Message board rules and guidelines

Mission and values

The National Psoriasis Foundation ("Foundation") message board is an open, supportive environment where people affected by psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis can connect, exchange information, find understanding and build friendships. The Foundation is committed to being an active partner in the message board by:

• Building a community for and with people affected by psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis;
• Providing a forum for connection where people share their experiences and find support in times of need;
• Supporting a thriving community with treatment information, research, events and advocacy opportunities for those committed to helping themselves and others with the disease;
• Maintaining a welcoming environment for all, no matter their treatment preferences, membership in the Foundation or severity of disease, and;
• Creating a positive experience which deepens participants' relationship and commitment to the Foundation.

No medical advice

The message board was designed for educational purposes only and not for the purpose of rendering medical advice. Individual variances in psoriasis cases require the consultation of a physician to make sound medical decisions. The information presented on the message board is not intended to replace the counsel of your physician. It is important to see your doctor before altering anything in your treatment plan. The Foundation does not endorse any medications, products, equipment or treatments for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Rules and guidelines

The message board is moderated by a team of volunteer moderators overseen by Foundation staff to ensure that this online community is constructive and beneficial to all affected by psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis. Posting a message on this board constitutes your agreement to abide by the following rules and policies. These rules also apply to your communication with the team of volunteer moderators.

Civility and courtesy in communication should be practiced by participants posting to this board. All participants are free to express their opinions in a respectful manner. Disagreements will naturally arise, but personal attacks (“flaming”) are not acceptable. The Foundation is committed to maintaining this board as a welcoming environment for all, regardless of treatment preferences, membership in the Foundation or severity of disease.

You agree not to use the board to send or post any message or material that is illegal, harassing, libelous, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, profane, pornographic, racially offensive, intentionally inaccurate or otherwise objectionable. You also agree not to use this board to communicate information or material that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation.

Any other unauthorized or illegal use of or activities on this board, including copyright infringement, are prohibited.

The message board is for personal use only. Using the board to advertise or promote services or products or to distribute unsolicited information about services or products for financial gain is prohibited. You also agree not to use information obtained about other message board participants, including their e-mail addresses, for any commercial purpose or to obtain financial gain.

One online account (or username) is allowed per person. Secondary or duplicate accounts will be deleted. The creation of a duplicate account as an attempt to circumvent a suspension will result in further disciplinary action.

It is recommended that you use discretion in sharing personal information, such as your address or telephone number, with other participants. When you post on the message board, your comments and username will be visible to the general public and indexed by search engines such as Google. The Foundation moderators do not delete message board accounts or post histories.

• The Foundation moderators may remove or suspend your message board privileges if they believe you are violating these rules.

Although this message board is monitored regularly, it may not be monitored on a 24-hour basis. When the Foundation moderators become aware of a problem, it is reviewed and action is taken as soon as possible.

While on the message board, you can report offensive posts by clicking the alert button  in the upper right corner of the post. The Foundation moderators will review your alert and take action as appropriate.

If you are the recipient of offensive or otherwise inappropriate comments through the message board, become aware of others being subjected to such comments or have other problems with the message board, please send an e-mail to moderator@psoriasis.org identifying your username and the nature of the problem. A member of the volunteer moderation team will follow up as appropriate in response to your e-mail.

Moderators' guidelines

In addition to the rules listed above, the following guidelines also apply.

• All actions taken by volunteer moderators are reviewed by the message board moderation team;
• Individual posts are never edited by Foundation moderators;
• A private message/e-mail is sent to the message board user to ask for the removal of objectionable information within a specified timeframe. If not changed within that timeframe, the entire post will be removed;
• Volunteer moderators reserve the right to delete the entire post if content in the post is objectionable enough to warrant removal.

Disciplinary action

General disciplinary guidelines

• First offense: Warning via private message and/or e-mail
• Second offense: 3-day suspension from posting
• Third offense: 7-day suspension from posting
• Fourth offense: 30-day suspension from posting
• Fifth offense: 3 month, 6 month, 1 year or permanent suspension, as determined appropriate by the volunteer moderators

Volunteer moderators reserve the right to take action as appropriate in response to the severity and circumstances of the violation.

Please note that the site's privacy policy and terms of use also apply to message board and chat services.