BackyardBoss Forum Rules

BackyardBoss Forums has put the following rules in place on our message board to ensure enjoyment by all users. Our goal is to make sure these forums are a positive learning and interactive experience for everyone. Users who violate the rules will be entered into a database of Banned Users. This information will include your IP address (a unique number assigned by your Internet provider), so we can track you and ban you even if you post under multiple names and/or email addresses. Posting using someone else's alias or multiple aliases is strictly prohibited.

BackyardBoss Forums has established an extensive list of rules for all forums. These rules have been established to create a professional atmosphere in all of our forums. All persons posting in these forums should be treated with respect and in a manner which will create an enjoyable positive experience for all. These rules are not contestable.

BackyardBoss Forums has a group of Moderators who help patrol the posts and topics on these forums. These individuals have donated their time to assist us in making this a popular place to come visit and share information. Please keep this in mind and treat all moderators with the utmost respect.

Though we strive to maintain the same objectives throughout these forums, it is impossible for us to always be consistent from one moderator or administrator to another. If you have a problem or have caught something you feel is in direct violation with the rules of BackyardBoss Forums, please contact myself and we will try to address the problem as soon as possible.

Thank you, and enjoy your visit to our site.

BackyardBoss Admins

Forum posts must be made in English only.

BackyardBosss RULES - QUICK REFERENCE

• You may not have multiple identities
• You may not use swear words or any alternative spelling for swear words in a post. This includes using undesirable
• o words
• o phrases
• o user names
• o locations
• o place names
• o or anything visible in your user profile
• You may not make racist, violent, sexual or other inflammatory remarks in a post
• Images containing depictions of pornography, racism, violence or those of an adult nature are forbidden
• You may not post material from BackyardBoss at another forum without permission from BackyardBoss' Admin or from the copyright owners
• You may not post any material at BackyardBoss from another forum without the express permission of that forum's Admin
• You may not misuse VB or HTML code
• You may not carry out personal attacks, be rude or insulting to any member of BackyardBoss. This includes in emails and PM's.
• You may not post intentionally harmful advice to any user in BackyardBoss.
• You may not troll in any thread
• You may not flame in any thread
• You may not advertise or spam in any thread
• You may not threaten or abuse any member of BackyardBoss, especially staff.
• You may not place images or links in your signature unless you are in an appropriate group where this is allowed

THE FOLLOWING WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE BAN

• Displaying pornographic, violent, sexist or racist images in any thread.
• Starting a discussion thread or promoting pornography, violence, sexism or racism in any form.
• Spamming
• Trolling
• Threatening other members or staff in the forum
• Harassing members outside the forum.

FREE SPEECH

This is a constitutional right afforded to citizens of most countries in the world and while you are free to say what you want, you may NOT do so where you want. BackyardBoss is a privately owned forum, funded with private funds, legal advertising and donations from users that go toward paying for bandwidth, software licenses and servers. As a privately owned and financed forum we are not subject to "Freedom of Speech" legislation. With that said, we will allow "free speech" insofar as that free speech does not contravene our forum rules. The rules of the forum are in place to protect the forum and the environment where all our members interact.

ADMINISTRATORS

While our rules cover the majority of incidents that may occur, we cannot anticipate all circumstances, and as such, the Administrators of BackyardBoss reserve the right to adjudicate, and take ANY actions we deem appropriate, in any circumstances. This is to ensure that the forum is not disrupted or brought into disrepute, either willfully, or by association with a member. An Administrator's decision in any matter referred to him/her is final.

We further reserve the right to take any of the following actions, either ourselves, or by other staff members who are empowered to do so i.e. Forum Managers, Moderators or Mentors:

• To remove or modify offensive posts without notice.
• To restrict the permissions of a user, or their ability to access any specified forum.
• To ban anyone who violates the forum rules.
• To delete any thread which is in breach of the rules, without notice.

The Administrators and appointed staff members also reserve the right to share e-mails, personal messages and information from users relating to forum management issues, among themselves, for the purpose of decision making. If you feel that your issue is too personal to be shared or discussed, please stipulate this fact in your correspondence clearly, and in ALL subsequent correspondence. We will also comply with law agencies in providing them information they require with proper paperwork.

GENERAL

This is a family forum and as such you will notice some of the text in your posts being blanked out by asterisks (*) from time to time. This is as a result of an "auto censor" which censors certain words. Censoring of undesirable words is also carried out by Moderators or other Staff members, but you will see an "edited by" note at the foot of your post, with a reason for the edit, in this case. PLEASE NOTE that using "alternative" spelling for swear words or using undesirable words, phrases, usernames, locations, place names or in fact anything visible in a user profile, is strictly forbidden and will result in action being taken by Staff.

All staff members and registered members are subject to the rules and conduct guidelines for BackyardBoss and actions taken for contraventions of the rules will be equally meted out for staff and members alike. PLEASE NOTE the rules are in force within and outside of BackyardBoss, whether association with BackyardBoss is implied or explicit. NO member may bring the name of BackyardBoss into disrepute by his/her actions or by associating BackyardBoss with illegal activities. Contraventions of this nature will result in immediate dismissal from the forum.

RULES AND RULE CATEGORIES

The following rules are guidelines for all users of BackyardBoss and also stipulate how one should participate. The Administrators of BackyardBoss reserve the right to alter, remove or add any guideline or rule at their sole discretion. If you have any questions about the rules or guidelines, please contact us or a staff member for clarification. Pleading ignorance of our rules, if you transgress, will not be a suitable excuse in mitigation of your actions. The rules below are categorized for convenience sake but any staff member, at their discretion, can verbally or officially warn someone. If you are officially warned you will receive a PM about the warning and a warning type. We have indicated the warning types, categories and warning points and validity period for points awarded. When you reach 10 points you will receive a temporary ban. When you have received three temporary bans' you will unfortunately be permanently banned

FORUM RULES

MULTIPLE POSTING
This refers to posting the same question or same replies in multiple areas of the site (also called flooding). Please only post only once. If you feel you have posted in the wrong forum, contact a Moderator or Manager, who will move the post for you.

COPYRIGHT
All content, unless otherwise protected, is the property of BackyardBoss and may not be disseminated, copied, transmitted, reproduced, or otherwise used except at the discretion of BackyardBoss its administrators, or its assigned proxies. Any Staff members wishing to use such material outside of TSF may NOT do so without the written permission of the Administrators or the assigned proxies of BackyardBoss. Any material from another forum that is posted in BackyardBoss for the purpose of assisting users or as tutorials, may not be posted unless the Administrators of BackyardBoss are satisfied that the forum in question has given written permission for such material to be used.

MISUSE OF BBCode or HTML CODE
Overuse or misuse of HTML or BB codes could be seen as an offense at a Moderator's discretion. This includes, but is not restricted to particularly annoying large, flashing, or otherwise unnecessary overuse of such special features.

INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
BackyardBoss is a family orientated site. We do not allow "adult" language.

CRUDE OR RUDE BEHAVIOR
While debate and discussion is acceptable; personal attacks, rudeness to, or posts insulting other users or BackyardBoss staff members will not be tolerated. This does not only apply to the public areas of BackyardBoss, but also to the content of private messages, email, chat or any other messaging methods utilized by BackyardBoss or its members. Responding to personal attacks with further abuse is inflammatory and unnecessary and will also result in disciplinary action against you, in addition to any action against the perpetrators of such attacks.

No Racism or Hate
BackyardBoss will not tolerate hate speech in any form. This includes but is not limited to racist slang terms, hateful comments based on skin color or background, religious bashing or intolerance, sexist or misogynistic material, faith based prejudicial statements, derogatory remarks, and all poor taste jokes about these topics. So leave your hate at the door please.

THREATS OR HARASSMENT
This includes threats of bodily harm or other violent statements as well as any type of personal harassment from a user, whether by email, in PM, on the forum or, by means of any other messaging methods utilized by BackyardBoss or its members. Taking stuff outside the forums into the members personal lives will not be tolerated either. This includes contacting members without permission, their family, or their place of employment.

No Posting "Real Life" Information
Posting any real life information about another user/person is strictly prohibited. This includes such things as full names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Purposely posting links to users social networking pages, websites, school, etc. for the sole purpose of harassment will be severely dealt with and can result in a permanent ban.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
No discussions of illegal activity will be tolerated on the boards. Any instruction on how to carry out illegal activity or admission of illegal activity will be dealt with harshly. This includes but is not limited to discussions about how to obtain drugs illegally, how to steal, fraud, how to kill someone, rape (including statutory rape), abuse of humans or animals, and auto theft. To sum up, if it's against the law, don't post it.

TROLLING
If you are found causing trouble on the forums or generally harassing users, you will be considered a troll. The definitions of this type of behavior are many and are by no means exhaustive. You can, however, get a very good description by visiting this site to see this author's point of view on the definition of a Troll.

Trolling by BackyardBoss's definition could be any of, but is not restricted to the following:

• Flooding the board with comments arising from a single point of view in every reply.
• Intentionally posting something that contravenes our forum rules.
• Deliberately posting inflammatory comments in order to start a "flame war" or to cause difficulty for the moderators.
• Posting continuous snide or personal comments about other users.
• Posting continuous or unwarranted criticism of Mods and their moderating decisions.
• Behavior which is continually disruptive to the general membership of the forum.

FLAMING
Flaming is expressly forbidden in BackyardBoss. It serves no other purpose but to show disrespect to other users and to the forum environment. If you don't agree with what someone has posted, that is your right - that is what a discussion forum is all about. DO NOT, however, turn the thread into your personal soapbox and let situations spiral into a "bar room brawl". The cardinal rule is "attack the post , not the poster". Always treat people with the same level of respect which you yourself would expect in return.

SPAMMING
The definitions of spamming are endless but the most common appears to be "to indiscriminately send unsolicited, unwanted, irrelevant, or inappropriate messages, especially commercial advertising in mass quantities". You may also NOT place affiliate,live or dead links for purposes of advertising, in any post or in your signature.

ADULT CONTENT
You may not post replies containing commentary, links to, or images of pornography, race-hate or other illegal material on the Internet, in any forum of BackyardBoss. Explicit images/videos, which include but not limited to death scenes, death pictures, torture, mutilation and human feces, are not allowed. Explicit written descriptions of these acts is also not allowed on the boards. Please note that BackyardBoss is a family forum and as such you may also not post adult content of an educational nature. Remember our younger members do not need to be subjected to this type of material even if it is educational. If you are not sure about a post, please PM a staff member for advice.

No Drugs (Buying or Selling, Legal or Illegal)
This includes Viagra or similar, drugs for sale outside the U.S.of A. or any other questionable drugs or paraphanalia.

USER IDENTITIES
You may not register an account for purposes of deceptive behavior or register more than one account in this forum. If you are found doing so, it will be assumed that you have done so for less than savory reasons. There is no need to have more than one account and should you have problems logging in, send a PM, as a guest, to an Administrator, by clicking on the user name, with details of your problem.

No Inappropriate Material
If you don't do it in front of your kids then you won't do it here!!!

Questionable Content
Since we can't have a rule to cover everything, this is the rule to, well, cover everything. These are public boards, so act like you should/would if you were in a public place. BackyardBoss reserves the right to choose the guidelines of objectionable content based on its knowledge of users and company policy. These issues are left to the discretion of the individual moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, misleading, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, racist, sexist, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy or that otherwise violates any law or encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense.

Politics Not to be discussed, period.

RULE CATEGORIES

CATEGORY 1 (WARN POINTS= 1, VALIDITY PERIOD 30 DAYS)
Multiple Posting
Misuse of VB or HTML code

CATEGORY 2 (WARN POINTS= 3, VALIDITY PERIOD 30 DAYS)
Inappropriate language
Crude or rude behavior

CATEGORY 3 (WARN POINTS= 5, VALIDITY PERIOD 60 DAYS)
Flaming or harassment
Illegal activities

CATEGORY 4 (PERMANENT BAN - NO WARNING)
Trolling
Threats
Spamming
Adult content
User identities

NOTE FROM THE ADMINISTRATORS
Unfortunately having rules is something we all live by everyday and the rules in BackyardBoss are no different. A forum the size of ours needs structure and one way of ensuring that is to make sure everyone knows how to act when using our site. We trust that you will enjoy your time in BackyardBoss and look forward to our continued association with you.