Food.com Forum Rules

(Last updated: 7/13/10)

Please read and accept all of the guidelines below and check the box at the bottom before participating in our community forums. If you are seeing this page for a second time, it is because Food.com staff felt it was necessary to remind you of these policies and penalties associated with breaking these guidelines.

1. Be polite and respectful to all members, including hosts and Food.com staff, at all times. Insults or belittling of other members is not tolerated. You can discuss and disagree without being rude or hostile. We often misinterpret other people's intentions and make mistakes in the heat of anger. If someone misinterprets your words, an apology goes a long way.
2. Political and religious ideology debates tend to cause inflamed discussions and hurt feelings which put you at risk of violating these guidelines, and are therefore strongly discouraged. This is a cooking site, after all, not a political or religious site.
3. No obscenities or pornography or adult humor. Food.com is kid-friendly so ALL material must be clearly suitable for children. There are plenty of places on the internet that welcome adult jokes; this isn't one of them.
4. No spamming or advertising. Linking to commercial content related to a current topic is acceptable, but everything else is probably spam. You can inquire about paying to advertise on Food.com by using the Advertise with us link at the bottom of every page.
5. Keep topics on-topic. Start new topics for new discussions instead of "hijacking" threads to talk about something different.
6. No discussing bad or negative reviews. While you may be frustrated, don't take it up in the forums where things can escalate quickly among members. This is a private issue, so either contact us, or contact the reviewer to discuss it politely and privately.
7. Our forums are also governed by our Terms of Service, which contains more guidelines about not posting other people's copyrighted material here or libeling others, etc.
8. Please report violations. We ask our community's help to let us know of any problems. Click the link at the bottom of any topic to "Notify us of inappropriate posts."
9. No discussing penalties or punished members in the forums. Food.com goes to great lengths to keep our penalties private in order to avoid member embarrassment. If you disagree with our actions in a certain situation, please remember that you do not know all of the circumstances.
10. Do not create fake accounts to skirt these guidelines. The use of multiple accounts or the use/theft of other people's identities when posting is strictly forbidden.
11. Posting here is a privilege, not a right. The privilege to post can be suspended or revoked at any time and completely at our discretion.

Violations

1. Violators will immediately lose all Forum privileges without notice (as well as the ability to send or reply to Private Messages). If you would like these features reinstated, you must submit a request for reinstatement. No privileges will be reinstated unless you can demonstrate your ability to comply with these guidelines, as well as offer assurance that the situation will not re-occur.
2. Serious offenses will result in the deactivation and closure of your account. Any content posted by you, recipes, cookbooks, etc., will be removed from your account and moved to another account.
3. Minor transgressions (or close calls) will cause this page to be displayed to you again and you will be required to re-acknowledge these guidelines before posting. If you see this page three times, the next time you violate the guidelines your privileges will be revoked.

Acceptance