Our 'Rules of The Road' are intended to keep our SBM Soapmakers Forums a friendly and welcoming place.
The purpose of the SBM Soapmakers Forums is to provide an avenue for mutually supporting discussions of the various aspects of soapmaking.
- Please note that discussions of politics, current events, religion, metaphysical philosophy, etc. are inappropriate to the purpose of these forums.
- Postings should be positive and must not be derisive, insulting, defamatory or socially unacceptable.
- Users may post positive remarks about others, other's efforts and/or products. Users may not post derisive or negative remarks about other's efforts and/or products. ie: "This soap is excellent" is acceptable. "She sucks" or "Her soapmaking process sucks" is not acceptable. In other words, "If you got nothing good to say, don't say it". To do otherwise tends to eventually foul the air for everyone.
- Disagreements of opinion are inevitable but are expected to be conducted with tact and civility.
- No personal insults, put-downs or negative attributions will be allowed or tolerated in these forums.
- Knowlege of such being conducted 'around' these forums via direct emails or postings at other forums/discussion groups will result in immediate sanction against the offender (see below).
- Sorry, the SBM Soapmakers' Forums does not have an 'advertising day'.
- Postings of a solely advertising nature are not allowed. That this is a 'gray area' is acknowledged. If unsure, please ask first by sending a copy to the site administrator via the "Contact Us" blue button link at left, or be receptive to a private moderating email.
- Personal user signatures are encouraged but should be limited to three lines. User signatures may contain a single line consisting of a promotional descriptive and may also contain a website url address.
- Use of user personal or avatar images and uploaded images accompanying topic postings is encouraged. Images used should be socially acceptable.
Those who violate these policies may receive the following sanctions entirely at the site administrator's election:
- First or minor or isolated infractions may result in a private email explaining the infraction and requesting it not be repeated.
- Repeated violations may result in the offender's future posts being approved before publication, along with an explanatory emailed warning.
- Further repeated offenses or more serious violations may result in the removal of the offender's ability to post at the SBM Forums.
- Extreme violations will result in permanent blockage of the violator's access to the SBM website.
- These actions may be taken in the order above or in any order deemed appropriate and necessary by the site administrator and are not open to discusssion or debate.
- This having been said, it is anticipated that these sanctions will be used only very rarely and hopefully never.
Our "Rules of The Road" are policed in two ways:
- The SBM website will monitor posts with the assistance of site software and internet services to screen and intercept offending written text, notifying the site administrator of who did what for appropriate follow-up.
- Any forum user may also 'flag' any forum content they find to be offensive or inappropriate using the link accompanying each posting. We invite and request users to do so if any post makes one uncomfortable.
Content that is flagged automatically or by a user is automatically unpublished (removed) until it can be reviewed by the site administrator, who is automatically notified of any newly flagged content for appropriate follow-up.
Please help us keep the SBM Soapmakers Forums a safe and happy place to discuss the hobby and cottage industry that is handcrafted soapmaking!