We encourage new members to participate in an active and contributing way, though we understand that not all members want to post messages to the forum. However, we would like members to at least log in occasionally and visit. You may just find an interesting topic or subject for which you would like to post a reply. Or, if you are an experienced modeler, you may have an answer to a beginning modelers' question. This document is designed to clarify various responsibilities of community members here at The Ship Modeling Forum. Please read it and become familiar with it. Its terms are retroactive and agreed to by the forum Administrator , moderator team, and users upon joining the board.. Lets make this site a pleasurable experience for all!

General Posting Policy:

Any user may read and view postings, or any of the other content on the site. All Ship Modelers are welcome. Plastic, Wood, Resin, R/C, etc.. Membership for Posting and Replying to messages on the Forum is granted only after a submitted application is approved by the Site Administrator. No Spammers or Abusers allowed. No pornography allowed. Any ads, or links to ads posted in a message will be deleted! No banner ads, Pop ups or other junk! The message Forum and any user groups are over seen by Moderators. Abusers of the site will be deleted and/or banned from the site! Information about members is kept strictly private and will never be given out to any one or any thing, at any time!

Forum Guidelines:

Try to post in a relevant forum. Users are asked to read the forum descriptions before posting. Posting in all capitals makes it appear that YOU'RE YELLING! Lay off the caps lock key (or use it to emphasize individual words WITHIN REASON). Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Messages which are extremely offensive, racist, or libelous may be deleted or edited. Personal attacks or abuse directed at other users in any way will not be tolerated. Unprovoked flaming, hurling insults, name-calling, threats of personal injury or lawsuits, vengefulness, and other vindictive, hateful comments may result in your post being deleted, a warning being issued, and/or your account being deactivated. Keep your posts brief and to the point. Nobody likes a message hog. If you're afraid of being taken too seriously, follow your comment or post with an emoticon (smiley). We can't read your mind, and more importantly, we can't always discern "tone of voice" in text communication, so help us out and use the emoticons... that's what they're there for! Please do not post new messages not relating to the original subject of the topic. Instead, start a new topic within the appropriate forum. Members are asked to respect the copyright and/or license agreements of other users, websites, media, etc. Users re-printing material or offering materials for sale/resale without prior permission or providing direct source information (such as a direct link) will receive a warning (see Three Strike Rule) and their post will be removed. However, it is at the sole discretion of the Forum Administration to either enforce banning of a user and/or deletion of their membership as deemed by the circumstance of the offense. Respect each other's privacy. If someone emails you something, or gives you their email address, that does not mean it was meant for public viewing. Check with them first if you're not sure. Again, violators will be warned. Please do not post personal messages to other members in the public forums of this board. If you wish to post a message for a specific member to read, please send them a Private Message instead. See the "Private Messages" section below for more info. Please use an appropriate, brief, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Descriptive titles will actually help lure people in to read your post, so the more descriptive (without being excessive, obviously) the better. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but be aware that there is a huge difference between opinion and FACT. Opinions can't be wrong, but facts can (stating something as fact is always a lot more believable if you back it up with proof). It is a lot nicer to say "I don't like something, because..." than to say "Such and such Stinks." Want to be taken seriously? Treat people in a way you would like to be treated (ever heard of The Golden Rule? Use it!). Don't believe everything you read (especially on the Internet)! While we understand that there are users from all over the world using these forums, it is highly recommended that you post in English to avoid alienating the vast majority of users. Inactive topics (topics with no new posts) may be locked or deleted after about 3-6 months of inactivity, sometimes sooner depending on number of posts, relevancy of the subject matter, and traffic on the board. Likewise, inactive members may also have their memberships deactivated or deleted if we notice that a member has gone three months or more without visiting the board. If this happens to you and you genuinely want to participate, please don't take it personally. Simply sign back up and try to remember to come back more often in the future. We're only doing this to keep the membership list concise and manageable. The Administrator and moderators of this board reserve the right to edit or remove any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as unnecessary, indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to forum Administrator, moderators and NOT users... This is a mature, moderated board and is here for you to enjoy. Use of the board is a privilege, not a right. The Administrator and moderators of this board also have the right to ban users, move your topic to a more appropriate forum, or delete it altogether if they choose. This board encourages healthy debate and passionate discussion and it takes many different types of people with varying opinions/viewpoints for this to happen. Just remember to have respect and tolerance for each other. Thank you.

DO NOT POST SPAM!

What is spam? Please read! The repeated posting (or "cross-posting") of a single message in multiple forums, under multiple topics, under multiple user names or useless nonsense messages that generally hamper the enjoyment of the board for others. All spam will be deleted and the spammer will receive a warning and may ultimately have their membership deactivated or terminated permanently (see Policing below).

Private Message System:

What is it? This message board features an excellent Private Message system for communicating personally with other members. Please use it! Posting personal messages in the forums is greatly discouraged because we don't want the forums being cluttered with personal messages between users that have nothing to do with other people reading the board. If you want to discuss something with another individual about something of a personal nature, please send that person a Private Message (PM). Where is it? The link to your Private Message Inbox can be found in the menu at the top of the screen, just to the right of the logo. Click that link and you will be taken to your Inbox where you can "post" a new message to another member. This is similar to email in that once the message is "posted" it will be sent to that member's inbox for them to read. How does it work? It is very simple to send someone a Private Message. Just click on the "PM" button located at the bottom of one of the user's posts you wish to contact. This same button can also be found from the user's profile. Another option is to manually type in their username in the appropriate space when creating a new private message, or search for their name by clicking the "Find a username" box from that new message form. Tip! In your user profile, be sure you have "Yes" selected next to "Notify on new Private Message." This will enable the message board to automatically send you an email notification when a new message arrives in your inbox, and will also contain a link for you to click to retrieve your message. Most users find this feature very helpful for alerting them to when a new Private Message has arrived.

Signatures:

Signatures may contain up to five lines (one line being that displayed on a browser opened to 800px width) of text (of small or normal size). The Ship Modeling Forum cannot allow you to advertise your company/business in your signature. Text sizes should be between 9 and 12 (small and normal). Links are not permitted in signatures. Links to offensive sites are not tolerated and will be remove. Users abusing these rules will receive a warning and their signature will be edited or removed entirely.

Policing:

The Ship Modeling Forum now operates a three strike policy. Users will be warned a maximum of three times for any and all offenses in a three month period. If the need arises for a fourth warning, a temporary ban will be put in place of between 1 to 7 days. After that, any additional warning will result in the user being deleted and receiving a permanent ban from the board. Arguing with Administrators or moderators after having received a warning will lead to an immediate additional warning. Should this exceed three strikes a temporary or permanent ban will be put in place as described above. Likewise, any whining or complaining about the moderation on the board may be deleted, and will not be tolerated. Users who feel they have been unfairly warned are welcome to contact the relevant moderator by PM. If they feel you were treated badly they can remove a warning. If you feel their decision is also unfair you may contact the Forum Administrator, wirewolf. His decision is final. Contacting the forum Administrator over warning matters should be done so as a very last resort. Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban will lead to that ban being made permanent. Circumvention includes re-registering under a non-banned username, changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban, and/or registering a new email account to evade an email ban. An exception to the three strike rule applies when users contact the Administrator or moderators personally (via any method) and post insulting, indecent, threatening, or vulgar material. Such users may be subject to an immediate and permanent ban. Permanent bans and deletion of memberships are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them. However, it is at the sole discretion of the Forum Administration to either enforce banning of a user and/or deletion of their membership as deemed by the circumstance of the offense.

Enjoy the Ship Modeling Forum!

This message board was created for people to communicate and interact with others around the world with similar interests. Have FUN with it.  If you have any problems with how the message board is working please contact a member of the moderator team and they will be glad to help you. The Administrator and moderators are here to make everyone's visit more enjoyable, so if you experience any problems with abusive users, please tell a moderator.

I know it's a lot to absorb all at once. Just use common sense, have respect for other members and don't take things too seriously.   wirewolf, Site Administrator.