Board rules

These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on Derby Talk. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors.

  1. General

    1. This forum is made publicly available to the community to provide a valuable resource for derby racing enthusiasts located all over the world. In order to keep this forum in a sane state and to remain a valuable resource, we require all forum members to abide by the following rules. #
    2. Only registered members may post messages to this board. #
    3. Members are not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented content or any material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed). The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. The webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit. #
    4. Members should be respectful to each other. No one should be bashed for having a differing opinion on a subject. Personal jabs will not be tolerated. #
    5. Postings should be made in the appropriate forum channel and should have a descriptive subject line. Postings that are not in the appropriate forum channel will be considered as off-topic, and may either be moved to the appropriate channel or may be deleted without prior notification. #
    6. Posting the same content in multiple channels, is not allowed. All related posts involved may be deleted without prior notification. #
    7. Bumping postings to the top of the forum channel listing, made to get more attention to the post, is not allowed. When no one has replied to a posting that was made, it is recommended to reply in the same thread with more information that may help in resolving the issue. #
    8. Postings that have been modified by forum moderators will be marked as being edited and include a reason for having edited the post. #
    9. Before posting a question, please search the forums for related postings which may answer your question. #
    10. A member's signature may not contain commercial ads, whether derby related or not. A website URL, while not prohibited in a member's signature, would be better placed under the member's website information in their profile than their signature. Images can be used in the member signatures, but they should be in good taste and not be annoying (jumping, flashing, etc.) #
    11. Our focus on Derby Talk is on the kids races, so discussions relating to racing leagues are better posted on the league forums. #
    12. A member may not act as an advertising channel for a merchant. This could be outright promotion of a company or its products/services or by posting leading questions/statements that are intended to put that company or its products/services in a favorable light. Such members may be banned without notice and their posts removed. #
    13. Since this site is directly supported by GrandPrix Software Central, no competing software (freeware, shareware or commercial) is to be advertised on this forum by the author/merchant or other invested individual. #
  2. Use of Site by Merchants

    1. One of the goals of this board is to provide a medium for members that does not provide annoying and unwanted advertising. However, there are users that do want access to information on derby products and services, so the following rules were created for both of these types of members. Note: We consider a "merchant" as being a person with a financial stake, no matter how small, in a product or service. #
    2. Commercial advertising is not allowed in the forums, with the exception of the forums in the"Merchant's Corner". Merchants may post advertisements, announcements or answer questions about their products in the Merchant's Corner. #
    3. Only products/services related to the discussions on this site may be advertised. Unrelated products/services are not to be advertised in any of the forum channels on this board. #
    4. Negative advertisements will not be tolerated. All related posts involved may be deleted without prior notification. Merchants are to restrict their comments to their own products/services. #
    5. This is a tough community, with many highly educated members. If you are going to be making claims about your products/services, you should be able to back those claims up with data that can be independently verified. Otherwise, it is just hype. #
    6. A merchant may answer questions on their product/service, regardless of which forum it is posted to, but only to the extent of addressing the specific question(s). If the question is general in nature and not specifically targeted to a merchant's product/service, the merchant should not volunteer their product/service. #
    7. A merchant may respond to a member's post which provides inaccurate information on that merchant's product/service, regardless of which forum it is posted to, but only to the extent of addressing the inaccuracy. #
    8. Spamming of any kind, either publicly via PM, or privately via e-mail, is not tolerated, and will result in an instant ban of the account involved. Contacting someone through PM or e-mail who is specifically asking for information related to a merchant's products/services is allowed and is not considered as spamming. #
    9. No advertising is allowed for sites or individuals that sell completed or mostly completed cars. This includes advertising for sellers of online auction sites, like eBay. If you know what this board is all about, then this rule needs no explanation. #
    10. A merchant may not create an account in order to act like a non-merchant to secretly promote their product/service. That is clearly misrepresentation and deception. Such merchants will be banned from using this site. #
    11. A merchant's signature may not contain commercial ads. #
    12. Since this site is directly supported by GrandPrix Software Central, no competing software (freeware, shareware or commercial) is to be advertised on this forum by the author/merchant or other invested individual. #
  3. Additional Guidelines

    1. Additional guidelines to a specific forum channel may be available as a sticky posting (a post always at the top of the first page on the channel), and are an extension to the main forum rules. These additional guidelines should be read before posting to the channel for the first time. #
  4. Disclaimers

    1. The site and forum moderators reserve the right to modify or delete any inappropriate content on the forums without prior notification. #
    2. The site administrator reserves the right to ban any member that will not follow these rules. #
    3. The site administrator reserves the right to change these rules at any time. #
    4. Participation in this board is a privilege, not a right. #