Welcome to cincyMOMS!

We're seeing lots of people posting their email addresses in our forums. We strongly advise against this, as computers crawl the Internet looking for addresses to add to spam lists. You will likely end up with more spam if you do this. Instead, simply invite people to email you privately through the site. We offer this feature to help you avoid spam. Thanks!

I try to register and am told my email address is already in use.
There are several possible reasons for this:

Help - my username is showing as my email address!
Here's what's happening: At some point in the past, you registered for the Enquirer's Get Published system, and at that time, your email address was assigned as your username. We share a member database with Get Published, so your username on Get Published is also your username on cincyMOMS. In order to have a different username on cincyMOMS, you need to register for cincyMOMS with the username of your choice and a different email address than the one you used for Get Published. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please do not email members privately in order to criticize opinions they have expressed in the forums. If you find yourself getting so involved in discussions that you want to carry it into email, you need to step back and take a break. Private email is a courtesy we provide to members who need to followup with each other on subjects that may involve divulging private information. (Example: Two people whose children have special needs want to email each other about their experiences with a particular therapist.)

I've clicked on another member's username and there is no box for sending the person an email.
This is because the member has not set up her profile to receive private email. In many cases, this is an accidental oversight. If she has posted on the site, inviting you to email her privately, you could post back suggesting that she check her profile to confirm that she's set up to receive private email. You can post this link to help her: http://cincymoms.com/faq.aspx#Email

I'm sending private email through the site, but people don't seem to be getting it. What's up?
Some users occasionally experience this difficulty. Send email to cincymoms@cincymoms.com and we'll check it out. Be as specific as possible in describing the problem, including copying and pasting any error messages that appear. Also, tell us which Internet browser you're using. (Commong ones are Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.)

Also, check your spam folder for emails from cincyMOMS.com. If your email to another user could not be delivered, the notice from us will sometimes end up in your spam folder. The main reason for undeliverable emails is that other users submitted incorrect email addresses months ago, before we started authenticating emails as part of the registration process.

Finally, people may be receiving your emails, but the emails are landing in their spam folders instead of their regular inbox. You may want to post on the site suggesting that they check their spam folders if they can't find the email from you.

Can I advertise my business in the discussion forums?
On a limited basis, and only if you are buying or selling used items, providing child care from your home or running a home-based business. You must be a genuine participant in other discussions on cincyMOMS in order to post any ads. This means your non-business related posts must outnumber your ads. (Child care ads are the only exception.)
Please go here for information on paid advertising and marketing partnerships with cincyMOMS.

Here are your options in the Talk forums:

For buying and selling used items:
- Go to our Buy and Sell section and post your items for sale in the appropriate forum based on the type of item it is, such as Clothing or Baby Gear and Toys. You may make one "for sale" post per category per day. You may not make more than two posts per month advertising the same item for sale.
- If you are seeking to buy an item, you may post in the Items Wanted to Buy forum and/or in the appropriate forum by type of item.

For child care:
- Go to the Child Care section of our Talk forums. Find the geographic folder that best represents where your in-home day care is located. Open that folder and make a post (click "start a new discussion") about your business.
Eventually, your post will drop to the second page of listings. If you still have openings for kids, you may bump it up again to the front page by posting a reply to your own post. But if you're already on the front page, don't bump just to get above other people's posts.

Those who are seeking in-home child care are also welcome to make such posts in the geographic folders representing their area.

• You can explain what you have to offer by making a post (clicking on "start a new discussion") in our Home-based Businesses talk forum, within the Buy and Sell section.
• You must explain exactly what you do and how your business works, or refer people to a Web site that does so.
• You may make two posts a month in the Home-Based Businesses category. You may not post a reply to your own post just to bump it higher in the forum.
• Finally, you must be a genuine participant in other discussions on cincyMOMS in order to post ads in Home-based Businesses.

Your advertisement must state the name of the business and be clear about how money is made.

Any advertising-like posts that do not follow these guidelines will be moved to the appropriate forum or deleted. This obviously includes duplicate ad-like messages made in multiple forums, all of which will be deleted. Also, please do not send private e-mails to our members in order to promote your business. This may result in your being banned from the site.

Can I announce fund-raisers or volunteer opportunities in the forums? Yes, in our Giving Back section. You must follow the guidelines posted there. The section is not for posting fundraisers in which a portion of your sales go to a particular cause.

How do I find my old posts? On the home page, click on "Welcome (your username)" in the upper righthand corner. Or, if you're in our Talk forums, click on "My cincyMOMS Profile" to the far right of the "hi (your username)!" message. Scroll to the bottom of your profile and you'll see a list of all your old posts. The topics are ranked in order by most recent reply. So, this is a quick way for you to see which topics are "freshest," meaning still attracting comment from other members.

Can I look up other posts made by a particular user?
Yes, click on the person's username anywhere in the forums, or go to our members page and look up their profile.

I want to change something in one of my posts. Can I go back and fix it?
Yes. Click on your post to open it. Make your changes in the text box and click "edit post" at bottom to complete the changes.

Can I delete a post?
Not on your own. You can edit the post to remove all the text from it, but you cannot delete it entirely. If it's an emergency, you may email cincymoms@cincymoms.com and we will take a look and decide whether to delete it.

Are the Talk forums moderated?
Lightly. The managing editor sometimes intervenes in discussions when she receives complaints. We also have five part-time staffers who remind people of forum etiquette, move some posts and delete others. But we also count on members themselves to help keep conversations on track. We trust our members and know that the majority want a community they can be proud of.

What are the guidelines for behavior in the forums?
cincyMOMS does not allow:

• "Outing" of a poster's identity by posting their real name on the site. There is an expectation of anonymity on cincyMOMS that must be respected. Even if a poster leaves clues that make it possible to figure out who he or she is, members may not retaliate against that person by posting his or her identity on the site. Those who do this may be temporarily or permanently banned from the site. If you have a complaint about another poster, you should email it to cincymoms@cincymoms.com.
• Arguments from one thread to spill over into others. You cannot "stalk" someone across the message boards in order to continue a fight. Anyone who does this will get a warning or will have their account deleted, depending on the circumstances.
• Hate speech. Comments that condemn or repeat stereotypes about an entire group of people, that call for violence against a particular type of person, etc., will be deleted and the poster blocked from the site.
• Personal attacks on other members. Name-calling, mocking, belittling, baiting or cursing may result in removal from the site, either on a temporary or permanent basis.
• There are specific rules for the Politics and Romance & Sex forums. Please look for posts at the top of those forums that explain the rules there.
• "Hijacking" of discussions when it leads to side arguments about unrelated subjects, and the side arguments are distracting to those interested in the original post.
• Gossip about posters or other individuals who are not part of the conversation and thus cannot defend themselves. Gossip creates an uncomfortable atmosphere on the site. People try to guess who is being talked about and often guess wrong. If you have information about a poster that you believe needs to come out, please email your concerns to cincymoms@cincymoms.com.
• Defamatory statements. You are responsible for what you say on CincyMOMS. If you're identifying public individuals by name, you should not present damaging "facts" about them unless you're certain the facts are true and you can prove them.
• Long arguments (flame wars) between the same two or three people who keep repeating their opinions, or are attacking each other instead of the issue at hand. Such threads may be locked to further comment, and/or the posters may be temporarily or permanently banned from the site.
• Gratuitous use of profanity.
• Profane or explicit images in avatars, including the "b word" and exposure of private parts.
  
  We reserve the right to delete any of the above if we happen to see it on the site. Whenever possible, we will first post a warning in the discussion so that members have the opportunity to change course on their own. If anything is deleted, we will post a specific explanation.
  
  We do not monitor the site at all times, so we will not catch every violation of these guidelines. If you see any potential violations, please email the specifics to us at cincymoms@cincymoms.com. Please include the URL from your browser address bar so that we can go straight to the discussion. We rely heavily on email from members to help us monitor the site.
  
  Be advised that we will at times encourage members to work out a conflict among themselves, rather than relying on moderation. Members should also be aware that if they post divisive, controversial or inflammatory statements on the site, they are bound to get some strongly worded responses, and in such cases we may not intervene.

What can I do about obnoxious users or posts I consider objectionable?
You can use the feedback form on our Contact Us page, or you may send an email to cincymoms@cincymoms.com, or you may email Managing Editor Karen Gutierrez through the site by clicking on her username, cincymom. All of these emails go directly to Karen, and she distributes them to the rest of the moderators for action. Karen checks her email via handheld when not at her computer, so that emergencies can be handled promptly.
Keep in mind that this is an open forum. We rarely delete posts, although we will take action if guidelines are violated.

Who's on the paid staff of cincyMOMS?
Managing Editor Karen Gutierrez is the only full-time staff member, but the online, marketing and advertising departments of the Cincinnati Enquirer also are involved with the site.

We also employ five moms on a part-time basis to delete improper ads from the forums, move posts to the correct categories when necessary, delete or lock discussions when necessary and send emails or make posts to remind people of forum guidelines. The usernames of the five moms are Organized Chaos, MizGreenJeans, MommyontheGo, OHmom and Zoesmomma. They participate in the forums just like anyone else. When they pop in on an official basis, they sign their posts with their first names followed by "Moderator, cincyMOMS." You may email them by clicking on their usernames, but the most efficient way to reach all the moderators is to email Karen in the manner described above.

We love our advertisers! Please contact our advertising director, Jamie Asquith, at 513-768-8432 or jasquith@enquirer.com, for information on display ads or sponsorship of forum pages.

To discuss a marketing and advertising partnership with cincyMOMS, please contact Reagan Zugelter at 513-768-8015 or rzugelter@enquirer.com.

You may also be interested in purchasing one of the small, text-only ads that appears in various places on our site. These are self-service. Go here to find out about text ads that run continuously on our site and others in the Enquirer network. Go here for information on text ads that appear on cincyMOMS during particular time periods of your choosing.

How can I get my mom's club or playgroup listed on the site?

To be included in our official list, send an email to cincymoms@cincymoms.com with the following information: Name of group, neighborhoods it serves, special interests served (SAHMs, children with autism, etc.), Web site if you have one, contact email or phone numbers, rhythm of meetings (every third Thursday, for example), time and location of meetings, dues if you have any and examples of activities. (You can put "varies" or "TBA" if you don't have set meeting times or locations.) To see what our official list looks like for other groups, click here.

Click here to submit items to the cincyMOMS' free community calendar.

I'm having trouble submitting items to the calendar, or my listing has not yet appeared. Help? It takes about a week for calendar submissions to appear. E-mail your questions to our calendar staff at calendar@cincinnati.com, or call 513-768-8218

How do I see events suitable for children of a certain age? Click into any date on the calendar. Then use the "Filter by age" box at the upper left.

What does "write a blog" mean?
At the top of any forum page, you'll see a series of links under the "hi (your username)!" message. cincyMOMS is temporarily sharing a log-in system with Cincinnati.Com, and these links allow you to manage your account on Cincinnati.Com as well as take advantage of certain features of that site.
One of those features is blogging. When you click "write a blog" you are prompted to create a blog that will reside on Cincinnati.Com. A blog is sort of like a personal diary on the Web. You post your thoughts - many bloggers do this at least once a day - and people can comment on what you've written. Some blogs have themes such as craft projects with kids, politics, couponing or TV fandom. Others are more random in nature. If you think you'd like to have a blog, feel free to start one on Cincinnati.Com. But, your blog will not be viewable on cincyMOMS. If your intention is to interact with women on our site or get advice from other moms, you should post a message on cincyMOMS, not create a blog.

New Login System: Step-by-Step Instructions