Don’t spam. We enforce a zero tolerance policy as far as spam is concerned. Anything remotely sniffing of spam could get a user not just banned, but removed from the forums database. In addition, ALL posts submitted by the offending member will be deleted along with the spam – even if they are bone fide posts. There can be no discussion on this issue and no complaints after the fact - you have been warned. TheWebHostBiz wants clean forums and takes what some might deem draconian measures to maintain their integrity. Read these rules carefully and see how to avoid your genuine posts getting you pushed off the boards.

1. We have set up a self-promotion/advertising section of the forum – the Web Hosting Offers forum. You can submit information about your web hosting promotions, etc. here.

2. Self-promotion/Advertising in the ‘Offers’ forums is a privilege, not a right. It is a reward for people who make an active and positive contribution to the forums. As a result it is only available to anyone who has made at least five (5) ‘quality’ posts in any of the forums. Posts that say ‘I am replying to this to make up the number of posts I need before I can advertise’ – which we have had – will certainly get you a warning, and if five of the same appear, you will be banned.

3. Writing a recommendation of a company without listing a domain you host (or hosted) with that company could get you banned. A lot of people seem to make genuine posts and yet make this mistake, so beware – if you provide a recommendation without support of a domain name we can verify as being on a particular company’s server, even accidentally, it will be treated as spam.

4. A maximum of 5 links are allowed in signatures.

5. Excessive postings with links to a particular website could mean the posts are removed, and might mean the poster is banned. This means, for example, if you post 5 items and each contains a link to the same site, it might be considered spam. To avoid this, don’t post the full URL (http://www.websitex.com or www.websitex.com) as it will become a link. Remove the “http://www.” and the URL will remain as text.

6. Overly aggressive or abusive posts might well be deleted and the poster banned – let us keep these forums pertinent and factual rather than hate filled. In my opinion the facts about a company’s bad service, for instance, present a much stronger message than comments like “Those b*#@&^%s are a bunch of b*#@&^%s.”

7. Posts specifying the weaknesses of particular companies will be tolerated, but posts highlighting specific incidents that happened between a customer and a host will not. However well documented the exchanges are, the fact is there are two sides to every story, and few organizations have the resources to get to the bottom of both sides of a dispute.

8. All posts will be reviewed from a legal perspective. Where a post could leave TheWebHostBiz open to legal action, it may be removed. We do, however, wish to keep self-censorship to an absolute minimum.

9. TheWebHostBiz.com contains a wealth of information on web hosts and web hosting. Forum users should utilise this information as much as possible, and avoid establishing links to other sites. Although there are times when it is absolutely necessary to link to another web hosting site, most of the information you need will probably be available on TheWebHostBiz.com. Ideally, if you need to link to examples of what you want to discuss, first link within the forum (e.g. to another post), then link to examples on TheWebHostBiz.com, and then, if absolutely necessary, link to another web hosting site.

OK – all that said, welcome to the board. Sorry to be so stern at the outset, but following these rules will make things better for everyone!

Regards

Admin