The guidelines and rules listed below explain what behavior is expected of you and what behavior you can expect from other community members and Training for Entrepreneurs.com.  The guidelines and rules explain what is and is not allowed and what action to take if you see someone breaking the rules.  Please note that the following guidelines are not exhaustive, and may not address all manner of offensive behavior.  As such, the Training for Entrepreneurs.com shall have full discretion to address any behavior that we feel is inappropriate.  We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis.  The action we take may be more lenient or more severe than those listed under each category.

The forums are an extra to the Training for Entrepreneurs.com Members Only Area, and if you do not follow the rules then you will lose this privilege.  Your access to these forums is not a right.  Training for Entrepreneurs.com reserves the right to suspend your access to these forums and/or your account at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by these guidelines.
 We have the right to warn or ban for situations not listed.  However, you will always be informed of why any action is taken against you.

The Rules and Regulation Summary:

1. No extreme disrespect or attacks towards players.  / No fighting, insulting, cussing or cursing.
2. No inappropriate talk / No pornographic images or text.
3. No Profanity.
4. Never reveal your private information.
5. Non-Constructive posts are prohibited.
6. Private communication between Training for Entrepreneurs.com members, staff, and forum users is not to be made public on these forums or by any other venue. 
7. No SPAM or Advertising.
8. Impersonating another forum user, moderator, volunteer, administrator, or Training for Entrepreneurs.com employee is prohibited.
9. No proxy posting; no account hopping to evade suspension. 
10. No Legal Action threads. 

NO DISRESPECT towards Training for Entrepreneurs.com, the Forum, the Moderators or the Admin will be tolerated.
If you register and/or post in the Training for Entrepreneurs.com Forum, then you are acknowledging our right to enforce these rules and distribute punishments as the Training for Entrepreneurs.com staff see fit.  To make sure that you fully understand the rules, please read the complete copy of the Rules and Regulations.

Have fun and let’s exchange useful tips, tactics, and ideas about small business.

We will not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TOLERATE the undermining or insulting of the Training for Entrepreneurs.com Staff, Website, and/or Forum.  You will be held responsible for knowing and following these rules, and as such under no circumstances will not knowing the rules be a valid excuse for avoiding punishment.  If you have any questions regarding the Rules and Guidelines, please do not post your questions in a new topic as this will be a violation of the rules.  Rather, send your questions to the Training for Entrepreneurs.com Moderators.

1. Please Respect Others.  The purpose of this Forum is to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas.  Occasionally, conflicts may arise when people voice opinions.  Be courteous when disagreeing with others.  Debating an opinion is appropriate, however criticism against the originator of the opinion is not allowed.  Disrespect can be construed as flaming, trolling, harassing, profanity, abusive language or abbreviations, personal attacks, racial, religious, ethnic, sexual slurs, or similar behavior/language.  The following is a list of examples of behavior that is not tolerated on the Training for Entrepreneurs.com Discussion Forum:
   • Flaming is defined as posts which are designed to personally berate or insult another.
   • Trolling is defined as deliberately posting derogatory, inflammatory comments/threads in order to bait other users into responding.  Trolling or accusing someone of being a troll is also a form of trolling and is not permitted.
   • Posts similar to “Moderator Notified” or “Needs thread lock” are discouraged, as these types of posts are a form of trolling.  We appreciate that our members understand the Rules to the point where they can call whether or not a thread is in violation of them.  However, stating that a thread should be closed or is against the rules in the thread itself does not contribute to a constructive community and it does fall under spamming.  If you wish to acknowledge a post that violates policy.  If a thread is in violation of the forum rules, use the notify moderator button or send a private message to a moderator or administrator directly.
   • Personal attacks include, but are not limited to insulting a poster directly:  Example: “You are stupid, you suck, and you should [censored].”
2. No inappropriate talk.  This forum is not a place to chat about politics, race, religion, sex, drugs, and/or any other subject not related to small business. 
3. Please, no Profanity.  Thank you in advance for keeping the language on this Forum clean and not profane.  Intentional misspellings of swear words are also not allowed.
4. Never reveal your private information.  NEVER share your personal information like your phone number, address, e-mail, or passwords.  Please do not disclose yours or anyone else’s, private information.
5. Non-Constructive posts are prohibited.  Below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of non-constructive posts.  As a rule, non-constructive posting is not permitted:
   • Spam—this is considered to be repetitive posting of the same topic or text or nonsensical posts that have no substance and are often designed to annoy other forum users.
   • Bumping posts in order to keep them near the top of the list is also prohibited.  Likewise, the use of "/signed" posts are discouraged in that it doesn’t engender constructive discussion.  The act of bumping ones post is considered spamming and contributes nothing constructive to the discussion.  You may not double post in a thread, just edit your previous reply if someone hasn't replied after you.  Your thread will be seen; there is no need to continually bump it to the top of the list.
   • Do not create threads/posts to “petition” or “lobby” for game features, additions, changes, or other issues.  You may post suggestions and/or ideas to the boards, but you may not create a ‘petition’ for others to sign.  This is bumping in disguise and will not be allowed. 
   • Lobbying is continually bringing up the same topic repeatedly in numerous different threads or as an off-topic post in official threads to get developer attention.  This form of posting is not permitted.
   • Cross posting—As a courtesy to others before beginning a new thread, please look to see if an active thread on that topic has already been established using the Search feature.  If so, place your comments there instead.  Multiple threads on the same subject clutter up the Forum needlessly and many good ideas may be lost.  Use the Search link to keep discussions about one topic to one thread only.  However, if the related thread has been dead/idle for more than 6 months, you may create a new topic.
   • Negative feedback can be very useful, provided that it is presented in a civil, factual manner.  Tell us what you don't like and why and how you feel it could be improved.  Posts that are insulting and rude may be deleted, no matter how valid the ideas behind them may be.
   • A rant is a post which is long-winded, redundant, and filled with angry, non-constructive comments.  A free exchange of ideas is essential to building a strong sense of community and helpful in the development of the game, but rants are disruptive and incite flaming and trolling.  Please post your thoughts in a concise, clear manner and avoid going off on rambling tangents.
   • False obituary threads are considered highly improper, and knowingly posting false news of a member’s real-life death may result in a ban of your Forum account.
   • Threads that make threats or use other combative language are not allowed.
   • Do not post in all capital letters, use excessive punctuation, txt speak excessive emoticons or symbols?  This practice is used to draw attention to ones post.  While everyone wants their posts read, we ask that you please refrain from using sensational tactics in order to bring more people to your thread.  Let your post stand on its own merit, if people want to read it—or not.
   • Do not post new problems on someone else's thread.  That's called hijacking.  Aside from being rude, your question may get lost in the shuffle.
   • Avoid replying to topics that have been idle/dead for more than 6 months.  This will be considered spam as it clogs up the Forum with irrelevant topics.  Do feel free to start a new topic if you have some new information on the subject or wish to further converse about it.
   • Do not post about closed or deleted threads.  Posts that are moderated have a reason behind the moderation.  We close before we post on a closed thread to stop the violation in question as soon as possible, so if you have yet to see a comment by a member of the community team on a closed thread, please wait for it and do not post on the subject.
     
   • Make your questions and responses as clear and intelligible as possible.  Please use punctuation and well structured sentences to the extent possible.  It is easier to read and understand your problem (and solution) if it's easy to read.
6. Private communication between Training for Entrepreneurs.com members, staff, and Forum users is not to be made public on these Forums or by any other venue.  Please keep private conversations private.  You are not permitted to publicize any private correspondence without permission.  As such, warnings and bans are not to be discussed on this Forum.  Such matters shall remain private between Training for Entrepreneurs.com and the Member user.  Questions or comments concerning warnings and bans will be conveyed through e-mail messaging.  Likewise, discussions regarding moderator actions are not permitted on this Forum.  If you have questions regarding a post or thread that has been removed or subject to other moderation, please contact a moderator to discuss it.
7.  Impersonating another Forum user, moderator, volunteer, administrator, or Training for Entrepreneurs.com employee is prohibited.  Please do not impersonate anyone else.  It might seem funny at the time, but it can lead to a lot of confusion and possible problems.
8. You may not post advertisements.  Advertising on this Forum is strictly prohibited.  The TFE Main Street Marketplace is the place for advertising your products/services. 
9. No proxy posting; no account hopping to evade suspension.  Posting on behalf of a suspended Member is not allowed.  Working around a ban through other people’s accounts or secondary accounts to continue posting is also not allowed.  You are personally responsible for your conduct on this Forum.  Threads designed to announce, appeal or contest a banning will also be removed without notice
10. No Legal Action threads.  Using this Forum for encouraging, promoting, endorsing, or inciting any kind of legal action against anyone is strictly prohibited.
11. Zero Tolerance Policy.  Immediate suspension or bans from this Forum can result from any of the following: the posting of pornography; discriminatory remarks which are sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive; excessive obscene or vulgar language; posts which discuss or illustrate illegal activity; providing links to sites that contain any of the aforementioned.
12. Proprietary Forum.  The Training for Entrepreneurs.com Discussion Forums is private discussion Forums for Members only.  All Discussion Forum content is allowed at the discretion of Training for Entrepreneurs.com.  Training for Entrepreneurs.com reserves the right to remove any Discussion Forum content at will without notice for any reason.
13. Changes to these Rules and Regulations.  Training for Entrepreneurs.com may revise these Rules and Regulations at any time by amending this Page.  You are expected to periodically check this Page for notices of any changes/revisions to these Rules and Regulations.

Repeated violation of any of these rules will result in a permanent ban, and account deletion.  These rules are not language restrictive.  Violation in any language whether English or other will result in the punishments deemed necessary by the Administrators or Moderation team.  Posting on the forums and/or joining Training for Entrepreneurs.com is an indication that you agree to these conditions.