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Message Board -Terms of Use

This page contains the following sections:
     Guidelines for Members
     Site Information
     Steps to Become a Member

GUIDELINES FOR MEMBERS:

Our message board is a place to seek advice and support from fellow stepparents.  By registering for a user name, you agree to the following:  

• Membership of StepTogether is granted on a case-by-case basis by the volunteer administrators after an initial screening. It gives the member the opportunity to register a username, establish a profile and post on the Message Board. A membership is not limited in time, but may be revoked if the member is not active on the board for a long period of time (i.e. does not log in for several months) or if the posts or private messages are not in compliance with the guidelines for the board or are judged inappropriate or offensive by the administrators. An individual member does not have any ownership rights in the StepTogether website, even if the member chooses to donate funds to keep the site ad-free.
  
• You must register a user name to posts messages, however you do not have to if you only want to read messages in the General Stepfamily Issues section. If you do register a user name, you will be granted access to all sections and the message board will be able to keep track of the posts you have read.
  
• This is a public forum and anything you post can be read by anyone who can find this site. You may want to keep that in mind when selecting a user name or creating your profile.  Many find it helpful to not use any form of your real name. 
  
• Please make sure you are picking the appropriate area to post in. If the subject of your post does not fit in any of the board categories, it should be posted in the General Stepfamily Issues area.
  
• We request that you do not post the same or similar messages in multiple areas.   If you violate this rule, multiple posts will be deleted by the administrators.
  
• It is not appropriate to use our forum to promote a product, although you may post information about books or other resources that deal specifically with stepfamilies. Please post these items to 'General Stepfamily Issues' only.
  
• Judgmental or malicious posts are not tolerated.  Remember that this is a community of people who all have different beliefs. It is acceptable to express your opinion, but it is not acceptable to be critical of others who don't share it.
  
• It is not acceptable to bring conflicts/issues from other boards/groups to StepTogether or complaints/issues from StepTogether to other boards/groups.
  
• PMs are considered just that, private messages, and are not allowed posted in public.

• Members are limited to one user ID – if multiple IDs are detected, one or more may be deleted without cause.
  
  

SITE INFORMATION:
Our members often use abbreviations on the message board. You can review what the abbreviations mean on the Acronyms Page.

There are several "classic" essays that are frequently referred to on the board. You can find them in the Resources section on the Essays page. One of the most popular essays is the Disengaging Essay.

If you have other questions about the message board, please refer to the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. If your question is not addressed on the FAQ page, please submit a help request to the message board administrators.

PRIVACY STATEMENT:
StepTogether is very concerned with its members' privacy and recognizes that the information left on this website is of a very private nature. E-mail addresses or other private information is not given out for any purpose and is only accessible by administrators.

The StepTogether website is run with the help of donations and does not contain pop-up ads or invasive software besides the cookies which aid in the login process. You can set your browser to not allow cookies and still be able to login.

STEPS TO BECOME A MEMBER:
(1) You will need an ISP-provided e-mail address (like earthlink.net, bellsouth.net, etc.) in order to apply for a membership. We cannot accept registrations from web-based email services like Yahoo! and Hotmail.  This is only required for the initial registration process.  After you have been approved, you may change your contact information to a web-based email if you so choose. 

(2) After completing this registration, you will receive an e-mail with a link to click to verify your e-mail address works. THIS LINK WILL BE FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT E-MAIL. You MUST click it to continue the approval process.

(3) The second e-mail lets you know that we received your response from the first e-mail.

(4) The third e-mail tells you when you're a full member and can post on the board. This bulletin board is ran by volunteers; therefore it may take a minimum of 72 hours to receive your approval email. It may take longer on the weekends and holidays when the volunteers are busy with step-family activities.