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House Rules - Aphrodite's Discussion Forums
The following are guidelines for how you should behave in the Discussion Forums. Please read them carefully.
- This message board is primarily for women to relate and discuss personal experiences. We have a low tolerance of links to commercial sites and there is a high probability that if you post a link to a commercial site then your post will be deleted (particularly if you are a new member). Deletion will be at the moderator's sole discretion. Links to non-commercial sites will be deleted if considered off-topic or for any other reason at the moderator's sole discretion.
- Aphrodite is a "spam free zone," this INCLUDES the private messaging (PM) system. If you are found to be using the PM system to send unsolicited messages promoting other websites and/or products, you will be banned as a spammer.
- Our forums are primarily for women to discuss personal experiences (yes, we're repeating ourselves, but this is important!). We recognize, however, that there may be occasions when material from another website may provide value to our members. We would ask that you respect the copyright of the original author and only post a small portion (usually one or two paragraphs is considered fair use) of the original work. You should also explain in your post why the material is relevant and provide a link to the original material. Bear in mind that our low tolerance for spam may mean your post is deleted if we consider that it is not absolutely relevant to the topic being discussed.
- Calls for research participants
Invitations for our members to participate in research are permitted, provided:
- You first outline the nature of your research in the "Messages for Mods" subforum in "Housekeeping". We need to feel comfortable about the nature of your project.
- It is not market research.
- The research is related to women's health, or to the topic of internet communities.
- No attempt is made to sell any products or services to our members.
- The participants remain anonymous, with any personal information being collected only for the purposes of the research and not shared with any third parties.
- The participants' right not to answer sensitive questions is respected.
- Multiple Registrations
Our policy regarding registrations is to permit only a single account per user. Single users with multiple accounts on Aphrodite's message board may be asked to remove the additional accounts, or, in the case of spam or the deliberate misrepresentation of identity, may have all their accounts removed/deleted without warning. Any actions taken will be at the sole discretion of the moderators or administrator.
- SIGs
What you have in your signature file is entirely up to you, however:
- Spammy looking SIGs will increase the probability that your post will be treated as spam.
- Please don't link to multiple URLs in your SIG.
- Please don't include imagery or text in your SIG that may cause offence to others.
- Please don't include imagery in your avatar that may cause offence to others. Nudity is not permitted.
- Private messages are private. Please do not post or forward private messages.
- Please stay on topic. Posts that are not relevant may be deleted.
- Please do not post anything that may be unlawful, or, may cause a crime to be committed.
- Be aware that is a publicly accessible forum. We strongly recommend that you refrain from revealing your personal details to others.
- Religious or racial slurs will not be tolerated.
- Bullying, stalking and harassment will not be tolerated.
- Please dont make personal attacks. Attack the argument, not the person.
- Got a problem? In order to keep the forums focused on heath-related issues, "The Pit" forum (within "Housekeeping") is available for gripes and complaints.
- And finally, and perhaps most importantly, these forums deal with topics that carry considerable emotional weight fertility, birth control, pregnancy, sexuality and parenting are all subjects that can arouse tremendous emotive feeling. Please be aware of this and carefully consider how your post or reply may be interpreted by others.
We operate an escalating serious of penalties in cases where members break the rules.
- First instance Warning
- Second instance One week ban
- Third instance Two week ban
- Fourth instance Permanent ban
For more information about the conditions governing your use of the discussion forums, please see both our terms and conditions of use and our privacy policy.
Page last updated: April 15, 2009
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