2) Please select a username/nickname that cannot be considered spamming (i.e. - using your site name or URL in your username). Your username and anything else you place in your Member profile is viewable by Moderators only. Your email address is NOT part of your public profile.
3) Respect that others may have differing opinions. If your opinion differs from something that has been posted, you can a) reply expressing your differing opinion, or b) not post anything. Please disagree with the opinion but refrain from flaming, using abusive language, attacking someone personally, harassing a member, calling someone names, or insulting them publicly on the boards. These posts will be deleted and the offending member will be banned.
4) Your email address is not visible to other Members. There is an email function within the boards via your Member profile that allows members to email other members. When you respond to that email, you are disclosing, at your own risk, your personal email address. This email function is not to be used for SPAM or to carry out disagreements amongst members. This feature is to allow Members to contact each other in a productive manner. Abuse of this feature will result in Member to Member emailing to be disabled. Mom to Mom Chat.com will not intervene in any personal disputes.
5) Your Forum Membership comes with the ability to send and receive Private Messages (PMs) via the Forums. You have the option to choose to accept PMs from within your Control Panel. This feature allows Members to communicate with other Members without the need for email.
Do not use the PM function for SPAM or to carry out a disagreement. If such actions are discovered, the PM feature will be revoked. If you feel the need to continue negative communications with another Member, please do so off the boards and without the use of services provided by the site (PM, Board email). Mom to Mom Chat.com is not responsible for comments made outside the realm of these Forums and the accompanying services (PM), regardless of whether the conversation began as a thread on the boards.
6 ) Maintain a polite, respectful, civil tone. No flaming. Please do not defame other sites or discussion forums on these boards. Members who are continually belligerent, argumentative and disrespectful will be banned at our discretion.
7) Postings on the boards are monitored via our Volunteer Moderator Program. While our Moderators must apply for the position and are screened, Mom to Mom Chat.com is not liable or responsible for the truth, completeness, objectivity, or usefulness of any member or Moderator content nor do we necessarily support or endorse any content including any postings made by members or Moderators for our boards.
Information found on the boards is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not take the place of professional assistance if your situation requires such assistance. You accept all information in good faith. If you have a concern with a Monitor, please contact her and express that concern in a polite, productive manner. If the issue does not get resolved, you may contact us via our Comment Form. Please do not carry out disagreements on the forums.
8) While this is a members-only forum, you are responsible for any and all information you disclose on the boards. Mom to Mom Chat.com is not responsible for the actions of other members based on how much personal information you reveal on the boards. We will not get involved in personal disputes that occur off the boards. If a dispute begins on the boards, we will delete the threads.
9) No pornographic or sexually explicit posts of any kind. No posts that promote illegal or discriminatory activity. Absolutely no posts that exploit children. These posts will be deleted and the member will be banned.
10) No posts that are spam, ads, solicitations, promotions on any board not designated for such purposes. Such posts will be deleted. Period.
Please follow proper board etiquette.
Examples of SPAM:
- A post that says "Hi my name is Blainey Ho Ho. Please come to my new website."
- Yeah, I went skydiving once too and wow, it was fun. If you want to learn more about how to prevent your hair color from fading, visit my site."
- I like your craft idea about making flower bouquets out of egg cartons. I represent a company that sells a cream guaranteed to get rid of cellulite. Email me for more information.
Moms come looking for friendship and support and do not want to inundated with spam. Spam posts will be deleted. Period.
11) You MAY place your site name, business name, and URL in your signature line. Effective September 25, 2006, tickers, film loops and film strips are no longer allowed in your sig line. Please view our new signature line policies and instructions here.
12) Please post business opportunities and consultant or rep programs on the Home Based Business Programs board only. Posts on the Home Based Business Programs board are limited to three per company per day. Please review the rules in that Forum before posting your program.
13) Promotional posts are allowed on the Home Based Business Programs and Shopping boards, as long as the promotion keeps with the theme of the board. Ads that do not pertain to the theme of the board will be deleted.
14) Our Discussion Forums offer our members the ability to include photos within their posts. We LOVE seeing your pictures! As a courtesy to fellow members a maximum of three images may be uploaded or be included in a thread via message board code per member per thread. Please be specific in your subject line as to what the photos are so that fellow Moms can choose to take a peek.
If you have more than three to share please exercise one of the following options:
- Open a FREE Baby Site and provide a link to it
- Provide a text link within your post to your other photos
- Open up a new thread and post the additional photos
The maximum size of each image will be 400 x 300 pixels in dimensions and 30KB in file size. This includes photos that you wish to upload as an attachment and photos that you choose to include in a post via a photo storage site such as Photobucket. Please resize your photos via Photobucket BEFORE placing the code within your thread. If you have a question about how to resize your photos, please ask any Mod for help. Memberships will be removed for non-compliance.
Attachments will be purged after a period of 6 months from the original posting to free up server space.
15)
Certain topics, while acceptable, may be considered controversial and maybe even offensive to some members. Our Moderators will use this Caution sign to make you aware that the topic contained within that thread may be considered such a topic along with a descriptive subject line that will indicate what the topic is about. If you disagree with what is being posted you have the choice to not respond or disagree with the topic by expressing your opinion, but do not flame or tell the the person who posted the topic that she is wrong. We are a diverse group of Moms and mutual respect is expected on these boards.
16) As a courtesy and convenience to our members we offer a broad variety of topic forums. Please use the correct forum for your posts. Off topic posts will be moved. If a member continues to make off topic posts the member will be banned. If you are unsure of where a topic should be posted please contact a Moderator.
17) Users not respecting the rules of these forums will be banned. Mom to Mom Chat.com reserves the right to ban members at anytime if the member is not posting in compliance with the rules and supportive purpose of this site.
Mom to Mom Chat.com reserves the right to update the rules governing the use of the boards at any time without notice. Your continued use of the boards signifies that you accept these rules and our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. If you do not agree with our terms of use, please do not use the boards.
If you agree to these regulations please proceed to register for the Discussion Boards. If you do not agree to these regulations, our privacy policy or terms of use, please do not register for the boards. By registering, you acknowledge that you agree to these terms and will abide by said terms. If you are already a registered member and continue to use the boards after any periodic updated to these regulations, we will interpret that as your acceptance to any changes in the regulations since becoming a member.
If you do NOT agree to these regulations please do not use the site.
Instructions for Using The Discussion Boards on Mom To Mom Chat.com
To Register:
When you reach the main forum page, click on the Register Button at the bottom of the screen. On the registration screen, enter your desired user name, password, and a valid e-mail address (for registration confirmation only). All the other information is optional. You can keep your e-mail address and full name private from all board users.
Your signature will be included at the bottom of each post without you having to type it in each time!!
Frequently Asked Questions:
General Questions:
What is an Avatar? A small, 60 x 60 pixel image no larger than 60 KB that you can use under your name, next to your post. You can upload the image to our server or place a link to your image on your own server. Coming Soon - our own Avatars for you to use!!
What is Private Message? You can send any member a private message by clicking on the Private Message Icon in the upper right hand corner of the person's post. Type in the subject, a message and click the Send Message button.
Private Message Icon
To check to see if you have any private messages, click on the Control Panel link next to your name at the top of the screen. Then click on the Private Messages link.
Can I upload a picture? An image no larger than 30 KB can be uploaded to our server. We will periodically delete older images due to server space constraints.
What happens if I forgot my password? Click on the Lost password link on the main forum page.
Can I change my username once I have registered? Re-regsitration with your new desired username is required. The forum software is not capable of changing the username on a current account at this time.
I tried to log-in to the chat room and it says my username and password are not valid. Why? A separate registration is required for the chat room.
Forum Rules and Guidelines Questions:
Can I be a member of another Mom-forum and this one too? Absolutely! All we ask is that SPAMMING M2M members via our boards, chat room, PM or board email function not be done.
Can I own/run another Mom-forum/site and be a member of this one too? Absolutely! Feel free to include your URL in your signature line. All we ask is that SPAMMING M2M members via our boards, chat room, PM or board email function not be done.
Can I start new threads? Yes, please do!
Do I have to ask permission before I post? No, but if you are uncertain about posting a certain topic, feel free to contact the Moderator of that board. If a board does not have a Mod, feel free to contact any of the other Mods.
Under what circumstances will a thread be moved? If a thread is started on a board that may not receive the proper attention it would be moved to the appropriate board. For example, if a post is asking about a colicky infant and is on the General Board, it may be moved to the Raising Our Babies board.
Under what circumstances will a thread be edited or removed? If a thread is in violation of any of these Discussion Board Membership Guidelines or of Mom to Mom Chat.com's Terms Of Use, it will be edited or removed at the discretion of the Administrator''s of this site.
Can I be banned for posting too many times? No.
Under what circumstances can a member be banned? If a member violates any of these Discussion Board Membership Guidelines or of Mom to Mom Chat.com's TOU, said member may be contacted by a Moderator or Administrator advising the member about the infringement. Non-compliance will result in the member being banned and or deleted. This is for the protection of the membership at large. If you feel a member is in violation of the TOU please use our Comment Form to report it.
Moderator Questions:
What is a Moderator? A Moderator/Monitor is a volunteer Mom who puts a lot of time and effort into overseeing her community of Moms on her board(s). A Mod keeps her board moving with responses to your questions/posts, posts new topics, does research, provides support and information for members and so on.
How do I become a Moderator? If you are interested in becoming a Mod, feel free to contact any other Mod or Nikki to express your interest.
What is the Monitor's Lounge for? Mods get together in the lounge primarily to discuss how to better the forums for you. Ideas are shared and developed before they are implemented on the boards.
Each Mod has her own areas of expertise and because Mods are looking out for your best interests, if one cannot answer a post or find the information needed she may ask the other Mods if they can help.
Mods are also able to discuss possible TOU and Forum Membership violations in the lounge. Announcements about upcoming features, articles or policy changes are made in the lounge so that all Mods are kept up to date and can pass along that information to you.
Can a Moderator ban a member? No. Only the Administrators can ban members.
Can a Moderator remove/edit a post/thread? No. Only the Administrators can edit or remove posts/threads.
If you have any questions or concerns not addressed here, feel free to let is know via our Comment Form.
