Posts are to be made in the relevant forum. Users are asked to read the forum descriptions before posting. Users consistently posting to the wrong forum may be given a warning (see policing below).

Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning and posts being removed.

Do not dispense medical advice! There is a wealth of wisdom on this forum, but remember that you should not change your treatment without first consulting your doctor. Nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice. Your life may depend upon it. Anyone posting inappropriate medical advice will be advised by the moderator and the post removed. If the member persists a warning will be issued.

Members should remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated and will lead to posts being removed and a warning. Members are asked to be careful when using ambiguous language or humour that may offend

Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators". If members note an issue which contravenes something in this policy document they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the moderator team. Only do this if a moderator team member has not replied within 6 hours. Do not respond to such topics yourself. Members who consistenly "act" as moderators may be warned.

Members are asked to respect the copyright of other users, sites, media, etc. Do not distribute text or graphics that are copyright protected unless you have clear permission to do so.

If you quote a reference such as a book please clearly state your source

Members should respect the bandwidth of other users and sites. The use of inline ([IMG][/IMG]) image tags pointing to data stored on third party systems for which the user has not received permission to link to may be removed.

Members should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing". That is users should not post excessive numbers of emotions, large, small or coloured text, etc. Similarly users should not SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. Users consistently abusing this will be warned.

Members should use an appropriate, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Examples of bad titles include; "Help me!", "I'm stuck!", "Fed up!", etc. Examples of good titles include; "High blood sugars after exercise", "Skin lumpy under injection site", etc.

Spam is not tolerated here under any circumstance. Users posting spam will be warned and their post removed. Persistent abuse (3 or more) will guarantee user is barred from all future posts on the site. See specific item on spam and 3rd party linking for more information.

The moderating, support and other teams reserve the right to edit or remove any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, wrong or dangerous medical advice as noted in these points is up to team members and not users.

Signatures
Signatures may contain up to two lines (one line being that displayed on a browser opened to 800px width) of text (of small or normal size). Text sizes should be between 9pt and 12pt (small and normal). Text in signatures is subject to the same conditions as posts with respect decency, warez, emotions, and so forth.

Links in signatures are permitted to a maximum of four unique pages or sites. Diabetes Support team members are allowed additional links to aid in rendering support for Diabetes Support. Such links may only be to Diabetes Support or approved material. You may not include links in a way which suggests you offer official support, software, etc. for Diabetes Support or Diabetes UK. You may not link to warez, porn or political, racist or other similar hate sites. Links are included in signature size limits.

Users abusing these rules will be warned.

Avatars
Avatars are limited to 75px x 75px.

Linking offsite
General linking (within posts) to other sites is generally not permitted. Exceptions may be made where links are being offered in a “support context” designated as appropriate by the moderator. Any inappropriate links will removed and a warning sent.

Show Off
Users may not promote their sites through their own posts. Such posting constitutes spam and may lead to a warning. Users or other persons wishing to advertise at www.diabetessupport.co.uk should read our advertisement information.

Policing
Diabetessupport operates a three strike policy. Users will be warned a maximum of three times for any and all offences in a three month period. If the need arises for a fourth warning a temporary ban will be put in place of between 1 to 7 days.

Arguing with team members after having received a warning will lead to an immediate additional warning. Should this exceed three strikes a temporary ban will be put in place as above.

Users who feel they have been unfairly warned are welcome to contact the relevant team leader, e.g. if warned by a moderator you should contact the moderator team leader. If they feel you were treated badly they remove a warning. If you feel their decision is also unfair you may contact the site administrator. Their decision is final. Contacting the site administrator over warning matters should be done so as a very last resort. The site administrator does not want to be bothered unless vital.

Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban will lead to that ban being made permanent. Circumvention includes re-registering under a non-banned username, changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban, registering a new email account or evade an email ban. Circumvention includes posting as an anonymous user.

An exception to the three strike rule applies when users contact team members personally (via any method) and post insulting, indecent or vulgar material. Such users may be subject to an immediate permanent ban.

Permanent bans are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them. While diabetessupport may consider lifting permanent bans from time to time this is a rare occurence.

Members are reminded that your use of this community is subject to the site Terms and Conditions.