This is a forum of business professionals engaging in a dialogue of a cooperative nature. Use it in good faith.
You should register & stay registered here for one reason only - to take part in public discussions. If that's the reason you're here, we welcome you. If it's because this is a good user base to find customers/subscribers, you'll soon fall foul of the rules and get permanently banned. Avoiding self-promotion is so basic around here that it's not covered in the rules below; you may consider it Rule 0 if you wish. Not promoting yourself also includes not initiating a PM exchange that could be seen as promotional and not soliciting thank yous or reputation points.
Adminstrators and moderators are ultimate arbiters of what constitutes a violation of these rules. These rules may change without prior notice.
RULES
1. Choose your username carefully as it won't be changed and we don't allow multiple accounts. An unprofessional username could be removed, including a name/nick that reflects a domain, product or trademark. Accounts created for purposes other than taking part in discussions and taking part within the rules of the forum are liable to deletion.
2. Be descriptive, clear and to the point in your descriptions. Some readers (and posters) have English as their second language. Use formal English rather than "I woz gonna lok n c m8" or "whatcha talkin bout bruvva?"
3. Fluff: Our rules on post quality are very different to those on other forums, our quality requirements are much higher. What we consider fluff varies. If yours is a new or dormant account almost every post you make is fluff unless it contains something new to the thread, is on topic and aids the discussion. More info on fluff: How to avoid making fluff posts. The older the last post in a thread the more useful or newsworthy your post needs to be to bump the discussion.
4. Be respectful of others in the forum. Differences of opinion make for interesting debate. Arguments and personal vendettas don't. The forum is provided in good faith, it's your responsibility to avoid comments about third parties that could be defamatory or attract litigation against the forum owners.
5. The language is not strictly moderated, but unnecessary or over-the-top profanity will be removed. Persistent such language, inflammatory language and/or abuse of other users will incur an infraction or possible ban depending on the severity.
6A. Linking policy: Our links are dofollow. Yes! They are subject to some rules. You can link out to a page where it is relevant to make a point or further the discussions. However,
- No affiliate code is allowed in any links by any member. Even moderators and admins don't do it.
- No overtly promotional linking is allowed. If a link in a post is to your own site we'd apply a higher level of justification for its inclusion.
- No excessive linking is allowed. If the majority of your posts link out you could be seen as a spammer (depending on the linking destinations and context). If you have a signature and the majority of your posts are short posts you could face an infraction for signature dropping (more).
- No redirect links allowed. Destination page should be to final content.
- Shortened URL links are not allowed. (e.g. bit.ly, tinyurl etc)
When it doubt, ASK a moderator!
6B. Signatures: All signatures need to follow the rules from 6A. You are not allowed to sell your signature. We reserve the right to remove any signatures at our sole discretion. Further,
- To protect against spam, if you're a new user you will find you can't create a signature till you've made a few posts. When you acquire signature privileges, the expectation is that your signature will be a short, discreet, one line text signature with a maximum of one link.
- When your status moves up to Established Member or higher (Senior Member / Top Contributor) you are allowed up to two discreet lines of text with a maximum of two links in total
- Concession: If one link in your signature is to a location on this site (perhaps your favourite thread) it doesn't count towards your maximum
7. Do not hotlink images or post copyrighted content except under "fair use" provisions and only if that content is already public. Any private correspondence reproduced here needs to be paraphrased. Do not disclose confidential information however acquired. Do not post contact details such as email addresses and private phone numbers (even your own!) Do not provide your off-site contact details to attract conversations out of this forum. Legal: Compliant DMCA notices may be sent to webmaster @ (this domain name).
8. You take sole responsibility for your own posts, agree not to hold the owners of the forum responsible for any post, agree that you are providing us a soft licence to use your post and agree that your post may be moved to a more suitable location on the site if deemed necessary or edited at our discretion.
9. Individual forums/sections here may have additional rules in the "sticky". Please read them before posting.
10. Discussions about moderation are not allowed in public. If you disagree with a decision, contact an admin by PM or using webmaster @ (this domain). The Admin's decision is final.
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