Forum Rules - please read them before posting

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Welcome to poiscenter.com!
Forum rules are there to keep the forum a safe and friendly place, and keep the information posted here as valuable as possible. Please, read them before posting on the forum. You can go to the original 2011 post by Daveman, at https://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=1.msg10259#msg10259 ,  but for your convenience, here is a copy and paste of our Community Guidelines:


Community guidelines

We created POISCenter so that everyone would have a safe place to discuss health and wellness. These guidelines are the things we expect all POISCenter members and visitors to do, and not to do.


Do's   
Be nice, be supportive

POISCenter works because we support and care for one another. Be nice, and be supportive. Do your best to respect differing points of view.

Also, it's not easy to live with POIS, so remember to be kind and compassionate in all the messages you post here.

Take your time and be safe

Please take your time getting started with POISCenter. After signing up, check your privacy settings and make sure that you are comfortable with how your personal information is being shared. If anything is confusing to you, drop us a line. We're here to help. We strongly recommend you not use your real name or e-mail address as your screen name. Your screen name is public, which means anyone on the Internet can see it, and find it. If you want to change your
screen name, you can do so here. We also recommend you not post personally identifiable information like your full name, e-mail address or phone number in POISCenter. If you want to exchange this information with someone you feel comfortable with, do so in a private message.

Let us know if something is wrong

If you see a member doing something that is contrary to these guidelines or simply feels wrong to you, let us know. If your instinct says something is wrong, it may very well be. We never reveal who reported a problem to us. Every post and member profile has a link to report the item for review, and you can submit your report anonymously.

Take a deep breath

The Internet makes it easy to forget that we're talking to other human beings, and tomisunderstand one another. If a member says something that bothers you, take a deep breath and pause before replying. You're replying to another human. They may be having a bad day or may be upset. You may have misunderstood them, or they may not have expressed themselves clearly. You may simply not see eye-to-eye. POISCenter works because we respect one another.

It's rare that we need to shut down a discussion, but when we feel that a discussion is generating "more heat than light," we do.

Respect the privacy of others.

Please respect the privacy of members and their right to remain anonymous. Do not post personal information about others in POISCenter unless you are a family member or have been directed to do so by the member, or their family. This often comes up when a member is hospitalized or otherwise away from POISCenter for a time. We understand that you want to know how your friend is doing and share that information, but the member's privacy must be respected. In some cases, you may know an POISCenter member in the real world. Perhaps you were in treatment together, or attend events together. When conversing in public settings -- such as discussions and journal entries -- please avoid posting information that could be used to identify the person. For example, don't post the member's real  name, or names of their children, if they haven't made that information public themselves. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and leave those details out.

Finally, please do not re-post information about a member from another site, like Facebook, in POISCenter. The information may not have been intended for a wider audience.

Do not's

These are the things we must ask you not to do, for the safety of members and to keep POISCenter running smoothly.

Do not use POISCenter as a substitute for, or to give, medical advice

POISCenter is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. Always consult your physician and do not rely on the information on this site when making decisions about your health. The content in POISCenter is for information only and is not reviewed by medical professionals. Similarly, do not use POISCenter to give medical advice. You may share information about your experiences, but do not play the role of health professional.

Three week Rule

If you have found a treatment which seems to work very well to alleviate your symptoms and are dying to tell everyone about it, respect our three week rule. If you think you have found a treatment, make a short announcement that you think you have found something very useful, but that you will respect the three week rule before describing the treatment to others. The reasons for this are many-fold: the success you perceived may have been circumstantial, give the procedure time to prove itself, the treatment may only work for you and only in certain conditions and we don't wish to raise false hopes with our members unnecessarily.

And remember, the previous rule always has supremacy over this one.

No commercial use, promotion, or solicitation

You may not use POISCenter for any commercial purpose, marketing, promotion or solicitation. This includes promoting a company, product, service, person, treatment, therapy, Web site, support group, non-profit, charity or fundraiser; recruiting members to participate in market research, clinical studies, or surveys; soliciting donations for charitable causes or for yourself; presenting your resume or using POISCenter to seek employment; and soliciting malpractice clients. Commercial entities are not permitted to sign up or create profiles in POISCenter.

Do not include links other than Email in your profile. Permission must be granted explicitly for any links on the site, including the profile area.

Member found using POISCenter for these uses will be banned, reported to appropriate SPAM databases AND deleted.

Do not post inappropriate content

We work hard to keep POISCenter a safe and comfortable place for members. Content, including avatars, that is obscene or violent, refers to material that is obscene or violent, or contains hate speech or remarks that are disrespectful to any race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or individual is not permitted. This includes derogatory remarks, attacks, or threats against POISCenter or POISCenter partners. Content that is potentially libelous violates an individual's privacy, or violates the legal rights of any individual or entity is not permitted. Links to other sites which contain such material are also not permitted. You may not post information which is false or misleading or misrepresent yourself. A "reasonable person" standard applies and we reserve the right to remove any content or profile that we feel violates this guideline.

Profanity is not permitted in any posted wording at the POISCenter forum.

Do not interfere with the operation of the site

We reserve the right to remove posts and block access by individuals which interfere with the normal operation and use of the site, at our discretion. Examples include off-topic posting, bumping posts, posts that excessively advance a personal agenda or make it difficult for other members to be heard, creating multiple accounts or aliases, and abusing the friend or private message features.

No copyright infringement

If you find an article or other information online that you think will interest members, post a short description, with an explanation as to why you think it is important, and include a link to the original document if possible. That will allow your fellow members to retrieve the source document. Do not post the entire item or significant portions of it. If we think a post violates someone's copyright, we will remove it.

No scraping or data harvesting

You may not scrape, harvest, or otherwise collect information in bulk from POISCenter. You may not copy content from POISCenter for another site, or for any other purpose.

Don't use POISCenter to offer or exchange medication

No part of POISCenter may be used to facilitate the donation, exchange or receipt of medication, as it is against the law to do so. If you are interested in donating unused medication to help those in need, you'll need to determine how the laws of your country and locality govern such donations. In the US, many states have programs through which unused medication can be donated for distribution to those in need. Good starting points for learning about these programs are your state's Web site, your physician, and your pharmacist. You're welcome to share information about such programs here, but you may not use this site to engage in or facilitate the exchange of medication.

The moderators have the last word.

These rules are general guidelines that follow a "reasonable person" rule, but they are not the last word. Situations may arise and new rules may need to be born, or considerations for the site and its direction may need to be adapted. The moderators will always have the last word in the resolution of conflicts, situations, and problems.