ArizonaGardeners.net
Terms of Use Agreement - Policy and Guidelines for Usage– up dated 05-14-06- Subject to change at any time [please print this document]
Mission Statement
The ArizonaGardeners.net mission is to provide a fun, rich, interactive community for the Arizona gardening community by providing valuable content and features.
Behaviors
Applies To: All
The following behaviors by anyone accessing the web site are strictly forbidden:
Description |
Result |
|
1. Violation of ArizonaGardeners.net posting policy related to mandatory procedures below |
3 violations – revoked membership, banned [two warnings] |
|
2. Abusive, profane, or sexually orientated language contained in content including posts, images or documents |
2 violations - revoked membership, banned [one] warning |
|
3. False or misleading claims in posted content. |
2 violations - revoked membership, banned [one] warning |
|
4. Any Illegal activity including violation of copyright laws [material usage without permission], or reasonably suspicious activities reported by community members. |
Immediate revoked membership, banned |
Photo Gallery
Applies To: All
The current photo upload limit is 18 pictures per gallery.
Businesses
Applies To: All Businesses and Organizations
[referred to simply as businesses]
For businesses that have not yet registered, you must register here first prior to joining the ArizonaGardeners.net community [excludes non-profit organizations], then continue below with the following steps and information:
Membership[Recommended Procedures]
Businesses should join the site using their [short] business name so that your business name becomes easily recognizable by community members, also, to enable business name sorting in the business listings section.
In the profile section the business owner or president should enter his/her name and in the options section and enable the “Display Name” button.
In the signature section of the profile, businesses should enter the business owner’s name, business city, e.g. Glendale, AZ, followed by URL’s for the business logo and business web address with the following syntax:
Enter all three consecutively:
1.Business name example in the signature section:
“EarthWind – Phoenix, AZ”
2. Followed by business logo in the signature section:
[img]http://www.businessname.com/logo.gif[/img]
3. Followed by business web site in the signature section:
[url]http://www.businessname.com[/url]
In the avatar [personal photo] section it is highly recommended that you upload a picture of the company president, or business owner to personalize your business. Upload a quality, smiling picture of yourself! People will see it everywhere.
Promoting Products and Services - Weblogs, Business Listing, Photo Gallery, Posting and Answering Posts
Aspire to become an MVP Gold Business Member.
The community is designed to provide great content and is based on good will and an implied trust that community members are here to share a common interest and knowledge. Every time a business owner answers a question, helps someone, and makes a post, his/her business identity is displayed with a highly targeted audience. In Weblogs and answering posts it is highly recommended to let the quality and expertise of your content to “speak for itself” in addition to the visibility already mentioned.
If you answer a post or write an article, and then throw in a sales pitch at the same time, you will lose credibility and status. Use your judgment. In certain cases it might be perfectly acceptable to post content and then add something like: “We’ve got a great selection of these items…” or “see my web site for more information.”
Remember, through time your contributions and your business will become highly visible based on quality and volume.
Weblogs [Mandatory Procedures]
The weblogs are designed to be informative and instructive, not for quoting product or service prices or entering sales pitches. Businesses should sign up for the weblog to gain high visibility and to contribute content to the community in general. Great examples of the use of the weblog would be to post consecutive articles about an instructional procedure, for instance, the steps involved in installing an irrigation system, new landscaping, a new lawn etc.
Weblogs articles that contain product prices and sales pitches are not allowed and businesses should not sign up to use the weblogs if that is their intent. Use the "Specials" area in the listings to post product or service specials from your company. Also, see below regarding the photo gallery. The photo gallery can also include photos of products or services with sales information contained in the photo captions. Also see the calendar [below] for promotional use when available.
Photo Gallery [Mandatory Procedures]
The photo gallery is designed to display images in an esthetically pleasing non-commercial way and to enable the greater community the ability to display images of gardening projects, plants, landscaping etc.
The photo gallery should be used to showcase your premium business image, what you want to convey about your business. Important: when the community selects “Slideshow” it is important to note that the upload order of photos is critical to the display of slideshows. Images should be uploaded in date/time sequence for the slideshow to display correctly, e.g. upload logo first followed by the sequence you want.
Businesses can display photo gallery images of logos, events, products, projects, business photos [e.g. group employee picture], but images uploaded cannot contain the following:
Images cannot display prices or text in the picture in the form of a sales pitch. Pictures can contain copyright text information. For example an image of garden pot with a price in the picture and text saying “Buy it Now!” is not allowed. Pictures that inconsequentially have some sales information such as a picture of a business storefront with employees standing in front of it are fine, so are business logos. Picture captions can contain sales language information.
Uploading images, with prices or text in the picture in the form of sales pitch are not allowed and will be removed. [Business logos are excluded from the above]
Business Specials [Mandatory Procedures]
Businesses should use the business specials area to promote products or services. Your business special posting will automatically contain links [through your signature] to your business web site for full descriptions. The business listing entry is automatically created in the business directory when you register and also links to your company profile that includes your company website link.
To enable easy searching of your business special by city, as a minimum, put your city name in the body of the post. It is also recommended to put your city in the post title, for example: “EarthWind Special – Phoenix, AZ”
Calendar [Recommended Procedures]
Based on availability in the calendar display, businesses can promote a special product or service on a start date in the calendar. For instance, “June 1st through 3rd we are offering…” with a special HTML tag that will post an abbreviated description of the text. There is limited space in the calendar and postings are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Generally only two postings are available on any given day. Message the Admin for more details…
Banner Advertising
Vertical banner advertising is available for a monthly rate on the business listings page based on the grid of right and left columns, including the top, middle and bottom part of these columns. Message the Admin for more details....
Disclaimer
Applies To: All
ArizonaGardeners.net does not warranty or guarantee the content or features of this site, nor make claims of system reliability or warranty system availability. ArizonaGardeners.net is not liable in any way for any user activity that violates the law or causes damages, perceived or real. ArizonaGardeners.net is not liable is anyway for use of the content of the web site. All usage of the ArizonaGardeners.net web site is conducted by users accessing the system at their own risk, all use is voluntary.