BOARD GUIDELINES (Update: 8-18-19)

Defunct classic soap operas
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Guidelines:

For website-related issues, please contact us by email at contact@soaps.com. Do not send poster or guideline issues to that email address. If you need to contact a moderator, think twice. If you can report a post, do so. If it goes beyond a post report, they can be contacted here: How to send/delete private messages to other posters or MODERATORS?

  1. Abuse: Flaming of actors, posters, or fanbases will not be tolerated - whether it be acting or physical appearance, profanity, racial, ethnic, religious, gender identity or sexual-orientation slurs. This includes avatars. Critiquing a character’s wardrobe, make-up and hairstyle is fine, as it is part of the production of the show in addition to writing, directing and set design. Bashing a character in a message board thread that clearly is a “no bashing” zone for that particular character is not allowed, but stating your dislike for a character in other threads is always fine. Think twice about going into threads that push your buttons. We do not allow discriminatory, vulgar, or sexually-oriented material, nude avatars, or any other offensive material on the site or in messages or email to staff of the site. Making up nicknames is fine. Using nicknames the shows have created is fine. Using offensive names just for the sake of spewing negativity or bating other fans is against guidelines. A few examples of what not to use: Hope “Ho”, Luke “Puke”, “Phyllis” “Syphilis” because it can trigger other posters and causes fighting. We reserve the right to edit or remove postings that go against guidelines without notification or justification. We encourage you to use constructive criticism and tact in your posts. You are welcome to voice your opinion and debate/ argue the point, however, don’t argue with the poster! Agreeing to disagree means fewer fights.

  2. Spamming and Removal of Posts: If your posts are off topic, please make a note in your headline to notify others. We reserve the right to move off topic message board posts to the lounge and to remove all spam and spammers registering with the sole intention of spamming/trolling. We are under no obligation to remove that which offends you just because you do not like it. Please refrain from posting identical posts. Useless posts (including ‘bumping’ threads) with no content and nonsensical posts eat up space and waste everyone’s time. Staff writers and moderators will bump or remove at their own discretion. Any offensive posts can and will be removed and any harassing posts will be made available to the proper authorities.

  3. Reporting Posts: We do not babysit the site. We expect posters to behave in a mature, respectful and courteous manner while using common sense. You are all adults who do not require supervision. That means we may miss a few ‘bad posts’. We are unbiased and do not miss ‘certain’ posts on purpose, nor do we play favorites. If you happen to come across posts in the message boards or in the comments sections that violate our guidelines, hit the ‘bad post’ report which is an exclamation point directly on top of each post. Soaps.com (or SheMedia) may monitor discussions but we are not under obligation to review each and every post, nor are we obligated to share the solution that we came to.

  4. Copyright Laws: If you wish to post an entire article or selection of pictures you must have full written consent of the copyright holder. If you are not positive if you can post something, please ask admin first, otherwise, those posts will be removed.

  5. Privacy: Respect the privacy of individuals on the boards. Remember that these forums are viewable by the public, and posts may be included in search engine indexes, so if you post private information it is available for anyone to find. Read our Read our privacy policy: sheknows.com/privacy-policy/

  6. Online Etiquette: Good etiquette online means that you DON’T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS when you post, because it appears as if you are yelling. Utilize the bold and italic buttons for emphasis.

  7. Titling Your Posts: If you have a SPOILER or a RUMOR you’d like to share with Soaps.com, we ask that you please ensure that your title is named appropriately. Do not post the spoiler in the title as not everyone wants to be spoiled. If you get the spoiler from the Soaps.com website, please include a link back to the page you found it on.

Example titles:
Spoiler about Nikki Newman
I just heard something about Nikki
Nikki’s drinking? (Spoiler!)

  1. Banning: Follow the guidelines and you will never be banned. It is that simple. Posting on our boards is a privilege, not a right. We do not delete screen names at request. We do not permit you to have multiple accounts or change your screen name, because in the past, when others have done this, it was done with the intent to bash other posters. If we find that you have more than one account, we’ll delete any extras as we see fit and bans could be placed.

  2. Censorship and “Freedom of Speech”: The US Bill of Rights allows citizens the right to free speech in a public forum without limitations imposed by the State. (“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.”) SheKnows LLC sites are not “public forums”; these sites are private forums open to the public. As a general rule, however, we uphold the ideals of the Constitution and do not condone the censorship of ideas. We allow relatively free and open discussion for most topics but we adhere to a simple tenet of respect. When in doubt, remember this golden rule of message board etiquette: It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.

  3. Legal: You participate at your own risk on the message boards. Soaps.com takes no responsibility for the content or opinions posted here, nor do we control the information available in the interactive forums and that any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content presented or disseminated on any interactive forum are those of their respective authors who are solely liable for their content. Please note that we cannot confirm the veracity of any poster’s identity (i.e. we make no guarantees that any poster is who or what they say they are). You take full responsibility for postings under your identification. You also agree to take responsibility for any offline issues you may have with another poster. We do not get involved in offline disputes. While we are open to feedback, public debate about how the boards are administered is discouraged. Keep in mind that we offer these message boards as a free service to their users and are not accountable in the way that elected officials are to their tax-paying constituency. Please contact us directly by email here to share your complaints or admin ideas. Although we do take them seriously and read every email, we reserve the right not to reply. When mailing us with concerns, you must provide us with a short description of the problem and if relevant, please include message URLs (links).

To advertise with us, visit our advertising page: sheknows.com/channels/mediakit Do not post links to your own site, chain letters, virus warnings, pyramid schemes or solicitations. We will remove them and charge $50 per advertisement posted on the site without prior written consent, and we will donate the amount to a charity of our choice.

All content on Soaps.com is the property of SheMedia. Reproduction in any form without permission is strictly prohibited. Linking to Soaps.com news articles, spoilers or recaps is permitted. You acknowledge that SheMedia, Inc. does not control the information available in the interactive forums and that any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content presented or disseminated on any interactive forum are those of their respective authors who are solely liable for their content. Please note that we cannot confirm the veracity of any poster’s identity (i.e. we make no guarantees that any poster is who or what they say they are).

Any communication or material you post or transmit to the Service is, and will be treated as, non- confidential and non-proprietary. You assume full responsibility for anything you post or transmit, and you grant SheMedia and its affiliates the right to edit, copy, publish and distribute any information or content you post or transmit for any purpose. If you voluntarily disclose personal information (e.g. e-mail address) on a bulletin board or in a chat room, that information can be collected and used by other parties and may result in unsolicited contact. We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other information about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you. Your IP address is recorded with every post you make.

These rules are subject to change.

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Guidelines clarification:

The first thing that we want to ask of you is to check your sensitivity before you login to the message boards because there are a variety of opinions that will differ from your own and getting upset about somebody’s opinion that you disagree on will only cause issues for you. Everyone’s opinions are welcomed, and nobody’s is better or worse than their fellow poster.

Creating bash or no bash threads:

We see no reason to keep allowing these, but we do have ones that are grandfathered in. The only reason we ever allowed these in the first place was because there were a few fanbases who couldn’t seem to handle when another poster disrespected the character that they love. This meant that we were constantly interjecting and having to place a lot of bans. We prefer not to. Instead, we want people to learn to get along with others and learn to agree to disagree.

Bashing posters vs Respecting them

We receive a lot of messages about people being rude or baiting other posters or fanbases. Some posters do not realize that they are baiting so we may contact them to let them know that their posts are seen by others as baiting. When we do, some of them still do not understand and that is a big problem because they will continue to do this. Others can become frustrated by other poster’s opinions and fly off the handle and then feel bad. Then there are some who troll message boards because they are unhappy with themselves or their lives and want to take it out on strangers. Either way this is not allowed and will ensure you receive warnings and or bans.

Saying “we should agree to disagree” to a poster and then continuing to harp on someone’s opinions is rude and spammy. Just move on if someone has a differing opinion. Stop beating a dead horse by trying to get them to see things your way. Let it go.

In a similar vein, it is seen as rude to ask another poster, “What show are you watching?” or “Are we watching the same show?” when they have an opinion that differs from yours. Telling someone “shame on you” for their opinion, even if they write that they wish a character would die is not allowed. It’s rude and can win you a ban without warning since it’s obviously mean and ridiculous. Instead of using sarcasm which automatically presses most people’s buttons or trying to make a poster look like a fool, try kindly asking them the reason behind their opinion if you are curious. Or simply let them have that opinion and move on. You do not need to try to force your opinion on other posters or debate every single thing a poster says. Sometimes it’s best to let it go.

If somebody hates the character you love most, let them. What is it to you? There is no award for sticking up for a fictional figure. Stop defending a fictional character and let the poster have their say. Keep this in perspective. Our posters are all real people who mean more than a TV character. It’s all about respect.

Obvious bait threads:

Who will Sharon sleep with next? Just how old is Phyllis? These are a few thread titles taken from the Y&R board that upset and annoy many posters. They’re out of context, meaningless and contribute nothing to the board. They cause fights and those who start them should know that we’ve got your number and we’re not going to let you off with just a warning.

Bashing actor/actress looks:

Calling an actress ugly or scrawny or fat is rude. Pretending you’re only talking about the character is just as bad. It only makes you look petty. Think about how you’d feel if someone called you a name that hit home. Then rethink your post. If you wouldn’t say it to the actor’s face, then don’t say it at all. That’s our motto, though if you are a person who would behave rudely to an actor in person and think you can get away with it here, think again. You can discuss an actor constructively without being rude about it.

Flagging posts:

Before you flag a post, ask yourself what the real issue is and if it is truly a guideline infraction or if it is just offensive to you and is not a part of our guideline infractions. If we disagree with your flag let it go. Move on.

Bastardizing character names:

We see no problem with mocking characters. Many enjoy calling Eric Eeyore on Days because of how mopey the character has been. Lately Flo from B&B has been called Felony Flo. That is all in fun and seen as witty but when posters start calling characters names that frankly a child would come up with such as Lame instead of Liam or HOpe instead of Hope, HOgans or Syphilis instead of Phyllis or using terms ‘b*tch’ and ‘wh*re’ and ‘sl*t’, we draw a line. That is not fun, it is not witty or cute. It is sarcastic and nasty to see and some of them are anti-feministic.

Warnings

We may warn you for doing something wrong. We may ban you. If you are banned, you will know why because you will see the reason listed when you login. Instead of emailing to complain about it, look over your activity and honestly ask yourself if you could have done a better job posting.

Bans

We do try to give three warnings before a ban but there may be times when your post is so bad that we just want you to take a break and in that case you will be banned whether it be a day or a week or more.

You are all adults and we expect you to act like adults. This means that moderators are not mediators or babysitters. If you and someone else are arguing, then it is likely that you’ll all get a short ban. The reason is to calm everyone down not to punish. Sometimes when you are forced to step away for a day or two you can come back refreshed.