I finally figured this one out (obviously, since I'm posting about it). For the past two days, whenever I tried to access FTM, I got to the Board Rules page. No link got me out of it. I logged out/in, deleted cookies and caches, disabled extensions, all to no avail. Today, I noticed that, at the bottom of the Board Rules page, there was a box to check that said that I accept these rules. When I checked that box and re-accessed FTM, I got here. The problem seems to have been solved for me.

Has anyone else seen this?

Yeah, same for me. I've learned to scroll down when things like that show up.

I suspect that "management" decided to make it clear to (ie, remind) all users what is expected of them, especially after the mini-debacle which saw one of our number "banned" a little while back. Requiring a user to check the "accept" box, even if he/she doesn't bother to read the rules, achieves a priori consent to the rules and acceptance of the consequences should one not abide by same.

Yep, you have to scroll to the bottom.

Unfortunately, the legalese on the Terms and Conditions page is now a requirement if we want to accept users from California and the European Union. Between the debacle of the EU Safe Harbor laws being overturned and the new laws that are replacing them, and California's privacy laws, any site that accepts user accounts or collects user data is supposed to show a Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy page to all their users.

A lot of Web sites aren't doing that yet, but they're technically supposed to.

Is it possible to state, at the top of the page, that agreeing to these rules is mandatory before one can access the forums? It had not occurred to me to scroll to the bottom of the page, at least for two days. Other participants in these forums may have the same issues with no way to read this thread and resolve them.

Tacit posted while I was typing so I will start over and simply add the thrust and intent of FineTunedMac's Terms and Conditions have not changed, they have been published in legally acceptable terms with appropriate legal caveats. Requiring acknowledgment from old as well as new users prevents anyone claiming "How was I to know?"

What!! But I always use that excuse….for everything. Now what am I going to do?

Not quite true. You can read the forums without being logged in — without the rules page blocking access. You just can't otherwise participate (ie, write to them) without being registered and logged in.

Point taken, but the only control we have at the present time is on posting. I know there are a few forums, blogs, communities, whatever that require registration just to read the contents. Hopefully we will not have to resort to that, but as various state and international entities revise their rules, that could eventually happen.

Thanks, by-the-way. Your comment pointed out something we have overlooked in posting the Terms and Conditions that needs to be fixed.

I guess it's coincidental, but a coupl'a recent Mod interventions left me guessing that Board Rules might not be far behind.

I have added copy to the T&C page to indicate that people need to scroll to the bottom and accept the terms and conditions.

Excellent! Thank you.

haha, so I'm not the only one! I just got back here after a few weeks hiatus, and found myself spinning my wheels on that exact same page until I thought to scroll down. "I'm logged in, why won't it let me past this page?!"

To sum up: Some of us think inside the box, others outside the box, still others who don't recognize/admit that there is a box.

and most of us still haven't figured out that we're all in a box, that's in another box, that's in another box...