Forum Guidelines
Last edit date: July 16, 2012
ProductivityTalk.com reserves the right to modify the forum guidelines and Terms of Service without notice.
IMPORTANT: Productivity Talk (PT) requires that any poster who is officially representing a company or organization for the purpose of advocating and answering questions on behalf of the company in these forums, disclose their affiliation with that company, whether it is as a paid poster, consultant or employee. The user's profile should include the name of the employer or company and the nature of the affiliation. This policy does not in any way override the Ads policy as stated below.
We welcome a free and open exchange of ideas here; however, we expect our members to be respectful of one another. Please refrain from name calling, derogatory remarks, etc. Keep it civil. Failure to do so will result in warning, suspension and/or banning. Repeated infractions will result in permanent banning.
Accepted Netiquette:
We try to run a friendly neighborhood and ask that you be a good neighbor, as well. The following guidelines will help all of us meet those goals.
Review these Forum Guidelines and make sure you understand them
- Check the Frequently Asked Questions before asking a question
- Use the search function
- Read the forums and become acquainted with prior topics and people who participate
General Guidelines
Our primary focus is building and nurturing the online community at PT. We respect that every forum has their own unique qualities of good and bad, however we ask that you do not use PT to promote, OR conversely, to undermine other related discussion forums. This makes for an overall more fair, healthy and friendly environment.
The most important guideline is that discussions should focus on the topic being discussed, not the other discussion participants or other posters in the forums.
Personal attacks or "badgering" will not be tolerated. We welcome heated discussions but require that the focus remain on the issue being discussed, not on the other participants in the discussion. Continued personal attacks, badgering or behavior that is viewed as disruptive to the community may result in warning, suspension and/or banning from the forums.
Treat all members of the community with respect. Productivity Talk is where people come seeking help, answers to questions, and friendship. Assume everyone is sincere. If you feel someone is trolling the board, please allow admin and moderators to respond and take care of the trolling and refrain from posts calling other members "trolls." There is a "report" button at the bottom of every post - using this will report the post to the moderator/administrator for their review.
Posts with complaints about companies, while companies may not like it, will not be pulled, HOWEVER, if they are or become personal and/or counterproductive to the community, the post will be deleted.
We delete posts (other than advertisements) very infrequently here. However, locking a thread because it has gone off track, has been discussed to death, or any other reason is at the discretion of the administrators/moderators.
Please don't forget to visit MT Desk, the sister site of Productivity Talk. Information from PT may be moved or copied to MT Desk for wider distribution to the community, easier search and index, and permanence.
Posts critical of PT policies, or moderation decisions of site management, staff and moderators (such as post edits or deletions), will likely be removed. If you have problems with a moderator or site staff, we would appreciate if you would contact the administrator through the private messaging system we have provided. The same goes for "I'm Leaving" posts or any other related types of messages that serve only to generate unwelcome drama within our community.
Member permission levels
PT admins and moderators approve all new registrations. Registered users are directed through a funnel of membership levels, with escalating permissions to access various functions in the community, based on participation in the community. In order to prevent posting for the sake of promotion, the amount of participation required to promote to the next level is not disclosed; however, admins/moderators have the option to override the level and manually promote a member who demonstrates value to the community.
Newbies: Newly registered users may view, respond and post new topics in the forums. They cannot: view member profiles or the member list; use the private messaging system; give reputation points; have a signature; edit their display name; upload files; rate topics in the forums; delete their own posts; or start a new poll. They may update their profile but cannot customize it. All posts by Newbies are moderated.
Members: When promoted to the member group, participants may: view member profiles and member list; use the "friends" system; edit profile information; use private messaging; add a signature (2 lines); rate topics in the forums. Posts will not be moderated.
Star PT contributors: Contributors in this group have demonstrated value to the community and many of the restrictions are lifted. This group may: change display name once every 30 days; have 5 lines in their signature, use an image, and up to 2 links; rate topics in forums, as well as change their rating; delete their own posts; start new polls.
Private messaging
The ability to send private messages is not available for new users; see Member Permission Levels. In order to prevent abuse by spammers, we require that those who register actively participate in the forums prior to being allowed to initiate private messages.
Following uses of private messaging may result in temporary or permanent suspension of user account:
- Spamming: Advertising of any kind
- Duplicate message sent to multiple users to promote a company, product or point of view
Signatures
See Member Permission Levels; the following guidelines are for user levels that allow signatures.
- Signatures may not contain any obscenities or text that is sexually suggestive or offensive.
- Signature links cannot be affiliate links.
- Signature links cannot link to sexually suggestive or offensive material.
PT reserves the right to disable the signature link feature if there is excessive abuse, or to warn, suspend or ban any user abusing the system.
Advertising and Solicitation
Productivity Talk encourages participation from the representatives for the companies whose products and/or services are discussed here. The purpose of that participation should be to build customer loyalty and to educate, not to sell.
NO advertising or sales pitches are allowed in forum posts. If you wish to place a banner ad at PT or sponsor a forum, feel free to contact the administrator. Any posts promoting a product or service of any kind will be deleted. Repeated abuse will result in warning, suspension and/or banning.
Affiliate links of any kind will be deleted and the poster warned. Posts that are advertisements for affiliate products or programs will be deleted, whether or not a link is included. Repeated offenses will result in suspension or permanent banning.
Likewise, consultants and programmers with add-ons, macros, and/or related services are encouraged to let their participation in the community speak for itself. Overt selling and/or abuse of the private messaging system to solicit business will result in warning, suspension and/or banning.
Warning and suspension
Admins/moderators at PT have the ability to utilize a warning system to let participants know that they are violating the Terms of Service, and to escalate to suspension and/or banning if the abuse continues.
Warning points are assigned based on the severity of the abuse.
- Spamming: 5 points
- Inappropriate language: 1 point
- Signature violation: 2 points
- Abusive behavior: 1 point
- Topic bumping: 2 points
- 5 to 9 points: Suspended from posting for 10 days
- 10 to 19 points: Suspended from posting for 30 days
- 20 to 49 points: Suspended from PT for 30 days
- 50+ points: Permanently banned from PT
Admins/mods have the option of resetting the points and/or overriding suspension. If you feel you have been unfairly warned and/or suspended, you may contact the admin or mods and appeal the decision. PT reserves the right to deny refuse to modify the warning, suspension or ban.
Disclosure of Material Connection
PT sells paid advertising to companies wishing to advertise to the community. These advertisements are not an endorsement by PT, its owners or participants of the products or services being advertised.
Advertising may be in the form of banner ads or affiliate links within the discussions.
PT receives compensation for advertising banners and links.
Terms of Service
The documents and information contained within this site (PT) are offered for informational purposes only. No information contained herein is a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified practitioner, nor should they be inferred as such. ALWAYS check with your doctor if you have any health questions.
ProductivityTalk.com is not liable for any goods sold by third parties. By purchasing products or services from advertisers or in the Marketplace, you agree to hold ProductivityTalk.com, its owners, administrators and moderators harmless for any failure by the seller to deliver goods or services as agreed upon between the parties. All disputes must be resolved between the parties and ProductivityTalk.com will not regulate or arbitrate such disputes. Repeated offenses by the same seller or advertiser will result in suspension of privileges to advertise or sell goods in the Marketplace.
The contributors to PT, webmaster, sysop or anyone associated herein are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for ANY form of damages whatsoever resulting from information contained herein. Every effort has been made to assure accuracy of this information, but mistakes may be present.
Material presented on ALL pages is copyrighted by PT and by the various contributing authors. Except as superseded in individual documents found herein, these materials may NOT be sold or redistributed for profit in any way without expressed written permission of the authors. Messages posted to the PT Message Center become the property of PT.
You may download and retain on your disk or in hard copy form a single copy of material published on this site for your personal use, provided that you do not remove any proprietary notices. You may not otherwise copy, distribute, display, download, modify, or repost all or any part of the material without PT's written permission.
You may not mirror on another Web server all or any part of the material published by PT on this site, and you may not use any of the graphics contained in any material published on this site without expressed written permission from PT.
ProductivityTalk.com does not review all posts before they are published. The opinions expressed on our forum are those of the posters and do not necessarily reflect those of ProductivityTalk.com, its owners, advertisers, administrators or moderators. MTChat.com assumes no responsibility for the posts or the information contained therein, nor do they make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of any of the information in the posts. Use the advice and information provided at your own risk.
By registering and posting on the forums you grant the owners of ProductivityTalk.com a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive right to license, use, modify, or publish your posts in any media and manner whatsoever. Removal of posts will be at the discretion of ProductivityTalk.com management.
You agree that you are solely responsible for anything you post on the ProductivityTalk.com forum and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless ProductivityTalk.com, its owners, employees, partners and advertisers with respect to any claims based upon your posts/submissions.
We may modify or terminate our services from time to time, for any reason, and without notice, including the right to terminate with or without notice, without liability to you, any other user or any third party. We reserve the right to modify these Terms of Service from time to time without notice.
You agree that these Terms of Service represent a binding agreement between us regarding your use of ProductivityTalk.com and supersedes all previous and contemporaneous oral or written agreements regarding your use of ProductivityTalk.com. We may discontinue or change ProductivityTalk.com, or its availability to you, at any time. You agree that the ProductivityTalk.com Terms of Service, as well as any and all claims arising from them and from your use of ProductivityTalk.com will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, United States of America, applicable to contracts made entirely within California and wholly performed in California, without regard to any conflict or choice of law principles. The exclusive jurisdiction for any litigation arising out of the ProductivityTalk.com Terms of Service and your use of ProductivityTalk.com will be vested in the federal or state courts located in Los Angeles, California. You hereby agree to waive all arguments or claims regarding venue for such litigation. The Terms of Service will not be governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
Privacy Policy
Please refer to the Privacy Policy page.
Copyright
All material at PT is copyrighted. It may not be copied in its entirety or in part without prior permission, including but not limited to internet publications and websites, and print publications of any kind.
A link to the relevant post at PT is permitted.
Websites containing copyrighted material obtained from PT will be asked to remove the copyrighted material in its entirety. Failure to comply with the request may result in a complaint being filed with the appropriate website host and/or internet service provider to force compliance.
