YorkieTalk RULES & GUIDELINES

[admin]

YorkieTalk was created to help Yorkies and Yorkie parents, to share, to learn, and to discuss to fellow Yorkie parents. We're here to help you with your Yorkie! We hope you enjoy our fun, friendly, and knowledgable community!

Hi and welcome to YorkieTalk. We have a very friendly and approachable community, and feel free to ask any questions you may have regarding your Yorkshire Terrier. You may try to do a search (http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/search.php?) for the topic before you post, as many topics have been covered in great detail and you may be able to find the answer within. If you did not find an answer to your question, then feel free to post a new thread regarding your question.

Also, please take time to read the YorkieTalk Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) thread. There are many items that are asked quite a bit in there. Here is the link to it:
Yorkshire Terrier Yorkie Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

Here are the YorkieTalk Rules & Guidelines:

1. Please be civil and do not personally attack anyone or their opinions. If you disagree with their approach or method, feel free to reply, but do it in a civil way. Or you can choose to ignore their post altogether. YorkieTalk is not the place for rude, snide, or disrespectful remarks towards your fellow member or towards YorkieTalk itself. We also do not tolerate members that take advantage of our community with stories that don't make sense or outright lies. We rely on an honor code in our community, lying to our community, or stealing of pictures or other content is not allowed.

2. We do NOT DELETE threads or posts, unless they break YorkieTalk rules. Please be careful with what you post and keep that in mind. If you do not want people to know your real full name or any details about your personal life, do NOT post it. Anyone that accesses our community will be able to read what you have posted. YorkieTalk is not responsible for anything that may result from one of your posts. Any posts that are downright sick or cruel towards another member or their Yorkie will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Your account may be banned depending on the severity of your actions or if you are a repeat offender.

3. PLEASE do not use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS when you post a reply or a new thread. All caps symbolizes shouting in our online community, and while it can be used for emphasis, usually messages with all capital letters are frowned upon.

4. We do not allow solicitiations or spam, nor do we allow members asking for donations for any causes. Members are free to donate to whatever cause they want, but YorkieTalk is not the place to solicit money or donations. Posts requesting votes must go in the Requests for Votes thread here:
The Official YT Request for Votes Thread - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

5. Please keep signatures to two lines or less, or three lines if you are a Donating Member. We also will not allow large fonts in signatures, or any avatars that are too big (the tall or bigger avatars are not allowed).

The reason is the main point of the forums is about Yorkie content, and long signatures can take away from the focus of this community.

Also, we no longer allow links to commercial sites (if you are linking to a site that is selling any products or services, that is a commercial site) in signatures unless you are a Donating Member who has donated $25 or more. To advertise your store or have a link to your store in your signature, there is a $25 yearly fee (one free advertising year is included with your first $25 Donating Member donation). If you are a Donating Member, you may sell items without linking to your store without paying a yearly fee. It is simply unfair to our many Donating Members to allow non-Donating Members to have the same privileges. Links to Dogster, home pages, information sites, or Yorkie videos is still acceptable. Your signature may be edited at any time by the YorkieTalk staff to comply with the above.

6. Keep posts on topic. Only Yorkie-related posts go in General Yorkie Discussion, off topic threads belong in Off Topic ONLY. No adult images or links to adult images are allowed. Advertising or mentioning other forums or other Yorkie forums is not allowed in posts or PMs. Advertising is not allowed in avatar pictures unless you are a Donating Member. For sale posts MUST go into for sale forums. You may only make up to five posts total per week in the Yorkie For Sale forums, unless you are responding to your own For Sale thread. Replies to other Yorkie For Sale threads may not include your contact information.

Threads that may be upsetting to members (such as graphic puppymill videos) must have a WARNING title and a warning in the post itself, as that way members can choose whether or not they wish to see such content.

Religious or political posts must be titled as such and should only be in the Off Topic forum. Such threads may be closed or deleted at YorkieTalk's discretion. Spamming, duplicate posts, or incessant advertising may lead to a suspension and or ban from YorkieTalk. We do NOT allow pyramid schemes, chain letters, or any other types of junk mail to be posted.

7. PLEASE do not use obnoxiously large fonts, hard to read fonts, or hard to read colors in your posts. Remember, we have people of all ages on YorkieTalk and it may be hard for them to read your message if it is not easy to see. Your account privileges may be restricted if you continuously use obnoxious font sizes.

8. Personal attacks are simply not acceptable here and we have a zero tolerance policy for personal attacks. We love our members, and this will not apply to 99% of you. The main focus of YorkieTalk is our Yorkshire Terriers, not personal problems. If you simply can not get along with a person, learn to, or you can leave. You may also simply ignore a member you do not get along with. No one is forcing you to be on YorkieTalk. While YorkieTalk is an open public forum where anyone can join, membership is a privilege, not a right.

The moderators here at YorkieTalk do it FOR YOU, as a volunteer position. These moderators have lives outside of YorkieTalk and are committing countless hours to make this a better place for you. Do not take them for granted. They help out due to love for the Yorkie breed. They do not need to be constantly bothered by every little thing. If it is important, PM them. If not, DON'T.

The main priority here at YorkieTalk is our Yorkshire Terrier community. Posts that do not better this community are unwelcome. Before you make a "controversial" post or a post you know that may cause problems, think about what you are writing. Is your post going to be helpful to anyone and is it bettering this communty? If not, then don't post it!

No one wants to read posts about your problems with another member, nor read catty posts. Be nice to one another and respect each other. If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it. Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past, let it be. Constructive criticism is fine, but there is a point where it can be downright mean and cruel. Do not cross that line.

If you personally attack another member, your account will be suspended for a period of SEVEN DAYS where you will NOT have access to your YorkieTalk account. You will not be able to PM anyone, post new threads or reply to threads, or go to YorkieTalk chat. If you try to cirumvent this by creating another account to post or reply to messages, we will find out and both accounts will be PERMANENTLY BANNED. Depending on the severity of your actions, a first time offense may lead to a permanent ban. We do not allow discussions of suspensions or bans of any specific member.

If you attack a member again, you will be suspended for a period of TWENTY ONE DAYS. If it happens again after that, you will be PERMANENTLY BANNED FOREVER from YorkieTalk. For more serious offenses, you may be banned from YorkieTalk immediately after a first offense.

If someone attacks you, report it to us, DO NOT RETALIATE, or you may be risking suspension as well.

9. This rule applies to Private Messages and YorkieTalk Chat as well.

If you attack another member in a private message, you may be suspended or banned depending on your actions. YorkieTalk will not tolerate ANY PERSONAL ATTACKS.

If you receive a private message that is an attack, do not delete it and do not respond. Immediately message admin and let us know who sent the attacking message and when they sent it. We will verify the message was indeed sent by that person and appropriate action will be taken if necessary.

Private messages are not for creating arguments, not for spamming, and not for trying to influence people to be on your side in a debate. They are for helping people with their Yorkies, asking general questions, and helping one another.

10. All posts in which members are looking for votes for their Yorkie in any contest must go here in this thread and this thread only. Other threads/posts may be deleted or locked. Thanks.

[admin]

11. Yorkies For Sale posts must include the details in the forum in the For Sale Post Rules thread. Yorkie Products For Sale posts must be for Yorkie products only and members can post only one Products For Sale thread per week (or up to two threads per week for Donating Members). Links to eBay auctions are not allowed if you are posting an item for sale.

We do not allow ANY threads seeking studs or offering stud services.

12. Please note that members are allowed one YorkieTalk account per person/family (this includes your immediate family), unless approved in advance by YorkieTalk. This is to prevent abuse in our community.

13. Please note that in addition to these Rules & Guidelines, you also agree to the YorkieTalk Terms of Use (which you agreed upon when registering for an account) here:

YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - FAQ: vBulletin FAQ

14. If you post a thread or post stating you will leave YorkieTalk, your post or thread will be deleted and your account will be permanently disabled. We do not feel it benefits anyone to have these kind of threads here on YorkieTalk. Discussion of other Yorkie forums may also lead to suspension or banning of your YorkieTalk account.

15. If you request to cancel or disable your YorkieTalk account, we can do that for you. You must do it via PM directly from your YorkieTalk account or via email from your registered email address on file. If we disable your account, you may apply for reinstatement after one month's time if you do change your mind. Your account will be inactive at least ONE MONTH if you do request this option. Reinstatement of your YorkieTalk account will not always be approved, it is at the discretion of YorkieTalk.

16. We have recently noticed that some sellers of dog foods post in the Yorkie Health & Diet section and advertise the dog foods they are selling in their posts. We feel this is a conflict of interest and that any posts that are of the selling variety should only be in the Yorkie Products for Sale or Yorkie Products Wanted forum. It is unfair to members asking questions that they get bombarded with sales pitches or only get one point of view that may be biased. If you want to recommend a food, it is NOT OKAY to either mention you sell it, or have a link in your signature stating you sell that food.

This will apply to all non-selling forums, unless the original poster specifically asks for a product that you sell in their thread. For example, if Dottie asks, "Does anyone know who sells PRODUCT X?" in her thread, it is okay if you sell PRODUCT X to reply and let her know you sell PRODUCT X. If Dottie asks, "What is a good dog food?", a seller of PRODUCT X is not allowed to reply with, "PRODUCT X is a great dog food, I use it and I sell it." If you are not selling PRODUCT X or do not have a financial interest in promoting PRODUCT X, it is okay to recommend PRODUCT X in your post, as there is no conflict of interest in that instance.

Members will get one warning if they post sales posts in the non-selling forums, any further posts may lead to a suspension or ban from YorkieTalk.

17. If you see anyone breaking these rules, please email admin@yorkietalk.com, report the post, or privately message us and it will be dealt with accordingly.

Thank you for your support, in the past few years, we've grown into the world's largest Yorkie community, with tens of thousands of knowledgable members that are always willing to help. Remember, we're all here because of our Yorkies, to share stories, pictures, and get questions when we have any issues.

Let's all keep it fun! Enjoy YorkieTalk!

[admin]

Updated 3/26/08

Addition of #15 - user requested cancelling or disabling of a YorkieTalk account

[admin]

Updated 4/21/08

Clarified the NO STUD/BITCH service seeking or wanting threads

[admin]

Updated 6/5/08

Clarified #5 - Rules on Advertising on YorkieTalk

[admin]

Added Rule #16 regarding advertising in non-For Sale forums.