Policies, Rules & Posting Tips

[Forums Team]

SoberRecovery.com Forums Policies

1. Users must register in order to participate. Only one account is allowed per user.

2. Users must provide and maintain a valid email address.

3. We will prominently display guidelines for forum etiquette and violation enforcement procedures.

4. The official language of the main forum is English, in the interest of reaching the widest audience.

5. The Sober Recovery Forums provide an essential community for our members. For the good of all, we ask you to adopt our principles and to act within our guidelines.



SoberRecovery.com Forums Guidelines

1. These forums are the property of SoberRecovery.com with a grant of sponsorship by parent company, The Mulligan Group. SoberRecovery.com reserves the right to revision of guidelines at any time This forum is provided as a “free” service to embody a community of members sharing their processes from an addiction through recovery. This venue is our responsibility. Membership is a privilege, and we reserve the right to reject member posts or to cancel member privileges at any time at our sole discretion.

2. We do not endorse any particulars group name or affiliate our forums with any organization. Mention of a particulars group name is only used to help members assemble their topics and posts in an orderly manner. We attempt to keep the forums free from advertisements, pay per click systems and other revenue generating systems.

3. Though we may substitute certain words and phrases deemed universally offensive, we protect freedom of speech. These forums are regulated and if you find that disturbing, you may wish to reconsider participation. However, with the intention of maintaining civil dialogue in the forum, some violations of conduct, described in the section below, still apply and will be enforced.

4. The forum moderators may reject posts based on their interpretation of these guidelines and specifically the violations listed in the section below. The infringing member may be warned, suspended, subjected to post moderation or have his/her membership permanently revoked, depending on the severity of the violation(s), as deemed by their discretion. Repetitive violation or disregard of our warnings may result in stricter civil and legal actions. Membership will be revoked if private messages from moderators or administrators are ignored.

5. It is our intent to protect the real-world identity and privacy of those who wish to maintain online anonymity.

6. There are laws, both civil and criminal, against certain forms of speech, if so proven in court, such as libel, defamation of character, harassment and threats. We do not assess these matters of law. However, it is the prerogative of any member to pursue legal action. All members should realize there may be serious consequences for illegal behavior.

7. Any ISP rules apply to all e-mail, chat and instant messaging even if they are in response to posts or discussions on our boards. All members are personally responsible for whatever they say in private communications such as e-mail, chat and instant messaging may find unwanted or offensive material actionable.

8. Members open links or URL's in posts at their own risk. However, links posted that are in violation of any of our rules may also be subject to censure.

9. Ignorance of these guidelines is not an acceptable excuse for violations.


SoberRecovery.com Forums General Principles


Tolerance: Please respect the rights of others to hold beliefs and perspectives, which differ from yours. Our Sober Recovery Forum members are of many nationalities, ages, and cultures. Healthy, vigorous debate will further our goals, but only when guided by the tolerance that springs from mutual embrace of mission.

Intellectual Freedom: Embrace diversity of practice. It is impossible to understand an action without first understanding the actor and their environment. Know that varied environments call for varied response. Your way may not be the best way.

Freedom of Speech: We resist censorship in favor of free speech. Within our forums, we support the broadest range of perspectives and expression, for it is the unification of diversity to cause that gives strength to our community. We are committed to equal opportunity. Influence and responsibility here are inseparable, and both spring solely from a demonstrated commitment to furthering the topics discussed in our forums. Bear in mind, however, that some language and conduct is still considered inappropriate.
Please do not give medical advice, medication advice, or psychiatric advice.

Responsible Behavior: Your attendance here carries a responsibility. Ours is a mission of mind and perspective, and consequently, attention is our most precious resource. Do not waste what attention you may attract, nor seek to attract it with wasteful actions. Remember that personal worldview is a most powerful motivator; never treat another's lightly.



SoberRecovery.com Forums Violations


1. Spamming: Advertising, defined as the buying, selling or trading of any commercial or personal product or service, or the solicitation of money, such as for investments, charities, or private gatherings. This includes posting messages for the sole purpose of promoting personal agendas that are not appropriate in the opinion of forum moderators.

2. Posting of links that would violate our guidelines or that may present a technical threat if accessed. Promotional links and posts of any kind are not allowed. That holds for both commercial and for non-commercial sites. Commercial links are not allowed. Links to informational, inspirational, and educational sites not related to products or services are permitted. Do not post addresses, links or broken links to other forums or blogs. You may post your personal link in your profile as your homepage. Do not post links to sites that flame another recovery method or recovery group. Links, broken links, counters or trackers are not allowed in signatures. Do not post images with scripts or codes linked from another site. All links that violate forum rules will be removed without notice.

3. Breaching of privacy: Solicitation of names and addresses or other personal information for commercial purposes or, in the case of minors, for any purpose. Revealing personal information, including e-mail addresses, about other members that would identify them in the real world and which they have not otherwise made public online. This includes posting the contents of emails, private messages, private phone conversations, and/or any other private information that has not been shared on the forums by the member personally.

4. Trolling: Posting of any content with the intention of disrupting the forum or inflaming members-be it on someone's person, religious beliefs, race, national background, sexual orientation, or recovery program. This includes flaming, flame baiting, registration of multiple accounts or impersonation of another member. Do not Harass, threaten, embarrass or cause distress or discomfort upon another Online Forum participant. This includes flaming on our forums or other public forums. We are here to share our experience and offer peer support. No other agendas that disrupt the forums will be tolerated.

5. Flooding: Any action apparently intended to consume board space or to hamper other member postings, including the posting of essentially identical threads into different forums or identical replies into different threads. This is called cross posting and is not allowed. Duplicate threads and posts will be removed without notice.

6. Posts encrypted to prevent other members from reading them.

7. Materials that violate the law such as copyright infringements.

8. Posts seeking to circumvent these guidelines.

9. If you feel that a decision has been made arbitrarily you may contact an Administrator privately for clarification. It is against the forum rules to ignore private messages from moderators or administrators. Publicly denouncing the actions of a Forum Leader or Administrator can lead to having your membership permanently revoked.

10. Please do NOT post suicide notes, or anything which could sound like you might kill or harm yourself!
This can be incredibly damaging to members and guests ... and we are *not* trained in counseling to deal with such things.
If you post such a note it will be deleted from the forum.
If you DO feel suicidal, please, please contact a real life counselor or support helpline.
Please visit a hospital emergency room for immediate assistance.

***Please be aware that any posts that contain serious threats of suicide or serious threats to harm another person may be reported to the proper authorities. Reasonably suspected child abuse may also be reported. Some of our volunteers on the forums are mandated by law to report suspected child abuse and must report according to the laws of their state***


Posting Tips

Make sure you are posting in the correct forum. If you're not sure where to post, please introduce yourself on the newcomers forum and ask for directions..

Please don't write all in UPPERCASE - Please write using uppercase and lowercase letters. Topic titles and whole messages that are all in UPPERCASE are considered to be the written version of SHOUTING, and are harder to read than normally-written text.

Please break up your posts with paragraphs. Typing a 400 word run-on sentence is very difficult to read. Your posts are important and members will likely skip over what you have to say if your posts are hard to read.

Please don't post private information - Use caution when posting your phone number, address, photo and other personal information. These forums are read by tens of thousands of people around the world.

Remember that it's hard to interpret the meaning of posts correctly when all you have is the written word without voice tones and facial expressions. If something offends you it's a good idea to give yourself 30 minutes to calm down before replying.

If you feel your message has been unreasonably deleted, or if you wish to complain about a post that you find offensive then please get in touch with the moderators through a private message. Don't try to handle the situation yourself. It often makes the situation worse



Posting Tips

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make sure you are posting in the correct forum. If you're not sure where to post, please introduce yourself on the newcomers forum and ask for directions.

Please don't write all in UPPERCASE - Please write using uppercase and lowercase letters. Topic titles and whole messages that are all in UPPERCASE are considered to be the written version of SHOUTING, and are harder to read than normally-written text.

Please break up your posts with paragraphs. Typing a 400 word run-on sentence is very difficult to read. Your posts are important and members will likely skip over what you have to say if your posts are hard to read.

Please don't post private information - Use caution when posting your phone number, address, photo and other personal information. These forums are read by tens of thousands of people around the world. Please don't post private/personal information about people you know without asking their permission first. This includes posting the contents of emails or Private Messages without getting permission from the sender.

Remember that it's hard to interpret the meaning of posts correctly when all you have is the written word without voice tones and facial expressions. If something offends you it's a good idea to give yourself 30 minutes to calm down before you react.

If you feel your message has been unreasonably deleted, or if you wish to complain about a post that you find offensive then please get in touch with the moderators through a private message. Don't try to handle the situation yourself. It often makes the situation worse.