Topic: HOW TO: How to use this board

[Anne]

The Board
This discussion board is freely provided to help collectors discuss and identify their pottery and collectables. This is not a commercial service but rather a group of enthusiasts who have come together to share their knowledge and enthusiasm.

Valuations
Many people come here looking for valuations but as we do not offer an appraisal service users should be aware that any valuation offered is the opinion of the poster and as such is subjective and should be confirmed elsewhere if an appraisal or insurance valuation is required.

Timescale
Not everyone visits the board every day so please be patient. If you've not had a reply after a week or so then bump the post to bring it to the top of the listing again.

Cultural Differences
Some members are not native English speakers so please be tolerant if someone's English is not too clear. We have members from many cultures and what may be an innocent statement in one might cause offence in another, again please be tolerant.

Staying Focused
Sometimes we get sidetracked and diverge from the topic of a thread, this is just the 'thinking out loud' process, we usually get back to the original question at some point. Chatter will be split to the Cafe so that the original question and discussions are kept clear - this is called dewibbling and is done periodically by the board's moderators. Please don't take this as being told-off - chatter is just as welcome as serious discussions, we just rearrange where it goes from time to time.

Guidance for posting messages
Please post all pottery identification questions in What's My Pottery  - the other pottery forums are intended for detailed discussions on known origins. Identification questions for non-pottery items should be posted into the relevant Collectable forum.

Posting images
If you post an image please optimise it for web use. Images need be no more than 96dpi resolution, and must be less than 150kb overall (which means 130kb in practical terms). Up to 4 images may be attached to each post. To post extra images, simply reply to your own post and attach further images. A good size for use on the board is an image of between 600x400 pixels and 800x600 pixels.

Auctions and Online Sales
You are welcome to post links to live auctions and sales and ask for advice about such items, but you should be aware that some members will not comment on live sales for a variety of reasons. That is their prerogative, so please respect it. If it is felt that a posting is taking an unfair position in respect of a person selling an item the posting will be removed or edited to remove bias. We have a special forum for members to use for posting sales and online auction listings in, items offered for sale in other forums will be removed to the sales forum by a moderator.

Malicious Postings
Please do not respond to malicious postings. If you find a posting offensive for any reason please click the Report to Moderator link and ask for it to be reviewed.

What you should not do on the board
Post messages containing illegal content or links to such content, messages that are defamatory, threatening, intimidatory, obscene or libelous, messages which pertain to personal disputes or which include attempts to deliberately deceive other members.

Using the Personal Message system
The board has its own Personal Message system by which any member may message any other member directly. Such messages are only readable by the sender and recipient. A member's message box capacity increases along with their board user level. Personal Messages may not be used to harrass, intimidate or threaten other members, nor spam them with adverts, chain letters etc.  Any member may use the Report to Admin link below a Personal Message to notify Admin about any message they find offensive, intimidating or inappropriate.

Respecting Copyright
Please do not post images or text, the copyright of which does not belong to you, unless you have sought and received the express permission of the copyright owner to reuse it. Please note that the so-called Fair Use law has no place on this board and all items which breach the copyright of others will be removed.
   
Moderating
Moderating is done by a team of volunteers who put a great deal of time and effort in making sure the board runs smoothly. If you disagree with a moderator's action please do not take it up with the moderator personally but address your concern to the board admin via the Contact link at the top of the board.

Getting Help
If you want any help or further guidance, e-mail one of the moderators who will be only too pleased to assist, or post your question as a new thread. Please do not e-mail identification requests to the moderators, start a new topic for them instead.  You can also check out the board HELP here: http://www.yobunny.com/pottery/index.php?action=help which covers how the scripting which runs the board itself works as it covers some of the routine things you might want to know, like what all the buttons you see on the board actually do.

Disclaimer
Please note that material contained on the board is the opinion of the individual author/s and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the moderator/s or the board owner.