Site Rules

Hi!

We've reached a point in our growth as a community where it's time to lay down some rules.

But before the rules, an explanation:
I am an enabler. I love being enabled. I love sharing the goodness of all the wonderful sites out there, and the gorgeous product that we can all use to create our pages. That's something I don't want to lose. *I also don't want to police things.* But if rules are set and agreed to by the community, we can all develop a place where we can enjoy our hobby in freedom, make friends across the globe, and help one create.

I also have no intention selling product on a large scale here, and because of this, I don't feel any competition from designers or shoppes who DO sell product. In fact, I welcome their designs, because I want to use them, too!

So in light of these facts, here are the rules, effective immediately. Most of these are an "on your honor, respect us and we respect you" kind of basis, ok?

1. Just like your mom says, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  "Flaming" another member simply isn't OK.  If you have an issue to discuss with another member on the Planet, ask for their phone number and call them, send them an email or write them a letter.  We won't tolerate "flaming".
2. If you are a designer or owner of an online store, please do not post new threads in the forum about the products you sell. This is not a place for free advertising, but a place to share and learn. You can, however, post in the gallery, and work through your DT to help people find specific product they're looking for. 
3. If you are a DT member, and you're super excited about something in your designer's shoppe, *feel free to *occasionally* post in the forum or blog area about it*. As I mentioned above, we love being enabled. If someone posts requesting a specific type of product and you know your designer's stuff fits the bill, feel free to post. However, if your posts become 'all about ads' and not about contributing to the community, you'll be warned and then banned. We love enablement, and we love to hear about specific products you're excited about, but nobody loves a pushy salesperson. I think we can tell the difference.
4. If you are an owner or a DT member, and would like to post your creations in the General Gallery, that's awesome! Please do NOT post product previews, though - these must be projects that you have created. You may also include a direct link to the product itself (NOT to the home page of your web site or store), but PLEASE do not include any 'advertising language', by which I mean things like "On sale now!" "For a limited time!" "10% off today only!" "I sell these great templates at xyz site" and so forth. Link us up to the product, and let your design speak for itself.
5. Please don't use our groups or our email system or even our comment forms as a way to "spam" members. Just like on the forums, we're not here for unpaid advertising and many of our members find if "off putting." You're welcome to have a banner ad in your group for members to click through to your store... you're also welcome to post coupons and incentives in the Events area; however, unsolicited sales and promotional emails are expressly prohibited, even to members of your own group.
6. I like to say that we're like Facebook, but for paper crafters -- but really, your personal pictures should not be put in the public galleries. Please use our Flickr widget (or any other photo links you want) to add personal photos to your "My Page" and let's keep the public gallery for our art work.
7. All that said, we do have a Group area that allows you to set up an area to discuss what you want to discuss.  If you own a webstore or simply want to host your own challenges, you're welcome to start a Group.  Groups are a place where advertising and product promotion is allowed - however, you can not direct sell from Paper Craft Planet. 
8. Placing "commercials" in our video area is not OK.  That's a resource area for educational purposes only.  Feel free to demonstrate your product and mention where you purchased supplies, but no "sales verbiage" can be listed in the video or in the description.  No swaps, giveaways, or other promotions may be listed in that area.  Videos that are in violation of this rule will be removed without warning.
9. Last thing -- but certainly as important as anything else -- as crafters, we love to share.  It's in our nature.  Sharing of copyrighted images -- digital or stamped -- is theft.  This isn't just against the Planet's rules, it's against the law.  If you'd like to share an image with a friend, buy it for her!

*Addendum: You may link to your personal blog and to your store in your signature.

Violators of the rules will be banned.  I'm happy to give slight offences a warning, but spam our members or post your advertisement in our forum or blog area, and you and your content will be removed from the site. Sounds harsh, but there it is. We don't want to see our community abused. We don't want the members of our community to have advertising forced upon them while they come here to learn. So we'll have a great time together if we can agree to this.

Again, you can post your coupons, freebies and promotion links in our Events area, OK? Feel free to send me an email with your comments/requests/feedback in this area. We don't want to be unwelcoming, and we love product! You can contact me HERE.

Thank you so much for joining our community here! PaperCraftPlanet.com is a wonderful and welcoming community, and we want to keep it that way - a place of warmth and trust and integrity. Thank you!

Susanna