User Profile

Now don't be shy!

[JudgeJeffries]

Why have so few of the people who post here put a homepage url in the user profile?
Shy, modest, or frightened about unfavourable comment from their peers?
Come on, lets see what your all made of so we can judge the authority with which you speak by considering some of your handiwork.

[heini]

Judge, some of the best people here have either none or insignificant sites in their profile. There are a variety of reasons not to put a site in there.

After all it's what and how a member posts that makes him heard and respected.

[JudgeJeffries]

Sorry, but I don't buy that. Have a look at just how many don't disclose. Its a lot more than half.

[ga_ga]

I've avoided posting any URLs in profile, thinking it just wasn't the done thing on this board. So, you can if you want? Not that I will, just curious though.

[deejay]

:) we're here to share... not to be judged.

Seriously though.. there's a number of reasons, not least that many of us are in competing businesses.

There's also quite possibly a touch of 'cobbler's children with holes in their shoes' in a lot of cases... mine in particular lately.

[JudgeJeffries]

My whole point is that there are a number of people putting forward forceful arguements with authority that does not seem to be backed up by any semblance of practical ability.
I'm sure there are some with valid commercial reasons for non disclosure but this whole secrets and nickname thing bugs me. If its worth saying, its worth saying publically with full disclosure. Are you all on the level! ;-)

[rcjordan]

>Shy
Yes

>modest
Hardly

>frightened about unfavourable comment from their peers?
Heh, heh, heh. I could give a rat's derriere about what my peers think about my sites.

For many here, their website or consulting work they do for others is their livelihood. They don't mind sharing tips and general information, but allowing a peek at what they do or how they do it isn't their idea of sharing.

[Night_Hawk]

>this whole secrets and nickname thing bugs me.

JudgeJeffries,

If this is your real name? I do not see a website in your profile.:-)

Just take what is helpful from this forum and leave what is not.

[toddb]

I think I am on the right side of the line with regards to Google etc but what a distaster to place my URL in my profile and have someone prove me wrong and cause a severe loss of income. I don't think I am alone in this opinion.

[andreasfriedrich]

BTW if you really want to know all these things do some research. In the old days this place was a lot smaller and personal information were shared a lot more publicly among the now admins/mods/senior members. Certain threads also reveal some more personal information. Just find those, follow posted links, use google and you´ll get to know quite a bit about those people ;). It´s always amazing just how much information is available on the WWW.

Andreas

[JudgeJeffries]

Night_hawk,
Have another look, its there, but yours isnt.

[coconutz]

I think that you may need a minimum number of posts before your homepage is displayed in your profile JudgeJefferies, as I'm not seeing it either.

I'm sure that there are a number of reasons why some members don't list a homepage in their profile and after reviewing the TOS [webmasterworld.com], I see a couple reasons listed there.

[martinibuster]

Some of us here have clients, and some of us here are competitors. For those of us who fit in those categories, discretion about our identities is important.

[chiyo]

Ive had a few (very few) nasty sticky mails from people not attacking my views and arguments but me personally, usually when they thought i was referring to them personally in my comments.

I wouldnt like them to "get back at me" by various nefarious possible ways of targeting domains.

I really think the credibility of a poster can be judged by what they write and the evidence they porvide for backing that specific assertion up. Its pretty hard to make controversial assertions here without others asking you to back it up. Thats a good thing. The democratic debating style of WebmasterWorld is far better than organizations which establish credibility of members by other ways - e.g. how much money they contribute, who they are related to, seniority, etc.

GoogleGuy is one of the most questioned or challenged here on WebmasterWorld and the quality of his responses themselves speaks volumes for how much he can help.

Finally some of us who are just web site owners and not SEOs may be concerned about having a profile link from WebmasterWorld to our sites.. It may suggest to a Search Engine (quite rightly!) that we have an unfair advantage over others by being a frequent user of WebmasterWorld and therefore having more knowledge about the web and how Search engines work... <grin> OK.. call me paranoid...

[Brett_Tabke]

Yes, to stop serious profile spamming that was going on, we put a level limit on them and they won't show until a poster gets to a XX level of posts. That cut the profile spamming out immediatly and cleaned the board of many many problems.

[cornwall]

Are you all on the level!

A question asked among freemasons, I understand - along with a funny handshake.

And no, I do not think we are all freemasons. :)

[vitaplease]

Also, no need to confuse my unique visitor counts or any other stats for that matter.

[Night_Hawk]

Brett,

That is an excellent idea, i remember some people took advantage by posting someone elses url as there web site in their profile trying to get that site in trouble.

[hasbeen]

Also, there are some of us who don't have "personal" sites they could use, only business sites. I, for one, recently moved into a spam-filled business and don't want my profile URL to add to that (not that we spam, but it could be considered spam by some of the more cynical types).

I had a personal site, but it was in such disarray I got rid of it. Just use the domain now for email.

<added>
Besides, if you want to really get to know somebody on the board, go to a PubCon! Ply some people with a bit of liquid refreshment and they'll spill their life story.
</added>

[rcjordan]

>Ply some people with a bit of liquid refreshment and they'll spill their life story.

Which reminds me, how's everything back in *******, hasbeen? As I recall.... heh, heh.

>people took advantage by posting someone elses url as there web site in their profile trying to get that site in trouble.

Yes. That was a low point in profiledom.

[andreasfriedrich]

>>Besides...

...tough luck if that person does not show up for a PubCon ;).

[hasbeen]

Which reminds me, how's everything back in *******, hasbeen?

Going great, RC. Family's healthy, business is booming..I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Gonna miss you all in Boston. Wish I could attend..

[PFOnline]

I removed the URL from my profile because sometimes I say things regarding my site and Google that may not please people like GoogleGuy!

And who's to say that if you make a post saying something like you signed a pagerank 8 guestbook that GoogleGuy wouldn't remove your site for spamming!

I guessed I removed it for fear of saying something that could get my site banned from Google.

[brakthepoet]

JudgeJeffries, there are plenty of good reasons for people not to list their own site. Even if my post count were high enough for a url to show, I would not post it. The only site I currently work on is my employer's. I am not here as his representative, but am here for myself. I do not want anything I say to reflect on him and thereby affect my job.