Updated Hyperlink Policy In Forums!!!

New Policy Update Notice

Subject: Hyperlinks In Posts

Effective Date: 9/16/2006

The following is now the current policy regarding the offering hpyperlinks in posts that are offered into The Trucker's Report Discussion Forums:

This is the list of hyperlinks that are allowed into posts by members;

1.) Links to information about trucking specific products and services are allowed under the following conditions:

A.) If another member specifically requests assistance in locating online sources of information on a service or products.

B.) If the link to the above is topical to the area of discussion within the thread and post it is contained.

Note: Members who have recently joined the site will be scrutinized for IP Address duplication and the creation of multiple member names, to thwart any ambition to create a dialog as a backdoor attempt to advertise or plug a website. Upon the first instance that this is evident, the member(s) in question will be permanently and immediately banned.

2.) Links that direct members to sources of free information ARE allowed, again as long as they are topical to the discussion in the post and thread in which it is contained.

3.) Links to news articles are allowed. The polite and traditional way to do this is to copy and paste the few first lines of the article, and then post a link to the rest of the article below those lines of text. It allows the person to receive credit for their work.

4.) Links to Government websites are allowed.

5.) Links to trucking related blogs, stories, and similar site are allowed, so long as it DOES relate in some way to trucking, or appropriate to the topic of discussion within a thread, and DOES NOT appear to be offered in a manner that appears to be seeking "hits" to a personal site of some sort. If a member finds an interesting trucking related site, before posting the link, PLEASE offer a short description of why they find it interesting, and what the site contains. If the member simply writes, "Hey I found a neat site!", and then posts the link, the post will be deleted.

6.) Links to other discussion forums will be allowed, but only under the following conditions;

A.) In response to a request for information and/or opinion regarding a topic that is not covered on this site extensively, or where there is more information that a member is aware of that may be of assitance to the other member.

B.) To sites that are topic specific. There are discussion boards out there that are extremely topical to those who hold jobs within the union sector of trucking, boards that are for specific company employees or interested parties, and/or that specialize in areas of discussion that this site does not.

7.) NOTE: UPDATE OF THIS RULE 9/30/06 - Links to any other part of this site will be allowed unrestricted at any time in posts, including signature sections of all members posts. As long as it links to a page or section of THIS SITE, it is acceptable. Links to any other site in signatures or in an unlosicited manner are still prohibited.

This is the list of hyperlinks that are NOT ALLOWED into posts by members under any circumstances unless excepted below;

1.) Links to any off-topic site or to any site that may be considered SPAM. Any unsolicited link posted under any circumstance will be deleted and the member will be banned permantly and immediately upon discovery of the link.

2.) Links to offensive material, as viewed by any moderator of this site, such as those related to to pornography, racially insensitive sites, those that are not respectful to religious choice, etc., as may be deemed so by any Adminstrator or Moderator of this site, will be deleted upon discovery, and depending on the content of the site, may result in either a temporary or permanent ban from the discussion forums.

3.) Links to any site that is a solicitation to sell a product or service, UNLESS such information on a providing retailer or service provider is requested by another member, as outlined in the allowed links section above. Any unsolicited attempt to advertise on this site will result in an immediate and permanent ban from the discussion forums.

4.) No repetitive links, or a pattern of linking to one specific site will be allowed, without good reason. If a request is repeated and you can easily point them to the post where the applicable link was offered, please offer a link to that post in the forums.

5.) No hidden links contained within text will be tolerated under any circumstance, and any violation of this rule, will result in an immediate and permanent ban from the forums.

6.) No links will be allowed in any signature sections of a member's post, with the ONLY exception being for clickable links to pages found within the boundaries of thetruckersreport.com website. Amended 9/30/06

7.) No e-mail addresses will be allowed in any signature or within any text in a post will be allowed.

Note: All administrators, moderators, or representatives of The Trucker's Report are exempted from rules 4 and 6 of this section.

Please, out of courtesy and to easily identify links, underline them as you insert them into a post. There is no auto-underline feature that can be activated. To do this, simply highlight the link by running your mouse across it with your left mouse button held down, release it when it is completely highlighted, and then click on the "U" at the top left of the text box tool bar. There will be no penalty if someone forgets to do this or refuses to do this. This is merely a request.

All decisions by moderators are final in regard to the above amendment on this subject, and no discussion will be entertained in disagreement with their decisions. Please accept any decision with the understanding that we are only attempting to protect the integrity of this site, and the discussion forums.

This amendment will be inserted into the Terms of Service Policies that can be viewed here:

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr.../9104-updated-terms-service-rules-please.html

Our thanks to the following members for their contribution and input in regard to updating this policy: Rawlco, Luvmyhubby, Ronnocomot, Cybergal, Mydogsnores, Portlanddriver, Donnalou, Toolfan2k4, Burky, and Pro1driver.

alp:ttr
cc: Admin/hidden/TOS insert