Registered users need to read this thread !!!!! Urgent !!!!

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Karda

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As I stated in this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-then-be-a-Knifemaker?p=13032601#post13032601

On 1/10/14, I will be checking the list I've compiled of registered users with knifemaker homepage listings and/or references to themselves as knifemaker in their profile. The number now totaling 60 members whom are in clear violation of the forums rules.

These 60 members have all been sent a warning with instruction to remove these things.
Some have complied by either removal of the info or by purchasing a knifemaker membership.
Quite a few have not complied.

On 1/10/14 those that have not complied with the warnings will find their memberships to bladeforums terminated. (banned).

If you have a:

1) Business username ie; XXXXXKnives....etc- Pay for a name change or purchase a knifemaker membership.
How to get your username changed:http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...berships-FAQ-s-amp-More?p=4846488#post4846488

2) Knifemaker Home page listing- remove it or purchase a knifemaker membership.
Paid subscriptions page ( Non-USA customers will need to read the instructions carefully)- http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/payments.php

3) References to you as a "knifemaker/craftsman/service provider" in your profile- remove it or purchase a knifemaker membership.
These will need to be handled by the individual user- if you need help/instruction on how to remove the references, contact me and I will gladly instruct you.

It is every Members responsibility to read and understand the posted forum rules and act in accordance with them.
It is also every members responsibility to keep their membership or their profile information up to date and in compliance with the posted forum rules.

The posted forum rules:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/faq.php
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/announcement.php?f=746&a=98



I implore each and every one of those people I've warned (and those I have not) to do the right thing and comply with the requests and rules. I really do not want to have to remove anyone access to this fine site.
 
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I dont' sell anything but technically I'm a new bladesmith, would I need to purchase a membership to get criticism on here, or am I safe? I didn't get a warning, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
DarthTaco123 said:
I dont' sell anything but technically I'm a new bladesmith, would I need to purchase a membership to get criticism on here, or am I safe? I didn't get a warning, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
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You are fine.
You don't have to have a membership to participate on this site unless you are promoting your business or work via your postings or in your profile or are selling.

It's all explained here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-If-you-are-a-Knifemaker-then-be-a-Knifemaker
 
Sounds good! I was just wondering where I made a post or so asking for some advice if I needed to pay, thanks for the clarification, I was kind of confused when I read that thread too, it's kind of why I asked here. Regardless, it's nice to see mods who respond to nubs such as myself. Thank's again!
 
Kinda sad that ANYONE that has been warned continues to break the rules. It's not that difficult to comply.

Just out of curiosity, what if someone received the warning but hasn't logged in to find it? Just wondering because I went a long while without logging in. It would have been an enormous bummer if, when I finally did, realized that I had broken a rule that hadn't existed and been banned. The rules changed quite a bit while I was gone.
 
you can tell when a person last logged in so i think karda will take that into consideration. i think he is sending out emails to let people know.
 
Strigamort said:
Just out of curiosity, what if someone received the warning but hasn't logged in to find it? Just wondering because I went a long while without logging in. It would have been an enormous bummer if, when I finally did, realized that I had broken a rule that hadn't existed and been banned. The rules changed quite a bit while I was gone.
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The Changes to the rules have been mostly exchange issue prompted by Liu Kangs antics.
The rule about non-advertisement by registered users has been the same since I first read the rules when I joined, although loosely enforced.
Now that we have so many neglecting their profile info or helping themselves, it's become a problem that can no longer be ignored.

At this point, it's only been warnings that have been sent....reminders to correct issues.
After 1/10 it will likely be a major 30pt "selling without paid membership" infraction with a banning following in 7 days if the member is found to still be non compliant.

We do take things on a case-by-case basis if needed and do have consideration for those whom haven't logged in in awhile, but that does not mean that the member is absolved of compliance.
 
Just to backup Karda and explain....this isn't a witch hunt where we are going to pursue every maker who ever sold a knife to a buddy. It is about those with webpages advertising them as knifemakers or service providers, and about those who clearly sell knives and materials who are registered users. If you are just a fellow who makes knives, and aren't calling yourself a business, you have no problems. "jontheknifenut" has no problem. "John Jones Custom Knifeworks" does.
 
bladsmth said:
... "jontheknifenut" has no problem. "John Jones Custom Knifeworks" does.
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I have a feeling folks are going to call it a money grab to change their profile name. The hard fact is if they'd read the rules upon registering, they wouldn't have chosen such a name. But there are shades of grey for the BF Admin to consider, as a site that encourages new members to join. Such as...

If a newly registered user signs up as "John Jones Custom Knifeworks" only to later realize he made a mistake... is he still charged the name change fee? In other words, is there an "allowance" for newbs to get their act together before it becomes a financial penalty?
 
Rick Marchand said:
I have a feeling folks are going to call it a money grab to change their profile name. The hard fact is if they'd read the rules upon registering, they wouldn't have chosen such a name. But there are shades of grey for the BF Admin to consider, as a site that encourages new members to join. Such as...

If a newly registered user signs up as "John Jones Custom Knifeworks" only to later realize he made a mistake... is he still charged the name change fee? In other words, is there an "allowance" for newbs to get their act together before it becomes a financial penalty?
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As far as I know, No.
It would be up to Spark at his discretion though...
Just as the site is not responsible for members purchasing the wrong membership, it is not responsible for choosing their usernames either.
It is up to the user to read the rules and choose appropriately.
 
bladsmth said:
Just to backup Karda and explain....this isn't a witch hunt where we are going to pursue every maker who ever sold a knife to a buddy. It is about those with webpages advertising them as knifemakers or service providers, and about those who clearly sell knives and materials who are registered users. If you are just a fellow who makes knives, and aren't calling yourself a business, you have no problems. "jontheknifenut" has no problem. "John Jones Custom Knifeworks" does.
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i was going to put down richard j's knives until i read the rules.

tonight i was reading an old bumped thread here in shop talk and seen half a dozen members that need to up their membership or edit out their homepage. some have not been logged in for a while and some were logged in today. all it takes is a few seconds to click your own name. if you see "homepage" listed and you are a registered user, you need to remove the link or buy a membership if your homepage lists knives for sale.
 
Strigamort said:
Thanks for that Karda.

Liu Kang... heh
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yeah, its all liu kangs fault. anybody that is mad at karda should be mad at lk. he's the no good *&^%#)%*& s.o.b. that started all this :D. karda is just doing his job by enforcing the rules approved by spark. what if spark would come in this sub forum and put up a list of names and say "ok, i'm giving these people 5 days from today to comply with the rules or i ban you".

things are not going to be any different except you know that within the 5 days, you better do what spark says or you will see your name here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1140632-January-is-here-hungry-sharks-are-near!
 
I'm just curious, sometime in my posts I post a link to my youtube channel that shows vids of some knives I've made and some knifemaking vids and other related stuff. I'm not advertising anything or any knives I have sold, well I have sold 3 to a few friends since I've started a few years ago.. But I only post this in case anybody is curious to see my "level of knifemaking" like when I ask a question or w/e they can tell I'm not a complete newbie and also a way of saying "this is me :) " lol Is that allowed? -Paul

oh, I also have "knifemaking" listed in my interests, but not as my occupation.. is that allowed? I REALLY don't wanna get banned!! :o
 
coldsteelburns said:
I'm just curious, sometime in my posts I post a link to my youtube channel that shows vids of some knives I've made and some knifemaking vids and other related stuff. I'm not advertising anything or any knives I have sold, well I have sold 3 to a few friends since I've started a few years ago.. But I only post this in case anybody is curious to see my "level of knifemaking" like when I ask a question or w/e they can tell I'm not a complete newbie and also a way of saying "this is me :) " lol Is that allowed? -Paul

oh, I also have "knifemaking" listed in my interests, but not as my occupation.. is that allowed? I REALLY don't wanna get banned!! :o
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As long as theres no advertising or logos in the video, it is fine.
Having knifemaking as your "interests" is proper, Having it as your "occupation" is not.

As bladsmth stated.......This is not a witch hunt, we're not out to get anybody. But all have to admit that having at present 76 (and counting) members with homepage advertising represents quite a tidy sum of money that the owner of this site is not benefitting from. At the current membership rate...that's $5700.00 that could be benefitting Spark, his family and the site in general. All we would like is to be fair to Spark and to our members whom support the site with their investment in a membership here.

Honestly, while I am encouraged by the support some have shown, I am a bit dismayed at some of the animosity shown by others.
Having to check on and remind grown men to do the right thing, follow the simple rules we have and go thru all this work is not very enjoyable in the least.
 
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everybody can help out karda by checking for homepages or "knifemaker" in a title or username and maybe pm or email him the link to the persons profile and let him take care of it. everybody might want to check their blogs too.
 
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Again, just to be clear.....


We have a newer member here who is 15 years old. He filled out his profile with age and all the info. In that he said he was a knifemaker as his occupation. He also picked a username with a business title similar to,"John Jones Custom Knifeworks". He has no home page or other business info or sales links in his posts or profile. He would have got a notice if it were not that a quick check of his full info shows he is an over eager youth, not a business.

No one is going to make this chap buy a knifemaker membership. It would have been smarter for him to put clearer info in his profile, and to pick a more sensible user name...but we don't tax kids for being kids, or users for picking a poor name choice. It is the users who ARE knifemakers and aren't purchasing the proper membership level that we are addressing.


If you have not received a notice from Karda or another mod about this subject, you should be fine. If you are in doubt, the best thing to do is PM Karda or a mod and ask.
 
bladsmth said:
Again, just to be clear.....


We have a newer member here who is 15 years old. He filled out his profile with age and all the info. In that he said he was a knifemaker as his occupation. He also picked a username with a business title similar to,"John Jones Custom Knifeworks". He has no home page or other business info or sales links in his posts or profile. He would have got a notice if it were not that a quick check of his full info shows he is an over eager youth, not a business.

No one is going to make this chap buy a knifemaker membership. It would have been smarter for him to put clearer info in his profile, and to pick a more sensible user name...but we don't tax kids for being kids, or users for picking a poor name choice. It is the users who ARE knifemakers and aren't purchasing the proper membership level that we are addressing.
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With all due respect, the fact that he is 15, or claims to be, should not exclude him from the rules. At the least, he should be required to change his user name, do it gratis for him if you want to give consideration to his age. Otherwise, you will always be open to criticism about selectively applying the rules, and with cause.
 
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