(Questions about using our NEW SITE? Ask them Here: Site Questions Forum . )

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Hi and welcome!
Here are the site guidelines and rules all members are asked to respect-

CIVILITY:
We are a super friendly community!  Please respect that others may have different viewpoints than yours. If you are upset, take a little break to cool off before you post those angry words. Remember too that things we write online can sound harsher than when we say them in person- adjust your post accordingly  especially if you've had an issue with this kind of thing in the past.
If you are having a problem with another member or wish to report content that is upsetting to you, please contact me privately by clicking on my name (Strumelia) or going to my profile page, and send me a message. You can also contact me by clicking on the CONTACT site owner link at the bottom right of every site page. Or you can initially contact one the site moderators. The site moderators and I will try to resolve the issue fairly.

 

POSTING VIDEOS AND MUSIC/AUDIO CLIPS:
When you add video or audio music clips to FOTMD from your profile page,

there are TWO criteria that must be met:

1) Please be sure they involve yourself playing some instrument, singing, or performing in some way, either solo or as part of a group. This policy keeps the site's focus on our own members' musical efforts!  If you wish to direct people's attention to video and music clips of musicians other than yourself, then just give folks a LINK in a forum or group discussion post instead, where we can go look/listen for ourselves at the item online, rather than adding it to FOTMDs Video or Audio areas.

and

2) In our site's video or music sections, you may only add audio and video music material that is public domain or traditional, or if you are the songwriter. Please respect copyright laws and our site rules, by not posting songs or lyrics that are copyrighted by others. We are strict about this in order to protect our site from copyright infringement threats or lawsuits, and we try to support writers and composers rights. Not sure if that song is copyrighted? -here is our GROUP where you can ask if a song is public domain. 'Most' songs published before 1923 are now public domain, by the way.

Posting long excerpts of written material here that are copied from other people's books and articles is not allowed. Posting TAB arrangements of copyrighted songs is not allowed on FOTMD, whether it's your own tab or someone else's. Please do not post information here on how folks can obtain TABs of copyrighted songs from you- that makes FOTMD involved in the distribution of such material. Thanks for your cooperation! I should mention that just because you see a song posted on YouTube or other websites does not mean it is in the public domain and therefore is ok to post here. Many videos and other materials are in fact shared on those sites illegally.

Remember: All video or music files added to the sites video/audio sections via your profile page must include yourself playing or singing something, AND must consist of public domain (non-copyrighted) songs or your own composition. Videos promoting 3rd party sites, wares, or projects are not allowed.

 

SELLING/MERCHANDISING/PROMOTING:

The For Sale Forum - All members are welcome to use FOTMD's For Sale/Wanted Forum to sell, seek, or promote their music-related items. Listings in the For Sale forum must be for an actual currently existing item for sale (a CD or book, a specific single instrument , a music stand, photos of some specific dulcimer wood pieces for sale...) and the ad must include a PHOTO of the actual item being sold, and the price. In other words, no open-ended ongoing listings like "I make dulcimer stands", "I will make you a custom dulcimer", "I sell bowed psalteries", "Music lessons available", "Selling wood for building"... It needs to be the actual existing single item directly for sale, with the item's photo and price.
    Please, no ads for Ebay or third party auctions. Seeking donations or funding for personal, charitable, or commercial reasons, or through links to sites such as Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Patreon, or Crowdfunder projects, are not allowed. A maximum of TWO For Sale ads per member are allowed at any given time (but not for the same item), with no more than ONE instrument or large item per ad offered. Small items such as noters may be grouped up to five in an ad.  To keep things current, an ad for an instrument will generally be deleted after about six months, while ads for non-instrument items and accessories such as CDs, books, jewelry, tote bags etc will be deleted after about four months.  Please don't list the same item (such as a cd or tab book) repeatedly.  If you would like to sell items more visibly or for a longer time period, please purchase a main page slideshow Showcase Ad, see below.

Listing an item for sale is free of charge, however- We do ask for a $5 site donation for any item or group of items listed in our For Sale forum once you have soldover $100 worth of item(s). If you sell a dulcimer for either $100 or $800, a simple $5 donation is asked. If you sell CDs or books or dulcimer straps totaling over $100 in sales, again only $5 is asked. This helps pay for our site! You can use the Main Page Paypal Donation buttons to make your donation when you sell merchandise for over $100. We use the honor system and ask that members please remember to do this when sales are made due to a connection in the For Sale Forum -thank you!
Please confine merchandising, personal or commercial product promotion, pricing, and selling information to the FOR SALE forum . Though pictures and descriptions of instruments and things you make are certainly allowed throughout the site, (we all love to see what creative folks are working on), ...but information on pricing or ordering, and merchandise/sale/product promotions are not allowed on member profile pages, comment walls, on forum threads, in videos, photos, groups, etc.  Excessive hotlink posting to promote yourself, your sites, or other sites is not cool. 

Using your 'Followers' list as a means to send private messages promoting yourself, your music, your websites, your business, or to send unsolicited offers to your group of Followers here is SPAM, and may result in suspension from this site. If you receive private message sales offerings, workshop/tour/lessons notices, or other promotional material in your Inbox from other members here, please report such incidents privately to FOTMD Administrators- either to me (Strumelia) or to any of our moderators. Thank you!

PROFILE PAGES:
To luthiers, teachers, pro musicians, etc- In your Profile Page Bio biography text box, you may provide ONE simple hot link to your commercial site, along with one or two photos and a simple one-paragraph description of what you do. Please don't promote your wares all over this site or turn your member profile page into a commercial marketing webpage for promoting what you sell. Don't use your profile page 'bio box' for placing ads or asking for funds. Keep in mind we are a social community , so don't use your membership here only for selling things or promoting your musical offerings. As part of this active dulcimer community you are also expected to regularly participate socially by interacting with and encouraging other members. We encourage members with interests in dulcimers or music.

 

EVENTS:
We have two areas for members to post their special events. See the top bar links drop-down menu under Events to choose the appropriate location to post your event:
Individual musicians, performers, and teachers are encouraged to post notices of their tour appearances, workshops, club activities, monthly jams, gigs, concerts...by listing their individual Events such as workshops in our: Single Instructor Events Forum .
FOTMDs main Festivals/Gatherings Events section is intended for larger venues featuring multiple teachers or performers- such as music festivals, campouts, free gatherings, and music camps. These larger participatory events are submitted by you from your profile page , and will they then await admin approval before appearing in the site calendar.

 

EXCESSIVE PERSONAL OR OFF TOPIC POSTING:
Occasionally posting or updating if you are facing a current crisis, illness, etc. is fine if you have not already posted in detail about it before. You should consider posting in our private "Prayer Requests/Hugs Needed" Group for some specific emotional or spiritual support. FOTMD is not the proper place for ongoing discussion of personal off topic subjects...including about one's life, illnesses, personal or emotional issues, or various problems.
Please don't post large numbers or series of off topic photos or files, ongoing blogging/journaling, or repeatedly posting links in order to steer FOTMD members to other sites, for whatever purpose or cause. This applies as well to any content posted on one's Member Profile page , which should be kept reasonable and appropriate to the site in both quantity and type of content .
Again, FOTMD is not a personal blogging site, a free advertising venue, Facebook, or Instagram, ...it's not to be used to promote other sites or causes. Topics debating or pushing politics and religion are not allowed.

 

SHARING INFORMATION- stay safe!:
Please be aware that its never a good idea to publicly post phone numbers, addresses, or other personal identification information on public sites. Don't post personal info in your For Sale ad! instead, get on each others' Follower list and then use private messages to exchange such info. Certainly never post other peoples information.

Please ask permission before quoting things someone else writes here. Harvesting content from this site and posting/publishing it in other locations online is not allowed. This applies not only to written posts, but also to other peoples content such as their photos, videos, music clips, and anything they may have written or posted on this site.  If its not something that you yourself posted, ASK before posting it elsewhere. The publishing rights to the content of this site belong to the site owner.

 

PRIVATE MESSAGES- respecting privacy:
I ask all members of this site to please support the private nature of the private messaging and email system, and not publicly air or refer to things that have been written to you in private, for your own purposes. That's a basic matter of respectful behavior and is universally accepted online etiquette.

 

Thanks so much- our members make Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer what it is...Welcome, Friend!

--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
updated by @strumelia: 11/08/24 05:01:29PM