Infraction silly way of not allowing links

burrenyoga · 26-08-2008

Can i make a suggestion, that if someone adds a link within a note (which we often do on many blogs and other websites), that you simply have these links as 'no follow'.

I added a reply to a topic today in good faith pointing out a very good article i read in setting up 3 LNB's.

I then received this infraction email from 'superAdmin'.... felt like a speeding ticket ;-)

There has to be e better way for you to handle this?

Dave

**Mickha** · 26-08-2008

There already is, it's called the forum rules

All members should read them before posting:
Forum Rules - Please Read Before Posting
As you can see they clearly state:
Links and Advertising
* Please do not post live links to ANY external sites whatsoever , disable the links by using an underscore as in the following _http://www.example.com

It seems the only way we can get some members to read the rules is by handing out an infraction, thus warning members, before they do it so often they end up getting banned.
I can't see any other way of getting their attention regarding the rules.

**compufunk** · 26-08-2008

Originally Posted by burrenyoga

Can i make a suggestion, that if someone adds a link within a note, that you simply have these links as 'no follow'.

good point,

I've inadvertently posted live links before editing them out, The board software automatically tags them with the URL tags.

I'm in the habit of using the underscore to stop this, But if the board software did it automatically, there would be less new users getting a smack on the wrist after posting a live link. I have no idea how easy it would be to set that up.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Mickha

It seems the only way we can get some members to read the rules is by handing out an infraction, thus warning members, before they do it so often they end up getting banned.
I can't see any other way of getting their attention regarding the rules.

Sorry, missed this part of your post when I replied, I see what you mean, Not sure what the solution to that is.

Maybe ask people to answer a question about the rules correctly before registration can be complete

djrob · 27-08-2008

live links can be posted buy smap bots that also a reason to make them hxxp ect....

burrenyoga · 01-09-2008

I think nowadays, many of us are used to installing software and clicking "accept terms anc conditions" without reading them...

and even more so, joining forums and clicking the box "read and accepted terms and rules" without reading them.

I think this is standard behaviour for many many people.

I don't want to get into the discussion 'is this good practice or not'.... just that i think it is common practice by many people.

If live links are so bad or dangerous in the forum, why not add the underscore automatically as suggested by compufunk above to any string that starts with http:// ?

Hopefully this relavitly easy change would make the forum friendlier for people to use, and also remove at least 1 of the tasks that Forum Admin would have to do ?

Dave

**Turbosat** · 05-09-2008

This might come in handy

_http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=172155

**Topper** · 05-09-2008

Originally Posted by Turbosat

This might come in handy

_http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=172155

Thanks for the link but as the saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you cannot necessarily make it drink, all they will do is go away from the page as soon as it come up, you have to remember that we have a very large membership whose first language is not necessarily English. All this just because one member got embarrassed for not reading the rules

**rolfw** · 05-09-2008

We have that installed, but people will go to it, ignore it and then go where they wanted to go. We are looking at another hack, which disables the automatic parsing of live links

**Turbosat** · 06-09-2008

Originally Posted by rolfw

We have that installed, but people will go to it, ignore it and then go where they wanted to go. We are looking at another hack, which disables the automatic parsing of live links

i don't know about a hack..but search for $checked[parseurl] and remove it from the following templates
new reply
new thread
edit post
new poll

**tomthebomb1968** · 06-09-2008

I have noticed in a couple of my earlier posts that live links to pages appear automatically. I remember for definate that one was for Ar*s, the catalogue retailer and I think the other was the big auction site beginning with E.

**rolfw** · 06-09-2008

@ turbosat, thanks, will pass on to Chris, I won't edit templates on the forum, too much at stake if it goes wrong, also we need to make sure that it doesn't disable links which we require to be parsed..

@ tomthebomb1968, these are revenue links, automatically parsed by the forum software, they help pay for the forum.

**gerryl** · 06-09-2008

happened to me ...got a month for link to free software that some people may have enjoyed...twas in error as I often post links Ok...did send apps but that did stop the Infraction...also done a search and there are many live links!!!...
however totally agree with 'burrenyoga'...Admin should find a better way to deal with this and also take into account the members history and the nature of the link...instead of handing out Infraction like traffic cops which just p*ss people off.

Been using many forums for many years now and never came across this type of Admin behaviour, it’s a disgrace and believe it reflects on the entire Admin team which is a shame as they are a superb team. Hope something is put in place soon!

**rolfw** · 06-09-2008

Well let's put this in perspective.

A live link infraction is only 2 points and lasts for a mere 30 days and could be totally avoided if members took a couple of minutes to read the rules. For those members who never read rules on any forum, it is perhaps a timely reminder that they should and will hopefully ensure that they won't commit any further breaches.

There are some forums which do not allow any links whatsoever (live or otherwise), particularly links to other forums (even the mention of other forums or non advertisers in some cases), so from that standpoint, we are quite liberal in our outlook.

I don't believe the giving of a small infraction for breaking a rule can be considered a disgrace in any way shape or form, if members are prepared to take the chance of guessing what the rules might be, they run the risk of breaking one.

**worldmaker** · 06-10-2008

Originally Posted by rolfw

Well let's put this in perspective.

... and could be totally avoided if members took a couple of minutes to read the rules. For those members who never read rules on any forum, it is perhaps a timely reminder that they should and will hopefully ensure that they won't commit any further breaches.
...

I'm favouring this forum, for the moment, because it's terms were clearly written and legible, but I've found problems with others that just don't write them out clearly enough to be legible to someone in a hurry or just accustomed to the speed and brevity of modern web sites..

As an occasional web designer I know the value of keeping it simple.
Breaking it down in easy and discernible sentences.
Using bullet lists.

Some forums just use endless paragraphs of text and bundle a whole mess of restrictions under a single point.

ynotdu · 26-10-2008

Anybody who thinks this site is overly moderated should check out some of the sites I tried membership of!!! Power hungry,bullying Mods all over the web(most too cowardly to even allow a criticism of the site they are moderating.
I have received an infraction,however I did post here before reading the rules(mine was for using a thinly disguised swear word)
I completly agree that most people download software without reading T&C,s fully.I have a question,Is it ok to name Free software and sites who provide free Internet T.V?I am genuinely unsure about this,sometimes I could give a U R L that would be helpful but would not be profit making to the external site.I guess most of us just want to use our time online to acess as many of our favourites as possible without offending or disrespecting Site owners Moderators or other members.Will the information super hi-way become the MISinformation s/h ?
Many Governments round world would LOVE that !
Lets face it,We are all on the same side but may not know what Financial/legal/rule enforcement pressures,Site owners/moderators are under!
Regards

ynotdu · 26-10-2008

Hi rolfw
I am what would be called fairly novice on many aspects of computers/internet.I have just reread site rules page again&some of the disallowed behaviour,quite simply I do not understand the following terms,If I am posting this in the wrong forum please excuse.
Live links ?
no posting of keys ?
hex files ?
embedded files ?
emulators?
receiver images ?
Not trying to keep You busy ;-) but it would be very helpful If these terms were explained here,or elaborated on in the rules thread.
Regards

**Robbo** · 26-10-2008

Originally Posted by ynotdu

Hi rolfw
I am what would be called fairly novice on many aspects of computers/internet.I have just reread site rules page again&some of the disallowed behaviour,quite simply I do not understand the following terms,If I am posting this in the wrong forum please excuse.
Live links ?
no posting of keys ?
hex files ?
embedded files ?
emulators?
receiver images ?
Not trying to keep You busy ;-) but it would be very helpful If these terms were explained here,or elaborated on in the rules thread.
Regards

A live link- http://www.satellites.co.uk (this one allowed actually as it is to this site)

A de-activated link- _http://www.bbc.co.uk

keys- Strings of Hexadecimal numbers used to decrypt satellite channels, often in the form XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX where the X are alphanumeric characters between 0 and F.

Keys are also sometimes expressed in their decimal equivalent i.e XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
with each XXX representing a number between 0 and 255. NB Any attempt at trying to re-represent or disguise keys hoping that we won't notice them is severely frowned upon.

Hex files- Any binary files really, that are not human readable, as keys could be embedded.

Emulators- Software to emulate the decryption algorithms in a satellite receiver.

Receiver image- Same as receiver software, however in the world of UNIX and its derivatives it is known as an image.

Robbo

ynotdu · 27-10-2008

Robbo,Thank You for such speedy and educational reply.
Regards

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