Terms of Service and Rules
Welcome to Genealogy Specialists - Tracing Our Past, Discovering Our Genes (Top Dog).
Please take a couple of minutes to read this before exploring further.
So that you know what you can and cannot do, the following are some directions to help you.
1. You may use your own name if you want to. However, if you choose to use a pseudonym, as long as it is not offensive to others, you are also welcome to use that.
2. Once you have registered, please update your profile - especially your Location. When completing this, please just post your county, region or country. Without it, we would not be able to see how realistic it would be to suggest that you “popped along to The National Archives at Kew” if you lived in Canada.
3. Do NOT post details about living – or potentially living – people. We cannot help you to find them, either. Any such posts will be deleted without warning.
4. Please remember that you are a member of a very friendly forum and that, whilst heated discussions may take place from time to time, any snide or derogatory remarks of a personal nature about either other members or people in general will not be tolerated. Any such comments will be deleted without warning. Remember, people cannot hear your voice and tone so something you might mean as a joke may be taken in an entirely different way.
5. Do NOT make duplicate postings as they can cause confusion. If you realise that your post would be better off in a different forum, please let either a Moderator or Administrator know and we will move it for you. Contact one of us:
Daft Bat - Administrator
oman - Administrator
Doug - Administrator
Blackmogs - Moderator
Chimp - Moderator
6. Do NOT post live links to commercial websites or to those asking for donations. Links to The National Archives (TNA) or to similar Government websites are allowed, as are non-commercial genealogy websites.
Commercial definition: any website that charges to view records either by subscription or pay per view (PPV); any website that charges for membership; any website that has a shop/store. The only exceptions to this are Family History Societies and Genealogy Organisations that are listed in the [URL='http://www.genealogy-specialists.com/forums/useful-links.438/']Links forum[/URL].
7. Do NOT post live links to Youtube or similar sites unless the link is directly related to genealogy.
8. Please be aware that if you copy/paste information taken from Find My Past, Ancestry, the Genealogist etc directly onto the forum you could be penalised by them as it may be considered piracy. If you have information that you wish to share, please make sure that it is in your own words. For the copyright ruling of TNA downloads, please read [URL='http://www.genealogy-specialists.com/threads/posting-downloaded-tna-documents.2573/']this[/URL].
9. Do NOT include the GSU number when quoting census references. It is copyright of the LDS and should not be quoted on the forum.
10. Do NOT include links (either broken or unbroken) to your personal web site in a post unless it contains information specific to the thread content. If you are awarded a signature, please do NOT post a link to your personal website within it.
However, you MAY post a link to your personal web site on your Profile Page as long as it is not commercial and/or does not ask for donations. (See #6 above)
11. Postings of a political nature e.g. the merits of political parties and/or their policies, or regarding religion, ethnicity etc other than in a genealogical context are not permitted. Such posts will be deleted without warning.
12. DO have some fun and enjoy this pastime/hobby/obsession.
The team at Genealogy Specialists reserves the right to modify, change, add and/or remove any of the above rules at any time, with or without prior warning.
Good luck with your research and above all else….. enjoy yourself!
