Weddingbee boards

Hi everyone :)

Our team has been hard at work creating a brand new Commenting Policy.  This is a direct response to the discussion we had on the boards about a week ago.  We've long needed an updated commenting policy, and we've been working hard to come up with a set of clear guidelines that are responsive to community needs.  We anticipate that this will make moderator decision making much more clear to the community!  I want to take this opportunity to thank the moderators and the hostesses for their valuable input on this document... But most importantly, we want to thank the Community for their many helpful suggestions and the impetus for making this happen.  Thanks for checking them out!

Here at Weddingbee, our mission is to create a friendly, supportive place where brides and grooms can ask questions, share resources, and make friends during their wedding planning process and beyond.  We value robust discussion and encourage support between our community members who come from many backgrounds and have many different viewpoints.  It is inevitable that from time to time members may have differences of opinion.  It is easy for those differences to dissolve into petty arguments, name-calling and judgment, instead of supportive and respectful dialogue.  While we value the differences that make us individuals, we also cherish the sense of Community that the Hive represents.

We prefer a hands-off approach to moderation, and give great consideration to the moderation decisions we have to make.  In order to facilitate our moderation philosophy we encourage members of the Weddingbee Community to self-moderate and to help keep this a civil, supportive, and positive site!  We also encourage members to use the Flag feature to provide feedback to the moderation team.  More about the flag feature can be found here.  Comments that clearly violate the terms of this commenting policy may be edited or removed by the moderation team as necessary.

Commenting Guidelines for All Members

i.      We don’t allow posts that are intended to be rude, sarcastic, insulting, berating, argumentative, condescending, personally attacking, or that otherwise harass users of the Weddingbee site.  Please do not post threads for the sole purpose of criticizing, mocking, or otherwise disparaging others’ wedding, waiting, or nesting choices.  Weddingbee is a diverse community with members across the globe.  No single culture is better than any other, and we value every member’s perspective.  We reserve the right to remove such posts as necessary.

ii.      While individuals sometimes disagree, we expect such disagreements to be handled in a mature manner.  Please refrain from leaving comments that exhibit intolerance for individuals or groups of people including excessive rudeness, defamatory remarks, racist remarks, threats, or profanity directed at other members.

iii.      While Weddingbee is an adult site and we do allow the use of profanity in an expressionistic way, please refrain from swearing at other members or using unnecessary profanity in thread titles, as many of our members use the site in a professional setting.

iv.      Please refrain from name calling.  Whether it’s directed toward another community member with whom you’re having a disagreement, or toward someone you suspect is only here to cause trouble (a.k.a. a “troll”), it’s never acceptable to call another member names on Weddingbee.

v.      Please refrain from baiting.  Baiting is the act of encouraging responses or replies in order to cause dissent or discord; to instigate participation in a negative way.  Anytime you call attention to drama you’re amplifying it and actively participating in it, which is a violation of these policies.  This includes “last wording” or refusing to let an argument go.  For more information about name-calling and baiting, please see this thread.

vi.      Anyone “trolling” or posting solely to create drama or conflict for Weddingbee, our members, hostesses, Bees, or our volunteer moderators will be immediately banned.

vii.     Users are only allowed one account.  If you feel the need to post something very personal or very private, you may create a secondary account for that purpose; but we ask that you stop using that account after your question is answered.  Additional accounts opened for the sake of starting drama, being rude anonymously, or responding to yourself will be closed immediately.  The user will be warned and, depending on the nature of what happened, risks losing their main account.  You can read more about sockpuppets on Weddingbee here.

viii.      We do not allow members to self promote on the boards.  This includes links to your personal blog or website (outside of the monthly “Share Your Blogs” thread), contests that you, your friends, or family are a part of, your Etsy shop or other business ventures, your classified ads or other sale items, invite codes for sale sites, and other links that may afford you tangible gain.  We also request that members not use the site to conduct market research, school research, or other information gathering for personal gain.  Signature lines are not permitted.  For information on the history of our Self Promotion Policy, you can see the original discussions here and here.

ix.      Please use photos with discretion.  This means you should avoid using photos of individuals who are not aware that you are posting their image.  Stock photos, advertisements, and inspiration photos are acceptable.  It is often helpful to post a link for attribution.  If you are unsure whether it is okay to use a certain photo, please ask the photographer or publisher prior to using it.

x.      Please avoid threadjacking on Weddingbee.  Be courteous of threads that others have started, and focus on the original question or discussion.  If you would like to start a discussion about a subject tangential to a thread, please start a new thread to pursue it.  You can see this thread for more information.

xi.      Members come and go, but we discourage “flounce” posts (hasty goodbyes criticizing Weddingbee or its users that are written to stir up drama).  We reserve the right to delete or close these posts if they are particularly disruptive to the community.

xii.      Please do not link to or reference other discussion boards with the intent to disparage their members, content, or staff.

xiii.      Private Messages (PMs) are private.  Please do not repost PMs you receive on the boards and do not share PMs with other members without permission from the original sender.

xiv.      Hostesses and Moderators volunteer their time/efforts and work hard to make Weddingbee a fun, helpful, and supportive community. We welcome discussion about our policies, but opinions and statements about individual moderators should be made to Mrs. DG by private message.  We expect moderators to be treated with the same respect as other board members and the same rules apply regarding personal attacks.

There are times when a member remains unresponsive to our requests to abide by the commenting policy.  When this occurs it may become necessary for a member to be banned.  Members will be made aware that this is a possibility and given an opportunity to abide by the commenting policy.  If they are unable to do so, then the ban will go into effect.

Deletion Policy

At this time, Weddingbee does not support deletion of threads or posts unless absolutely necessary, even at the request of the original poster.  It is strongly recommended that you not post personal information on the boards and use caution when sharing personal information by Private Message.  You are responsible for the personal information you share online.  You have one hour to edit any post you create, by clicking the “Edit” button beneath the post.  After that time, threads can be deleted for significant breeches of privacy only (e.g. you disclosed your full name, street address, phone number, etc.).  To request deletion see the Support Board, where the full deletion policy can also be found.

Leaving Vendor Reviews

Our brides often wish to share their experiences with wedding vendors to help other brides.  You can do this by visiting our Vendor Reviews section and entering your own review, where it will be easy for other brides to find while researching their vendors.  However, if you wish to also post on the boards about your experience with a vendor, the following guidelines apply:

i.      Keep in mind that if you name your vendor, they will often find and read your post!  Therefore, you may want to limit your comments to those that you would say directly to your vendor.  Please view our comment deletion policy so that you may understand that something said in anger is not eligible for comment deletion long after a situation has been resolved.

ii.      Give the vendor a chance to respond and/or take action - either on the post, by email, or by telephone.  If the situation is resolved to your satisfaction, please return to your thread and post an update for the benefit of everyone involved.

iii.      If you do name a vendor, please write posts in a factual manner and avoid inflammatory statements.  If you share what the vendor has done in an objective way, then our readers can make their own informed opinion.

iv.      When posting about vendors, be responsible and fair.  It’s never appropriate to talk about “destroying” a vendor.  Any such statements may result in your post being removed.

Vendor Participation on Weddingbee

Vendors are welcome to use the site for personal use, but not to promote their own company on the Boards, Bios, DIY, or Gallery pages - including links to their website, store, blog, or Facebook page.  We also do not allow vendors to post their email address or phone number on the boards.  Vendors who fail to comply with the following rules may have their accounts revoked at any time without warning.  Vendors may:

i.      Promote their websites or businesses on Classifieds only.

ii.      Post to the Boards, DIY, Gallery, and Bios (but not promote their business in anyway).

Vendors may not:

i.      Solicit customers on other users’ classified listings.

ii.      Post to the boards to promote their website or businesses (including using signature lines, watermarked photos, or posting links to their business or blog, including in the monthly Share Your Blogs thread) or industry (e.g. a planner posting about how hiring a wedding planner essential to the success of a wedding, or a DJ trash talking iPod receptions).

iii.      Post to the Boards, DIY, Gallery or Bios to promote their business or website.

iv.      PM users to promote their business or solicit clients, except to reply to classified listings.

v.      Post contact information in the location field of their profile.

If you are interested in advertising on Weddingbee, please contact Mrs. Penguin for more information. If you have any questions about these terms of service, please contact Mrs. DG.