Terms and rules

The providers ("we", "us", "our") of the service provided by this web site ("Service") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts ("Content"). Content submitted express the views of their author only.

You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws.

All Content you submit or upload may be reviewed by staff members. All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including, but not limited to, spam prevention services). Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential.

We reserve the rights to remove or modify any Content submitted for any reason without explanation. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion. We reserve the right to take action against any account with the Service at any time.

You are granting us with a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service. You retain copyright over the Content.

These terms may be changed at any time without notice.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use this Service. If you wish to close your account, please contact us.

Please read the following document carefully before continuing with the registration process and/or accessing The Web Site. By accessing or using The Web Site, you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions (also referred to as the Agreement).

Warning: This is a public forum. Your posts can be read by anyone with an internet connection.


General Overview:
BabyandBump Guidelines.

• When using BabyandBump, be polite, do not break the law, and do not use The Web Site for self-publicity or advertising.
• Opinions expressed within messages are those of the poster and are not the views or endorsement of The Web Site. You rely on such information at your own risk and are urged to seek professional advice for any specific and/or individual situations, and not rely solely on advice or opinions given in the discussions.
• We reserve the right to move, modify, review or remove any messages transmitted to The Web Site at our discretion and without explanation.
• You are permitted a maximum of 'One' account (membership), active or inactive (including previously banned and accounts closed at user request). If you require temporary access for any reason, require a user name change, or have forgotten your log in details and are unable to retrieve them via The Service, do not create a new account! Please contact the forum administrator using the Contact Us link below. If you choose to ignore this rule, ALL your accounts will be banned.
• Forum Administrators have the final say as to the running of the forum, and what is and is not a violation of The Web Site rules.
• By using The Web Site, you agree to be contacted by site administration, regardless of account settings, if it becomes necessary to do so.
• Forum Administrators and Moderators assume members have read these terms and will not take ignorance of any rules as an excuse for not following the rules and policies outlined here.

Please contact The Web Site Administrator using the 'Contact Us' link below if you do not understand any of the rules outlined below.


Forum Rules:
These rules apply to all Forums.

• Forums are subject specific. Threads must be made in the relevant areas and remain on-topic.
• Rudeness, flaming or trolling is not tolerated on, or about, BabyandBump or its members. Any member who is intentionally disruptive may have their account restricted or banned without warning.
• Antisocial, discriminatory or offensive messages (intended or otherwise) aimed at the community at large, certain demographics (including parenting styles) or specific members, are not permitted.
• If an Administrator has reason to believe that a member is involved in cyber-bullying or member/website bashing, We reserve the right to restricted or ban the offenders account.
• You agree not to provide inaccurate, misleading, false or fake information, or encourage others to do so.
• You are responsible for your account and any activity created with it. You may not share your account login with anyone. Ignoring this rule may result in your account being restricted or banned.
• All public messages, posts, titles and signatures are limited to the English language.
• Messages using TXT SPK (text speak) or made entirely in CAPITAL LETTERS are not permitted.
• It is strictly prohibited to use any information obtained from accessing The Service to, advertise, spam, solicit, or sell to any user without the prior explicit written consent from The Web Site owners.
• Signature Spam (a post made in hopes of showing an attached signature) is not permitted.
• Duplicate posting (submitting the same message more than once) is not permitted.
• You may not post about or on behalf of any banned member using the forum posting, private messages, or signatures features.
• Harboring a previously banned member (knowing about a banned member signing up again without reporting it to forum administrators) is strictly prohibited. Ignoring this important rule will result in your account also being banned.
• You may not post words or URLs that are censored by substituting characters, or by any other means in an attempt to defeat any censors put in place.
• You may not post advertising, commission, referral or affiliate links (including sites whose main income is derived from affiliate or referral links).
• You may not link in any manner, to sites or images containing pornography, gross violence, warez or illegal material.
• Continuing locked or removed threads elsewhere on the forum is not permitted. If a thread has been moderated, it is with good reason. Posts questioning or complaining about such actions will either be removed or closed.
• Social network activity that affects BabyandBump or its members is subject to the same etiquette and guidelines as set out in our very first forum rule ("Rudeness, flaming or trolling is not tolerated on, or about, BabyandBump or its members"). Cross posting (cross referencing discussions/disputes between social networking websites and BabyandBump.com) is not permitted. If an Administrator has reason to believe that a member is involved in cyber-bullying or member/website bashing, We reserve the right to restricted or ban the offenders account.
• Whilst linking to personal blogs, profiles, petitions and charity pages is not against forum guidelines, threads/posts made solely for publicizing these pages do contravene our 'self-publicity' and 'advertising' rules, and will be removed (you may however place a link in your signature).
• You may not link to third party forums, chatrooms, competing pregnancy/parenting resources, competing groups/pages or unapproved social networking Web Sites (Example: Formspring.me. The only approved sites at this time for personal pages only are: Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, YouTube, Myspace).
• You must make ten posts before posting URL's*. If you choose to make meaningless posts to avoid this restriction your account will be banned.
• You must make five posts before accessing the Private Message feature. If you choose to make meaningless posts to overcome this restriction, your account will be banned.
• Any messages that encourage, promote or endorse illegal activity will be removed. Serious offences may result in your account being restricted or banned.
• Some forum categories have a minimum post count restriction. If you choose to make meaningless posts to overcome this restriction, your account may be restricted or banned.
• The use of proxy servers on BabyandBump is strictly prohibited. Accounts discovered to be using such servers will be banned without warning.
• Account closures are honored by removing access to The Web Site. It is your responsibility to ensure that personal information and pictures are removed from the forum before submitting your request.
• Public posts debating these rules and/or the moderators enforcement of them will be closed or removed without comment. While feedback is welcome we request that you use the 'Contact Us' link below if you have any questions or concerns.
  
  * If you represent a company or charity as a professional spokesman and wish to link to your website you must contact the forum administrator using the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the page before attempting any posts (for the majority this is common sense / polite, but unfortunately there is always a minority that will try and get around our SPAM filter). Ignoring this rule will be taken as attempted SPAM.

Community Conduct:
Specific rules to ensure a smooth running community.

• While BabyandBump tries to remain pro-choice on most subjects, out of respect for majority of our members that are either trying to conceive, or pregnant, we ask that you do not discuss topics on abortion and terminations outside of the 'Ethical Prenatal Losses' forum.
• BabyandBump operates a strict NO under 18's using the forum for the following:
  Waiting to try (WTT)
  Trying to conceive (TTC)
  Two Week Wait (2WW)
  (Non-pregnant minors using the 'Teen Pregnancy' forum may have their account restricted or banned without warning).
• BabyandBump does not support minors 'Trying to Conceive'. While we understand that teenage pregnancy is becoming more and more common we do not endorse those under the legal adult age (18 years old) trying to get pregnant, and as such all threads pertaining to this will be locked.
• Solicitation or propositions of surrogacy, adoption or sperm donorship using the forums, private messages, or signatures features is strictly prohibited.
• Due to legal reasons, posts about the author 'Gina Ford' or any of her books are not permitted on BabyandBump.com
• Asking fellow members to participate in a competition/contest polls in an effort to unfairly influence voting is not permitted.
• Requesting (through words or implication) money or charity from the general member population is not permitted. If it is suspected that a membership is being used with the sole intention of procuring free goods, services or wealth, the account may be restricted or banned.
• Anti forum/member 'I am leaving...' threads or posts leaving behind negativity/bad feeling are not permitted. These are usually posted for attention, create arguments, and often stem from events that have already been dealt with (remember problems can only be dealt with if reported). If you choose to ignore this rule, your thread will be removed and account permanently deactivated.
  Please note, this does not refer to all goodbye threads.

Signature Rules:
Rules to stop signatures from taking over the forum.

• Signatures are available to members with 5 posts or more.
• Please keep your signature within 600 x 300 pixels.
• Antisocial, discriminatory or offensive messages and quotes (intended or otherwise) aimed at the community at large, certain demographics (including parenting styles) or specific members, are not permitted.
• No links to commercial websites, auctions/eshop†, forums, referral or affiliate links, unauthorized third party pregnancy & parenting resources / forums.
• Signatures have been turned off in our ‘Miscarriage & Loss Support’ & ‘Problems Trying To Conceive’ forums. This decision was made for general consideration of members who may be experiencing hard times & may find the viewing of pregnancy tickers upsetting within these areas.

Ignoring certain forum rules (especially ones relating to advertising/spam) may result in having your signature removed or restricted.
† Active members with with at least 3 months membership and 250+ post can post a link to their personal auctions/eshops in Buy, Swap, Sell & Wanted.
Note: Signature's that do not conform to the above guidelines will be edited without notice.