Forum rules & guidelines

Mission statement

talkhealth is a community based group of patient information and support sites for people living with a wide range of health conditions. Our goal is to provide a platform for patients, carers and anyone affected by a specific health condition to talk to and support one another, and to have the opportunity to talk to our experts in our monthly online clinics. We will

  • Provide the most comprehensive and accurate information available
  • Evolve this web site to enhance the user experience
  • Keep the sites topical, relevant and visionary
  • Provide members and guests with an enjoyable environment

To this end we have created the following guidelines. By becoming a member of talkhealth and participating in our forums you agree to abide by our rules. 

Please note these should also be read in conjunction with the talkhealth disclaimer and terms & conditions

Forum usage

Your posts on the forums will become public. Your text will be available to anyone with an internet connection.

By using this web site, you agree to be contacted by site administration, regardless of your account settings, when it becomes necessary to do so regarding your account activity.

The basic ground rules for discussions on talkhealth are simple: be polite, use common sense, don't break the law. Don't post any message that even hints at advertising unless you have express permission from talkhealth to do so.

File sizes - Files and images (depending on content) are allowed to be uploaded onto the forum, but the maximum file size is 256KB.  If you file or image is larger than this, please use an online resizing website.

You are permitted a maximum of one account, active or inactive. If you choose to ignore this important restriction, all your accounts may be disabled. If you have forgotten your log in details and are unable to retrieve them via the system, do not create a new account, please contact us for assistance.

Shilling - If you're caught shilling, you may be banned. A shill is an owner, employee or associate of a seller of products or services who pretends (or purposefully omits) any association with the product or service, while pretending to be a satisfied customer or interested bystander. People who omit an association with a product or service for other reasons (they're paid to post about it, they're helping a friend, etc.) so that they can help promote it are also shills.

Censoring - We don't intend to censor messages based on the opinions expressed within posts, but we will enforce the policies outlined both here and on the forum if deemed necessary. We reserve the right to remove, modify or move posts at our discretion and without explanation. Please contact us if you do not understand any of the rules, guidelines or policies outlined below.

Suspension of your account may be a consequence of not adhering to these guidelines.

In addition to the rules posted here, you are required to read any individual forum rules which may be posted at the top of specific forums as 'Announcements' as and when necessary.

General forum rules & moderation policy

These rules apply to all forum categories.

  • We take the "Be Polite" rule very seriously. We do not tolerate any rudeness. Any member who is intentionally unpleasant or disruptive may be banned without warning.
  • If you SPAM our members in any manner, your account will be disabled. Do not contact anyone to suggest your product or service who is not explicitly expecting you to contact them.
  • Your account is yours alone. You are responsible for any activity created with it. You may not share your account login with anyone. If you choose to ignore this important restriction your account, and any accounts associated with it, may be disabled.
  • All publicly displayed messages are limited to the English language. This includes posts, titles, signatures, and any attachments or other forms of public display.
  • Signature Spam (a post that was made in hopes of showing a signature, as determined by moderators) is forbidden in all forum categories.
  • You may not post commission, referral or affiliate links anywhere on the forum. For clarification, if it looks like it could be one of these links, we must treat it as such.
  • Cross-posting is not allowed here. Cross-posting refers to posting new duplicate threads or posts, or the linking to threads or posts already started by the member with the intention of gaining exposure.
  • You may not compensate anyone for any review or recommendation. Further, you may not suggest a tone (i.e. "Go talk positively about us on talkhealth").
  • You may not post on behalf of any banned member in any public manner. This includes all forums, private messages and signatures.
  • You may not post words or URLs that are censored by adding spaces, dots, or substituting characters; or by any other means in an attempt to defeat any censors put in place by talkhealth. Please contact us if you feel a word or URL is unjustly censored.
  • You may not link, in any manner, to sites or images containing pornography, sexually explicit, gross violence, or are determined by moderators to be detrimental to the community.
  • You may not bump threads. Bumping can refer to posting useless information, posting one-liners or any other action to deliberately keep a thread hot or to bring it to the top of its forum. Moderators will use their discretion, depending on the nature of the post, as to whether to take action or not.
  • You may not use discussions to recommend, praise, or belittle other products or services, or any company; without first-hand experience of those products or services. This includes companies recommending other companies. Any post not meeting a moderator's criteria will be removed without notice.
  • Any posts that encourage illegal intent will be removed and the account disabled.
  • Public posts debating these rules and/or moderators' enforcement of such, will be removed without comment. We encourage feedback however and invite you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Forum specific rules & moderation policy

These rules apply to the all forum categories and include private messages.

  • You may not publish or discuss any information regarding your product or services, or future (possible) products or services, or any product or services you are, or have been, associated with. This includes, but not limited to suggesting your own services, or services of partners, clients, employers or friends.
  • You may not post any message that is commercial by nature.
  • You may not post any message that directs others to any pages at your own commercial domain, including information pages. A commercial domain is defined as a site that receives any type of income or links to any income producing properties.
  • You may not direct others to contact you.
  • You may not solicit the membership for feedback or suggestions on your product or services.
  • You may not solicit users for any project or purpose external to the forum; public, private, or commercial. Most importantly our member base is not a resource to be "mined" by individuals, groups, or businesses, for profit or not for profit.
  • You may only discuss details about your company and/or product offerings when the thread starter or poster has made direct reference to your company and stated something untrue or misleading, or something which clearly needs clarifying. The response must be in direct reference to the point discussed only and contain no added promotional information and/or fluff. It is advisable when in the above scenario to contact us first.

Locations, profiles, signatures

  • The location field, profile picture and signature options are edited via your forum controls once you are logged onto your account (top right hand corner of the screen via the green button). Profile pictures are shown in your public profile. Signatures, once created in your profile, are attached to the end of your posts (if you choose the option to include your signature).
  • URLs or other forms of advertising (phone numbers, plans, contact details, etc.) are not permitted as part of your user name. Also, you may not use custom titles or usernames to impersonate, or attempt to impersonate, talkhealth staff, user groups, or any entity you are not associated with.
  • Your location field cannot include URLs or other forms of advertising.
  • Profile pictures cannot include sexually explicit or graphically intense images.
  • Profile Summary (and all other modules) cannot include or link to illegal encouragement, harassment, sexually explicit, or other non-family-friendly content.
  • Signatures:
    • Must be setup in your profile, and not manually added to your messages.
    • May not contain any pricing, plan, sales, etc. details. "Free" is considered a price in the context of this rule.
    • May not use the word "Free" to describe any cost.
    • May include two colours, plus black.
    • Maximum font size cannot be larger than normal.
    • Must be kept to a maximum of four lines when viewed at 1024x768 resolution using the horizontal postbit.
    • May not contain links to other threads or posts.
    • Please keep special characters to a minimum.
    • Your signature is your signature. It is not for sale or rent.
    • Any signature that is offensive or insulting to talkhealth, its members, or its staff, is prohibited.
    • We reserve the right to ask you to change and/or remove your signature at any time, for any reason.

Special notices

Any posts not meeting these guidelines may be removed with our without notice.

We do not remove posts or accounts on request.

In light of our policy of encouraging candid, open exchanges of views and the rapid distribution of information originating from many sources, talkhealth cannot determine the accuracy of information that may be uploaded to the forum.

If you bring suit, propose to sue, or infer legal action against talkhealth or its staff your account may be disabled and any company related accounts may face restrictions.

Whilst the opinions, advice and all other information expressed by participants in discussions are those of the author, talkhealth becomes the owner of these and no other person, with the exception of the author, can copy or reproduce forum content without permission in writing from talkhealth. talkhealth would also like to make clear that you must rely on any information gleaned in the talkhealth forums at your own risk. You are urged to seek professional medical advice for specific and individual situations and not rely solely on advice or opinions given in the discussions.

Forums' privacy policy

We will not release any member information unless under court order to do so, or where we have been specifically asked to monitor for AE (Adverse Effects) & PQC (Product Quality Complaint) particularly in our clinics, in which case we will need to report the comment to the company that has asked us to monitor and the details of the person whose has made them.

We reserve the right to modify and amend these terms at any time without notice. It is your responsibility to remain informed of current talkhealth policies.

We do not monitor private messages (PM). But we will investigate all allegations of PM abuse.

We further, reserve our right to disable any account at any time for any reason and without notice.

Finally, any abuse towards our staff and/or management in any form, may result in immediate suspension of your account.

 

Last revised: 29 November 2016