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Community Guidelines and Forum Rules


MISSION
ClausNet is a community of men and women dedicated to the faithful portrayal of Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Elves, and all others who devote their time to bringing the magic of Christmas to children and adults throughout the world! Our goal is to provide a safe and friendly environment to bring people together and to build friendships.

In keeping with our mission, it is necessary to maintain certain rules and guidelines to ensure a basic structure so that all members can enjoy our site. Please also take a moment to read through our Privacy Policy, and Copyright Notice.


POSTING
Below are some basic guidelines for posting. Detailed information can be found in our Help section.

Forums and Topics
Before posting, please take note of the forum and thread descriptions. If you can find a thread already discussing a topic, please post a reply there instead of starting a new thread. If your topic doesn't already have a good thread and is worth a thread of its own, feel free to start it in the appropriate forum, but please don't create multiple copies of the same thread.

If you are unsure as to where to post a new topic, please refer to the ClausNet Site Map for detailed descriptions of each forum.

Stay On Topic
While some deviation in a topic is all part of natural discussion dynamics, we shouldn't let a discussion go too far off topic. If your post is drifting from the thread topic, feel free to start a new thread in the appropriate forum or simply move back on topic.

Quoting
When quoting a post, we ask that you only quote the text that you're replying to instead of the whole message. This helps keep the post size in check and also makes it easier for people to work out which part of the post you're actually responding to. When replying to multiple posts within a thread, consider using the Multi-Quote (MultiQ+) button.

Editing the content of other members posts while quoting in order to manipulate the intent or meaning of the original post is not allowed.

See the Help section for use on the Multi-Quote button.

UPPERCASE
Uppercase typing is the internet version of yelling. Please do not use all uppercase characters unless you are actually yelling. If you want to draw attention or highlight a word or phrase, consider using alternatives such as bold or italic text.

Preview Posts
It's a good idea to always proof read your post before posting. Use the Preview Post button to quickly give your post the once over before posting.

Posting News Items and Blog Entries
When posting copyrighted material such as newspaper articles and blog entries, please do not quote the entire article. Post a few paragraphs and LINK to the subject article. The exception to this rule are press releases. Press releases are meant for distribution and can be copied and distributed in their entirety.

Please see our Rules For Properly Posting News Articles for detailed information.


SPAM AND JUNK POSTING
Spamming
We have a zero-tolerance policy for spam. Unsolicited advertisement for businesses, organizations, goods, or services is not permitted. Consistent inclusion of a link for the purposes of promoting products, business, organizations, websites, or other forums is not allowed in either post body or signature. Members using public or private areas on ClausNet to post spam or other forms of advertising will be banned immediately.

Use of ClausNet resources for the purposes of recruiting our members to join another website, forum, or chat group, whether personal or otherwise is forbidden. If you are approached to join another group/site as a result of your ClausNet membership, please contact one of the staff.

If you wish to advertise on ClausNet, we offer several options to do so. Please contact us for details.

Trolling
Posting in topics, status updates, and/or profile comments with the primary intent of provoking other members into a desired emotional response or otherwise disrupting normal discussions is not permitted.

Advocacy
Posts of advocacy, proselytizing, campaigning, or promotion of such things as; politics, law, environment, or other "personal agenda" issues are not permitted.

Post Count Boosting
Post count boosting or any other form of junk, nuisance, or nonsense posting is not permitted.


NETIQUETTE
Freedom of Speech
Although the United States Constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights guarantees freedom of public speech for citizens of their states and countries, this website is not a US state, nor a UN country, and the behaviors and activities of members of this privately owned website are governed by our Community Guidelines.

Respect for Members
Abusive posts and insults based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and other personal attributes will not be tolerated.

You may not use profanity. Our profanity filters are enabled and circumventing them may result in an edit/deletion of your post.

You may not make personal attacks on other members either in public forums, private messages or through our email system. This even includes non-swearing name-calling if it is excessive.

Threats of physical violence or death are taken seriously, and your ISP and local law enforcement authorities will be notified.

Disagreements and debates are fine, but negative personal comments are not welcome. We want ClausNet to stay friendly! Please stick to the issues and the arguments. When the debate has concluded; agree to disagree.

Respecting other members means that they have as much right as you to post their opinion, positive or negative, within the boundaries of the forum topic. You do not have to respect the opinion, but you must respect that person's right to express it. If you believe someone is violating the forum rules report the post. Do not respond to the poster.

Using the name or image of another member in the topic title/description of a post, in your signature, as an avatar, or in your posts in a demeaning way is considered an attack and is not permitted.

Gossiping about other members is not permitted.

Graphic, lewd, and pornographic images are not permitted.

Posting the contents of a Private Message (PM) or e-mail is not permitted.

Posting content of from other forum sites without permission of the forum owner or the originator is not permitted.

Stalking another member (online or offline) is not permitted. This includes following a member from topic to topic and constantly attacking him or her.


MEMBER PROFILES
Avatars
A member may claim exclusive use of an uploaded (not from our own set of in-house avatars) avatar if he was the first member to use it here, and is still active. If the avatar is a copyrighted image, the owner of the image can at any time claim exclusive use, or demand it be removed from any member.

Titles
Custom titles cannot be created with the intent to confuse readers that the user is another real individual. Rules of etiquette also apply here.

Signatures
Signatures are to be just that, signatures. They are not meant to be billboards or otherwise hog attention on the page.

Maximum size for the full signature can not exceed 175 pixels in height and 850 pixels in width or in the judgment of administration. This includes images, text, quotes and links. Maximum combined file size for a signature is 500KB.

Links in signatures are permissible as long as those links are to personal sites.

Posting or linking images from other sites is also strictly forbidden.

Text sizes in signatures must also adhere to the height limitation. Font size in signatures may not be larger than size "3" and may not be more than 6 lines.

Links in signatures are limited to three (3) URLs.

If your signature is in violation of any of these rules, it may be removed or edited without prior notice.


SECURITY
Sharing Account Information
Sharing login and password information with others is strictly forbidden.

Multiple Accounts
Members are allowed one (1) account. Alternate accounts are strictly forbidden.

Fraud
Impersonating any person or entity including but not limited to any other ClausNet member or staff or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your identity in any way, is strictly forbidden. Membership on ClausNet.com does not entitle the user to represent or speak for ClausNET. Members found to have created or attempting to register with a false identity will be banned.

Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or other posting is strictly forbidden.

Personal Contact Information
Under no circumstances can anyone post personal addresses and phone numbers of anyone.

Do not collect and/or distribute personal data concerning other ClausNet members without first obtaining the consent of ClausNet and the members concerned.

Hacking
Under no circumstances shall anyone attempt to hack into ClausNet. The system allows for three (3) login attempts. After three (3) failed attempts your account will be locked out from logging in.

Viruses and Malware
Transmitting or uploading material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or engines that are intended to damage, destroy, disrupt or otherwise impair a computer's functionality or the operation of ClausNet is strictly forbidden.

Lurking
Please do not Lurk our community. The purpose of this site is to bring people together. Members who lurk around for days without posting and using functions of this site will be assumed to be here for devious purposes. You are highly likely to be put on the naughty list and banned due to the threat of ripping.


MEMBERSHIP
Member Conduct
You agree to adhere to the rules and guidelines listed in the Community Guidelines without question and agree to abide by any additional and/or future rules or amendments put in place by the administrators of this site.

Abandoned Accounts
Any account which is left inactive for a period of 12 months or more may be considered abandoned, and may be terminated as deemed appropriate by administrators of this community.

Likewise newly registered accounts which show no activity within the first month of registration may be considered spam or abandoned accounts and may be terminated as deemed appropriate by administrators of this community.

Post Ownership and Copyright Policy
You grant ClausNet a non-revocable full and perpetual license to use, display, store, copy, archive, move, edit, delete, quote, or otherwise alter or adapt any post you make in any way deemed necessary for the normal operation and/or administration of this community.

In order to protect our forums from malicious editing or deleting of posts, members may only edit their posts for a time period of 1 hour after the post is made. After 1 hour, you will need to contact a Moderator if you wish to further edit your post.

All content on ClausNet is copyrighted. Unless otherwise specified, all content submitted by members becomes the property of ClausNet. By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not copy, publish, or redistribute any content from ClausNet.com in any form or manner whatsoever without prior permission.

In the event of an account being terminated (voluntarily or as the result of disciplinary action) ClausNet shall retain the above full and perpetual license on all posts associated with the terminated account.

Please see our Copyright Notice for more information.

Limitation of Liability
While the administrators and staff of this site do try to make sure rules and guidelines are followed, the "real-time" nature of this community means they are not always able to prevent or remove inappropriate information or messages from being displayed and therefore cannot be held responsible for the content, accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message on these forums.

All posts should be considered the opinions of the respective authors and not that of the administrators or this site.

Message Removal and Editing
The Administration and Moderator staff reserves the right to edit, move, or delete any post deemed to be in violation of the Community Guidelines herewith in.

Warnings and Banning
We reserve the right to warn or ban any member who violates our guidelines and/or disrupts our community.

Account Termination
You understand and agree that the administrators of this board may terminate any account they deem to be in violation of this agreement or any other web site policy. You understand that you have the right to freely terminate your account at any time and for any reason via our unsubscribe form.

Right to Leave
We respect our member's right to leave our community and have their account and personal information deleted from our database at any time of their choosing. However, member posts will NOT be removed.

High Maintenance Members
Any member who extracts an extra ordinary amount of time from the administration or moderators will lose a fair portion of their forum privileges. Should obsessive behaviors continue they will likely be removed from ClausNet.

An "extra ordinary amount of time" is defined as anyone who requires moderator or administrative intervention and moderation on a daily basis. Excessively causing, creating, or adding to difficulties for other members or moderators, puts you in the category of "high maintenance".

Respect the Administration Team
Defying administration or the moderators is not allowed, regardless of what you feel about it. Administrators and staff of this site are not paid for their work. They willingly give up their own time to ensure this community and site continues to run smoothly and has interesting features. Please show respect toward the administration team for the work they put in and follow any direction or ruling they may give with the understanding that they have the best interests of the community in mind.

By registering as a member you agree to be bound by these rules. ClausNet reserves the right to modify these rules at any time.