SAPFM Forum Guidelines

Revised February 1, 2022

Welcome to the SAPFM Forums. The Forums are intended to promote the accumulation, preservation, and distribution of period furniture making knowledge and information. Your use of the SAPFM Forums means that you agree to abide by the guidelines and conditions listed below.

General Topics

User roles and responsibilities

All Forum users are either Guests or Members.

  • Guests are all Forum users who have not logged into their SAPFM Forum account. Guests may only view Forum content, they may not post anything or reply to any posting.
  • Members are Forum users who have logged into their Forum account. Members have full access to all Forum features.
  • Moderators are Forum members who oversee the communications within a particular forum. The goal of the moderator is to keep forum postings on topic and maintain adherence to Forum guidelines. Moderators may, at their discretion, edit/delete/move user postings in their assigned forum.
  • Administrators are Forum members who oversee the efficient operation of the SAPFM Forums and monitor general usage of the Forums, assist users, and enforce Forum guidelines. Administrators may, at their discretion, modify/delete user accounts and postings in any forum.

Guideline interpretation, appeal, and change

Moderators and Administrators are solely responsible for interpreting and enforcing the Forum guidelines. All interpretations/decisions may be appealed to the SAPFM President whose decisions are final.

Forum guidelines may be modified as deemed appropriate by the Administrators. All changes will be posted in revised guidelines and, unless otherwise specified, will take immediate effect.

Guideline violations

Users should report posts thought to be in violation of the guidelines “Report” link found at the lower left of every message. Reports can also be made to the forum Moderator or any Administrator. Users who have been deemed to violate these guidelines may have their posting privileges restricted or removed. As with all guideline interpretations, a user may appeal to the SAPFM President if disagreement still exists. The President’s decision will be final.

Jurisdiction

The SAPFM Forums are the property of The Society of American Period Furniture Makers, a 501(c)(3) Virginia non-profit corporation with offices at P.O. Box 379, Williamsburg, VA 23187. The SAPFM Forums are governed by the laws and statutes of the State of Virginia and applicable U.S. Federal law. The Forums will be interpreted in accordance with the courts of the State of Virginia, which have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any claim or dispute arising from use of these Forums.

Forum Usage and Posting

The following guidelines apply to your use of the SAPFM Forums and all posts you may make. You are solely responsible for the content of your messages. You agree to indemnify and hold SAPFM and their agents harmless for any claim resulting from your actions within the SAPFM Forums.

Please remember - Forum contents are public. Post at your own risk!

Everything you post, including your profile, is visible to Administrators, Moderators, Members, Guests, search engines, and internet bots (whose intent can be categorized as ranging from harmless to malicious). SAPFM does not warrant, approve, or in any way assume responsibility for the accuracy or utility of any information posted in the SAPFM Forums.

Forum accounts and registration

A person may have only one Forum account. If multiple accounts are found only one may be kept active. All other accounts will be deactivated.

Any person without a currently active Forum account may register for a new account. Registration requires the user to provide the following information:

  • Username – the name that will be shown with all your messages. You may use any name you wish as long as it adheres to these guidelines and isn’t already used by another user.
  • Email address – the email address that will be used for all communication with you. You may use any email address that isn’t already used by another user. Please note that you will be required to confirm your access/control of the email address by responding to a verification email after your initial registration request.
  • Password – Your password may be of any length or complexity. Please select a secure password.
  • Location – this allows us to monitor where our users reside so we can tailor services appropriately. Please provide the city, state, country. Do NOT provide specific mailing addresses.
  • Site Email Preference – where you choose whether or not to receive emails from the SAPFM Forums. You may change your preference at any time.

Once you have registered for a Forum account you will receive a verification email at the address provided during registration. You must respond to the instructions in that email to complete your account registration.

Forum account management

Your account profile may include as much information as you want, within generous technical limitations. Creative or humorous content may be used. However, advertising or personal/business promotion is not permitted. Avatar images must conform to the general Forum image guidelines listed below.

Your account signature must follow these guidelines:

  • 80 characters maximum, including spaces, on one or two lines
  • A site name, link and general tagline for your personal website is permitted
  • Images and increased font size are not permitted.
  • Colors, bolding, and italicizing are permitted.

You may request deactivation of your account by sending email to the site administrator. Requests will be completed as quickly as possible but no timeline is guaranteed.

Please note that Forum accounts may be disabled but, in order to maintain the original context of all forum postings, your posted content will not be deleted. Site administrators may, at their discretion, delete both user accounts and postings.

Forum atmosphere and content restrictions

The SAPFM Forums are for the discussion of period furniture and construction practices. We require that you maintain respect for all users, organizations, and businesses. Personal attacks or derogatory remarks will result in loss of posting privileges.

Just like family reunions, discussions of politics, religious beliefs, and sexual content are prohibited. No discussions, references or links to these topics are permitted anywhere.

References to businesses and services should be limited to descriptions of personal experience only. The forums should not be used as a marketing tool.

Buying and selling of items, including offers to buy/sell, is restricted to forums clearly marked as sales venues. References and discussion of prior/completed transactions are permitted in any forum. Links to vendors who sell materials and supplies are permitted within the context of general discussions (i.e., not pure sales pitches).

Spam, redirects, business or personal promotion

Spamming of other users by any means is prohibited (including by using information obtained from this venue). Referral links or redirects are considered spam.

Posts may not be pure business promotion. There is certainly room for describing your skills or business acumen without crossing the line into using the Forums for personal profit. Moderators and Administrators will consider the intent of all user postings when determining if a particular post crosses that line.

 

Copyright Notice and Guidelines

SAPFM supports compliance with copyright law in all respects. The following guidelines are applicable to the use and posting of images and other electronic material regarding any and all of your personal posts on these Forums.

You may not post images that you didn’t create unless you have the owner’s explicit permission. All images and digital material posted including what you create and reference by links must conform to this policy.

SAPFM Forums Copyright Notice

©2022 SAPFM - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

It is the policy of SAPFM to respect the copyright of third parties and to claim and defend its own copyrights to the full extent of the law.

All SAPFM-owned Trademarks, Titles, Logos, Names and Descriptions of Categories and Forums including but not limited to the SAPFM Forums are the property of SAPFM and World-Wide Ownership Rights are hereby asserted and protected.

All Intellectual Property and Images appearing on these Forums in any form or format are Ownership and Copyright Protected World-Wide.

If you wish to share information contained on these Forums, it is recommended to use a link to the site or respective post. No post or part of a post may be copied, published, stored or placed on any other website or publication without specific written permission of SAPFM. Permission can be requested by contacting the Forums Administrator.

Member Postings on the SAPFM Forums:

  • Members retain copyright ownership, rights, and privileges for each post you make and the content therein. You may reuse your posts in any way desired. You may not reuse the entire thread that contains other member’s posts in addition to your own.
  • By contributing to these Forums, you agree to grant SAPFM a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable license for use of and the right to publish and distribute your posts, in its entirety or in part, for educational purposes.
    • Such use includes posts or parts thereof, including but not limited to photographs and drawings.
    • Publication and distribution shall be limited to SAPFM publications, websites and social media sites now known or later developed, and other media published or created by SAPFM.
  • You may not withdraw or retract your posting(s) or seek compensation from SAPFM in relation to this license now or at any time in the future.
  • SAPFM agrees that it will not sell, transfer, or license the right to copy and use postings from these Forums to third parties.
  • No one may post any photograph or other material protected by copyright, unless they are the owner, without first receiving the express written permission of the copyright owner.
    • Email correspondence is an acceptable form of permission.
    • This includes reproducing the full text or substantial part of any written material such as news stories, articles, books, etc.
      • It is acceptable to paraphrase other works only if the original source is cited.
      • It is also acceptable to mention or link to other websites that are of interest to users of the Forums so long as it does not violate the SAPFM Forum Guidelines or the linked website's guidelines.
      • Please cite the URL followed by the date that the website was last accessed (e.g., " accessed on January 01, 2022.”)
  • You agree to indemnify and hold SAPFM and its agents harmless against any and all claims of damages to persons or property, losses, and liabilities, including reasonable attorneys' fees caused by:
    • Any and all postings by any other contributor to these Forums, and
    • Any and all actions, including editing and deleting your posts (in whole or in part), and loss of posting privileges or posting restrictions at the discretion of the Forums administrators and moderators for actual or perceived SAPFM Forums guidelines infractions.