CherryForums General Policies

Registration: Non-registered members (aka visitors) can view most of the CherryForums. However, they cannot post, view member lists and specialized forums, or send private messages. When registering, members do not have to use their real names, but to avoid confusion, they should not use their Cherry Names as usernames.

Design: The forums are set up to show only your “display name”, your “custom (typically cherry) name,” and a few of your member stats. If you have a cherry name and want everyone to see it, please make sure that someone isn't already using it (check member list) and then enter it into your "custom title" field in your Profile. Please do not manually add your name, signature or any personal or non-topical information to the end of your public posts. We want to keep the board discussions focused and easy to read, without any of the “white noise” of signature lines, smileys, or avatars.

Profile: We encourage you to add any avatars, signatures, personal text, website info and anything else you can possibly think of to your personal profile. None of these will be seen in the discussion posts but you'll be decorating your profile for those who choose visit it.

Posting Content: Posting of original material for any reason is strictly prohibited; this includes but is not limited to essays, fictions and poems. We, the owners and the mods, are not responsible for protecting any material that you post here. Remember there is no privacy on the internet, and what you say lives forever in search engine archives.

Re-Posting Content: Forwarding of any material on CherryForums is prohibited. Do not take any content from these forums without written permission from the original post author.

Individual Forum Guidelines : Learn and respect each forum's policies. Since each of our forums have specific guidelines, you'll need to check the rules for each before you post.

New Topics: A new topic should be titled as accurately as possible. Do not use general topic titles like "Question!" or "What do you think?" Incorporate key words into the title so others will know what that thread is discussing. Also, please check to make sure that the discussion is not already taking place somewhere in the forums.

Stay on Topic. Do your best to honor the subject line of a topic. If the thread of the posts naturally veers in a different direction, rename the subject line of your post. If you're posting info that is very different from the current discussion, start a new topic.

Quoting : Quote the smallest amount text possible when replying to a previous post.

Tone: Take care how you word your posts; be kind, polite, and open-minded. Nothing posted to the forums should ever be personal.

Questions to Mods: When in doubt, send your question to the forum mods. You can ask any of our moderators questions via Private Message. If the question pertains to a specific forum, please ask the mods that run it by clicking on their names or online status and then filling out the PM form.

Questions about Jenny: Although CherryForums is made possible through Jenny Crusie's sponsorship, this is not a place to find out about her. Jenny has an enormous website devoted to answering general questions. Please go to www.JennyCrusie.com first to look for answers. The same applies for information on Jenny's writing partners, Bob Mayer (www.BobMayer.org), Eileen Dreyer (www.EileenDreyer.com) and Anne Stuart (www.Anne-Stuart.com).

Requests for changes in policy or features should be posted to Forum Comments & Questions at the bottom of the home page.

Conduct Unbecoming a Cherry:

• Do not spam, solicit or self-promote to our members.
• Do not post extended quotes from copyrighted works. If you don't own the copyright for something, you do not have the right to post it.
• Do not insult or attack anyone (members or not) in CherryForums. If you see this happening, report the post (use the link in the post) to the mods immediately.
• Do not post jokes or comments that are offensive, divisive, or hurtful (racist, sexist, homophobic, condemnation of lifestyle, etc. In the same vein, avoid sharing intimate details of your personal life. Remember that CherryForums is open to the entire planet and anything posted here could come back to haunt you.

Violations: A first and second offense will get you your post edited by a mod and a notice PM/email letting you know of your violations. A third offense will get your membership deleted and your IP banned from CherryForums. So let's just not go there, ok?

Moderators: Our mods are our lifeline here at CherryForums. Treat them with respect and civility. Without them and all their hard work, there would be no CherryForums.com

CherryForums Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why was CherryForums created?
The original Jenny Crusie Fans list was imploding because of the traffic, which meant that threads like book club discussions and reading topics were getting lost. Jenny's Cherry Writers, the online critique group had a different problem: Too many people wanted on and there wasn't room. So the Forums were created to host focused topics for the JCF list and discussion threads for the JCW readers that would be open to everybody. The Forums do not replace the lists. If you want to chat, ask the Cherries a question BTCKE (Because The Cherries Know Everything), or just kick back and play in the community, then the JenniferCrusieFans List on YahooGroups is your destination. But if you want to take part in focused discussions on clearly defined topics, then the CherryForums are the place to be.

Q: Why don't you allow personal photos, signature lines, animated smilies or avatars, to be added to my post?
We're all for having fun in the Cherry community, which is why we're having the party over on JenniferCrusieFans. The CherryForums is the quieter part of our community where people discuss ideas instead of chatting. The photos, sig lines, smilies, and other non-text posts tend to act as white noise, making it harder to get to the ideas being discussed. If you want to play, JCF is your party room. If you want to talk about specific topics, it's nice and quiet here.

Q: Why don't you allow attachments to be added to my post?
We don't want to fill up our server space with your images; we prefer to keep that room for your ideas. If you want to show an image, insert a link in your post, but please make sure it actually adds to the topic under discussion. Also, do not embed images from other websites as this can raise issues of copyright and bandwidth theft.

Q: How do I find new posts or where I left off reading on my last visit?
Forums that are marked with a cherry icon with a star burst behind it have new topics/posts in them. From the home page, to see only what is new in each forum, you can click on the cherry/star burst icon rather than the forum name (name link will show you all topics in the forum). Once in the forum, all new topics or those with new posts will have a “new” icon after their name. Clicking on the "new" icon will take you to where you were last reading/posting in that topic. For a quick overview of everything that is new, visit the "Recent Posts" link from the home pages sidebar.

Q: How do I start a new forum?
You don't, Mollie, the Cherry Forums Patrician, does. If you've got a great idea for a new forum, put it in the Suggestion Box at the bottom of the home page.

Q: How do I start a new topic?
If that particular forum gives you permission to do so, you'll see a link on the topics page that lets you begin a new topic. Some boards are "reply-only" for organizational reasons.

Q: I'd be a great mod. How do I sign up?
You don't. We're full up right now, and we've deliberately started with a large mod team so that we won't have to add anybody soon. We do keep an eye out for active members who are knowledgeable but not know-it-alls, helpful but not condescending, leaders without being bossy. There are hundreds of people involved in our online communities and most of them meet and exceed these qualifications, so if you weren't chosen, it's nothing personal. Also Mollie feels that anyone who asks to be a mod should never be a mod so really, don't ask.

Q: Why is the time look wrong on my/others posts?
Your time zone probably needs to be established in your Profile. Go there and under "Look and Layout Preferences" you'll see "Time Offset", click "(auto detect)", then go to the bottom of the page and click "change profile" and you should be good to go.

Q: Why are there forums that I can't see until I register? What can't I post without registering?
This is done to protect the community at large. The Writing Craft board is not visible until you register because when you register, you have to agree to our policies; this gives us a way to block spammers, evict toxic people, and keep the content safe.

Q: How can I find where I stopped reading in a topic?
When a forum has posts that are new-to-you, you'll see a starburst behind the normal cherry icon. Clicking on that forum will take you to a list of ongoing topics within that forum. Topics with new-to-you posts will have a "new" icon after their title. Clicking on that "new" icon will take you to the exact place you stopped reading.

Q: This forum looks different from any I've seen before. How did you do that?
Jenny and Mollie made a decision long ago that anything done for Crusie would be branded with the same look and feel, including the website, the blog, and the bulletin boards. This means the CherryForums are highly customized: We mocked-up the layout, hired a programmer and graphic artist, and then worked like crazy to make it fun, bright, clear, clean, and easy to use. We hope you like it, but if you don't, post your thoughts to the Suggestion Box Forum. Unless you're going to ask for smilies and avatars. That's not happening.

Q: Is there a character limit to my posts?
3000 words.

Q: Why do I see all these names with “Cherry” in them?
The original JCF posters, back at the beginning of time, gave themselves Cherry nicknames and it became a tradition. Feel free to participate but first, if you wouldn't mind, please check the database on JCF to make sure the name you want isn't already being used.

Q: I'm not a published writer; can I post in the Writing categories?
Of course. Publishing has nothing to do with writing, that's why they're in separate categories. There are great books that don't get published for a long time (and probably just as many that don't get published at all; see Emily Dickinson), and truly lousy books that get published all the time. Your publishing status is irrelevant in the writing forums. Actually, it's irrelevant in all the forums. All Cherries are created equal; we're not big on status here.