Xomba's Posting Policies

In order to accomplish Xomba's vision of being the reputable and respectable writing community and media outlet, that we desire to be, we found it necessary to make some adjustments to our posting policies.

Some of these are new rules, and some of our older ones have been adjusted to adapt to the new trends that develop in the world of internet writing nearly every day. Please read them carefully to make sure you don't miss anything new.

We do our best to keep up but as always we appreciate your feedback and your suggestions as we go along. Please feel free to continue to share them with us any time.

Even as these are being posted we're in the midst of a major redesign for the site. We're confident it will address many of the concerns our users have mentioned to us. We suggest you check these rules after the redesign is complete in case there are changes or additions to the rules as a result.

By posting these rules, you are hereby notified that it is YOUR responsibility, not OURS, to see to it that your posts are not in violation of our rules. "Without notification" throughout means that we are not obligated to notify you that we removed a post, or to explain to you why it was removed. Additionally, we will not be held responsible for the number of reads or clicks you may lose as a result of that removal. Repeated violations or removals will result in permanent explusion from Xomba, also without notification.
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The first six (6) of our rules are the most serious, as violation of any of these will result in immediate and permanent expulsion from Xomba, without exception:

1. Interfering with, disrupting, or creating an undue burden on Xomba’s network server(s), or interfering with any other services that Xomba is connected to or affiliated with

2. Using the account, username, or password of another member without their permission

3. Disclosing your password to any third party(s) or permitting any third party(s) to access your Xomba account

4. Selling or otherwise transferring your profile to another person

5. Clicking on your own ads or soliciting others to do the same for you; clicking on ads or links for the sole purpose of increasing another user's Adsense earnings; membership or participation in a surf for pay, or a surf/click exchange, either for your benefit or for the benefit of a third party while you are a member of Xomba

6. Using Xomba in a manner inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations
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Xombytes found to contain any of the following will be removed immediately without notification.

7. Titles printed in ALL CAPS. Our affiliate sites, and many others, do not allow this, nor will we.

8. Content containing excessive or repetitive use of keywords, or irrelevant keywords in your title, tags, or in the body. Google does not allow this practice, nor will we. (Please go to *** below for new and important information concerning the use of keywords).

9. Content containing excessive profanity or violence

10. Content which refers to, or includes the use of illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia, or links which take the user to this type of content. This does not apply to educational or newsworthy items about this topic

11. Content of a sexual nature, including but not limited to any type of pornography; nude images; sexual language; or anything that might be considered adult or mature content. This also includes links that lead to any of the above.

12. Content which denotes or promotes any kind of violence, racial intolerance, prejudice, bigotry, hatred, or is in any way abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory, or in any way implies or advocates any of the above against any individual based on race, religion, sexual preference, political affilliation, or any of their groups or organizations. This includes anyone who expresses their views on Xomba regarding any of of the above. Insults and name-calling will not be tolerated in your posts or in your comments.

13. Content which promotes information which you know to be false or misleading, or which may be construed as slanderous or libelous.

14. Content which solicits personal information from anyone, most particularly anyone under the age of 18; or which solicits passwords or identifying information from anyone without their prior express permission regardless of intent. Please note that if you are discovered doing this with the intent of using it for an illegal purpose, you will be reported to the proper authorities, in addition to being banned from Xomba.

15. Content which contains telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, or email addresses of anyone without that person’s consent; or includes a photograph of another person without that person’s consent. If you post a press release containing another person's personal information, Xomba requires proof of their permission prior to you posting it. If it is determined that you've done so without their permission you will be banned from Xomba.

16. Content which involves the transmission of "junk mail", "chain letters”, "spimming”, "spamming", or “pyramid schemes”; or any unsolicited mass mailings. This includes sending private messages or instant messages to any Xomba users

17. Content which involves spamming with commerical activities and/or sales of any products or services for you or anyone else, including but not limited to contests, sweepstakes, bartering, and/or advertising related to such goods or services. We allow the use of affiliate links such as Clickbank.com and Amazon.com. Articles containing affiliate links should still contain content that users will find valuable. Contact us if you have questions about using affiliate links.

18. Content meant to solicit any member to buy or sell any legal or illegal products or services which Xomba is not licensed to sell such as, but not limited to: drugs (legal or otherwise) or drug paraphenalia; illegal weapons such as brass knuckles, butterfly knives, or other such weapons; firearms or ammunition; beer or alcohol; tobacco or tobacco related products; or designer goods or immitations of designer goods

19. Content which promotes or condones any criminal activity or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to: making or buying illegal weapons; the use of illicit drugs and/or drug paraphernalia; providing or creating computer viruses; child pornography; trafficking in obscene material; harassment or stalking of any individual; copywright or patent infringement; or the theft of any type of trade secrets

20. Content which encourages, promotes, or offers instructional information about gambling, betting, or games of chance

21. Content containing incentives to users or third-party beneficiaries for online activity including, but no limited to performing searches for; reading emails for; or completing surveys for you or any third party sites

22. Content which covers or obscures the banner advertisements on any page of Xomba by any means, including Pop-Ups, Pop-Enders, or any type of exit windows that may interfere with site navigation; content which obscures Google ads; content which is intended to change a user’s preferences; or any content which leads to downloads of any sort.

23. Content intended to steer users away from Xomba with the use of derogatory or inflammatory remarks, or claims about Xomba or about Google's Adsense program

24. Xomba hereby claims and reserves the right to remove any material at any time, without cause or explanation. We likewise reserve the right to ban or refuse membership to any person without cause or explanation.

25. Users must only post work that they have written themselves this not only includes plagiarism, but also incorporates any work NOT written by the user. This includes partial copying of another's work or from websites like Wikipedia.org.

26. Xomblurbs should ALWAYS link to where the text found in the title and body says it will be linking.

27. Xomblurbs cannot be used to link to Xombytes. This is forbidden.

28. Xomblurb is the only content that should be selected when posting a social bookmark. Please read What is a Xomblurb? for more information. Xombytes are longer magazine quality articles which CAN contain links, but not for the sole purpose of bookmarking a website.

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These rules are not intended to censor or limit you. They are in place for your protection, as well as ours, and are an essential part of making Xomba the truly unique writing community we all desire it to be.

Should you have any questions or need help understanding any of them, please feel free to contact any one of our staff members for assistance in that regard.

Please be aware that these rules are not open for debate or argument. If there is something herein that you do not agree with, please address your concerns directly to Xomba's Administration by email through the "Contact" link at the top of this page.

Don't forget to check back after the redesign is complete for any changes we might find neccessary. Thank you for your understanding during this transition.

We appreciate your membership.

Happy Writing!

Xomba Staff
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***Repetitive or excessive use of, or irrelevant keywords or tags:

Search engines are becoming ever more intelligent. Contrary to popular belief they are actually trained now to steer clear of excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant keywords. This means pages like this are now assigned a lower page ranking, and therefore a lower click-through-rate (CTR). Translated, this means that if your page is even seen outside of Xomba, you will make less money per ad-click, meaning lower Adsense earnings.

Rather than hurrying to get something posted, use your imagination and strive to compose your Xombyte so that it contains a wider variety of keywords. Then choose the best of them as your Xombyte tags. This will optimize search engine recognition and page placement. Remember, your tags and keywords are meant to distinguish your article from all the others out there. There isn't much sense in posting something that won't get any traffic.

You'll find a useful tool for finding “keywords” that Google's search engines look for at: http://www.adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

For instructions on how to use this tool, and other helpful information on how to optimize your Adsense earnings, go to our Make Money section.
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We hope that you enjoy being a member of Xomba. If at any time our staff can help you with anything, please don't hesitate to Private Message us or to email us through the "Contact" link on top of this page.

Sincerely,

Xomba Staff