1. BritishExpats.com is an interactive site, and everyone who participates is "in it together", please treat others the way you wish to be treated. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully ... without insult or personal attack.

2. There may be places where sexually explicit, racist, obscene or vulgar language, graphics or behavior is appropriate however BritishExpats.com is NOT one of them. We do not alllow graphics that contain nude body parts, sexually-orientated or violent acts. Should anyone use inappropriate language, start a personal attack, or engage in hate speech, they will be barred from all further discussions.

3. Links to adult content, pages with links to adult content, near adult content, warez, hate sites or messages describing anything against the law is not allowed and will be removed.

4. Trolling on this site is not tolerated. We define trolling as any inflammatory threads or posts that are started with the sole intent of upsetting or antagonizing other members. Anyone found making such posts will be removed from the forums.

5. Think before you post or speak: Do you really want to put your address or telephone number on a public discussion forum? We encourage you to keep personal information personal. Similarly, do not ask for personal information from others. Anyone posting another members personal details without permission will have their posting privileges removed.

6. Posting Email excerpts or Private Messages of ANY type or length is not allowed. There are no exceptions to this rule.

7. You cannot legally post entire articles or news, or other copyrighted material in the forum without permission from the copyright holder. Even if you attribute the article/material correctly it is still copyright infringement. Minor fair use excerpts of less than one paragraph or 4 sentences may be used if the content is publically available on the internet. All other forms of inserted content from press releases, newsletters, web pages, or any other copyrighted content placed into messages will be removed without exception. A link to the content is acceptable and appropriate.

8. We realize members of BritishExpats may also be members of other forums, do not try to degrade or discredit other forums, their administrators, moderators, or their members.

9. The forums, (including the private message, blog and email systems), are not a venue for advertisements in any way. Please do not post promotional/advertising messages, urls, nor specifics that would lead people to your site/product/service. However, a line in your signature with a link to your site is allowed. (For signature guidelines please read Rule 18.) It will be the sole discretion of britishexpats.com and its moderators as to what constitutes an advertisement.

10. The forums/private message, blog and email system are not to be used for the purpose of research, (questions, surveys or polls). Any such posts found will be removed without notice. From time to time university students wish to use the forums for educational research etc, in these instances prior approval must be sought from the site administrators first, if approval is not sought then the posts will be removed.

11. Using a username or user title that is an obvious domain name, company name or product name is not allowed, and any such member found with a username will have the username remove This is out of unfair promotion considerations as well as trademark implications. Email addresses are also NOT to be used as a username.

12. Messages posted at this site are the sole opinion and responsibility of the poster. You are responsible for your own posts and agree not to hold britishexpats.com liable for any messages posted. Periodically the Moderators of BritishExpats.com will post his or her comments. These comments may not necessarily reflect the opinions of BritishExpats.com, or it's owners.

13. Anyone who finds a posted message objectionable is encouraged to notify a moderator immediately. We have the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame if we determine that removal is necessary.

14. Discussions about moderator or administrator actions are welcome in email or local private messages, but should not be discussed in public forums. This is out of respect for the members, moderators and policy involved.

15. Creating multiple usernames is not allowed. If you have a legitimate reason to create a second username, maybe another household member joining, then you should contact the administrators. Anybody found with multiple member names will have their posting privileges removed and all associated member names will be deleted.

16. The language of use for this site is to be English only. Any "discussions" on this site should be in English, and any "discussions" comprising of a different language will be removed. Exceptions to this rule are small one line inclusions of a different language when it is deemed appropriate: such as language questions in the Italy forum, for example.

17. Avatars
Avatars fall under the same guidelines as printed text and must comply with those guidelines. The maximum size for avatars is 65 x 65 pixels or 32.0 KB. (For Premium members the maximum size of your custom image is 90 by 90 pixels or 40.0 KB, whichever is smaller). Avatars are not to contain nude body parts, sexually-orientated or violent graphics and should not be used as an advertising medium.

18. Member Signatures
Your signature can be used to promote your site, business, or other ventures as long as they relate to you personally, (this does not include links to forums that you moderate). You may not allow others to use your signature nor can you rent out the space for use. Your signature is not a commercial entity and cannot be sold, anyone found to be breaking these guidelines will have their signature removed or edited without prior warning. Repeat warnings will result in being barred from participating in the forums and site. Your Signature must follow these guidelines:

1. Signature size is limited to 4 lines of 65 characters.
2. You can put in a maximum of two links that lead to your site(s) or a product page.
3. You can NOT run sales ads in your signature.
4. You can have a slogan. i.e. "Best widgets in town.
5. No affiliate or referral ids.
6. Using forum formatting codes is acceptable but must adhere to the following restrictions:
   
   • Any code that disrupts the browser display when viewed at a resolution of 800x600 is NOT allowed.
   • Code, Quote, PHP, HTML are NOT to be used.
   • Size tags are NOT to be used.
   • Color tags are NOT to be used.
7. Images should be a maximum of 420 pixels wide and 55 pixels high.
   
8. Images should NOT contain any advertising.
9. Images should NOT be animated.
   
10. For every 10 pixels of image height, you should remove a line of text. i.e. 2 lines of text would be fine with an image 40 pixels high.

19. Blogs
If you maintain a blog hosted with britishexpats.com, you hereby agree to be bound by and warrant full compliance with the following terms:

1. You agree that you will not post any messages that are defamatory, libelous, obscene, abusive, threatening, sexually explicit or violative of any laws. Denigration of or threats against any group of people due to their race, religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated.
2. Commercial use or any other unauthorized use of the blog is prohibited. Do not use the blog to solicit or conduct business, including the direct or indirect marketing of products or services, in any manner. Nor are you allowed to use your blog primarily to link to your site or blog elsewhere, in other words, a blog at BE is not an avenue for promoting another blog you own elsewhere.
3. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. Do not use any words, logos or other marks that would infringe upon the trademark, service mark, certification mark, or other intellectual property rights of the owners of such marks without the permission of such owners. Do not post any confidential information or any information that would infringe upon the proprietary, privacy or personal rights of others.
4. All blogs express the views of the author, and britishexpats.com will not be held responsible for the content of any message. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting or unauthorized use of this blog is brought to our attention, britishexpats.com will take all appropriate action, in its sole discretion, which may include removal, editing or closing of the reported blog.
5. Britishexpats.com reserves the right to terminate, without prior notice, blog access of any user who does not abide by these guidelines. Repeat offenders will be removed from the community.