Forum rules

Be respectful 

1. No personal attacks, abuse, harassment or threats. 
2. Don’t post anything that is sexually explicit, racist, sexist, agist, homophobic or otherwise discriminatory or illegal. 

Privacy 

1. Respect other people’s privacy and don’t post personal data or identifying details about anyone else or try to collect them from other users. 
2. We recommend you protect your own privacy and keep posts anonymous – don't include your own personal data or identifying details.  The forum is public, so anyone can see your posts and username without logging in. 

Safety 

1. The Family Lives forum is for users aged 18 and over. If we believe you are under 18, we will close your account for child protection reasons. If you are a child or young person, please contact another organisation such as Childline, Teenage Helpline or The Mix. 
2. Don’t post anything that encourages suicide or discuss methods of self-harm or suicide. The forum is not a crisis support service – if you are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please contact The Samaritans (call 116 123, open 24/7), CALM or Papyrus (text 88247, open 24/7 to under-35s). Mentions of thoughts and feelings related to suicide are allowed, but posts about a plan or intention to end your own life may be removed for the safety of other users, in which case we will be in touch to offer support privately. 

Keep it useful and authentic 

1. Don’t pretend to be someone else, or falsely claim connections to people or organisations. This includes creating multiple accounts. 
2. We only allow links to the approved and trusted sources found on our useful links page. Make sure the link is relevant to the discussion where you are posting it. 
3. Respect copyright laws and don’t copy long sections from websites, books, etc. Instead use a short quote and a link to the site.  
4. No advertising, promotion or spam. It’s fine to make personal recommendations of things you’ve found helpful, but if we suspect an account has been created purely for advertising purposes, it may result in an immediate ban. 

Our moderators 

1. The forum is moderated by family support workers from Family Lives to make sure users follow the rules and it remains a safe and supportive place for all our users. They are not trained to give health or legal advice or handle emergencies.  
2. If you see a post you think may break the rules, or you are worried about another user, please report it by clicking the three dots in the corner of the post, and clicking the flag button on the drop-down. Or email the moderators on webcoordinator@familylives.org.uk. 

How we moderate 

• We will always aim to be fair, base decisions on the rules above, and apply the rules to everyone equally. 
• We do not moderate the community 24/7 but will always try to respond to reports and issues as soon as possible. 
• Posts that break the rules will be removed (or edited if only part of the post breaks the rules) and the user will get sent a warning. 
• Repeatedly breaking the rules will lead to your account being banned. Creating a new account after being banned is not allowed. 
• Spam accounts and those of users under 18 will be closed immediately. 
• The forum site uses automatic spam filters that may prevent a suspected spam post from being published unless approved by a moderator. If a genuine post gets caught in the spam filter, it will be published when approved, but there may be a delay. 
• We will protect your privacy and keep confidentiality, except in cases where someone is at risk of serious harm, in which case the situation will be assessed by our safeguarding team. 
• Where posts suggest a forum user is at risk of suicide or self-harm, or that a child may be at risk, the Family Lives safeguarding policy will be followed and the safeguarding team will be involved to ensure the user gets the appropriate support.  

For more information, please see our terms and conditions and privacy policy.