Basenji Forums Rules: Please Read Before Posting

[admin]

Basenji owners from around the world come together at Basenji Forums to talk about this wonderful breed. We encourage your active participation in discussions on our forum.

Basenji Forums is dedicated to providing the best source of categorized discussions about Basenjis. Please remember to treat others with respect. Like the Basenjis, each of us is unique with our unique character, but our admiration and respect for this breed have brought us together and make us a community.

By participating in this forum you agree to follow this code of conduct:

COURTESY AND RESPECT

The purpose of this board is to provide a place for Basenji owners to make connections, exchange information and assist and encourage one another. It is above all a friendly environment for online discussion.

• Don't be rude to others, or make an argument personal
• If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all
• Know the difference between a difference of opinion and a personal attack
• Don't try to "win" an argument by repeating yourself over and over
• Don't tell others what to post
• Don't bash other members
• Keep it clean, don't use profanity

Why can't I tell this user what an idiot he/she is; every single thing he/she posts is just so wrong?

If you can't find a respectful way to express your difference of opinion, then you're better off saying nothing at all. Don't talk down to other posters, lecture them or be rude and dismissive. Disagreement is fine, but attacking another poster personally will get you in trouble and result in a ban from the forum.

Personal attacks include any attacks on someone's personal life, religious beliefs, ethnicity, or personal habits.

But he started the fight by attacking me! Can't I defend myself?

This is a forum for the discussion of Basenjis, not a dueling society. If you feel attacked, please report it to the admin and then ignore the poster. Remember, however much you were provoked, if you attack a poster personally then you are just as guilty of breaking the rules.

If you feel that you need stop posting for a while because of a conflict with other members, please step back and email us directly before posting publicly about the issue.

We created this rule to make sure Basenji Forums has a friendly environment for discussion about Basenjis, as well as to shield new members from any arguments that could be brewing in the community. Best way to comply with this rule is to just let it go and move on.

Why can't I tell a poster that he's breaking the rules?

This board has a moderator. Telling other people what to do is rude, derails the conversation even further and often ignites flame wars. Please just report the user to the admin and move on.

What if I want to complain or vent about something? Isn't this a public forum?

It might feel that you need to vent your frustrations on the forum about a member or another person, however this is not a place to do it. Don't blame us if we delete, remove, lock or ban you for your actions if you do this.

Do not post any material or words that might incite hatred, unfriendliness or hostility in the forum. This means that you should not use Basenji Forums to vent any form of anger or use Basenji Forums to rally some form of support for an unfriendly action. Any posts that incite hatred, anger and unfriendliness will be moderated and persistent violators will receive penalty. We created this rule to make sure Basenji Forums has a friendly environment for discussion, as well as to shield new members from any arguments that could be brewing in the community. Best way to comply with this rule is to just let it go and move on.

Respect your fellow forum members and don't vent your frustrations at them.

POSTING RULES

• Stay on topic
• Edit your original message instead of posting two or more messages in a row
• Do your best to use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc.
• Don't advertise your site, product or business
• Don't advertise your dating availability, look for dating partners
• Don't post copyrighted materials
• Search for existing topics before starting a new thread
• Create a thread name that is comprehensive
• Don't use all-caps or excessive punctuation in thread titles
• Don't use bright or unreadable colors in your posts and signatures
• Do not post the same discussion more than once on a discussion forum or on many forums. Duplicate discussions can be frustrating for other members, especially for those whose time and energy is limited. Duplicate discussions will be deleted. Reposting the same message repeatedly can be interpreted as spam and could result in the loss of your membership.

FORUM CONTENT

You agree that any messages, their complete contents and photos you post on Basenji Forums after submitting this submit button, become the sole and exclusive property of the operators of the Basenji Forums. We have the sole and exclusive rights to modify, delete, or make any use whatsoever both in the Forums and in any other location and medium, of all content posted to these Forums.

For any content that you post, you hereby grant to BasenjiForums.com the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, delete, backup, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part, world-wide and to incorporate it in other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

POSTING CONTENT FROM OTHER PEOPLE OR WEBSITES

Copying any content from another person's work, or another website, is not allowed without express permission from the creater/owner of the original work. Even if you attribute the article correctly it is still copyright infringement. Do not reproduce substancial parts of articles or news items from other sites in the forums. If you don't have permission to copy something then always quote a short excerpt only, indicating where the quote came from. Basenji Forums shall not be held responsible for member-posted information that violates copyright.

USE OF BASENJI FORUMS NAME OR CONTENT

If you want to use Basenji Forums name or content contained within this site for any type of commercial activity or fundraising please contact us privately at admin@basenjiforums.com before making a public post.

ADVERTISING AND LINKING

We are here to share our experiences and knowledge about this wonderful breed, not to provide an advertising venue or boost search ranking or readership for your website, forum or a blog. Basenji Forums has a strict, no-self-promotion policy. Promoting your own web pages (including breeders) or pages from sites which you are affiliated with (including affiliate links) will be deemed as self-promotion and could result in the loss of your membership.

Under certain conditions, links to commercial websites can be placed into designated areas of the forums (such as the permanent post made by the moderator or your personal profile) only. These links would need to be authorized by Basenji Forums staff first.

If you are unsure whether the content of your post is appropriate for this forum, do not hesitate to contact the admin before creating your post.

POSTING PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AND DATA

Please do not post your own or request others to post their legal names, legal documents, email addresses, telephone numbers, or other personally identifiable information and data as there are security issues, privacy issues, and spam issues all related to the posting of that information. This applies to forum threads, personal profiles, and public visitor messages.

Posting your or other people's legal names, legal documents, email addresses, telephone numbers, or other personally identifiable information and ignoring this policy on Basenji Forums could result in the loss of your membership.

DONATION SOLICITATIONS AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY

Please send us a private message to admin@basenjiforums.com before posting any donation solicitation, fundraiser ideas or any Basenji Forums community-related commercial activity involving money collection. Doing this without our prior permission can result in the suspension of your membership and a ban.

USING THE PRIVATE MESSAGE SYSTEM

The private message system of the forums allows you to send messages to other members in private. Where applicable, the same guidelines apply to the private message system as apply to messages posted on the forums.

Sending any unrequested commercial and/or bulk message through the private message system may result in an immediate suspension of posting privileges. Furthermore, any reports of harassment via the PM system will be fully investigated and can result in a permanent ban from the forum. To report an abusive or unwanted PM, please contact the admin.

PET EMERGENCIES

Please note that the answers given here ARE NOT meant as a substitute for actually bringing your pet in for professional medical care or attention by a qualified animal practitioner. If you have a pet emergency or serious problem, bring your pet to the veterinarian immediately. Do not waste precious time by posting life-endangering questions on the forum. These types of questions WILL NOT be answered by our specialists or other members. If your pet is vomiting, bleeding, has diarrhea, is not eating or drinking or looks and acts ill...then take that pet to the vet ASAP. If your dog is pregnant and is having complications see a vet. For other breeding queries, please ask either your vet or your mentor breeder.

MODERATION

• This forum is moderated.
• You can find the moderators in the Forum help category
• Forum moderators ensure that the discussion is interesting, lively and civil.
• If you disagree with a moderator, you may contact admin@basenjiforums.com, explaining your case. Do not post your disagreement on the forum.
• Even if you disagree with moderator's decision, you can not ignore their decision ? that would be grounds for banning.

ATTACKS ON THE DECISION OF MODERATORS

We volunteer our time to help build this community and make Basenji Forums the best place it can be. If a Moderator contacts you with an issue or gives you an infraction (only visible to you and the moderator), please work hard at trying to understand the root cause of why you were contacted.

Do not fire-back an email as a "knee-jerk reaction" in protest. This will not resolve your dispute. Do feel free to contact us for clarification, or if you feel a genuine misunderstanding has occurred. Under no circumstances, may you ignore our punitive decision, question our decision in a public thread or lash out at a Moderator. That will merit an automatic post removal and user ban.

"Gripe" threads about any action from a moderator including "Where did my post go?" or "Why did I get an Infraction" posts will be removed. If you have questions about a moderator's action and they did not provide a reason for the intervention (which is provided most of the time), please contact admin@basenjiforums.com.

Repeat offenders could be kindly asked to leave the forum and not post anymore. Forum members who have an issue with either our moderation staff or forum policies are required to contact the staff directly at admin@basenjiforums.com; forum threads regarding forum or member issues of this sort are not permitted.

BANNING OF FORUM MEMBERS

1. Reasons for ban

• Posting spam
• Registering under more than one username and pretending to be another person
• Impersonating someone else other than your true identity
• Not following the forum rules and requests of moderators
• Not replying within a reasonable time frame to communications by either email or Personal Messaging from moderators
• Behavior disrespectful to moderators and administration
• Suing or threatening to sue forum management
• Other violations of forum rules of conduct

2. In some cases the ban is reversible if the issue could be resolved.

ACCOUNT AND POST-REMOVAL POLICY

If you have privacy concerns please choose a different username from the one you'd normally use and do not submit your personal information to us. However, if you prefer to delete your account, you can send a request to admin@basenjiforums.com or ask a forum moderator via private message or in Forum Help category. Upon account deletion request, all personal information in your profile will be removed, your username will be pseudonymized and placed into an inactive status category to maintain the integrity of the forum flow of posts and threads. To ensure the continuity of the forums and archival of conversations It is our policy that forum posts will not be deleted.

OUR LIABILITY

The answers or information contained on this site are for informational purposes only. Under no circumstances shall Basenji Forums or any of its associates be liable for any damages resulting from the use of the Service or the Information contained therein. By posting on the Basenji Forums or by using the information in any way, you agree that under no circumstances shall Basenji Forums or any of its associates, members, or users be liable for any damages resulting from the use of the Service or the Information contained therein.

FINALLY, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT

Basenji Forums and its assigned agents reserve the right to remove a post that does not relate to the topic being discussed in the forum. In addition, Basenji Forums reserves the right to organize discussion forums in order to best serve the majority of our members. For example, narrow-interest or minimal activity topics may, at Basenji Forums' discretion, be relocated to a more appropriate discussion forum, or deleted entirely.

Basenji Forums or its assigned agents also reserves the right to prohibit or delete discussions that are thought to violate applicable law or that may be harmful to other members, the sites that comprise Basenji Forums, or the rights of Basenji Forums or others. That said, Basenji Forums does not have the practical ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate these Guidelines or the Terms of Service prior to transmission on AOL or the Web, nor can we ensure prompt removal of offending discussion forum posts.

We also reserve the right to remove your membership from you should you violate any of these Guidelines as well as we reserve the right to change these guidelines as we fit needed. We may at any time revise these rules and policies without notice. Please check back regularly.

Continued use of BasenjiForums.com after a change has been made to these rules is your acceptance of the change.

CONTACT

For questions regarding these rules you can contact one of our moderators send us a message to admin@basenjiforums.com