Forum Rules

Welcome to the Genealogy Forum! We hope that you will take the time with us to join us and take part in the activities in our community. We are all here for the same purpose: the sharing of genealogy information. Don't be shy! Jump in and enjoy. The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked!

In joining and participating in the Genealogy Forum, you will be subject to CompuServe's systemwide policies as well as our own Forum rules set out below.

Rules

This Forum was created and administered by a Forum Orperator or Manager. an entity which is separate and apart form CompuServe. As such, while the operating rules and service agreement you have entereded in with CompuServe must be observed, the supplemental rules and opertaing procedures of this Forum must also be followed. Please keep in mind that access and participation in this community is a privilege, and not a right. The act of joining this Community and your use of the Forum constitues your acceptance of and agreement to be bound by these Forum Membership Rules.

Remember that violation of the Forum rules may, at the sole discretion of the Forum operator, result in the member being suspended or banned from participating in the Family Forum.

Generally, messages posted to the Forum are not pre-screened by the forum staff. Therefore, the forum staff is not responsible for the content of messages posted by forum members. Each forum member is responsible for his/her actions here. If you do see a message that you feel is problematic, you are invited to send a message to one of the Forum managers or allert one of the Forum staff's attention to to the message.

In keeping with CompuServe's policies, advertising is not allowed. Messages that contain advertising or solicitations for commercial services will be removed from public view.

If you post a message or upload a file that is illegal (for example, that violates someone's copyright), is defamatory or offensive, you are subject to possible ejection from the forum and/or possible litigation by the person who believes he/she has been wronged.

Please do not post messages that contain any contact information such as personal telephone numbers and/or addresses. The only exception to this would be posting information for non-profit support groups.

Do not post messages that were sent to you via email or in any other forum, without the original writer's specific permission. Messages are the intellectual property of the person who originally wrote them, not the person to whom they are addressed.

The forum staff may delete or move to a non-public section/library, any message or file that is considered profane, attacking, off-topic, or otherwise transgresses the stated purpose of the section and of the forum in general.

Please be sensitive to concerns and confidences shared by your fellow forum members. Violating the trust of others in this forum may result in your removal from the forum. We ask that members do not discuss the management and/or members of other CompuServe Forums in a negative manner.

Please do share your experiences and opinions. Understand, though, that others may not share your ideas and may challenge them. Feel free to disagree with anything anyone else expresses here, but be sure that your challenge addresses the idea and not the person. It is perfectly acceptable to say. "John, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard." It is not acceptable to say, "John, you are stupid for even thinking such a thing."

Do not use obscenities here, even with blanks or substitute characters. Do not proseltyze your views or religous beliefs. We all can express our opinions without resorting to that. If you post a message that violates forum rules, it will be removed, no matter how brilliant or valuable it may be otherwise.

You may use your real name, first name only or your screen name in this Forum. However, the use of words that are considered inappropriate for this Forum, or the intentional use of someone else's name is grounds for a lockout. When entering the name that you plan to use, please keep in mind that the focus of this Forum is to help in researching one's ancesters. As such, the use of your real sir name, although not mandatory,will help with your search.

The Forum Manager or its designee may, in its sole judgment, deny access to any Member whom Manager deems not to meet admissions requirements or whom it deems to have violated the rules or standards of the Forum or the Service. Manager and its designees will incur no liability for damages, direct, incidental or consequential, to Members or any third party in the exercise of this judgment.

Martie
Genealogy Forum Manager