Post by Annastar on Sept 3, 2012 22:03:57 GMT -6
This is an American Girl collecting forum for adults as well as teens aged 13+ who can adhere to these Rules and interact appropriately with adults. This board is run by both of these categories to reach out to a broader medium. H&AG does not discriminate membership on any basis, and welcomes discussion on all topics directly and tangentially related to American Girl doll collecting without restriction except as noted below. All members are expected to adhere to these Rules, and the Moderators will manage individual accounts due to egregious rule violations or deliberate forum disruption. Please feel free to contact the Moderators if you have questions about any of the following:
1. Be thoughtful, polite, and respectful of others when posting and likewise of faiths, beliefs, opinions, and backgrounds different from your own. Remember this is one big world we live in, and the doll lover's world is just as diverse.
2. Use discretion about making "prayer requests" or asking others to "pray" for you on this forum. The Mods reserve the right to limit such religious requests if they deem them excessive and/or distracting. Asking for public support and encouragement is permitted.
3. Do NOT include religious quotations or statements of any type in your signature and avatar. Overtly religious usernames will be removed or denied by the Moderators. You are welcome to post photos of your dolls that include any religion, since it is up to other members whether they want to choose to view those pictures.
4. Do NOT attack others when it comes time to disagree; attack the post, not the poster. The following are NOT permitted: off-topic political and religious debates; personally belittling or rude remarks directed at other members; publicly scolding others for views you deem personally objectionable; attacking, passing judgment, and denigrating members for holding views different from your own; asserting negative characteristics about other members; overt bigotry, intolerance, or harassment. Take it to PM if you are personally offended by what someone has said and don't use this forum as your off-topic bully pulpit. Do not deliberately disrupt threads to stand on a soapbox or lecture members. Contact a Mod immediately if you feel someone has personally attacked you, and do not retaliate in kind.
5. You must be 13 or older to be here. Period. No exceptions. Read the ProBoards Terms of Service agreement for explanation. If we determine or suspect that you are underage, we must immediately disable your account. Read THIS for more info regarding H&AG's stance on age misrepresentation.
6. Do NOT share your account with anyone, even family members. It's one person, one account, as stipulated by the ProBoards Terms of Service.
7. Selling on H&AG is restricted to AG related and compatible items, with exception for non-AG scaled dolls only if you're selling AG related and releatable items in the same listing. No non-doll items are to be advertised on H&AG anywhere. We do not allow personal fund-raising or promotional efforts for yourself, child, school or charity (AG or otherwise), however worthy the cause. We allow collections for seasonal AG-related gift baskets, but members must first contact the Mod Team before posting such to the forum or the request will be removed.
8. Do NOT use H&AG to trash-talk or gossip about drama on other AG-related sites.
9. Do NOT reproduce an entire copyrighted article here unless you are the owner/writer or have their permission to reproduce it. Do NOT cross-post original content (including member posts, photos or album links) to or from H&AG without the original poster's permission as otherwise you are violating copyright law and Proboards’ TOS.
Provide a URL link to copyrighted material, post brief quoted excerpts with attribution, or briefly summarize outside material with attribution. Discussion, quoting with sources, and limited reproduction of information and images in the public domain as per the laws governing fair use of copyrighted material for discussion purposes are always permissible. You can read more about this issue in the FAQ.
10. Keep your language at a PG-13 level. There are filtering functions in use; if it isn't filtered, you can use it. Do not try to work around these filters.
11. Read through a thread before responding (no matter how long it is). When responding to multiple posters, consolidate all of your thoughts in one message and do not make successive posts. Remember to review the additional rules stickied on some of the individual sub-boards before posting, as there are sometimes specific guidelines for those sections not detailed here but which members are nonetheless expected to follow.
12. Follow standard Netiquette and English punctuation, capitalization, grammar and spelling rules. No texting or chat-speak abbreviations are permitted! Commonly used abbreviations can be found HERE.
13. Follow these basic guidelines when posting: avoid thread necroing on the General AG Discussion or Off-Topic Dinner boards by refraining from responding if the last post in the thread was made two weeks ago or longer, unless you have an important update; avoid starting redundant threads by using the Search function to see if a topic's been covered previously; use clearly descriptive subject lines when starting threads (if too vague, Mods will edit your thread topic for clarity).
14. Pick a name and keep it. If you do change your name, note this ASAP in the Ins and Outs section. Be aware that if your display name is frequently changed or too long, it will be rejected by the Mods.
15. Follow these guidelines about posting images:
A maximum signature of 650 pixels wide and 320 pixels tall is allowable. Any signatures beyond this size will be removed and/or a request sent to the member for alteration. Signatures with excessive animation that slows page loading and those with multiple separate images will also be removed.
If the mods have to make three requests to resize within a twelve month period, AND those requests are ignored, we may temporarily block a member's ability to modify their signature. The restriction will be lifted after three months.
Avatar maximum size is 100x100 pixels. Do not rely on the forum to scale the avatar for you. The original image must be this size or it will be automatically rejected and you’ll be unable to modify your profile at all until you remove it.
Photos posted to this forum should not exceed 650 pixels wide. Anything wider will distort the forum and is subject to removal of embedded IMG code by the Moderators.
16. Be smart about the Secondary Marketplace. H&AG does not enforce purchasing and selling restrictions since the presumption is that members are responsible individuals capable of using common sense to make sound decisions, but we have buying and selling GUIDELINES that you should read and heed.
17. Do not identify a live eBay auction anywhere on H&AG; no hyperlinks, auction numbers or titles, seller names, or item descriptions (copied or paraphrased) are permitted. If we can find it based on what you posted, we will edit or remove posts or threads identifying live auctions. If you have a question about a live auction item, you may copy/paste the auction photo to a thread as allowed by fair use guidelines. Once an auction is completed, you can refer to it in any way that you wish. Posting BIN links is permitted since they are not subject to the same competitive restrictions. Combined BIN/live auction listings are allowed unless and until competitive bidding commences, at which point they are removed.
18. Contact the Mods first to get permission to post your announcements of non-AGPT-sponsored contests, give-aways and events on private blogs, other websites or personal venues. If permission has not been granted, your post will be removed. Permission to post about such events or contests does not indicate H&AG envlovement or affiliation unless otherwise indicated. We expect members to exercise their best judgment before entering or participating in any events or contests.
19. Trolling is not tolerated. Anyone coming on here to spread misinformation, disrupt threads to further a personal agenda, attack other members, start flame wars, or get their jollies by sockpuppeting, et cetera, will be banned.
STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING
By creating and maintaining an account here, I am signifying my agreement with and intent to follow all of the above Rules and the Proboards TOS. I understand that the Moderating Team follows a sensible process system with banning as the ultimate consequence for serious or repeated rule breaking, and that the Mods will communicate in writing with me about any such cases or actions taken against my account within a 24 hour period. I further understand that the Moderating Team reserves the right to modify, delete, and/or archive topics, profiles, and inactive accounts on H&AG referring to the above Rules and as part of regular forum management. I understand that H&AG bears no responsibility for Secondary Market transactions among its members, and I agree to adhere to the related Guidelines linked above. I understand that H&AG is not responsible for the personal information I post of a potentially identifiable nature to the forum (including photographs of myself and/or family members) and I agree to exercise discretion in the posting of such personal information. I understand that the Administrators and Moderating Team regard information about unreleased AG products posted by members to be unconfirmed rumors unless publicly and verifiably sourced, and that H&AG will not host images of unreleased AG products out of respect for the proprietary rights of American Girl. I understand that H&AG takes no responsibility for the accuracy or verification of any information I or other members post, and that opinions and speculation relating to AG products are those of the individuals posting and do not represent the thoughts of the H&AG Moderating Team unless otherwise specified. I understand that H&AG is subject to the final administrative authority of its host, Proboards, in all matters, with latitude for forum management as granted by that organization in its Terms of Service.
Please direct any questions to Moderators via PM;
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THESE RULES ARE VERY SIMILAR TO AGPT'S. THIS IS DUE TO US BELIEVING AND AGREEING STRONGLY IN THE WAY THAT BOARD IS RUN AND THINK THAT EACH AMERICAN GIRL FAN OR COLLECTING BOARD SHOULD BE RUN THE SAME WAY AS WELL.
1. Be thoughtful, polite, and respectful of others when posting and likewise of faiths, beliefs, opinions, and backgrounds different from your own. Remember this is one big world we live in, and the doll lover's world is just as diverse.
2. Use discretion about making "prayer requests" or asking others to "pray" for you on this forum. The Mods reserve the right to limit such religious requests if they deem them excessive and/or distracting. Asking for public support and encouragement is permitted.
3. Do NOT include religious quotations or statements of any type in your signature and avatar. Overtly religious usernames will be removed or denied by the Moderators. You are welcome to post photos of your dolls that include any religion, since it is up to other members whether they want to choose to view those pictures.
4. Do NOT attack others when it comes time to disagree; attack the post, not the poster. The following are NOT permitted: off-topic political and religious debates; personally belittling or rude remarks directed at other members; publicly scolding others for views you deem personally objectionable; attacking, passing judgment, and denigrating members for holding views different from your own; asserting negative characteristics about other members; overt bigotry, intolerance, or harassment. Take it to PM if you are personally offended by what someone has said and don't use this forum as your off-topic bully pulpit. Do not deliberately disrupt threads to stand on a soapbox or lecture members. Contact a Mod immediately if you feel someone has personally attacked you, and do not retaliate in kind.
5. You must be 13 or older to be here. Period. No exceptions. Read the ProBoards Terms of Service agreement for explanation. If we determine or suspect that you are underage, we must immediately disable your account. Read THIS for more info regarding H&AG's stance on age misrepresentation.
6. Do NOT share your account with anyone, even family members. It's one person, one account, as stipulated by the ProBoards Terms of Service.
7. Selling on H&AG is restricted to AG related and compatible items, with exception for non-AG scaled dolls only if you're selling AG related and releatable items in the same listing. No non-doll items are to be advertised on H&AG anywhere. We do not allow personal fund-raising or promotional efforts for yourself, child, school or charity (AG or otherwise), however worthy the cause. We allow collections for seasonal AG-related gift baskets, but members must first contact the Mod Team before posting such to the forum or the request will be removed.
8. Do NOT use H&AG to trash-talk or gossip about drama on other AG-related sites.
9. Do NOT reproduce an entire copyrighted article here unless you are the owner/writer or have their permission to reproduce it. Do NOT cross-post original content (including member posts, photos or album links) to or from H&AG without the original poster's permission as otherwise you are violating copyright law and Proboards’ TOS.
Provide a URL link to copyrighted material, post brief quoted excerpts with attribution, or briefly summarize outside material with attribution. Discussion, quoting with sources, and limited reproduction of information and images in the public domain as per the laws governing fair use of copyrighted material for discussion purposes are always permissible. You can read more about this issue in the FAQ.
10. Keep your language at a PG-13 level. There are filtering functions in use; if it isn't filtered, you can use it. Do not try to work around these filters.
11. Read through a thread before responding (no matter how long it is). When responding to multiple posters, consolidate all of your thoughts in one message and do not make successive posts. Remember to review the additional rules stickied on some of the individual sub-boards before posting, as there are sometimes specific guidelines for those sections not detailed here but which members are nonetheless expected to follow.
12. Follow standard Netiquette and English punctuation, capitalization, grammar and spelling rules. No texting or chat-speak abbreviations are permitted! Commonly used abbreviations can be found HERE.
13. Follow these basic guidelines when posting: avoid thread necroing on the General AG Discussion or Off-Topic Dinner boards by refraining from responding if the last post in the thread was made two weeks ago or longer, unless you have an important update; avoid starting redundant threads by using the Search function to see if a topic's been covered previously; use clearly descriptive subject lines when starting threads (if too vague, Mods will edit your thread topic for clarity).
14. Pick a name and keep it. If you do change your name, note this ASAP in the Ins and Outs section. Be aware that if your display name is frequently changed or too long, it will be rejected by the Mods.
15. Follow these guidelines about posting images:
A maximum signature of 650 pixels wide and 320 pixels tall is allowable. Any signatures beyond this size will be removed and/or a request sent to the member for alteration. Signatures with excessive animation that slows page loading and those with multiple separate images will also be removed.
If the mods have to make three requests to resize within a twelve month period, AND those requests are ignored, we may temporarily block a member's ability to modify their signature. The restriction will be lifted after three months.
Avatar maximum size is 100x100 pixels. Do not rely on the forum to scale the avatar for you. The original image must be this size or it will be automatically rejected and you’ll be unable to modify your profile at all until you remove it.
Photos posted to this forum should not exceed 650 pixels wide. Anything wider will distort the forum and is subject to removal of embedded IMG code by the Moderators.
16. Be smart about the Secondary Marketplace. H&AG does not enforce purchasing and selling restrictions since the presumption is that members are responsible individuals capable of using common sense to make sound decisions, but we have buying and selling GUIDELINES that you should read and heed.
17. Do not identify a live eBay auction anywhere on H&AG; no hyperlinks, auction numbers or titles, seller names, or item descriptions (copied or paraphrased) are permitted. If we can find it based on what you posted, we will edit or remove posts or threads identifying live auctions. If you have a question about a live auction item, you may copy/paste the auction photo to a thread as allowed by fair use guidelines. Once an auction is completed, you can refer to it in any way that you wish. Posting BIN links is permitted since they are not subject to the same competitive restrictions. Combined BIN/live auction listings are allowed unless and until competitive bidding commences, at which point they are removed.
18. Contact the Mods first to get permission to post your announcements of non-AGPT-sponsored contests, give-aways and events on private blogs, other websites or personal venues. If permission has not been granted, your post will be removed. Permission to post about such events or contests does not indicate H&AG envlovement or affiliation unless otherwise indicated. We expect members to exercise their best judgment before entering or participating in any events or contests.
19. Trolling is not tolerated. Anyone coming on here to spread misinformation, disrupt threads to further a personal agenda, attack other members, start flame wars, or get their jollies by sockpuppeting, et cetera, will be banned.
STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING
By creating and maintaining an account here, I am signifying my agreement with and intent to follow all of the above Rules and the Proboards TOS. I understand that the Moderating Team follows a sensible process system with banning as the ultimate consequence for serious or repeated rule breaking, and that the Mods will communicate in writing with me about any such cases or actions taken against my account within a 24 hour period. I further understand that the Moderating Team reserves the right to modify, delete, and/or archive topics, profiles, and inactive accounts on H&AG referring to the above Rules and as part of regular forum management. I understand that H&AG bears no responsibility for Secondary Market transactions among its members, and I agree to adhere to the related Guidelines linked above. I understand that H&AG is not responsible for the personal information I post of a potentially identifiable nature to the forum (including photographs of myself and/or family members) and I agree to exercise discretion in the posting of such personal information. I understand that the Administrators and Moderating Team regard information about unreleased AG products posted by members to be unconfirmed rumors unless publicly and verifiably sourced, and that H&AG will not host images of unreleased AG products out of respect for the proprietary rights of American Girl. I understand that H&AG takes no responsibility for the accuracy or verification of any information I or other members post, and that opinions and speculation relating to AG products are those of the individuals posting and do not represent the thoughts of the H&AG Moderating Team unless otherwise specified. I understand that H&AG is subject to the final administrative authority of its host, Proboards, in all matters, with latitude for forum management as granted by that organization in its Terms of Service.
Please direct any questions to Moderators via PM;
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THESE RULES ARE VERY SIMILAR TO AGPT'S. THIS IS DUE TO US BELIEVING AND AGREEING STRONGLY IN THE WAY THAT BOARD IS RUN AND THINK THAT EACH AMERICAN GIRL FAN OR COLLECTING BOARD SHOULD BE RUN THE SAME WAY AS WELL.