Rules sections

Board rules

These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on The Ferry Forums. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors.

  1. Behaviour

    1. Membership is granted on the basis that we will be polite at all times and respect each other’s views. #
    2. The governing ethos of the Forum will be common sense and common courtesy. #
    3. Discussions will be conducted in a civilised manner. #
    4. Bad language will not be tolerated, neither will “flaming” or personal abuse of fellow members. #
    5. Any criticism or disagreements should be expressed in a constructive manner with a view to taking the issue under discussion forward. #

  2. Rules

    1. Posts should always be appropriate to the thread. Topics should not be hijacked by irrelevant posts which contribute nothing to the subject matter. These may be removed without notice. #
    2. Any post written to promote or sell another product or service will deleted. This also includes members pages and information. #
    3. Humour should be appropriate to a family orientated community. #
    4. No racist, homophobic, sexist or sectarian comments will be permitted. #
    5. Copyright: Do not post the entire text of another site's article - please write an abstract only to let other readers know what the article is about and then link the article underneath. Always attribute the source of an image, document etc. #
    6. Do not post any news or information that isn't approved for release or does not have permission to be shared in the public domain. As above, always attribute sources for transparency. #
    7. Political issues should only be referenced insofar as they directly impact on the consequences for ferry travel and related matters. Any discussions should be objective, factual and not coloured by the political views of participants. Members must agree to disagree! #

  3. Images

    1. You must solely own, or have permission to post, for any image you directly post on the forum. #
    2. All images must be properly accredited, even if it is your own image, for clarity. This can be on the image itself or in the accompanying text. #
    3. Images from social media must be embedded, the whole tweet, post etc., not just a copy of the image. #
    4. External images must be linked to, not added to the forum, with correct accreditation. #
    5. You must not pass off any image as your own when you do not own the image rights. #

  4. General Considerations

    1. The Ferry Forums is not responsible for the content and images posted on the forum as postings are live and not pre-approved. Content considered to be inappropriate may be edited or removed at any time by the Moderators at their discretion. #
    2. Your membership is personal to you alone and you are responsible for posts made under your screen name. Do not allow it to be used by anyone else under any circumstances. You yourself must not impersonate others by use of your screen name or by the content of your posts. #

  5. Moderator Guide

    1. Moderators may support members in making minor changes to posts to bring them into line with Forum Principles and Rules by mutual agreement with posters. This constitutes informal moderation on a friendly basis. No formal report required. #
    2. Moderators may also edit posts at the request of members to rectify errors at their discretion. #
    3. Individual Moderators may edit or remove material in posts which clearly contravene the Principles and Rules of the Forum, in which case the details must be entered into the Moderator log, preferably with extracts of the offending text. #
    4. If disciplinary action is indicated then this should be by majority vote of the moderating Panel. #
    5. Disciplinary options will be warnings to the offending member and if that fails then a temporary or permanent suspension from the Forum as agreed by a majority moderator vote. #

  6. Helping Support The Ferry Forums & Donations

    1. Set up and run by enthusiasts as an independent not for profit entity, The Ferry Forums has no official affiliations. None of the companies, organisations or ferries that may be discussed on the forums have any editorial or financial control over the content or any of the opinions expressed within. #
    2. Being independent, the costs of running the forum are covered by donations and a little income from advertising, so any donation made will directly go towards these costs and forum improvements. #
    3. All donation amounts are voluntary and at the discretion of the individual member which allows people to donate in line with the enjoyment they derive from the forum. #
    4. Donations do not confer any privileges unless explicitly stated apart from contributing to the continuing enjoyment of ferries for all. #