AccessDubuque.com

The Telegraph Herald grants most users the privilege of posting comments, blogs, photos and video clips on THonline.com and AccessDubuque.com. Community Forum members in good standing may post content 24 hours a day, seven days a week without their submissions being held in queue for prior review by TH staff.

How do I become a TH Community Forum Member?

Click here to become a member now. It's FREE!

To become a member of the TH Community Forum, a registered user must provide verification of his or her identity in one of several ways:

1)  By online submission of a valid VISA, Mastercard or Discover Card account number. Your credit card will NOT be charged, but will be validated by a third-party credit-card verification service (Authorize.net). The name and address on the credit card must match the name and address submitted to the TH on the user’s THonline.com registration.

2)  By online submission of a valid Telegraph Herald subscriber account number. You will find this account number on your subscription invoice. The name and address on the Telegraph Herald subscription must match the name and address submitted to the TH on the user’s THonline.com/AccessDubuque.com registration.

3)  By completing an online registration form, printing the form and bringing it to the Telegraph Herald with a valid photo ID. The name and address on the photo ID must match the name and address submitted to the TH on the user’s THonline.com/AccessDubuque.com registration.

4)  If your name, address and telephone number is listed in the phonebook, complete the online registration form and call 563-588-5732 during regular business hours. We will return the call to verify the contact information.

5)  If none of the above methods is feasible, there might be other ways to verify your identity remotely. Complete the online registration form and call 563-588-5732 during regular business hours. We will do our best to accommodate.

The TH will not share a Forum member’s name and address, or other personal information, with other users on the site. Member contributions will continue to be labeled only with the member’s selected screen name or user account number.

Why does the TH require Forum members to identify themselves?

Identification helps the TH enforce the rules of acceptable behavior by THonline.com/AccessDubuque.com contributors. Without this identification, banned users who refuse to abide by our Terms of Service simply create another anonymous user account and continue posting content that is potentially libelous, defamatory, abusive and/or disruptive to the healthy civil discourse of the TH Forums. Users who have provided a verifiable identification can be held accountable for their submissions and can be effectively removed from the forums.

What if I don’t identify myself?

Anonymous registered users may still post tributes on obituaries and congratulatory comments on Your Neighbors announcements between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). Guests may submit photos and video clips at any time, but all content submitted by anonymous users will be held in queue until they are reviewed and approved by the TH. Prior to approval, the content will not be visible to other users on the site. Submitted content is reviewed several times per day. The length of time before postings are processes can vary depending on staff availability and the volume of submissions. Queued posts submitted by Forum members are always reviewed before content posted by guests.

What happens if I submit unacceptable content?

Depending on the severity of the infraction and the member’s posting history, members who submit unacceptable content, as determined in the sole discretion of the TH, can be suspended temporarily or indefinitely from posting content on the site. Less severe infractions can result in members being placed on a “monitor” list until they demonstrate a consistent practice of abiding by our Terms of Service. The content submitted by monitored members will not appear on the web site until they have been reviewed and approved by TH staff during regular business hours. Decisions made by the TH regarding acceptable use of our Forums are final and are not subject to debate or explanation, other than what is outlined in our Terms of Service. The best way to remain a member in good standing is to abide by these terms.

How do I know my account status?

THonline.com and AccessDubuque.com user are notified of their status with one of three labels, visible in the comments and Your Pix & Flix sections of the web sites when the user is logged in:

·         MEMBER: This means the user has verified his or her identity, as outlined above, and is considered trustworthy in the sole discretion of the Telegraph Herald. Their comments will be posted live on THonline.com unless they include certain words or phrases that are either prohibited or held in queue to be reviewed for appropriate use.

·         MONITORED MEMBER: This means the user has verified his or her identity, but has violated our Terms of Service in previous posts, as determined in the sole discretion of the TH. Users may remain in this status for any length of time, as determined by the TH. In general, once the user has demonstrated a consistent practice of abiding by the Terms of Service, their status will be upgraded.

·         GUEST: This means the user has not verified his or her identity, as outlined above. Guests may post tributes on obituaries and congratulatory comments on Your Neighbors announcements between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Guests may post photos or video clips at any time, but all content submitted by guests will be held in queue pending approval by the TH.

·         SUSPENDED USER: This means the user’s previously submitted content has violated our Terms of Service and resulted in the revocation of their posting privileges. This suspension could be for a specified number of days or indefinitely, depending on the severity of the violation and/or the posting history of the user. All user accounts associated with a suspended user’s physical and/or e-mail address will be suspended at the same time and for the same duration.

How do I know if my submissions are visible to others?

While you are logged in to your user account on THonline.com and AccessDubuque.com, all of your submitted comments will be visible to you, with the following labels:

·         LIVE: This means your content is visible to other THonline.com/AccessDubuque.com users. The TH reserves the right to remove the content at any time and for any reason, as outlined in our Terms of Service. If the comment, blog, image or video is removed, its label will change to “Denied.”

·         PENDING: This means your submission is being held in queue until it can be reviewed by the TH. Pending content is visible only to you and not to other THonline.com/AccessDubuque.com users. Content posted by guests or monitored members will be held in queue for review prior to going live. Comments or blogs posted by members in good standing may be held in queue for review if they contain certain words or phrases that might be considered unacceptable, depending on their context.

·         DENIED: This means your comment, blog, image or video clip has been rejected because it violates our Terms of Service. Unless a submission has resulted in a suspension of your posting privileges, you may edit it for re-consideration.

What kind of content is unacceptable?

Comments that are most dangerous to the commentator (and potentially to the TH) are those that could be considered libelous or defamatory in nature. Libel is a written statement that makes a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business or group. Even if you THINK the statement is true when you post it, you could be held liable if the statement is later proved to be false. There can be serious legal ramifications to posting libelous statements online. The TH attempts to limit exposure to potentially libelous user comments by prohibiting comments on topics related to local crime, accidents and certain court proceedings. However, ultimately, YOU are responsible for the content you post on THonline.com.

Other inappropriate content can include pornography or any content that can be considered "adult" in nature, vulgar language or comments written in ALL UPPERCASE letters (the written equivalent of screaming). THonline.com and AccessDubuque.com are intended for a wide audience of all ages and persuasions. Contributors are expected to use common sense and respect when addressing other users and sharing their opinions on issues of local interest. Please refer to our Terms of Service for other guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable commentary.

What about my rights to free expression?

THonline.com and AccessDubuque.com are the exclusive property of the Telegraph Herald. Posting content on our web sites is a free service and a privilege granted by the TH at its sole discretion and is not a civil right protected by the US Constitution. Just as you have the right to decide what signs get posted in your front yard, we have the right to decide what content gets posted on our web sites. The Constitution gives you the right to create your own web site and decide on its content.

What if another user posts content I believe is inappropriate or libelous?

Each contributed comment, blog, image or video clip on THonline.com and AccessDubuque.com includes a link to “Suggest Removal” of that posting. You have the option of including a reason for your opinion that the comment should be removed. The TH evaluates each comment on its own merits to determine if it complies with our Terms of Service. If, in our sole discretion, we determine the comment violates our Terms of Service, the comment will be removed and appropriate action will be taken to discourage future violations by the user who posted the comment. The TH does not base these decisions on whether or not we agree or disagree with the opinions expressed by the commentator. We do not check facts, edit or append to comments in any way. If one part of a comment or blog is deemed inappropriate, the entire item is removed.