TCOYF Message Board Courtesies

In addition to complying with the Terms of Service Agreement, TCOYF's Administration expects our members to abide by the following courtesies. Failure to do so will result in action being taken against your member account as described in the Terms of Service Agreement:

Offensive Material

• No swearing or vulgarity is permitted in usernames, thread or page titles, or avatars.
• Potentially offensive material, including links to such items, should be indicated by a disclaimer in the thread's title.
• Sexually explicit nudity is not permitted.

Sensitivity & Courtesy to Others

• All pregnancy & birth announcements must be posted in the appropriate Announcements forum.
• Consider where your thread might best be placed prior to posting. Duplicate or obviously misplaced threads, especially those which could potentially cause emotional distress for others, will be moved or removed without notice. If you would like your thread moved to another forum, please bring it to our Moderator team's attention using the Report Abuse feature.
• Do not create multiple threads to update your status; post updates to the original thread. Alternatively, utilizing our Blog feature is ideal for those who wish to regularly record and/or share personal events with our community.
• Messages clearly intended for an individual or small number of members ("shout outs") should be sent privately via our Conversations system.
• In keeping with our community's goal of providing a supportive environment for each of our members, please remember that our members bring with them a variety of backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences. When sharing your personal views, please do so in a respectful manner, keeping in mind that your thoughts may be offensive to those who do not share the same beliefs and ideals. Our community is not the appropriate forum for hate speech targeted toward a specific individual or group of individuals, including race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and political views. We reserve the right to reject or edit posts which we feel are not in keeping with our community's goal as stated above. 
• Be considerate with your signature size. If your signature necessitates scrolling (horizontal or vertical) on standard monitors, it will be disabled.

Dealing With Conflict

• If you have a personal issue with another community member, your first step should be to resolve these privately, using our Conversation feature. If this isn't successful, you may use the Report Abuse system. If applicable, please include what you've done to try to resolve your problem with your report. If your issue involves another member's manner of posting (including posting style, frequency and/or location of posts), you may bring it to our attention using the Report Abuse system as necessary. Attempts to publicly moderate or otherwise air grievances toward another member, Moderator, Administrator or group within our community detract from the supportive environment of our community and as such are unacceptable.
• Because it is impossible for our Administrator/Moderator team to review every post, we encourage our members to utilize the Report Abuse system to bring questionable posts to our attention. Questionable posts include those which you feel may violate the Terms of Service Agreement or Forum Courtesies, or are otherwise out of keeping with the intent of our community. Any additional comments within Reports of Abuse should be respectful in nature. All abuse reports and resulting Moderator decisions are confidential and are not discussed outside of the Administrator/Moderator team.

Solicitation, Personal Gain, and Exchange of Goods

• No solicitation in posts. Information that could potentially result in financial gain by you or someone you know should be limited to your signature. This includes but is not limited to questions or information regarding items for sale or trade, commercial or home businesses, requests for votes, photo contests, surveys, referrals, petitions, home parties, donation requests, and your or others’ limited-access blogs, online communities or other websites.
• Any type of solicitation should be limited to a one-line URL in your signature. Alternatively, a graphic which does not exceed 100 pixels tall x 250 pixels wide may be used in your signature for purposes of self-promotion.
• To protect the well-being of our members, exchange of consumable items, including supplements, medications, formula or personal care items, is not permitted.

In closing, no guideline can substitute for common sense and courtesy. If in doubt whether you should post a particular item, please feel free to contact our Administrator/Moderator team regarding the suitability of that particular subject.

We appreciate your cooperation in enabling us to provide a supportive and friendly environment for our members.