the actual word though. :lol

Wicked
11-23-2007, 09:21 PM
Awesome. I am glad you posted this! :D Thanks Brandi!

harrisonsdream
11-23-2007, 09:42 PM
thanks for the reminder brandi :)

RunAwayLove
11-23-2007, 09:53 PM
thanks:)

OMG it's Andrea!
11-23-2007, 10:01 PM
thanks brandi :D :tu

Pebbles
11-24-2007, 01:27 AM
Thanks for the gentle reminder :yes

Jennifer
11-24-2007, 01:29 AM
thanks for the reminder Brandi

Loretta
11-24-2007, 02:14 AM
:yay Thanks for the reminder, I know all of us could use a refresher now and then! :yes

judith
11-24-2007, 09:02 AM
thanks for the reminder!:tu