Forum Rules and Guidelines (Revised 2/22/16)

Welcome to My Freemasonry!

Violations of the following rules may result in a post/thread being edited, deleted, or locked by a Moderator. In addition, they may issue infractions, warnings, and/or ban accounts with consideration to the severity of the violation, previous infractions, and/or length of membership:

• Respect Others - Be courteous to other forum members regardless of their race, sex, sexual orientation or age. Prejudice of any form is not tolerated.
• Personal Attacks - Constructive discussions, debates and free speech are encouraged in the forums. However, it is not constructive to criticize nor insult another member because their opinion differs from yours. Consider the tone of your posts before pressing the submit button. If your are irritated by a post, thread, question, or topic; you are in no way obligated to respond and are encouraged to move on to another thread.
• Trolling - Do not post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages to provoke users into responding in a negative way. Calling another member a troll is also a form of trolling.
• Taking Threads Off Topic - While the interplay of a conversation in the forums will naturally wander, users must not intentionally derail a thread from its original topic.
• Foul Language - My Freemasonry is a site used by people of all ages, so please keep posts, usernames, and links family appropriate. We use software filters to block some common language use and will not tolerate any attempts to beat such filters. Feel free to curse like a sailor at your home, not ours.
• Backseat Modding - refers to ordinary users taking a moderator-like tone in criticizing other members. Do not do this. If you feel a post or thread requires moderation, please use the report post button.
• Creating Multiple Accounts - The Staff and I receive daily reports on accounts created using the same IP address. Don't do it.

The following guidelines should be considered in regards to posting etiquette. Posts and/or threads may be edited, deleted, or locked by a moderator. Moderators may issue warnings and/or PM with a reminder to follow these guidelines:

• Make Relevant & Meaningful Posts - Threads containing posts that do not further the My Freemasonry community will be locked or deleted at the discretion of the moderators.
• Cross Posting - Do not post your question or topic in multiple forums or threads.
• Search Before Posting - Often times questions and/or topics have already been discussed in an existing thread. Before posting a new thread, please use the search feature to research your question.
• Post In The Right Forum - The forum index is broken down by categories. Unique forums exist for a reason. Before you create a new thread, please ensure it is being posted in the most applicable forum.

Violations of the following forum rules will result in an immediate ban of your account:

• Spam - Spam is not tolerated under any circumstance. Do not use the forums for the sole purpose of promoting external websites, blogs, services, or other products, without prior authorization.
• Pornographic Material - Do not post pornographic images or links to sites containing such material.

The following guidelines should be considered in regards to signatures, account registration, profiles, and personal information. Moderators may issue warnings and/or PM members reminding you to follow these guidelines. In addition, an Administrator may make account changes to force compliance:

• Usernames - Must not contain email addresses, websites, or be offensive in nature. My Freemasonryreserves the right to modify, delete, or ban accounts that do not meet these requirements.
• Multiple Usernames - You are only allowed to register one account. If we detect that you're using multiple accounts, we will ban them all.
• Private Info - Do not post personal contact information of yourself or others. This includes email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses. If you wish to contact another member, please use the email or PM features of our forum software. This is for your protection.

Links, Images, Avatars, and Signatures - Do not post items that may potentially offend members of the community. A variety of devices and connection types are used when viewing the forums. In consideration to others, please follow these additional guidelines:

• Links: Links to other 3rd party websites are encouraged via the Link Directory. Advertising or soliciting members is not permitted.
• Images: Images should not exceed 400x500 in size.
• Avatars: Images that are suggestive, graphic, or obscene are not permitted and will be removed at the discretion of the moderators.
• Signatures: Links to other 3rd party websites are not permitted, without prior authorization.

Masonic Related Rules, Regulations, and Notifications:

• This website is not sponsored by, endorsed, or related in any way to any Grand Lodge, constituent lodge, or appendant body.
• One of the overall purposes and goals for this community is to provide a place for Masons, their friends and families and those what would like to discuss and learn more about Masonry.
• While as stated above that we are not related to any official Masonic body, using their rules and regulations as guide as to what would be acceptable on these forums would be prudent. The My Freemasonry team shall be the sole arbitrator of what does and what does not violate community standards.
• Masonic ritual work ("memory work") shall not be posted on these forums, including the From Darkness To Light forum. This is a public forum, not a tyled Lodge.

Violations of the following forum rules may result in a temporary or permanent ban of your account at the discretion of a forum Administrator:

• My Freemasonry has the highest regard for individuals who volunteer their time to be a moderator. We trust that any action that a moderator does will follow the above rules and guidelines. Every day, our moderators make numerous edits, and thus, due to volume all actions by moderators are final.
• Do not post complaints about Moderators. All decisions by My Freemasonry staff to delete posts, edit posts, and lock threads, are final and not up for discussion. Send a PM to a Moderator if you have questions about a locked or edited post/thread.

Notification of Infringement
My Freemasonry respects the intellectual property of others and asks that users of our blogs, message boards, chat rooms and article submission forums do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes infringement of a copyright or other intellectual property, please contact us with the following information:

• A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
• A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Forums;
• Your name, address, telephone number and email address;
• A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
• A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.

Note: In many cases, authors of many Masonic writings have either passed on or have no contact information available. We receive numerous articles, poems and educational pieces that greatly benefit the Craft and to track down each and every source would be virtually impossible. In cases where the authors name is available, we ask that you simply provide the source of your article at the bottom of your post.


Appeals/Complaints:
If you feel that you are being treated unfairly, or have a question about an action, you may contact an Administrator.