WAHM Forums

I just got a note from the Moderater saying my post used too many exclamations points. Are they serious? Now I understand why wahm.com is not as busy as it used to be! (Oops...I used one again)

Where is YOUR favorite place to connect with other wahm's? Facebook? (Hope I have not used too many questions marks)

I think that applies to subject lines. They created that rule a few weeks ago because people were using punctuation excessively to get their subject lines noticed. I actually like the level of moderation here. If you follow the rules and moderation is poor, then other people will break the rules and promote their company and have an advantage over you. There is a forum here where you can express concerns about administrative issues. I suggest you ask there why this level of moderation is necessary.

I have noticed that there are not as many posts or discussions as before on wahm. I remembered couple years ago there were so many people on here that I knew, discussions were lively although sometimes they got heated but it was certainly interesting. I believe thats when Cheryl was the owner (not positive of her name).

I dont use any other forums other than wahm to connect with wahmers :) as the appeal is not there anymore. At one time there were so many message boards and I would go there and see people from here. Now its not the same. People have found other ways to connect like Twitter and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/suzette.cookielee) as you can create a page and people can follow you and get to know you, which is the essence of our business.

Regarding their rules: I dont understand them (like when they removed the Cookie Lee folder as there werent enough consultants posting) but its their board and in the end I really dont care.

I'm on FB at least twice a day, here at least once a day, and Twitter once a week. The activity here has died down a bit seeing how there are so many groups now on Facebook. But that's my opinion.

Hi Tsmom,

Rules are certainly changing here as I received many notices last week when I was attempting to
share my new business on the advertise your business folder. I used two many capitols, business name in the wrong place and exclamation points. I even got a ten day warning. It's important for all of us to read the posting rules as they have changed. It is frustration at times when you think your post is just fine and then your notified that they have deleted the post. The moderator has been kind and helpful to help me understand the new rules that I have been breaking. She stresses the importance of reading the posting rules. I'm still abit confused with them but, I know I can go to her with questions.

This is a great place to network so let's all continue to follow the rules and all will be great.

Happy Holiday's,
Catherine

hey janette! yeah i hear ya i keep getting repramanded too. I type like I talk! and i do use lots of characters etc. must be the italian in me!! oops too many exclamations... yeah i see that this board is not as it used to be way back when... good to "see" you here.

karen

I'll admit I think society is going overboard with the question marks. How many question marks does it take to ask a question? I even see businesses posting on facebook using multiple question marks.

I guess that's my pet peeve. :)

The rules have changed , then changed yet again over the past year as Admin strives to make this forum more business-like.

Moderators do not "make" the rules we just enforce them and those breaking them. If you follow the rules as posted you will never hear from us at all. If you have questions regarding any of the rules, PM us. We always answer.

The below are the general forum rules.
There is a separate set of forum rules for the "promote your business" folders.
So now for your viewing pleasure the Administrators General forum rules which are posted for your review at any time.

Happy Holidays - I hope this clarifies some of your questions.

**********************

Please act like adults. These boards are for uplifting help, advice and discussions. If you have nothing nice to say, no matter the subject, do not bother posting it here.

We will delete your post if you break any of these rules. If you post about your post being deleted, that will also be deleted, and you may be suspended. If you have a question about your post being deleted, please contact the moderator in that section or PM Violette (starbirdy66) directly.

Additionally, posts that are in response to deleted posts may be deleted as well, since they may not make sense without the original post.

Here are the rules of the boards:

1. You are allowed only one username.
Breaking this rule will get all of your usernames suspended.2. We only allow ads or promotion in ONE forum area: Promote Your Business.
There are specific rules (http://www.wahm.com/forum/wahm-com-announcements-31/588889-promote-your-business-forum-rules-read-before-posting.html) to follow in each of the Promote Your Business forums, so be sure you follow them, or your post will be deleted by the moderator.

Ads include posts that invite others to visit your site, buy your products, join your program, include an affiliate link, include self-promotion, promote your team, promote your sponsor, say how great your sponsor/team is, or "I have that information on my site, here's the link", etc. This applies to all Rep forums as well, no advertising allowed. Please review information on what is allowed in Rep forums here (http://www.wahm.com/forum/wahm-com-announcements-31/589049-new-forum-requests-rules-read-before-requesting-forum.html).

Please do not start threads to only post an article written by yourself (or written by someone else and implied as if it's written by you). We do not permit article marketing on the forums. However, if you are interested in writing a guest blog, please PM the current WAHM admin (starbirdy 66).3. Attacking or harassing ANYONE is not allowed.
You will be banned for it. That includes negative comments about the boards, other members, admins or moderators.4. Use appropriate punctuation and capitalization when posting.
Do not post in ALL CAPS or use punctuation or special symbols to over-emphasize or create special graphics to enhance posts (multiple characters such as $$$ or !!!!! etc. are not allowed). Your ad is viewed as less credible and often times gets reported as spam. ALL CAPS is allowable only for acronyms. Posts are removed at the discretion of the moderator on what is overuse of special characters or caps and if a post looks like spam. Please note that re-postings of ads (job postings) from elsewhere do not have to be edited to conform to our rule, but their subject headers should.5. You can only bump your post ONE time.
Beyond that you will receive a warning and possibly suspension depending on how many times you did it.6. No personal website links in your post.
Please use your signature file for this. We have the right to ask anyone to remove their signature file or avatar if at any time we feel it is not appropriate for our site.

**You will be allowed a signature file & avatar once you've reached 30 posts. Once you have 30 posts, log out & back in. You will find a place to add it in your UserCP (only add a two-line signature). Please wait for your sig file! Do NOT post a link at the bottom of your post in place of your signature. These posts will be deleted, which will cause you to wait even longer for a signature file by reducing your post count (or possibly lead to being banned).**7. No admin issues are to be discussed on the board.
Please PM Violette (starbirdy66) if you have any complaints or questions regarding the rules of the forum and/or the actions of moderators/admin.8. If you are suspended, DO NOT try coming back under another name.
This will get you completely banned forever.9. We do not permit buying or selling of signature line space.
If you are caught doing this, you will be banned.10. Do not make income claims.
All posts, ads, and signature files with income claims of any type will be deleted.11. The same rules for the overall board apply to Visitor Messages.
Do not spam other people’s message centers.

that yes there seem to be less people posting that there used to be before but I'm newly back so what do I know...

However, since others mentioned Twitter and Facebook
I'm there multiple times through out the day and I try to ck, in here few times a day to see what's going on as well.

Tara

haha I got in trouble too! and I too "write like I talk" ....and I am not even Italian! ;)

Don't let it get you down TSmom. I have been corrected myself. Changes are always gonna happen. We just don't like change as humans but need to just work around them. I do use facebook and twitter. Love them all:)

I can appreciate a forum that is run smoothly and the moderater does her job well. I used to have a board back in 2002-2004 and I know it is work. The problem here is from what i personally see is that the rules apply to some but not all. If you look back at the jewelry forum today, how many ads do you still see and even freshly posted?

That is one of the reasons I don't come by as often is that there are always people who can break the rules and others get reprimanded. Like I said I don't mind rules, but they are not consistent and certainly not fair to everyone.

And for goodness sake if someone wants to use punctuation because they are excited about their product etc...who cares? That is over doing it a bit...

This is all just my opinion.

What I react to is not so much change, but that, as it often seems in life, the group gets "punished" for the actions of a few bad apples. More and more restrictive rules are being put into place because of spammers and a few people who go to extremes with their posts. Then those of us who have been active, contributing, responsible members feel like we're being restricted and perhaps even disrespected.

I've been a member of this community for probably close to 10 years. For me, it feels less personal now and that's why I spend less time here. But I assume the forum continues to be profitable for the company or they'd be making different decisions.

For the most part the rules have not been changed. They have been centralized to one area and rules that were mostly applied in certain forums were either removed or made the standard across the board depending on the rule.

The rule about overuse of punctuation, all caps and symbols to create emphasis on advertising is the only real addition to the rules due to the complaints about the advertise your business area looking spammy and thread titles taking up to two or more lines in some cases. To simplify, it is board wide. That is rule #4, the only new rule added. Other rules have changed only in nomenclature to clarify meaning of a rule.

As far as the perception of rules applying to one and not all, it is due merely to the fact that sometimes a post doesn't get reported or is missed when a volunteer mod has an opportunity to review a forum. We do our best to review every forum but we also have to rely on community support to report posts that break the rules.

We are currently working on the misconception that the rep forums are for advertising. We try to emphasize in the rules what they are for. In the next week we will be implementing a monthly specials forum in the Promote your business forums to hopefully give a more prominent area to advertise specials and clean up the rep forums. It will be a party plan mall of sorts

I'm a Facebook junkie so I like to connect with WAHM's on there. I'm still trying to get my "twitta" on and I text some of the friends I've met on here. ::shrugs::