How To Register
Click "register" top right, agree to terms and complete the form. Note: if your registration is not approved within a few days you must contact admin(a_t)theoptom(d0t)com
Before people can register as a member of the forum they have to agree to abide by the following terms, which are on the registration page during sign up. They are shown here for reference purposes.
While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any obviously objectionable material once they have been made aware of it, it is impossible to review every message. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster (except for posts by these people) and hence will not be held liable.
You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented, false, destructive, spam or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed). The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. Having multiple accounts is not allowed unless there is a valid reason. Be respectful of fellow members, including their privacy. You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit. As a user you agree to any information you have entered above being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised.
This forum system uses cookies to store information on your local computer. These cookies do not contain any of the information you have entered above; they serve only to improve your viewing pleasure. The e-mail address is used only for confirming your registration details and password (and for sending new passwords should you forget your current one), and other forum related matters.
By clicking Register below you agree to be bound by these conditions.
Updated September 2008 - added reference to "multiple usernames" and "destructive posting".
Updates December 2012 - added "Be respectful of fellow members, including their privacy."
Guidelines
Off-topic posting
Regular off-topic posting is not encouraged.
Duplicate posting
Double posting is treated as spamming and posts will be deleted.
Avatar picture
Choice must respect forum rules and should not be alike another already in use.
Trade prices
It is expected of members not to discuss trade prices on the public forum.
Commercial companies
Advertising of company products/services is generally not allowed unless it is done in a small minority of posts. If you wish to advertise more freely, see here. Forum advertisers have more freedom to post on the forum also.
Posts considered as advertisements can be deleted without notice.
Reporting Posts to Admin
To report a post, please 'personal message' me (see 'pm' button below) and quote the post you wish to report, provide a link to that thread (simply copy&paste it) and state the rule violation. It is regarded by Admin as a member's duty to report a post if they feel it breaches forum rules.
Banning Procedure
Usually, a 3 strike rule is in place, i.e. 3 violations and your out. 1) Formal warning. 2) Final formal warning. 3) Permanent ban including username and IP address.
However, if a severe/significant forum rules violation takes place a member can be banned immediately and without notice.
Multiple usernames / several users using the same computer
Any member found to have multiple usernames without a valid reason may result in a suspension/ban.
If you have more than one username, you must inform site admin (i.e. myself via personal message, see 'pm' button below post), and provide a genuine reason for having more than one.
If you know that more than one person accesses this site using the same computer as you, you must also inform me, and provide a genuine reason as to why this is.
The above protocol is to ensure site security and integrity.
Admin decisions
If you wish to discuss any and all moderator decisions/actions by admin, you must refer it to admin only, e.g. not post it in the forum.