With the rapid growth of our forum from 300 members in September to 10,000 in March, we feel we now need to get some official rules set so that our members know exactly what is acceptable and what is not.
Please keep in mind that Kirk and Clancy created this free lesson site and forum, that they host it and pay the ever increasing running costs from their own pockets and that the great team of moderators donate their time and expertise for no gain other than the satisfaction derived from helping out. Time is at a premium for all of us and we act quickly and decisively when rules are broken.
General forum rules
Generally speaking, we just want this forum to remain a friendly place where guitarists of all levels (kids included) feel they can come to learn and/or share information about music and the guitar and be encouraged by other members. We want it to remain a positive musical environment.
The official rules that need to be followed by all members are...
1. General Posting Rules
1.1. No bad language! If a member continues to use bad language after a warning, it will result in an immediate and permanent ban. If you need to get a certain point across, use of an appropriate smilie
or the use of #@%$ is ok as long as it's not overdone.
1.2. We promote ourselves as a "child friendly forum", so please keep this in mind at all times, especially in the "Now that's Funny" joke forum... a good rule of thumb is "if you wouldn't feel comfortable telling it to a 10 year old, then leave it out."
1.3. Linking to an adult, gambling or otherwise offensive web site is not acceptable under any circumstance and will result in an immediate and permanent ban. If you're unsure about whether something is ok to post, contact Clancy or one of the moderators first before posting.
1.4. Any offensive posts will be removed (or edited) and the member will be notified. If the member continues to be offensive, he or she will be permanently banned. Messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, racist, sexist or discriminatory will be immediately removed. The admins and moderators will ultimately decide if something is appropriate or not.
1.5a Posts on politics should be taken to another forum. This is a guitar forum and for the sake of keeping things harmonious, political topics are better left out.
1.5b Posts on religion will be removed if a moderator or administrator deems the post to be innapropriate, out of context or offensive.
1.6. Re-editing a message that has already been edited by a moderator out of defiance of the original edit will not be tolerated. If you have an issue with a decision, please PM Clancy or one of the moderators to discuss it.
1.7. Members suspected of writing meaningless posts for the sake of increasing their post count to gain access to certain features on the forum will have those permissions permanently removed.
1.8. Registering and posting under more than one username (alias) may result in a permanent ban.
1.9. The posting of affiliate links on the forum will not be tolerated under any circumstance.
2. Usernames, Avatars and Profile pics
2.1. Suggestive or inappropriate usernames and/or avatars and profile pics are subject to deletion at our discretion.
3. Private Messages
3.1. Use of private messages for spam, self promotion or any other inappropriate means is prohibited
4. Self-Promotion
4.1. Posting messages on this forum that are primarily for the promotion or advertising of another website, forum, business, MLM activity or any form of blatant self-promotion will not be tolerated and will result in a permanent ban.
5. Signature Rules
5.1. Signatures may not contain links to any adult, gambling or otherwise offensive websites.
5.2. Links in signatures are not allowed unless permission has been granted by the admins; this only relates to links in signatures, not the link to your homepage in your profile.
5.3 References to other websites in signatures are not allowed.
5.4. Promotional language in signatures (eg. "best", "cheapest" etc.) is not allowed.
5.5. Any signature that violates these rules will be removed and your signature rights may be permanently removed.
5.6. Signatures should be kept to three lines or less.
6. Copyrighted Material
6.1. The uploading of copyrighted material is forbidden. This includes written material (arrangements etc) and other artist's recordings and compositions. If you are not sure whether something is ok to post, please contact Clancy or one of the moderators and ask before posting.
6.2. Members who upload copyrighted material under the pretense that it is their own will be permanently banned.
6.3. Sharing information on where to obtain illegal software and how to use or trade it will result in a permanent ban.
6.4. References to P2P (peer to peer) file sharing networks in posts will be deleted.
7. Banning rules
7.1. If you are banned, you will respect the decision of this forum and not join up under a new alias. Banned members signing up under a new alias will be IP banned.
Thanks
The GFB&B Team
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Please do not PM Kirk or any moderators with questions about music or playing the guitar. Ask them at the forum so that we can all benefit from the answer.
