NCEMSF Forum Rules

Remember: Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! NCEMSF team and users have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. NCEMSF does not endorse the views of any user. 

Before entering the forum on this website, please read these terms of use carefully. By participating in forum, you are agreeing to the terms of use set forth below. These rules and guidelines are designed to help give a better understanding of what behavior is expected and make your experience more enjoyable and secure. 

Please remember that any information you disclose in a forum becomes public information and can be used by people you do not know. Accordingly, you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose any personal or other information in a forum. Any such disclosures are at your own risk.

Although we may monitor or review posted messages from time to time, we do not actively monitor the contents of the forum, and we are not under any obligation to do so. Each user is solely responsible and liable for the contents of his or her postings, and we are not responsible in any way for the content or opinions expressed therein. We have the right, but not the obligation, to remove, edit or move, at any time, any material posted to the forum, in each case as we deem appropriate.

Forum Rules

Instantly Bannable Offenses

1. You will not post any copyright material unless you own or control the copyright in and to such material.

2. you will not use forum to post or transmit any material that is: Abusive, hateful, racist, bigoted, sexiest, harassing, threatening, inflammatory, defamatory, knowingly false, vulgar, obscene, sexually-oriented, profane, or is otherwise in violation of any applicable law, rule or regulation.

3. You will not use forum to post any message or other material that violated or infringes the rights of any other party, including without limitation, rights of privacy, rights of publicity, copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights.

4. Distributing viruses or other harmful computer code - You will not post link of any damaging software, website or computer files that contain virus, worm or disruptive or harmful components.

5. Under Age Users – Don't posts comments and questions under the age of 16 otherwise your ID will be banned.

6. Posting your full name (s), or other confidential or personal information is strictly forbidden.

7. Don't post names, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers or any other confidential or personally identifiable information of yourself or any person(s) or entities.

8. Posting more than 3 new different Question/Threads, that are limited to the number of new questions accepted daily.

9. Don't Post chain alphabets.

10. Don't impersonate another person or entity.

11. Registering under more than one name and/or e-mail address is not permitted.

12. Harvesting or otherwise collecting information about others, including email addresses, without their consent.

13. Posting the same note more than once or "spamming".

14. Shared accounts - Allowing any other person or entity to use your identification for posting or viewing comments Accounts are to be used by only one person, and not shared between family members, friends or any other people. Registration is free, so there is no reason not to create a unique account for each person.

15. After receiving a warning, continuing to disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, or posting comments that are not related to the topic being discussed (unless it is clear the discussion is free-form).

16. Engaging in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Public Area or the Site, or which, in the judgment of NCEMSF, exposes NCEMSF or any of its user to any liability or detriment of any type.

17. Insults. Direct personal insult of another member, i.e., "You are an idiot." and all the variations. Why? Because this isn't grade school. People should be able to discuss or even dispute other's posts without insulting people. And the only purpose of a post like this is to incite other people. You may dispute somebody's opinion, but not attack/flame the person who stated it. There are a lot of other non-direct-personal insults that won't necessary get you banned instantly, but depending on the context/nature may lead to post editing, post deletion, warnings, or time-outs. They include telling people to shut up, or being extremely or repeatedly rude or sarcastic. Bottom line -- don't try to tick off others.

18. Spam and overposting. Not just being a prolific poster, but posting the same exact post in many different threads, posting multiple pointless posts in the same thread, making numerous post with no real content, or posting for the purpose of gaining a higher post count. This will get you banned.

19. You will not use forum for commercial purpose, including, without limitation, posting advertisements, Spam or solicitations (including signature).

• Advertising or Spam is defined as posting a link for the purpose of selling, soliciting or promoting by someone that has ownership or other "vested interest" to the web site involved, including efforts to promote other online forums or web sites by web site owners.
• If you are a web site owner and have a link that fits into this category that you want to share, please send your request here Contact us.
• Posts and links about fundraising (including nonprofit fundraisers) are NOT permitted.  Threads will be deleted if their purpose is to advertise, announce, or promote products, services, or organizations, build traffic at other websites, solicit donations, votes, or participants for surveys, contests, or product testing, carry out business activities including employment requests/offers, or other similar purposes that do not benefit our forum community. Memberships created solely for such purposes will be banned.
• Also No posts regarding research studies, surveys or clinical trials without obtaining prior approval from the NCEMSF forum administrator before posting to the forums

20. Hoaxes. Purposely misleading other members to their detriment. Giving advice you know to be incorrect or harmful. Sensationalism.

Rules (DON'Ts):

These are usually not instantly bannable - but will likely get you edited and/or warned.

1. Useless posts. Do not bother making posts with only one or two words (e.g., LOL) or a smilie, or post simply to have the first reply in a thread. Such posts waste everyone's time and will be deleted. Posts saying "I agree", "me too", or the equivalent are also routinely removed.
2. Off-topic posts. Off-topic/irrelevant posts will be deleted/edited.
3. Warez/Serials/Keys. Do not post software serial numbers or keys or refer people to specific websites or software whose purpose is to break or bypass software licensing methods, distribute cracks, or obtain or use commercial software or media in violation of its license and/or for copyright violation. Do not ask for or give such help.
4. "Trolling". Do not post in order to anger other members or intentionally cause negative reactions. For a given post, this can be a subjective call, but a pattern of such posting or an especially egregious case will get you banned. Basically, don't try to pick fights. Knowingly posting false information is also prohibited.
5. Any ongoing actions that make more work for everyone else. If banning you is easier than dealing with the problems you are causing, you will be banned.
6. Don't challenge any moderator unless he/she has no solid/serious reason of his/her action.
7. No SHOUTING. Remember, using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in posts is considered yelling and rude, plus it is difficult to read.
8. No cryptic posts. Using cryptic messages to "skirt" the rules is not permitted.
9. No posts of an overtly political or religious nature OR posts promoting advocacy of particular personal, medical, legal, religious, political, or non-profit causes. The forums are intended for offering mutual personal support.  Debating controversial subjects should be taken elsewhere.  Limited religious references are allowed, but the forums should not be used to convert others.

Minor Problems

1. Chattiness. Use the forum except chatting to discuss the topic of the thread, not as a substitute for Instant Messaging.
2. Profanity/index page for selection threads - The profanity filter is there for a reason. Do not circumvent it by using the language we intend to exclude or disguising those words. If a word is replaced by asterisks when you Preview or Submit a thread, you know it's on the list.
3. Thread titles. Use thread titles that indicate the subject of the thread, not generic titles such as "Need help". Moderators may change thread titles that have no specifics, usually by adding something more specific in parentheses. You will receive a better response to your posts by being more descriptive about the content of your post.
4. One thread. Do not post a thread more than once. Post a new thread in the proper Category. If the topic is relevant to more than one category, pick the best fit or most specific Category and post it only once.
5. One post. Do not post multiple messages with the same content. One post in the most appropriate thread is sufficient.
6. Sequential posts. Combine your comments into one post rather than making many consecutive posts to a thread within a short period of time.
7. Bumps. Posts that bring a thread to the top of the New Posts list but add no content to the thread (bumps) are not permitted. This applies not only to posts that say "bump" but to those with the intent to bump.
8. Corrections. There is no need to point out another poster's spelling or grammatical errors unless you think it is causing confusion. Remember that not all members are native English speakers. Communication, not correctness, is our goal.
9. Common sense. In the end, use common sense. When you are about to post messages just to increase your post count, or post something you think is funny at someone else's expense, or just to make the first post in a news thread, think to yourself "Is this annoying?" If the answer is yes, don't do it.

Guidelines (Do's):

1. Check for open topics. Before posting a new topic, please check to see if there is already a topic open on the subject.
2. Use good judgement. NEVER rely on information or opinions exchanged via the forums or chat rooms to replace necessary, personal consultation(s) with qualified health or medical professionals to meet your individual health or medical needs. Remember that what's right or has worked for one person may not be what's right for you.
3. Lend a helping hand. A bit of compassion can go a long way toward helping people with life's challenges and reaching out can help alleviate feelings of loneliness. We're all different, but we're really all the same. At sometime or another, we all need or want help or simply someone with whom we can share our burdens or successes.
4. Don't be afraid to share. If you're feeling alone or hurting, don't be afraid to share your fears and tears. If you're rejoicing about the results of a recent medical test or treatment, share that too.