Model Horse Blab FAQ

Model Horse Blab is forum for discussion of the model horse hobby and other interests of hobbyists. Blab is owned by Mary Hirsch ("Mary" on Blab.) Blab was started in September of 2003 by Heather Roell. Blab ownership was transitioned to Mary in July 2006.

Today Blab has several hundred active members. Blab is run on the principle of the honest expression of opinions while respecting the opinions of others. We count on the maturity and poise of our members to keep discussions interesting with the least possible moderator intervention. And to have fun talking about our mutual obsession!

New members should know ...
- Take a look through the FAQ first 2 rules sections, "Moderation" and "Acceptable Post Content."
- Blab is a wonderful place to air diverse opinions about many aspects of the hobby.
- Free members may discuss any topic with a * under the forum title, but not topics that aren't free.
- The first 7 days of membership grant free access to paid forums.
- Sometimes Blab members may strongly disagree with each other, but without personal attacks.
- Moderators respond to all post reports (icon below each post) but *not* immediately, they are not always online.

New Youth members should know ...
- Most of the members are adults, and they appreciate respectful and thoughtful posts.
- Sometimes other members may be critical of what you post, but it's important not to be angry or upset about that.
- The Youth forum is fun! Sometimes there are contests only for Youth. So it's best to tell us your real age.

Are you new to the hobby? And/or, new to using forums?
Blab has 2 friendly places to ask any how-do-I or what-is? question!
- Hobby Introduction - there are no silly questions in this forum! ... good for browsing, too
- Forum and Blab Usage Introduction (click here) - Helpful members are happy to answer anything!


Enjoy Blab!

Guests have very limited privileges on Blab. For example, a guest cannot:

- Post new threads
- Reply to other peoples' threads
- Edit her posts
- Receive email notification of replies to posts and threads she specifies
- Send private messages to other members
- Enter events in the forum calendar
- Set up a contact list to quickly see what friends are currently online

All Guests on Blab agree to abide by FAQs and Rules.

• Parents or guardians are encouraged to browse Blab forums and decide with their children where their participation is appropriate. Contact mary@modelhorseblab.com for temporary access to browse.
• We can even customize permissions if a parent only wants their child to have access to certain forums. Just contact Mary.
• Parents and younger participants should know that the majority of Blab members are adults.
• Some off-topic forums do occasionally attract discussions that are adult and personal in nature.
• Blab moderates more egregious language outside of one restricted forum, but lighter expressions of language are not edited.
• Blab has a Youth Forum where expectations are more relaxed. The principal moderators are youth.
• Adult Blabbers do not have access to the Youth forum, except for a few adult moderators and mentors.
• In all forums accessible to youth, all members, including youth, are expected to show grace and maturity in adult conversations.

To promote yourself from a "Guest" to a Registered User, click the "Register" link and follow the directions from there. After completing the prompts, you will receive an email from Blab verifying your email address. Follow the instructions in that email. Within a few hours after you have completed the instruction in the initial email, you will receive another email asking a question. Within 24 hours of your reply, your membership will be approved. After approval, you will be a Registered User ("Free" member). If you haven't received contact from us, be sure and check your spam folder. Alternatively once you've replied to the initial email, send an email to subscriptions@modelhorseblab.com to expedite membership approval. When you first begin, be sure to introduce yourself in the Introductions forum.

Registering for Blab is an agreement to abide by Blab rules for posting. Please review the rules in the FAQ/Rules (scroll down this section.) In general, Blab allows members to express their opinions so long as they are not attacking other members or hobbyists. Blab does not moderate rudeness or opinions considered offensive, so long as they are not an attack on a hobbyist. Please see more details below.

The terms of a free registration include:

- Access to Arena, Artist Announcements, Show Announcements, Off Topic, Yo!, TTB, Original Finish, Beginner’s, Games, Suggestions (all forums with * in the index).
- Blab Gallery: You can view, but not upload pictures
- PM (Private Message) Storage: 15 messages
- Avatar: Cannot have avatar
- User title: Not customizable
- User Profile Pictures: Not available
- Attachments: Cannot upload attachments
- Post per Page View: View 5 posts per page

Registered users agree to abide by the Terms of Use, which include the Membership and Forum Access Information, Rules, and Features.

The terms of a Paid Participant Membership are:

• $18 per year (starting from payment date)
• Forum Access and Other Services: All forums available, subject to qualification for special forums such as WOYM or Mom’s.
• Chat: Have full access/use. You can chat in real-time with other members of the Board.
• Gallery: Full access to and use of this feature. Members can display images of their horses, or other appropriate photos.
• Photo Shows: Exclusive rights to participate (average 1500 entries per show).
• Note that the “Chat” and “Gallery” access may be limited due to technical issues, including your own computer’s compatibility.
• PM Storage: 200 messages
• Avatar: Can have an avatar (200 x 200 pixels)
• User title: Customizable
• User Profile Pictures: Hosted by Blab
• Attachments: Can upload attachments on Blab bandwidth
• Post per Page View: View 20 posts per page
• Special Run Horses: Ability to purchase all SRs as they are available (some SRs may be available to non-paid members as well).
• Agreement to all the terms and conditions contained in the FAQs and Rules.
  
  See "Making Payments for Memberships" below.

The terms of a Paid Participant Student 18 & Under Membership are:

• You must be 18 or younger to obtain this type of membership.
• All permissions and access as the same as Paid Participants, above, subject to our discretion.
• The cost is $10 per year, with the year commencing from your payment date.
• Agreement to all the terms and conditions contained in the FAQs and Rules.
  
  See "Making Payments for Memberships" below.

Online Payments for New Paid Participants: Payment is accepted via multiple formats.

You may pay through Paypal following these easy steps:
- Select “My Panel” from the links in the upper right corner of the forum page.
- Scroll down to the left side selection Paid Subscriptions.
- Select a subscription and follow the steps through Paypal payment.

Snail Mail Payments:
If you are snail-mailing payment, PLEASE be sure to include your username on all payment/correspondence. And, PM Mary and let her know your payment is in the mail. Access will be granted as soon as the message is received, and will keep it as long as payment is received within 7 days of your notice.
Snail-mail payments can be mailed to:

Modelhorseblab.com
PO Box 2064
Weatherford, TX 76086 USA

Questions may be sent by email to mary@modelhorseblab.com, or by Blab private message to Mary.

The basic Free Membership never expires.

Paid Memberships must be renewed through your payment, if they are the standard membership.
Auto-renewal Paid Memberships will renew on an auto-payment from your Paypal account, as long as it has not been canceled and there are sufficient funds.

Blab usually sends at least one early advance notice email (this is not guaranteed,) and will email again a day before the expiration. (Check your spam folder!)

Members can check their subscription expiration date from the top links, select My Blab > Paid Subscriptions.
Most members will see their sub end date. Members then have the option to step through the renewal process if they want to renew through Paypal.
If you do not see a sub end date, please email mary@modelhorseblab.com.

General Notes:
- If your payment is not received by the due date and time, your membership automatically becomes a "Regular (Free) Membership."
- If you decide to pay later, your paid membership will start from the new payment date. Your paid membership account status should return to "normal," pre-expiration, immediately or within a few minutes.

- If you choose to renew early, your next due date will be one year from the current expiration date (not the early payment date.) For example, if your expiration is June 1, and you pay for your renewal on May 15, your next expiration date will be June 1 next year.

See "Making Payments for Memberships" above.

Paid Participant access is $18 per year, starting from the first payment date.
Paid Participants for Youth 18 & Under are $10 per year, starting from the first payment date.

Blab doesn't 'cancel' or 'delete' an account in a way that will remove posts or threads. Members have the option to cancel access to their account so that it can't be used. But their posting history will not be deleted to preserve continuity in threads. If a member wishes to have her access to Blab blocked, this can be done on request. The account won't be deleted; it just won't be accessible through user login. Access can be restored on request. Email Mary.

The first option is for a member to simply choose not to visit Blab. The member retains all their access rights if they ever decide to return. If for any reason a member would like to have their access rights removed, so they do not have the option to log in to Blab, please contact a moderator. This is simply a matter of resetting the password to something the member doesn't know. If a member later wishes to re-activate their account they can PM or email again, and Mary can reset the password and share it with the member.

Cancelling in the middle of the subscription term

Cancelling a subscription before it expires must be done by request to mary@modelhorseblab.com. Almost all requests are honored. No explanations are required. We do appreciate knowing why, but you don't have to tell us.

- A paid membership may be cancelled for a 100% refund for 3 months after the starting or renewal date.
- A paid membership may be cancelled for a refund of the pro-rated amount between 3 and 9 months after the starting or renewal date (or an amount close to the pro-rated amount to be determined by Blab management.)
- After 9 months from the starting or renewal date, refunds will not be given.

A member who cancels a paid membership for a refund may reinstate their paid status at any time by paying for a full year's membership in the normal way. A new one-year membership will start from the payment date.

If a member cancels for a refund, and then reinstates their paid membership, the reinstatement must run for the full term.


Cancelling auto-renewals so that they will not renew

If a member wants to stop an upcoming auto-renewal, the member must take action in their Paypal account.
- Log in to your Paypal account.
- In the top links of your Paypal account: Profile > My Money > My Pre-approved Payments
- Go from there, following the guidance. You will find your list of auto-payments. You can stop the one renewing Blab.

More notes on ending an auto-renewal

Your Paypal account initiates the auto-renewal. When your Paypal account sends the funds to Blab, Blab automatically extends the subscription. If your Paypal account does not have sufficient funds then the Blab subscription will expire. Nothing else happens - there is no second attempt to pay, and there are no penalties or other ramifications.

Only one username/registration is allowed per user. Those found with multiple accounts will be contacted and all accounts will be merged into one user name. Members may not lend their usernames or passwords or otherwise allow anyone else to use their accounts. Paid members may not confer paid benefits on free members by posting material for them. Moderators can also help pull together two usernames for the same user when a user forgot an old username and is now registered twice.

Members who do not maintain valid email addresses may encounter problems on Blab. If the member encounters technical difficulties, the moderators' only means of verifying that the person making the technical support request is *in fact* the member in question is by reference to the email address on file. We cannot forward or get messages to you without a valid email on file. Please keep your email address up to date.

Blab does not spam or use member emails for advertising purposes. Blab may rarely need to contact a member about an important administrative issue regarding their ability to access Blab. Emails that are out-of-date or missing could cause a member to miss important information about their account.

Over the past 2 years Blab has an excellent uptime history. Very rarely, Blab has technical issues or updates to perform that force us to take the forums offline. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the forums will be online and available 100% of the time. To be informed of downtimes (scheduled and unscheduled), subscribe to this Yahoo listserv.