Forum Rules

[btuck]

Official Site Policy

INDMAS.org is a forum for hobbyists of all ages. In an effort to clearly spell out all policies regarding posting, user accounts, and general forum behavior, INDMAS has drafted this thread. Please read these policies before posting on the website. Be sure to check them often, as they are subject to change without notice.

I. User Profile Policy

Registered Users / Members
Registered Users and dues paying Members are allowed only one registered account. Multiple accounts to the same registered user is prohibited. Users who attempt to create multiple accounts will have the additional accounts deleted. Staff are excluded - secondary accounts may be required to test functionality of the site.

User names and Signatures
User names and signatures may not contain vulgar or abusive language.

Avatars / Profile Pictures
Must be appropriate for all family members. Must also abide by the Signature policy.

II. General Posting Policy

Proper Forum
All posts must be in the proper forum. That is why there are many different forums on this site. INDMAS.org is dedicated to education about the hobby and responsible reefkeeping and therefore, when giving advice that is only your opinion please state this in your posts. To make this board a useful reference please post links to articles that support your statements whenever possible.

Threads on Religion and Politics are off limits and will be deleted immediately. While these are important topics, this forum is for education and enjoyment of our hobby and such off topic threads are not appropriate. Off limit topics are Off limits! Period.

Buying and Selling of livestock and drygoods are to be posted only in the respective Buy/Sell/Trade forums. These forums are reserved for dues paying Members. Members and Registered Users starting threads, or making posts in threads, attempting to buy, sell, or trade will have those threads/posts deleted or locked and will be subject to the Corrective Actions listed below in Section VI.

Threats
Threats are not tolerated on INDMAS. Any threat made to a fellow member, moderator, or staff member will result in a lifetime ban from INDMAS. This applies to the public forum and any private messaging. We have a zero tolerance policy for this behavior and the lifetime ban circumvents the steps detailed below in Section VI, Corrective Actions.

 

Language
A word filter is in use on this board and actively searches for and replaces inappropriate words. Attempting to circumvent the word filter with alternate spellings will result in a warning and an edit of your post. Future violations will be treated as repeat offenses and will be subject to the steps detailed below in Section VI, Corrective Actions.

Images
You may upload images in the appropriate categories on this site. Generally they are restricted to saltwater/reef related images. Inside your personal photo gallery you may upload any pictures that you choose, however you are not allowed to upload nude, semi-nude, offensive, copyrighted or other questionable images to any category on this site. Failure to comply with this will result in immediate and permanent termination of your account.


Commercial Posts
Posts by members attempting to market/advertise a business are not allowed. If you have a website, automatic ordering, accept credit cards, you are considered commercial and posts of an advertising nature will be removed. The buy/sell/trade forum is for members who are selling items or buying items in low quantity. If you are selling large/bulk quantities of any item you will be considered a commercial business. Ultimately the decision of whether or not you are classified as a commercial entity is left up to the moderators/Board of Directors.

INDMAS.org exists for the non-commercial exchange of information. Sponsors of this site are given banner space and/or a forum to promote their business in accordance with the sponsor agreement. All other posts or signatures that are deemed to be commercial in nature are a violation of this policy and will be removed. As it pertains to this policy, a “commercial post” is defined as knowing and willful posts made by private individuals or businesses, directly or indirectly seeking commerce.


Prohibited forum practices
All of the examples following are prohibited:

1. Double Posting. The practice of posting the same post in two or more forums with the hope that more readers will see your question and help you.

2. Thread Hijacking. The practice of inserting a post into a thread which has nothing to do with the thread.

3. ALL CAPS. This is shouting. Please do not shout at us. We can hear you just fine.

Posting of Private Messages
Private Messages are as indicated, private. Posting of a PM or any part of one in the open forums is generally discouraged and could be considered a breach of trust by the sender and be grounds for administrative action.

Posting of Personal Information
The posting of personal information, other than your own, in any way shape or form will not be tolerated

Bashing and Flaming
There has never been a clear definition of what is considered "bashing" but basically if you haven't got something nice to say, don't say anything at all. Negative feedback or disappointment with an individual or business is permitted only if you have discussed your displeasure with that individual/business prior to posting on the site. Bashing an individual, business, or any other site will not be tolerated at INDMAS.org. Such posts or threads will be removed at the discretion of the staff.

The purpose of this site is for the education of reef keeping for all ages.

Please treat everyone with respect.

Re-posting
If your post or thread disappears, it is for a good reason. Posting it again, especially at a time when you think it will escape notice by the moderators, is not acceptable.

III. Forum-Specific Policies

Each forum has its own guidelines as to what material is appropriate. Please read forum guidelines before posting.



IV. Mod/Admin Discretion

The administrator and moderators may, at their sole discretion; move, edit, or delete any post considered being inappropriate for either the site or a particular forum. Most moderation activity involves judgment on the part of the moderator. If you feel a post has been wrongly deleted, moved, or edited, send a PM to the Officers and do not post your grievance in the forums.

The administrators from time to time may have the need to access your user account, in certain instances. These instances could be, but are not limited to, your user id having issues displaying correctly, your user id acting funny, your user id disappears etc.. This action may or may not preceded with warning to you the member but will always be followed up with a PM to let you know it took place. If you believe your account has been inappropriately accessed please change your password and let us know immediately.


V. Private Messages (PMs)

INDMAS.org has an obligation to its members to protect their interests, and to protect the site integrity as a whole. This includes protection from phishing, scamming, criminal activity, and any other actions which may compromise or harm the site or its members.

With this in mind, INDMAS.org may be required to access certain individuals' PMs in the event of reasonable suspicion of wrong doing. Although legally all electronic data, including PMs, on this site are fully accessible without warrant via ownership rights by the administration, such an action should only be necessary in extreme situations. In the event a PM should be read, the parties involved will be informed after the fact, of course.

We would hope this is not necessary, but we also want to keep all members informed of our policies put in place for everyone's protection.

VI. Corrective Actions

Failure to follow the above policies, or the individual forum specific rules, will result in the following corrective actions:

First Offense: Member will be directed to these site policies, or forum specific rules as applicable, via PM from an Executive Board member, with a copy of the PM to all Executive Board members.

Second Offense: Member will receive official warning from an Executive Board member, with a copy of the PM to all Executive Board members.

Third Offense: Member will be notified via PM from the Executive Board that their account will be placed on temporary hold for 30 days. Member will not be able to access the website, or any forums, during this time.

Fourth Offense: Member will be notified via PM from the Executive Board that their account will be permanently terminated. Any attempts to reregister on INDMAS.org will result in immediate deletion of new account.

 

***Updated 9.13.2013

[MrsBugmaster]

Face Book Rules:

Due to the club's desire to foster an enhanced sense of on-line community and collaboration, we have decided to re-purpose the INDMAS Facebook page, as originally intended, which is to provide club information to the general public, while encouraging visitors and members to make use of our Website for all education, communication, and on-line interaction.

Please read these policies before posting on Face Book. Be sure to check them often, as they are subject to change without... notice.

Effective immediately INDMAS Face Book page will be a "Fan Page" only which means only the admin of Face Book will be able to make post. However all members will be able to comment on topics posted. All comments will be approved by the admin first. These comments will follow the other INDMAS Forum Rules found here:

http://indmas.org/main/index.php/topic/5822-forum-rules/

The admin will monitor the forums and post "hot topics" as well as other articles of interest on our FB page. If a member would like a forum topic to be highlighted on our Face Book page please contact one of the admin to make an approved post in their behalf.

Selling/buying is not allowed on INDMAS Face Book page.