Board Rules

• No fighting: personal attacks and bickering are not allowed. Healthy disagreement is welcomed, but do not flame ideas or another person.
• Avoid NSFW and offensive posts, images, and links. "NSFW"= Not Safe For Work (This will be defined as what most mainstream employers would not find appropriate for an employee to be viewing during work hours.) This includes nudity, porn, inappropriate cartoons and videos, etc. "Offensive" will be defined as anything that incites anger or bad feelings directed at a persons race, sex, social status, religious preference, sexual preference, appearance, etc.
• Anything relating to pornography/nudity will be dumped. This applies to post content as well as pictures. The Lounge and the rest of the messageboard are for people of all ages. Please use discretion and common sense. When in doubt, please ask a moderator if something is appropriate or not before you post it.
• No sexual discussion: We are a web site for all ages. Posts about flirting, "liking someone", non-sexual relationship questions, and other innocuous material is welcomed. However, because of the wide ranging ages of our members, sexual banter is inappropriate. Posts about masturbation or sex in relation to acne is the only exception to this rule, but such posts should remain scientific and information based.
• Swearing: Intermittent cursing is ok, but constant, disgusting language will be dumped.
• No racism or homophobia in any form will be tolerated.
• Don't share user accounts or create multiple accounts.
• Don't spam, troll, harass or bully other members. Acne.org does not tolerate e-bullying in any form, including posts, PMs, gallery/profile comments, signatures, etc.
• Don't post illegal content.
• No promoting illegal behavior.
• No posts relating to recreational illicit drug use, whether street drugs or prescription medications, unless specifically related to acne.*
• No promotion of illegal procurement of prescription drugs.*
• No offering to give/sell/donate prescription medications to fellow posters.*
  (This rule also applies to asking people to give/sell/donate prescription medications.)
• Advertising/Soliciting:
  We do not allow advertising or soliciting in any form. This includes linking to or advertising other products or web sites in your posts, signature, status updates, blogs, galleries, messages and on your profile page. We allow one exception: if you need to link to a product you are currently using in your skin care regimen and need to ask a question on a one time basis. We also do not allow any advertising to sell any products on the Acne.org message boards. This includes new or used products, regardless of brand or type. That pertains to offering to give people products as well. There are many web sites on which you can advertise, so please use those services if you wish to sell unwanted products.
• Linking:
  Linking to an external website will only be allowed if the information provided there is relevant to the topic, and if it does not conflict with the board rules. Linking to websites containing illegal or objectionable content is prohibited. Repeatedly linking to the same website/blog (including your own), or using referral links, is considered advertising/spamming, and will be dealt with accordingly. We do not allow linking to websites other than Acne.org in your signature. The moderators reserve the right to remove any link at their discretion.
• Signatures:
  Linking to sites other than Acne.org is not allowed. Your signature is limited to a maximum of 5 images. Any image greater than 550 pixels in width or 250 pixels in height will be removed. If the sum of the file sizes of the images is greater than 50 KB, all images will be removed.
• No offensive content:
  While you may quote other members, you must remove those quotes if/when you are asked to. People who want their quotes taken down should make the request themselves. Moderators should only be brought into it as a last resort.
• Doctors:
  Due to the peer sharing nature of Acne.org, we ask that members do not represent themselves as a doctor nor have a doctor related username or profile.

* Moderators will give one warning for these offenses, if it continues beyond that it will result in a ban from the website.

If you find a post that violates any of the above rules, please click the "report" button and notify a moderator. Moderators cannot be everywhere and do not see every post, so utilizing the report button can assist us in keeping the forums a nice place to visit. Thank you for your help.

Members who fail to follow the board rules will receive appropriate warnings and possible suspensions. If you persist in breaking forum rules, you may be banned permanently from this website. Warnings:

• 1st offense: Warning sent via PM; warning level raised to 20%
• 2nd offense: Suspension* (1-3 days); warning level raised to 40%
• 3rd offense: Suspension*; warning level raised to 60%
• 4th offense: Suspension or possible ban*; warning level raised to 80%
• 5th offense: Permanently banned

* Depending on severity of the case and at the moderator's discretion.

Note: If another account is created after being banned, that account will also be banned. Members who regularly cause trouble in particular forums, such as the Lounge, may be denied access to those forums before reaching an 80% warning level.

These are merely guidelines and the administration/moderator team reserves the right to take whatever action is felt appropriate based on individual circumstances up to and including immediate suspension.

While this board encourages members to share their feelings and frustrations in dealing with acne, it isn't a substitute for professional guidance. If a member seems to be threatening to harm him or herself, the moderating team will close the thread and ask the member to turn to resources better equipped to help them. People who repeatedly create threads about harming themselves may face suspension in order to encourage them to seek assistance in a more appropriate place.

Acne.org expects all members to be guided by common sense, professionalism, cooperation, and respect for others when posting on the forums. We realize that not everybody will like or agree with all of our rules. Still, if you would like to be a part of the community, please do your best to post accordingly and be a cooperative contributing member to this online forum.