[SITE RULES] You MUST Read Before Posting.

redg8r · October 1, 2003

SITE RULES] You MUST Read Before Posting. Welcome to Tackleunderground's boards. In order to make your stay as pleasant and constructive as possible please take your time to read through this, it will help you get the most from our boards These guidelines can be changed at anytime, without notice.
Last Update: 12/24/13

Tackleunderground.com prides itself on being an open & accommodating resource for anyone interested in creating custom fishing tackle. We strive to keep an edge on other related websites by keeping a clean, up to date & well organized reference for our visitors and members to benefit and enjoy.
With that said, there are some important site guidelines that need to be followed, these guidelines are strictly enforced by our staff.

Infractions are given to any of the guidelines broken below, and can result in having your post/s moved, edited, removed and/or your user account/s temporarily suspended or permanantly banned from the site.
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DISCLAIMER
By using any information contained within this website, you agree that we [Tackleunderground.com owners/ members] can not be held liable for any damages, personal, physical, financial, direct or indirectly stemming from the use or performance of any instruction or information contained within this website or any of our sister sites.

If your under the age of 13, you need written & faxed permission from your parents to register with us (Sorry, COPPA [Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act] Mandates this).
Spam: Spamming (unsolicited advertising) of any kind will not be tolerated, this is the fastest way to being banned from this site. We have strong feelings about unsolicited advertising & enforce this rule furiously. if you're in doubt, try it once. that's all it should take to get you permanently banned from the site. Registered users are permitted to link one personal website in their user profile. You may not circumvent this rule by placing visual hyperlinks in any photos or avatars. Acting upon the community feedback we will be introducing a formal classified ads section where users can post ads & want ads alike. The Traders post forum is open for TRADING ONLY, yet we reserve the right to migrate it into the classified system without notice. You must use the classified ads system if you intend to request custom work from our members, or sell an item.
Each registered member is permitted a defined amount of upload space in the forums to display images or other attachments. This free offering is for technical use & NOT for exhibiting your work or for gaining feedback on your work. We require you to use the photo gallery instead to exhibit your work.
Our gallery has no current storage restrictions (try to get that from any other photo host) Also, members can comment, critique & even rate your work there, just as they would in the forums. The Forums are intended for technical Q&A discussions, please use the gallery for Showcasing your work.
Any & all posts made simply to display photos/images is prohibited in the forums unless your photo lends some insight to an existing question or discussion, otherwise will be removed without notice.
Members are permitted ONE link to a personal or related website in their signature along with some text. The use of your signature is a privilege not a right. Abuse it & your signature permissions will be revoked. We offer a variety of ways to formally promote your products & services here.
Off topic posts: all posts must go in their respective forum, if you're unsure of a forum destination for your post, put it in "The Docks" (our general off-topic forum).
Example: Just because you only make soft plastic baits, doesn't mean every post you make goes into the "soft plastics" forum.
If the post doesn't specifically relate to the making a soft plastic bait or can benefit all members, post it in appropriate forum.
No cross posting (duplicate posts in 2 or more forums). Post your message once in the appropriate forum.
Post count addicts: please do not post unnecessarily, to simply boost post count.
The number of posts on this board has no direct relation to the actual experience of the member.
Vague topic titles: when posting a new topic, please use a descriptive topic title. Topics tilted, eg. "Help!", "Wow L@@k at this", or "I have a question" these type of topics will be removed without notice. They impede our search engine, offer no lead into the actual post & wastes time for every visitor to read a post that contained a misleading title.
Bumping topics is not permitted (eg; replying to your own post to push it back up the topic list). There's no guarantee that you will receive ANY reply here, again more descriptive info usually receives quicker & more effective replies.
Please do not post in all caps [ALL CAPS], this is simply an issue of common courtesy & bad Internet etiquette. If you have trouble reading the text on this site, consider using a larger font in your web browser or go grab your spectacles.
Hot linking to images outside TU:
"Hot-linking" is using an image that isn't yours, or using an outside image period that isn't hosted on your own web space.
This eats up costs for the owner of the hot-linked image & is considered bandwidth theft. If you must show someone an image that isn't yours, consider placing a hyper(link) to the image instead.
Conversely, you MAY NOT use the images located here including your own images located here on other websites. We are not a photo hosting service.
The images you post here are for display to our visitors only. Using our image system to store photos for use on any other websites will not be tolerated. We have a monitoring system in place that tips us off to websites linking to our images/content. You may argue that some images here belong to you, while that may or may not be true, the bandwidth & server space used to house & display your images belong to Tackleunderground.com. Use your own web space to display your images on other sites.
There are TU images & files that may be publicly used on outside websites, if so, they will be accompanied by express permission for use in public domain, (example; the topsites rank images)
You may display your own images here but the size will be limited to 400 x 600 pixels to help keep the site fast for our 56k (dial up) users. You may also display images hosted on your own web space or photo hosting service, however, these remotely hosted images must conform to the same 400 x 600 pixel limit. Larger images will break the layout of the website. If a remotely hosted image is found to be excessively large, "broken" or off topic, it will be removed without notice.
Photos uploaded to the TU galleries should not be explicit or contain explicit or offensive images.
Photos of lures that imitate male or female genitals or other private/intimate body parts are not acceptable and will be deleted.
TU members who post such images will receive warning points and the image(s) will be deleted.
Repeated incidents will result in suspension or permanent banning from the site.
Contacting an individual publicly on the board should be avoided. members have the ability to contact other club members via protected email, regular members can use the PM (personal messaging system) to contact members privately.
eBay auctions: eBay & other auction listings are prohibited because they are "time sensitive".
We do this because we plan on being around for awhile & its irritating to chase an auction link that ended & sold years ago. Circumventing this rule by posting auction numbers, seller ID's, etc. will be dealt with in the same manner.
TU is NOT an Arbitration Venue If you received bad or slow service from any company or conversely had a bad experience with a customer, TU is NOT the place to air out your bad laundry. If you have an issue with another member stemming from a trade or deal made through the TU classifieds system, then privately contact a mod or admin to investigate the issue. All other issues will NOT be permitted.
Respect the moderators, period. They work hard here for nothing in return. Profanity and insults towards them will not be tolerated. If you have a problem with your post/s being edited/moved/removed or have a problem with a moderator use the HelpCenter or Contact Us link to speak with an administrator directly.
Be tasteful, we do not permit overly foul or explicit language, racist comments, gender bashing, or offensive material of any kind. Posting of offensive photos, avatars, or files will also not be tolerated. Additionally, we do not permit devisive topics such as religion & politics. We respect your views, however, TU is not the place to discuss these issues.
Multiple registrations are strictly prohibited. It invites the use of alter ego's which we do not permit. If you are caught using multiple accounts, we will ban all accounts associated. We also watch associations between various members who may unscrupulously attempt to promote each others products & services. These activities will be dealt with in the same fashion.
The official language is English, we welcome anyone capable of communicating the english language.

There are additional rules pertaining to particular areas of the site, they will be available in their respective areas.

Some Helpful Tips

Lurk (look around) and get to know the forum & members a little before you post.
Use the search functions before posting. Chances are your question may have already been answered.
Try & be as clear & descriptive as possible when seeking help. Detailed information almost always earns fast & helpful responses. Sometimes a photo will be more descriptive than trying to explain the issue.

Thank you for your co-operation & enjoy the site.

Tight Lines,
The Tackleunderground Moderators.