Clickin Moms strives to maintain active forums as useful, entertaining, and informative resources for our members.

These Terms of Service (hereafter, “TOS”) serve as the terms, conditions, and code of conduct for our online forums. By becoming a member of the Clickin Moms community, you have agreed to abide by these TOS.

Our forums are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Clickin Moms makes no express or implied warranties as to

1) the board’s operation and accessibility,
2) the services, activities, or resources offered, or
3) the content or materials posted in the forums or elsewhere on the Clickin Moms site.

Clickin Moms is not liable for damages of any kind arising from the use or inability to use or access the forums or content therein.

You agree to indemnify Clickin Moms, its Moderators, agents, and affiliates against any and all damages (including but not limited to attorneys' fees) resulting from any claim brought by a third party arising from or relating to your conduct in this forum.

Clickin Moms may modify these TOS at any time and without notifying our members of any such changes. Your continued membership to Clickin Moms constitutes your assent to such modified terms. You may cancel your membership at any time, but no refunds will be issued for payments previously made.

1. Clickin Moms Moderators: Team Structure
2. Board Participation and Decorum
3. Additional Posting Guidelines
4. Intellectual Property and Use of Content
5. Researching / Soliciting Business Information and Ideas
6. Workshops
7. Advertising, Referrals, Self-Promotion, and Other Solicitation
8. Forum Moderation
9. Disciplinary Action
10. Reporting Posts, Threads, or Inappropriate Conduct
11. User Profiles and Signatures
12. Vendors
13. Affiliates
14. Board Support
15. Miscellaneous

1. Clickin Moms Moderators: Team Structure

The Clickin Moms Owner, Administrators, Guides, and Mentors (collectively, “Moderators”) are the board leaders. Moderators engage in maintaining a positive atmosphere on the Clickin Moms board, enforcing rules and policies, resolving problems, overseeing forum moderation, and/or taking disciplinary action. Moderators work as a team and often make collective decisions about administrative actions (including responses to problems) on the board.

You can identify Clickin Moms Moderators by the badges below their avatars. The Clickin Moms Team is structured as follows:

Mentors. Mentors are knowledgeable and experienced professional photographers who act as discussion and workshop leaders. Mentors also assist in moderating board activity and have the ability to move, edit, and delete posts and threads. Mentors are selected on the basis of photographic skill, knowledge,and creativity, activeness on the board, respect for and promotion of board goals and policies, overall helpfulness, and more. While we do not accept applications to become a Mentor, you are welcome to nominate a member for consideration by submitting your suggestion via the Help Desk or Private Message. Please do not nominate members publicly on the board unless a Moderator opens up a thread to solicit such nominations.

Administrators. Administrators assist with the day-to-day functioning the site, which may include technical issues, account issues, board moderation, and other administrative duties. Administrators also advise the board Owner, participate in disciplinary decisions, and may temporarily act as agents of the board Owner in the Owner’s absence.

Owner. The Owner of Clickin Moms is a professional photographer and executive board administrator. The Owner reviews the actions of the other Moderators and is the ultimate arbiter of all decisions involving disciplinary action, board membership, and other issues at her discretion.

All of the Moderators work together behind the scenes to find ways to improve the community for the benefit of our members and to serve the overall goals and policies of Clickin Moms.

2. Board Participation and Decorum

This is a place for sharing and learning. We would like to see people join not only for their own personal growth/gain, but also to make a contribution to a great group of women. New member or veteran, we all have something to offer.

Please be relevant, responsible, and respectful in all of your posts. Before submitting a post, consider the feelings of others and whether the comments, attachments, or links that you post could be construed as offensive, obscene, inflammatory, disrespectful, defamatory, invasive, illegal, unkind, or otherwise inappropriate. Inappropriate behavior of any kind will not be tolerated and may result in the suspension or revocation of privileges or membership altogether. You are responsible for all content posted by your account.

3. Additional Posting Guidelines

Advertising. Advertising or using the board for the purpose of self-enrichment or promotion without a Vendor Badge is strictly prohibited. Please see Section 7: “Advertising, Referrals, Self-Promotion, and Other Solicitation .”

“Blog Love”. Many photographers maintain blogs and use them to post client session previews. Clickin Moms members generally start a new thread each week where you can post your blog URL and invite other members to view or comment on your post(s). If you choose to participate in this thread, please remember that you are required to reciprocate with other members by commenting on their blogs as well. You may occasionally start your own forum thread to solicit “blog love” for a particularly special or important blog post, but we ask that you generally confine your requests for blog visits and comments to the weekly thread. Please be advised that repeated posts soliciting “blog love” may be construed as an impermissible attempt to generate site traffic if such posts constitute a significant percentage of your substantive forum activity.

Complaints. Posts arguing about Clickin Moms policies and/or administrative actions are prohibited. If you are upset or otherwise in disagreement with a policy or administrative action, you are encouraged to post at the Help Desk or contact a Guide or the board Owner directly.

Copyright. You may not post content that violates the copyright or other intellectual property right of any third party. You represent and warrant that you own the rights or are authorized to share all content that you post – including text, images, tools, forms, files, etc. As a general rule, the images and content that you post remains your own. Please see Section 4: “Intellectual Property and Use of Content.”

Critiques. A good critique gives advice about how to make an image better. Simply stating whether or not you like an image is not particularly helpful. Pointing out specific positives about a photographer’s approach and sharing what you would have done differently (and why) is the most effective way to help your fellow photographers grow and improve. The Hard Core Critique forum provides specific guidelines on how to provide an appropriate constructive critique.

Cross-Posting. Cross-posting (posting the same content in multiple threads or forums) is prohibited. If your post or thread topic is relevant to more than one forum, pick the best fit or most specific forum. All duplicate posts will be deleted.

Forum-Specific Guidelines. Some forums have their own sets of rules in addition to those stated here. You are required to comply with those rules if you wish to post in those forums. Such rules are “stickied” at the top of each forum’s thread listing.

Linking. You are encouraged to link members to useful articles, products, services, sales, and other resources that may be of member interest or usefulness. However, please be aware of the following guidelines when posting links:

1) Affiliate and/or Referral links are not allowed. The only exception to this rule is if your referral link imparts some discount or other benefit to members that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
2) Stand alone links (links with no further text) are not allowed and may be considered spam. Please include some text describing the link and why it may be of interest to members.
3) Linking to your own site for the purpose of driving traffic to your site is not permitted unless you are an Authorized Vendor.

Organization. Posts must be placed in an appropriate forum or sub-forum and should contain a descriptive subject line. Posts placed in an inappropriate forum or sub-forum will either be moved or deleted. Non-descriptive or inappropriate subject lines may be renamed.

Post Bumping. Incessant post bumping is generally frowned upon, but a member may bump a thread one time per thread is s/he feels it necessary to do so. The best way to get a response in an inactive thread is to post more information about your question, problem, or issue. If you must bump a post, however, please wait a reasonable amount of time before doing so.

Privacy. As this board is semi-public, we ask that you not post or supply any personal or proprietary information or content that you or a third party may wish to keep private. If you want to communicate sensitive information to other members, please use the Private Messaging system.

Private Messaging vs. Posting. In order to benefit the Clickin Moms community at large, please seek answers to questions or issues that may be of general interest on the board forums rather than taking questions to private messages. This is the best way to get quick responses and a variety of perspectives. It also helps Clickin Moms to expand the breadth of information/advice available to members generally.

Similarly, please do not respond to a posted question with the reply, "send me a private message"; it is always preferable to share with the board at large, but if you are uncomfortable sharing something publicly, simply send the private message yourself. There is no need to advertise that you are engaging in a conversation off the board.

Searching. If you have a question, it may already have been asked and answered in the forums. If you have an issue to discuss, there may already be a discussion about it. Please search for existing threads before starting a new thread.

Sequential Posts. Combine your comments into one post rather than making many consecutive posts to a thread within a short period of time. Multiple posts may be merged at the discretion of Moderators.

Spamming. Do not spam the board with duplicative posts, irrelevant posts, or posts designed to increase your post count. Moderators review posting histories intermittently to ensure that members are not engaging in such activity and will take action as necessary.

Specific Resources and Services.

Business Materials (including sample marketing materials and legal documents). Post requests for these materials in the Business forum; some members may be willing to share or help you get started. Understandably, some have spent significant time/money developing these materials and may prefer to keep their work products private. There are services that will provide these items for a fee.

Buy/Sell Forum. Clickin Moms requires a minimum post count to participate in the Buy/Sell forum. Participation in this forum is a privilege, not a right of membership, and participation prerequisites are subject to change at any time. Clickin Moms assumes no responsibility for transactions facilitated by the Buy/Sell forum. You engage in such transactions at your own risk. However, we encourage you to report any transactions-gone-bad to a Guide so that we can track the problem and member(s) involved.

Critique Requests. Post your image in the Hard Core Critique forum. By doing so, you are subjecting your image to constructive criticism and helpful suggestions. Please do not get defensive or become offended if critiques seem harsh. Critiques that are rude or mean-spirited, however, should be reported to a Moderator. The Hard Core Critique forum has a set of rules to facilitate critique requests; please read these rules before submitting a photo for critique.

Editing Assistance. Post your image in the Picture Play forum. There are many people here (including Mentors/Guides) who are happy to help and offer advice. Please do not send your full-res photo to a Guide, Mentor, or other Member and ask her to do the editing for you. There are services that will do this for a fee (and plenty of past posts that reference such services).

General photography/Photoshop/business/etc related questions. In general, just post these questions to the board - there are lots of talented and knowledgeable members here, and that's the best way to get a quick response. That is what our forums are for, after all!

Welcoming New Members. Clickin Moms welcomes all new members, regardless of their level of expertise or experience. Please help new members learn how to find information and resources, and encourage them to become actively involved in the Clickin Moms community.

4. Intellectual Property and Use of Content

Generally. By posting on the Clickin Moms board, you represent and warrant that you own the rights or are authorized to share all content that you post – including text, images, tools, forms, files, etc. You authorize Clickin Moms to maintain all links, images, text, and other posted content.

You retain the copyright to all of the content that you post on the Clickin Moms board, including text and images, subject to the following:

Internal Use of Content. Quoting or otherwise re-posting member posts within the Clickin Moms forums is permissible provided that the original poster is properly credited.

Photographs are the property of the photographer. You may copy, use, or alter images only as explicitly or implicitly authorized by the photographer. Posting an image in the “Picture Play” forum implicitly authorizes members to download, edit, and upload that image for the purpose of sharing processing ideas and approaches. Members who participate in “Picture Play” have no rights in the derivative works that they create.

External Use of Content. Members may not duplicate or distribute the content (including text or images) posted in the Clickin Moms forums beyond the board without the express permission of the copyright holder. Re-posting or otherwise sharing board content with non-members is grounds for the immediate revocation of Clickin Moms membership. Copyright infringement will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Members may not duplicate, reference, or utilize board content beyond the board (even on a member to member basis) in any way that may be deemed - at the discretion of forum moderators - to be malicious, damaging, adversarial, or otherwise inappropriate. Inappropriate uses include - but are not limited to - the following:

1) Clients who use board content to renegotiate a member photographer's pricing, undermine a member photographer's business structure, or otherwise damage a member photographer's reputation or commercial interests.
2) Photographers who use board content to undercut a local member photographer's pricing or client base, appropriate the poses, locations, price lists, promotions, or other ideas of local member photographers, or otherwise utilize the board as a way to compete with existing members.

Promotional Use of Content. Clickin Moms may reference, duplicate, or otherwise distribute textual content for promotional purposes, including - but not limited to - using member quotes as testimonials or to demonstrate the breadth of knowledge on the board.

Clickin Moms may from time to time solicit images for use in its promotional materials, and your submission of such content in response to these requests authorizes Clickin Moms to use those images in accordance with the stated purpose.

Members who choose to participate in official Clickin Moms contests or challenges consent to having their entries displayed on the Clickin Moms blog and elsewhere for promotional purposes.

Members who participate in Clickin Moms workshops consent to having assignments or other images posted in the workshop forum used as examples in future workshops for instructional purposes and as examples in workshop promotions. Workshop participants may request that their images NOT be used for these purposes by contacting the workshop instructor directly.

Clickin Moms may make other limited use of posted content in accordance with the Fair Use doctrine under Federal Copyright Law.

5. Researching / Soliciting Business Information and Ideas

There are many talented and successful professional photographers on Clickin Moms. When you view the posts/websites/blogs of fellow members, please keep in mind that the pictures and text are the legal copyright of the respective artists.

Out of professional courtesy, please use good judgment before appropriating the ideas of others (poses, locations, price lists, promos), especially if you are located in the same city/region. There is a difference between seeking inspiration and blatant copying. Just use common sense.

6. Workshops

From time to time, Clickin Moms may offer members the opportunity to register for online workshops that are hosted on the Clickin Moms board. Registration for any given workshop will be limited to a specified number of participants and may have technical, equipment, or other prerequisites. Registration fees vary by workshop.

Workshops are designed to provide Members with small group access to our Mentors and Guides, substantive photographic critique, and/or structured lessons and assignments. Each workshop will be set up in a private forum to which only participants will have access.

Workshops are generally structured as co-ops. Much of the learning is to be drawn from questions, suggestions, critiques, and other interaction with fellow workshop participants. Workshop participants are expected to complete all assignments and to actively participate in workshop discussions.

Workshop seats are nonrefundable and nontransferable. Your registration fee is only valid towards the workshop for which you have registered. Please make sure that you have the time and energy to commit to this workshop before signing up.

Members who participate in Clickin Moms workshops consent to having assignments or other images posted in the workshop forum used as examples in future workshops for instructional purposes and as examples in workshop promotions. Workshop participants may request that their images NOT be used for these purposes by contacting the workshop instructor directly.

Workshop materials are the copyright of the workshop instructor and/or Clickin Moms. Participants are prohibited from duplicating, selling, redistributing, altering, or otherwise using workshop materials (including, but not limited to, board posts, videos, PDFs, and images) for anything other than personal reference. The unauthorized use or possession of workshop materials is grounds for the immediate revocation of Clickin Moms membership, and any and all copyright infringement will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

7. Advertising, Referrals, Self-Promotion, and Other Solicitation

You must be a Clickin Moms authorized vendor displaying an approved Vendor Badge in order to advertise on our forums. All vendors are always welcome to participate in the general discussions in our forums. However, unless an advertising response is clearly relevant to a thread (e.g., when a member asks a question about a product/service), Vendors should confine advertising posts to the specific Vendor forums.

Those without an approved Vendor Badge are classified as non-vendors. If you are interested in becoming an authorized Clickin Moms vendor, please contact a Moderator for more details.

Subject to the exceptions below, members may not engage in promotions on their own behalf or the behalf of a third party. Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to:

1) Advertising products, services, or overall businesses *
2) Announcing contests or giveaways *
3) Linking to websites in order to build traffic *
4) Requesting commercial product testers *
5) Posting group buys *
6) Soliciting donations
7) Posting links to gain affiliate or referral credit
8) Recruiting members for participation in other groups, organizations, forums, or the like

* Unless an authorized vendor promoting your own business/products/services

Text, images, attachments, and links in posts, signatures, profiles, or elsewhere on the Clickin Moms website are all subject to these restrictions. Additionally, you may not use the Private Message system to engage in prohibited conduct.

Soliciting donations or otherwise collecting money is strictly prohibited. Clickin Moms participates in one or more charitable activities annually. Please let us know if there is a charitable cause you would like us to consider over the course of the year.

Personal (Noncommercial) or Photography Site Exception. Linking to personal blogs or websites that are non-commercial in nature is permissible. Linking to your own photography blog or photography business site for noncommercial purposes is also permissible. You may include links to such sites in your signature, profile, and in posts. It is generally preferable that you post helpful information within the body of a thread itself rather than driving members off-board to your own site. Please be advised that repeated links to your own blog or site (including posts seeking “blog love”) may be construed as an impermissible attempt to generate site traffic if such posts constitute a significant percentage of your substantive forum activity.

Information Sharing Exception. Clickin Moms distinguishes between advertising and sharing information about sites, products, services, etc. If you have a personal or financial interest in generating site traffic or in promoting a product or service, your posts related to that site/product/service likely constitute advertising. If you are promoting a site, product, or service at the request of (or otherwise on behalf of) a third party, your posts also constitute advertising. Simply sharing information or a link to a website, article, image, business, product, or service that you think may be of interest, value, or use to your fellow members is permissible and even encouraged.

Members are encouraged to post reviews of products/services (including links to vendor sites) and may even actively recommend/promote any product, service, or website in a post, signature, profile, or elsewhere, subject to the following:

1) Members may not post links/reviews/advertisements/etc at the request of a vendor, business, group, seller, or service provider.
2) Members may not post links/reviews/advertisements/etc for which they derive affiliate credit or other profit or financial gain of any type.
3) Members may not post links/reviews/advertisements/etc related to products/services in which they have any personal interest.

8. Forum Moderation

Moderators do not pre-screen posted content. Moderators may – but are under no obligation to – review posts, edit posts, lock posts, or delete posts or threads at their discretion. Moderation is not intended to censor or promote certain points of view or otherwise stifle open discourse. The goal of moderation is to uphold our policies, support the purposes and objectives of the board, and to maintain a positive and beneficial community for all of our members.

If a thread, post, or part of a post is deleted by Moderators, and a member attempts to re-post the deleted content (or anything similar to the deleted content), that member’s posting privileges may be suspended or revoked.

If you have a question about administrative action taken in a post or thread, please post at the Clickin Moms Help Desk located within the forums (Clickin Mom’s Stuff>Help Desk/Contact Us) or contact a Moderator privately. Moderators are generally happy to explain why administrative has been taken. Publicly posting questions or complaints about moderation in the forums is not appropriate forum conduct.

9. Disciplinary Action

Moderators make every effort to treat all members fairly and equally under these TOS. The board owner is the final authority on all disciplinary action that is taken.

The rules for appropriate and inappropriate conduct apply to all board activity. Private interactions between members (including private messages and off-board activity) may be taken into consideration if such correspondence or conduct is brought to the attention of moderators.

Moderators are generally forgiving of minor violations of the TOS on the board.

The most common administrative actions are to edit, move, or delete posts or threads. The second most common actions are the issuance of reminders or warnings.

More serious violations – or repeated minor violations – may result in immediate membership suspension or revocation. Serious violations include (but are not limited to)

1) Direct personal insults, attacks, or harassment
2) Spam or deliberate post count inflation
3) Advertising, Referrals, Self-Promotion, or Solicitation (one warning is generally given)
4) Hoaxes, Deception, or Sensationalism
5) Distributing Post Content Off-Board
6) Stealing the Photographs of Others
7) Permitting account access by anyone other than the registered account holder

The above guidelines notwithstanding, Clickin Moms reserves the right to suspend or revoke a member’s membership and/or privilege to post content on our site at any time and for any reason. Members who are suspended or banned are entitled to no refund of their membership payment.

10. Reporting Posts, Threads, or Inappropriate Conduct

Clickin Moms has extremely active forums with hundreds – sometimes thousands -- of posts daily. Because moderators cannot reasonably be expected to read all of these posts, they rely heavily on members to report inappropriate threads, posts, and conduct.

If you have experienced or observed in appropriate posts or other inappropriate behavior by a Clickin Moms member, please click the “Report Post” icon (on the bottom left side of a post) and/or inform a Guide directly. The identities of those who report posts or conduct are never made public.

Examples of Posts that should be reported:

1) Advertising or promotional posts by non-vendors
2) Personal attacks or otherwise rude/malicious posts (especially about fellow photographers or Clickin Moms members)
3) Posts that are obscene, offensive, or inflammatory
4) Posts that encourage pirating/copyright infringement

A few tips for Reporting Posts:

1) If you are uncertain about whether to report a post, report it anyway. Moderators will decide whether action needs to be taken.
2) You will not receive a reply to a Post Report, but Moderators review every report. If you require a reply, please submit your report via the Help Desk.
3) To report a thread generally, just report any post within the thread.

If you feel a Moderator is abusing forum rules or behaving unethically, please contact the board owner and/or a Guide directly.

1. User Profiles and Signatures

Each member has a profile which can be accessed via the "User Control Panel” under the “Quick Links” link in the header. Please fill out as much information as possible. At a minimum, you must include your real name (first and/or last) and location. Moderators will review profiles and signatures from time to time and may revise or suspend a member account to ensure compliance with these TOS.

Your signature's size is limited to 250 pixels high total. Your signature may include text, images, links, or any combination thereof. Flashing or otherwise animated signatures are not permitted. Offensive, disruptive, or otherwise objectionable signature images or text may be removed at the discretion of board administrators.

If you choose to include links in your profile or signature, please keep in mind that your links are subject to the restrictions stated in the “Advertising, Referrals, Self-Promotion, and Other Solicitation” section. You may not, for example, link to business sites (unless you are an authorized Vendor) or use affiliate or referral links. You may link to your official photography blog/site and your personal blog/site.

12. Vendors

Our authorized vendors have exclusive rights to promote their businesses to our members.

Authorized vendors under our current vendor plan are entitled to the following:

1) "Awesome Vendor" badge letting our members know that you are an authorized Clickin Moms vendor
2) 125x125 pixel banner on the Clickin Moms homepage or main forum page
3) Private vendor forum to meet and chat with your fellow Clickin Moms Vendors
4) Access to our extremely active general forums, where (if it suits you) you can discuss photography, Photoshop, business and marketing, and other subjects
5) Numerous advertising, promotional, and product development opportunities, including unlimited access to post in the Vendor Row and Group Buys/Discounts forums, opportunities to sponsor Clickin Moms contests, access to our Moderators for product testing/review, and opportunities to purchase email blasts, and more.

If you have a product, service, or website to promote and would like to sign up to become a Vendor (or would simply like more information about the vendor program), please contact a Moderator.

Clickin Moms does not generally pre-screen Vendor applications but does track member compliments and complaints about transactions with prospective or existing authorized Vendors. Vendors are expected to provide members with high-level customer care and quality products and services. Vendors may only promote their own businesses/products/services. If you own and would like to promote more than one business, you must purchase a vendor pass for each such business.

Clickin Moms reserves the right to refuse Vendor applications or to revoke Vendor memberships at any time.

13. Affiliates

Members receive 20% of the membership fee when your referral signs up. You also earn affiliate profits every time the member you referred renews her account.

14. Board Support

Generally. Technical support for your account, billing questions, and/or problems with the board or forums should be sought by inquiring at the Clickin Moms Help Desk located within the forums (Clickin Mom’s Stuff>Help Desk/Contact Us). If do not receive a response to your Help Desk request within 72 hours or if you cannot log in at all, please contact one or more Moderators directly (via Private Message or official Clickin Moms email address).

Please do not contact Moderators by seeking out their personal or business email addresses or telephone numbers.

Username Changes. If you'd like to change your username, please submit your request via the Help Desk. We will only make one name change per member, and only permit changes to your real name (first name, first name and last initial, or first name and last name).

Membership Cancelation. If you need to cancel your membership, you can do so directly through your own Paypal account. Please inquire at the Help Desk if you need additional assistance. You may cancel your membership at any time, but no refunds will be issued for payments previously made.

15. Miscellaneous

If you have any questions or suggestions relating to these TOS, please contact the board Owner or a Guide.