Forum Rules / Vendor Rules

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GENERAL FORUM RULES:

The following rules are meant as a guideline for acceptable member behavior. In some cases it may be necessary for Admin. to take action based on their judgment and not on any particular rule herein. A formal point-based warning/infraction system is used to remind members of, or enforce the rules as needed.

We want this Board to be both informational and enjoyable. The basic ground rules are simple: show respect, don't break the law, and if you are a business person of any kind, do not post ANY message that identifies your company, products or services without specific permission from an Administrator.

We reserve the right to move, modify, delete or merge posts at our discretion and without explanation.

These rules may be amended at any time... Please review this page periodically


Advertising/Solicitation:
Only authorized Supporting Vendors are permitted to discuss their company, products, or services here - those vendors are easily recognized by their bold blue username and the title "Supporting Vendor" below it.

ALL MEMBERS: Please review the detailed Vendor Rules section below and/or contact an Administrator for permission BEFORE you make a vendor-related post of any kind

Signatures:
Signatures/usernames/avatars must be work-safe; they are always visible to guests and many of our members view this board at the office or with family. For members who prefer not to view signatures, there is an option to turn them off in the User CP.

Over-sized signatures are inconsiderate and may be removed. You can help avoid removal if you'll place a list of all mods and options in a separate thread about your car with photos and link to it in your signature. To further the 'less is best' philosophy, please note that signatures only appear in your first post on any given page in a thread.

Following are specific Sig guidelines - Signatures that do not conform to these guidelines, may be limited by the software and/or removed by staff without notice:

• Images: Sig photo MAX 400W x 250H (pixels). If using more than one photo, they must collectively fit within this 400 x 250 footprint
• Text: If you include an image in your sig, please limit to max 4 lines of text with max font size 2
• NOTE: Unauthorized vendor info and other items that violate forum rules will be removed

Avatars:
Please use socially acceptable avatars only; no political, religious, or sexual/adult content. Non-conforming avatars will be removed

User Profile - Car YR-MAKE-MODEL & Location:

• Log the year-make-model of your car in the Profile section to help members help you with questions or relate your questions & answers to their situation
• Please do NOT add other comments to these fields, such as mods & options, as it makes it difficult to read and takes up excessive screen space with each post - may be removed
• Do not list illegal vendor info here - it will be removed

Legal:
All posts by members are the sole responsibility of that member. This forum, and its administration, do not warrant, or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information or product represented on this site

POSTING RULES:

1. Post new threads in the correct forum category; each category includes a brief description of what belongs there. Threads in the wrong forum will be moved to facilitate retrieval of that information.

In addition...

• Do NOT start a thread for a complaint about the forum or to question site policies. Direct these matters to any Administrator or Moderator privately via PM and allow time for them to respond
• Begin a new thread only if the proposed subject matter has not already been posted. Like threads may be merged w/o notice
• Do not post the same thread in several forums. Duplicate threads will be merged or deleted
• Title new threads in a meaningful way so that the subject is obvious. The key to others locating posted information in the future depends upon it. Keep thread titles 'clean'
• Do not post using all caps, or all bold, font: this is the equivalent to yelling on the web
• No 'post-whoring': meaningless replies, such as one word posts or smilies, do NOT contribute to the topic of discussion
• Do not post consecutive replies: Use edit to amend a post or the "multi-quote" feature to respond to more than one post at once
• If you must quote a post in a reply, please remove any photos from that quote - we don't need to see the same pics over and over again
• ONLY post 'For Sale' or 'Wanted' ads in the Buy/Sell Forum
• Do not post links to downloads, or offers for pirated copyrighted materials i.e. service manuals, copied/hacked navigation software, etc.

2. Do NOT post in a manner intended to provoke a negative response: This includes thread titles. Personal attacks will not be tolerated, if you don't agree with material posted, focus your argument on that material, NOT the person who posted it

3. Report problem posts: Spam, non-supporting vendor posts, insults/name-calling, trolling, etc.. Please do not respond so as to create a larger problem. You may send a PM (with a link to the post please) to an Administrator or Moderator... or... click the REPORT POST icon connected to each post. This will send an immediate email alert to ALL forum staff

4. Be respectful of others. Expressions of intolerance or hatred will not be tolerated, nor will stalking or harassment. Posts that insult or single out an individual or group based on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability/handicap, politics or religion are strictly prohibited

5. Do not 'hijack' threads: The subject of a thread is determined by the original poster. Interrupting that discussion is rude and makes it difficult to find posts that are pertinent to the thread topic. Hijack posts may be removed

6. You MUST begin the title of any thread that is Not Work Safe with the letters NWS to serve as a warning to readers AND all NWS threads must ONLY be posted in Off Topic.
NWS material is anything that could be considered inappropriate, indecent, gross, or offensive in mixed company, or could compromise the reader if seen on their computer screen by others.

• If a thread is NOT labeled "NWS" by the original poster, do NOT post NWS material or links within that thread
• ALL"NWS" threads posted outside of the Off-Topic forum will be removed
• The line is thin as to what is acceptable, please use common sense. Any thread/post we deem inappropriate will be deleted w/o notice

7. Posts depicting nudity/partial nudity/obscene material/pornography, or links to same, are absolutely forbidden, even in threads labeled NWS

8. The Off-Topic forum does not mean 'anything goes'. ALL other forum rules still apply! Discussion of religion is not permitted due to the volatility of that topic. Such posts/threads will be removed. Politics can be equally volatile and only those discussions that remain respectful will be permitted to continue

9. Profanity in posts is unnecessary: Language filters are in place for a reason, please respect them. Overrides of these filters may subject posters to warning or infraction at staff discretion

10. The Buy/Sell Forum is for private party auto-related items only - NO ebay links - NO Vendors - NO commercial sales (Multiples of a same item are considered commercial).

In addition:

• Do not post private party Buy/Sell ads in other forum sections
• Must include asking price (with OBO is acceptable) - No speculation threads or bid invitations
• Buy/Sell is a forum for conducting business, NOT a discussion/opinion forum. Reply in ads only if you have a lead on a wanted item, or are interested in the item for sale
• Let the Seller answer all questions
• NO price-police - Seller can ask any price, Buyers can refuse the ad. Thread-crapping posts may be removed
• Please make a final post in your thread when your item is bought or sold to prevent unnecessary inconvenience for all parties
• Negotiate via PM, not in the thread
• Members do business at your own risk... Buyer Beware

11. Solicitation (spam) is not permitted. This member base is not a source to be "mined" for business, sales or donations by individuals, groups, or businesses, or for non-profit, without prior permission

12. Misrepresentation will not be tolerated and will result in a ban; this includes creation of multiple accounts for the purpose of deception or conflict avoidance

13. Respect the privacy of fellow members - do NOT post private materials or info

14. Linking to files/programs/software which could harm anyone's computer is prohibited

15. Each member is allowed ONE user account. If there is a problem with your acct., contact an Admin. All IP addresses are logged and viewable by Moderators and Administrators


ADVERTISING / VENDOR RULES: .. -For ALL Members & Vendors-
If you are interested in becoming a Supporting Vendor, please send an email to jbauer@autoforums.com to request info.


1. Product or company-related posts or advertising of any kind by non-supporting vendors is NOT allowed -
Site-supporting vendors pay a fee to support the forum, which gives them the exclusive right to promote their business to our membership, please respect that. Posts/threads that we feel cross the line will be deleted and warnings/infractions will follow. To avoid problems, please observe the following guidelines:

• Do not reveal yourself as a vendor or discuss your business in posts, avatars, or signatures
• Do not discuss, answer questions about, promote, or advertise your products, projects, services, or pricing
• Do not participate in other member's threads about your products, projects, services, or pricing
• Do not provide contact information or links to your ads, website, business, or auctions in posts, avatars, or signatures

2. Business info of ANY kind in signaturesis NOT permitted for non-supporting vendors and will be removed w/o notice


3. Members may discuss products offered by a Non-Supporting Vendor as a general info post only. If, in our judgment, it appears as though you are advertising on a N/S vendor's behalf your post/thread may be edited or deleted and you may receive a warning:

a) A member MAY post "I found a great deal/product/service/price from Acme Auto" including details -That is sharing general info based on your personal experience

b) That member may NOT add to the post "Acme Auto said forum members get a special deal" -OR- "call Joe at 123-4567 or check out his website and say I sent you" -That is promoting/advertising on behalf of the N/S vendor and/or the N/S vendor using you to promote/advertise on his behalf

c) If a member makes multiple posts/threads about a same non-supporting vendor it will appear he/she is associated with, or advertising for, that vendor and he/she will be cautioned. The line is thin and we will use our judgment as to when that line is being crossed

4. Members may NOT post links to Non-Supporting Vendor ads/threads/posts on other Forums and they may NOT post copies of those ads/posts/threads on this Forum

5. Supporting Vendor Group Buys are permitted but can ONLY be posted by a supporting vendor. Members may not initiate, post, or manage Group Buys, nor post threads to generate interest in a GB. All business must be conducted by the Supporting Vendor

6. Non-Supporting Vendor Group Buys, promotions, and special offers are NOT permitted to be posted, or linked to, by any member and will be removed


Disclaimer: The content of posts and/or threads is the sole responsibility of the user who posted them and all users are responsible for their own actions. Sellers on this site are in no way related to, or affiliated with, the forum or its agents. This site does not endorse or guarantee sales transactions between users and is not liable.