Site rules

The People’s Poetry Forum prides itself on presenting a welcoming and friendly environment in which poets can share their work openly and freely. Although we wish to give poets complete freedom of expression without censorship or unnecessary limitations we do have to abide by UK law. There are also the universal laws of common sense and consideration for others. Therefore all members must read and adhere to the following rules.

• In accordance with UK law The People’s Poetry Forum operates under a zero tolerance for discriminatory or inflammatory material. As such it will not publish material which is racist, sexist, homophobic, libellous or that promotes or encourages paedophilia or any other illegal activity.

• Please remember The People’s Poetry Forum is open to all ages so moderate your language accordingly. If you post a poem containing strong language, sexual content or other adult oriented material then you must include a warning either within the title or at the top of the post. The only exception to this rule is if posting in an adult only/ 18+ forum.

• Respect others and they will respect you. No flaming, insults or personal attacks. You are perfectly entitled to disagree with a poem or comments to a poem but there is no need to be rude or insulting. Threads that descend into school-yard name calling will be moderated or even deleted.

• All threads should be started in the relevant forum and posts should be posted in the relevant threads. Irrelevant threads and posts should be avoided and off topic posts may be moved or removed.

• Adverts and/or links to other poetry related sites must be placed in the Self Promotion forum and no-where else or they will be moved or deleted. You may also include links to a personal poetry site/blog in your signature.

• If you post a poem in the Feedback or Criticism forums it would be helpful if you indicated the type of critique you are after (light critique, serious critique, structure, rhythm or meter etc). Only post to these forums if you can bear the frank and honest opinions of others.

• Please take the time to read and comment on the work of others rather than only posting to receive feedback for your own work.

• No double posting. Do not post the same poem more than once except under the following circumstances:

1. Poems posted in the Feedback or Criticism forums can be re-posted to the relevant poetry category once all revisions/corrections are finalised.

2. Competition entries can be re-posted to the relevant poetry category once the contest is over and the winners have been announced.

• Minor offences will be corrected and notified by PM with no other action being taken. More serious offences will result in a warning being issued. After three warnings any further offence will result in a temporary suspension of your account – length determined by severity. Any repetition of offences after a temporary suspension will lead to a permanent ban.