• In a perfect world, everyone behaves and we wouldn't have any rules - unfortunately arguments happen and sensationalism sells.
• We try as much as possible to maintain your freedom of speech.
• If you are unhappy with an experience with a moderator, please contact US for a review of the issue.
• We reserve the right to refuse service to this site to any one, for any reason, at any time. Your being here is contingent upon your interacting in a friendly manner with the community. These rules may be updated at any time without notice to you, unlike our terms OF USE.

Major rules

1. Comments - should be diplomatic. Please attempt to make negative comments constructive and gentle
2. Marketing - is limited due to spam. You are welcome to advertise your poetry book in poem author notes, but it should be limited to 3" of screen height.
3. Contests - are the responsibility and choice of the author they are created by. We do not regulate whether rules are followed, if they are judged as promised, or how many entries are allowed. Contests cannot require entrants to comment on any specific person's poem. No contests just to hand out trophies.
4. Profanity - is allowed. If you are sensitive to swear words, please turn on the profanity filter in your display settings
5. Adult content - Images containing sexual acts or genitalia are never allowed. Adult posts must be in the category 'Adult' or 'Explicit'. Explicit items require the viewer to be 18. Users who signup that are between 15-18 have Adult items hidden by default.
6. Monitoring - Kevin and AnnD have access to messages and groups when necessary for resolving complaints. Such access is logged and reviewed for appropriateness
7. Fraud - is abuse of a feature of the site to your advantage. This includes exploiting bugs, making false accounts to mislead others, or attempting to get around a ban by creating multiple accounts.
8. Protests - must be kept to the policy forum, and are not allowed in poems or columns
9. Ignore list - If you have what appears to be an irresolvable problem with another author, please put that author on your ignore list. If the problem still somehow persists, please use "Contact us" in the bottom left.
10. Only poems as poems - for other items click the drop down by poems and choose 'Column'. Complaints, protests, are only allowed on the policy forum.
11. Publications - We encourage members publishing books together from each.

Post only your own work. You cannot:

1. Plagiarize works, posting them without crediting the author. This carries a harsher ban schedule, see below.
2. Post works not by you, even when you credit them. On profile pages, this is only enforced by copyright owner complaint. Our site is designed to share your own works for critique.
3. Public-domain foreign-language works are allowed, the author must be credited at the top of the post.

Be kind to others. You cannot:

1. Post works that reference other members in a derogatory manner, as determined by the moderators
2. Harass, stalk, or verbally abuse another user. The ignore list is the first solution to this.
3. Beg for money, memberships or other things. This includes trading points for memberships, advertising other websites, and gambling.
4. Send out messages or comments to multiple people asking them to read poems, get contest entries, points, favorites. This causes issues when lots of people message or comment wanting something. (Spam)
5. Add fake text to comments
6. Troll - which is posting with the goal or result of making people upset.

Please act appropriately. You cannot:

1. Site protests are only allowed on the "Suggestions & Policies" forum page, not in posts, groups, contests, or elsewhere. This is so we can have a consistent place to reply.
2. All individuals should feel welcome and not preyed upon. Requests for off-site contact without an established friendship is offensive and considered harassment.
3. Use the site for cybersex, regardless of age, as we could get in trouble. Cybersex involving a minor carries a harsher ban schedule, see below.
4. Use non-G rated language in usernames, or strongly sexual language or images on profile pages.
5. Post images that are pornographic, excessively violent, or otherwise disturbing, as determined by the moderators. Nudity is only allowed on pages that can be added to the adult category, and cannot be considered pornographic.
6. All posts with sexual themes must have the adult or explicit category added.
7. Disguise words to get around the profanity filter
8. Promote illegal, racist, or overly disgusting activities. This includes rape, torture, pedophilia, death notices, incest, self-mutilation, cutting, suicide, and suicide notes. Posts about coping with these things are allowed.
9. Engage in sexually explicit talk or commenting with children under the age of eighteen, including sexuality, desirability, or physical attributes. Or with anyone in public comments
10. Lie about your age if you are a minor, as otherwise adults could get in trouble for age-inappropriate comments.
11. Solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 18.
12. leave contests un-judged too long. Contests left un-judged more than 3 weeks will be judged by volunteers and you may be fined points.

Warning / Ban Process The first time a rule is broken, a warning is given. Further problems within 3 months result in a "ban ladder" of 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, then a lifetime ban. Each 3 months of inactivity moves you back down a notch on the ladder. Two rules carry stronger penalties - plagiarism, and cybersex involving a minor. These skip a few steps, from warning to 1 week, to a lifetime ban.