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These are some general rules and guidelines for using the gardening forums. Please be sure to review these items before posting to the forums. By posting to the forums you agree to these rules and guidelines. Posts to the forums that do not adhere to these guidelines may be deleted at the discretion of Hallson Gardens and the users of the forums. In some cases the person posting will be asked to clarify a post or edit a post. The author of any deleted messages will be notified through the private messaging system with the reason for the deletion. Users who blatantly disregard these rules and guidelines after one or more warnings may be banned from the forums, at the discretion of Hallson Gardens and the users of the forums.
General Rules
- No profanity will be allowed on the forums. Posting of lewd or off color jokes or stories, or content that others might find offensive should not be posted. Off color means any post that is considered improper or in bad taste. Racist, derogatory, or demeaning posts would be considered off color. Posts that violate this rule will be subject to deletion or editing. Users who routinely violate this rule after being warned may be asked to leave the forum.
- Personal attacks of members or non-members, either by posting to the forums or sending flame mail through the private message system or by e-mail, will not be allowed. Please be aware that constructive criticism of others can also be hurtful. Refrain from posting negatively about others. It does not bear well for the poster, the recipient, or the forums in general. Users who violate this rule will be asked to edit their posts or refrain from further posts along those lines. Topics that are used to attack or badmouth another person may be subject to deletion. Users who routinely violate this rule after being warned may be asked to leave the forum.
- No advertising, promotion, or spam is allowed on the forums. This is a commercially sponsored site. Please do not promote other businesses on our forums by: posting notices of plant sales, posting topics for the purpose of promoting another nursery (expressed or implied), repeatedly mentioning other nurseries (multiple nurseries or multiple times), or posting links to other nursery websites. Occasional mention of other nurseries is allowed for informational purposes only. If you own or manage a business, represent a business or group, or sell anything on the internet, especially plants, please do not use the forums for advertising or marketing purposes. Mentioning the name of your business, submitting a user name with the name of your business, using the forums for self promotion, or providing a link to a website that sells items for your business or group will be considered advertising. Links to your business will not be allowed in the posts or signatures. Links to pictures on your site will only be allowed as an image link, not as a hyperlink. Using e-mails from the members list or using the private message system to sell or promote your business will not be allowed. Users found violating this rule will be asked to leave the forum.
- Selling things is not allowed on the forums. Selling anything on the forums is not allowed, whether or not the items are being sold for a profit. Sorry, but this is not the place to organize plant co-ops or purchasing groups although members can certainly do this in private so long as it does not fall under category 3 listed above.
- Posting photographs or written material that you do not specifically own is not allowed. Any photographs or other information that you post must be your own. If it is not your own you must have specific permission to reproduce that information on our website. Taking photographs or written materials from other websites and posting them to our forum is a copyright infringement and cannot be allowed here. Exceptions would be jokes, stories, poems, or other information that are in wide circulation or are considered to be in the public domain. When this is the case it is a good idea to reference or acknowledge the author, if known.
General Guidelines
- Please refrain from posting links in the forums to other commercial nurseries or other forums. There is no problem mentioning other nurseries by name, since we realize many people prefer different vendors based on selection, price, or regional factors. We simply ask that you do not put a link on our forums to other vendors. Linking would provide them with an unfair advantage since many search engines use these links to rank or even find other sites, and we wouldn't want our own gardening forums to be used to unfairly promote business for our competition. Links to personal web pages are acceptable.
- Please do not provide links to other forums in your posts or signatures.
- Please understand the purpose of the garden forums. These forums were set up so that gardeners would have a place online to gather and share information about gardening. We realize that gardening is not the only part of our lives, so we have also set up areas where you may discuss topics outside the gardening world. If a topic is found to be non-specific to a gardening area it will be moved to the appropriate bulletin board and you will be notified of the move through the private message system. We realize that the internet is considered a safe haven for free speech, but as the owners of this site we do reserve the right to limit the content of our forums to topics and conversations that would be useful to our visitors and users. Users will be notified before a post is deleted.
- Please understand and appreciate our diversity. We are not all from the same ethnic, cultural, or religious background, and no person should be prohibited from posting based on their personal background. Opinions can vary greatly between members, and each person's opinion should be taken as just that. If an opinion differs from your own, feel free to offer your own opinion, but do not expect everyone to conform to the same opinion. Posting or sending hate mail publicly or privately through the forums or via e-mail, simply because someone has an opinion different from your own, may result in banishment from the forums.
- Please review and re-read your posts. All posts can be edited for grammar or clarity. Also be aware that a post that may appear innocent enough could look bad if taken out of context. Sarcasm and inside jokes can be misunderstood easily, so please try to limit these types of posts or spell it out that they are sarcastic or joking to be sure we understand.
- Please consider a reciprocal link to our forums. When placing a link to your personal website in your member profile, in the forum, or in your signature, please consider a reciprocal link to our website. We do ask that owners of commercial nurseries refrain from putting a link to their website in the member profile unless a reciprocal link to our site is provided.
Please remember that the Hallson Gardens website is visited every day by people from all over the world. What you post in our forums reflects not only on our members but also on our website. Each of us is a representative of our community, so please do your part to make the forums an informative, fun, and enjoyable place to visit on the world wide web.
If any other guidelines present themselves as the forum grows and unfolds we will present them here and provide a post referring people to the updated guidelines.
Thank you for your time and thank you very much for your participation in our forums!
Sincerely,
Christopher Wilson
Hallson Gardens
PO Box 220
Brooklyn, MI 49230
(517) 592-9450
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