Please abide by these simple rules – we want to hear from you!

The following guidelines are here to help you understand what it means to be a member of our online community. Don’t forget that your use of this site, our blogs, Facebook page and Flickr group is subject to these guidelines and our Terms of Use.

Be respectful

We’re a diverse community made up of people from all walks of life and types of backgrounds. We all have the right to feel comfortable in our online activities without being confronted by hurtful speech. So be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members.

Be engaging

This isn’t a rule. It’s just a way of us saying: We want to hear from you, and we hope you’ll contribute with comments, constructive criticism and possibly even an occasional guest blog post. Let folks know what you think. This is your community, too.

Be smart

In our comments section and elsewhere, be aware that what you post is open to the entire public and will remain online for a long time.

Upload only your own works

Respect the copyright of others. Don’t use photos or videos that other people have shared and pass them off as your own by uploading them to one of our social sites.

Don’t post anything obscene or hateful

While we encourage a robust exchange of ideas, remember that this is a family-friendly site. We have the right to remove any content that is hateful, defamatory, obscene, spammy or that infringes on others’ rights. And that includes the icon you use for comments. This is not a venue for you to harass, abuse, slur, impersonate or intimidate others. Take that elsewhere, bub.

Help us help you

If you spot a posting that seems to violate these common-sense guidelines, please call it to our attention by using the Contact us email links at the top and bottom of every page. Please include the url of the specific page on which the offending content appears — this gives us all the information we need to take action.

And finally

If you feel that you can’t comply with these Community Guidelines, perhaps this isn’t the place for you. We’ve crafted these guidelines to ensure that everyone within our community has the experience they want. In limited cases, we reserve the right to withdraw certain posts and remove inappropriate comments.

You may also want to check out our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you ever have a question or comment, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to drop us a line!