Forum Moderators: open
Why not show DO NOT POST LINKS at the top of the post form?
You see lots of first time posters falling foul of the rule.
Its not that obvious on the post form itself.
Billy Joe Jim Bobs dogs' blog is not such a great link and probably won't stand the self-promotion test.
There really isn't a great issue with links anymore.
As for sites outside the respected/authority I still havent got a clue.
Even mods can be unsure
eg outlaw link
[webmasterworld.com...]
I decided against posting the link in the hope a mod would know what I was referring to. Worked.
Thanks for reply. Still learning.
We still see quite a few links in the code forums that tend to be of the personal site, review my code, web-design promo, non-authority, rehashed info/blog type nature. If the link is truly informational and is the original source of that information, it can be a tough choice!
>>re out-law
even I wasn't sure about that link, however I did take some time to see if I could find a more authoritative resource, but the horses mouth which I suspect would be the DTI was a bit wieldy ;)
anyway if you're not sure, the best thing is to ask a Mod or admin, I did
Suzy
It was deleted. I have no affiliation with it, was simply delighted when I found it a couple of months ago.
30 minutes later I was in /Browser Side World/ Flash and Shockwave
under the topic "Learning Flash" -- and to my surprise, and I must say,
annoyance, I saw two dot com phrases. (The posts were put up this month.)
What on earth is going on? Could someone enlighten me please? I would love to know the secret to this!
Anyhoo it was just a thought, I was just trying to make mods life a little easier on the check my site type posts.
Just to be sure, are links allowed nowadays?
I have been away from the forums for awhile and in 30 mins on the forums I've seen a lot more links than there used to be.
I checked the "Welcome" thread and it doesn't say anything either way about links.
I hope links are now allowed on a case by case basis, and it makes diagnosing some code problems an awful lot easier if people can see an example page.
Thanks.
-Tom
Links to quality sites are always welcome. The qualifier has always been that if it remotely tastes/smells of self promotion, it was canned - still is...
Brett - Where are we these days on linking to blog stories?
I remember a year or so ago that there was a big discussion on this topic and consensus was...
- that blogs were often opinion, not necessarily news...
- that lots of members had blogs...
- and that the area was subject to abuse.
Blogs are becoming increasingly prominent, and while there's an obvious difference between Matt Cutts' blog and some SEO company blog, the difference is not always so clearcut.
Also, I've never known (and I've been here a while)whether it's appropriate to link to a discussion or a post on another SEO forum.
It isn't so much about a specific type of site as it is about the quality of the story Robert. Obviously, the majority of blogs are still not going to be up to sufficient quality to pass muster with readers here.
The biggest issue right now, is that so many corporate types are publishing their press releases as blogs. The search engines are good examples of this. There are many that have employees run blogs that are nothing more than "wink-n-nod, shhhh-don't-tell" support sites. As you mentioned, folks like Matt Cutts are good examples of this. Google gets to keep their nose out of the legal fires with plausible deniability, provide some customer support, and have a platform for "leaks" when they need them. Although they say "blog" in the title and on the page, they are blogs in namesake only, and are actually thinly disguised pr, customer support, and market research channels. Those channels are often the only sources of information on specific topics that clearly affect our members.
Ultimately, we want to link to the original source of the news. If BillyJoeJimBobs Blog tells us that Yahoo is releasing a mega new revolutionary product on Friday - we don't want to link to BillyJoeJimBobs - we want to link to Yahoo's press release about it, or a detailed story on the New York Times, CNN, or San Jose Mercury News. It is about trust.
Trusted, reliable, time proven sources of news are more critical now than ever before. Yes blogs can tip us off, help us keep informed and add a powerful first hand account to many stories. However, they also misinform us and mislead us. A good portion of the blogs out there have little oversight and certainly don't vet stories.
They are also ripe with personal issues, hidden agendas, rumor columns, and flatout abuse of the system. From wild salacious, inflammatory, gossip columns, to headlines that lie - story bait is rampant and unreliable. Every time we talk about changing or relaxing the policy around here, someone immediately links to an idiotic article that turns out to be completely wrong (ak link bait).
All-in-all, I think the mods are doing a great job with the current system. Mod actions are way way down over a year ago and user growth continues. If it aint broke, don't fix it.
There is a great special series of episodes of the PBS series FRONTLINE going on right now. Called "News War: What's Happening to the News", and "News War: Secrets, Sources & Spin (Part II)". This is an incredible series that is looking at old media, sources, blogs, war coverage, and all the issues surrounding jourlistic ethics:
[pbs.org...]
