Version	Comments
	Sep 11, 2014	A completely new version has been published.
	Aug 23, 2014	This is the initial version that ParanoidPaul captured. It is not necessarily the first version of the document.

COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

	Welcome to the world's largest online community dedicated to family history. This is your chance to share ideas. Ask questions. Offer advice. Forge meaningful connections. Make groundbreaking discoveries. Overall, it's an opportunity to collaborate and share with your family and other community members interested in family history.	WELCOME TO THE ANCESTRY COMMUNITY! 

	The more active you are in our community,	As the more you'll get out of it. Keep in mind, we're continually making it easierworld's largest online community dedicated to usefamily history, we have members all around the world from Ancestry, RootsWeb, and moreGenealogy.com. As you collaborate with other members sharing ideas, making meaningful discoveries, and finding answers to your questions, we ask that you follow these guidelines so that everyone in the community can have an enjoyable for you.experience. We update these guidelines from time to time so please check back regularly to get the latest. 

	These guidelines will help you and others enjoy your community experience. However, please remember that all use of the sites is governed by the terms and conditions relating to them, which take precedence over these guidelines.	BE NICE 

	COMMUNITY VALUES	It's pretty simple: treat others the way you want to be treated. We believe that everyone has something valuable to contribute to the community. While it's okay to disagree, be polite. Don't harass, abuse, or threaten other members. We're a community of family-friendly companies so don't post any content that's vulgar, hateful, sexually explicit, illegal, defamatory, or otherwise offensive. 

	Our community comprises the Ancestry, RootsWeb and Genealogy.com communities, all of which encourage open and frequent communication between members.	RESPECT PEOPLE'S PRIVACY 

	Here are	You probably don't want your personal information posted all over the core beliefs behind our community:internet. Neither do the other members of the community. Don't post contact information, photos, email addresses, or other personal information about a living individual without their permission. In the case of minors, you'll need the consent of their parent or guardian. 

	  	 People have a deep desire to connect with family members, both past and present.
 	 Everyone has something to contribute to the community.
 	 Honest, open communication is essential, but it must be delivered with respect for other members' thoughts and expressions.	THINK BEFORE YOU POST 

	MEMBER CONDUCT AND USE	Remember, you're responsible for what you post. Here are a few tips to help you determine what you should or should not do: 

	This community is your forum for sharing thoughts, experiences, resources 	 * Don't post spam. This could be commercial messages, advertisements, third-party promotions or related solicitations.
 	 * Don't post anything you didn't personally create. That includes copyrighted material you're not authorized to distribute, personal email messages, GEDCOMs owned by other people, etc. For more details please read our terms and discoveries. We appreciateconditions.
 	 * Don't impersonate anyone. If you pretend to be an employee or representative of Ancestry or anyone affiliated with the Ancestry family of companies, properties or affiliates, or impersonate another member of the community, you may have your participation. However, we askaccount suspended or terminated.
 	 * Be aware of who can see your posts. Depending on your privacy settings, photos, stories, or comments that you carefully readpost might be public and followcan be copied, modified, and distributed by others. In addition, by submitting content in our community, you expressly grant Ancestry the guidelines below. You'll find that most of them come naturally to you. rights explained in our terms and conditions.

	As a community member, please:	We can't be responsible for the content our members create and share in the community, but we reserve the right to remove any posts or comments that disregard these guidelines or violate our terms and conditions or rules of conduct. Serious violations or offenses will subject the responsible member to account termination. In addition we may move messages that are posted in the wrong topic or edit the surname field, subject line, etc. in any message as we deem appropriate. 

	  	 For starters, simply treat others the way you want	Learn to be treated.
 	 Respond to the subject (and not the person) if you disagree with something in a post.
 	 Share only your own thoughts, ideas and content.
 	 Post only information appropriate for a given topic. For example, if you're posting on the "Lansing" surname board, you should be writing only in reference to a "Lansing" connection. If you're posting on the US, regional or international board, you must be making reference to the appropriate location.Collaborate Effectively 

	On 	 * Stay on topic. If you're posting on the other hand, please: "Oklahoma" message board, don't post queries about New England.
 	 * Don't put your message in all caps--it makes you sound angry.
 	 * Keep discussions constructive. If you disagree with someone, respond to their message instead of commenting on them as a person.
 	 * Don't forget to say thank you! If someone has answered your question or given you good advice, make sure you let them know you appreciate it.

 	 Don't post or share any photos of living individuals (other than just you) or anyone else's email address without their consent.
 	 Don't harass, abuse or threaten other members.
 	 Don't post any content that's vulgar, hateful, sexually explicit, illegal or otherwise offensive.
 	 Don't post commercial messages, fee-for-service postings, advertising or related links, etc.
 	 Don't post or share personal or identifiable information about living people without their direct consent, or, in the case of minors, the consent of their parent or guardian. This includes (but is not limited to) a person's full name, location or contact information.
 	 Don't post anything you didn't personally create. That includes copyrighted material you're not authorized to distribute, email messages, notes in GEDCOMs, etc. Read our copyright policy if you have questions.
 	 Don't impersonate any individual, business or other entity. Don't pretend to be an employee or representative of Ancestry.com Operations Inc. or anyone affiliated with the Ancestry.com Operations Inc. family of companies, properties or affiliates.
 	 Don't post a "seeking information" (query) message with a non-query (data) menu classification selection.	REPORT ISSUES  

	We reserve the right to delete messages that violate our terms and conditions, move messages posted in the wrong place and edit the surname field, subject line, etc. in any message. We reserve the right to do any of the above without notice in order to preserve community integrity and ensure that people can find what they're seeking. 

	MEMBER-CONTRIBUTED CONTENT 

	We do notdon't pre-screen or monitor member-contributed content. Please let us know ifevery comment or post contributed by our members. If you encounter materialsee content that you feel is inappropriate underbased on these community guidelines or that violates our terms and conditions. Use the "report abuse" links throughout the site to do so. 

	We can't be responsible for the content our members create and share in the community. However, we do reserve the right to remove any postings that disregard the above guidelinesconditions or violate our terms and conditions. Serious violations or offenses will subject the responsible member to account termination. 

	IMPORTANT NOTE: Any information you post in our community is public and can be copied, modified and distributed by others. By submitting or posting content in our community, you expressly grant Ancestry.com Operations Inc. the rights set forth in the terms and conditions. 

	We may modify these guidelines from time to time. Please check back regularly for updates.rules of conduct, please let us know.

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