Free resources guidelines - Please comments

[Morph]

Hello all.
Sadly there is a very thin line between advertising and posting a free resource hence the new firmer guidelines.
I have had, however, some comments stating these guidelines may too harsh. What i would like are your comments regarding this. Of course, we cannot have advertising in here, but posting a free resource which is located on the site of the poster may be acceptable?


Maybe something about sites with adverts are not acceptable?
I would like your comments, so this forum area can best suit you.

Kind regards
Tom R

 

[Hitch]

Not to be harsh, but i think the rule is kinda dumb.

Say, i wanted to post up the Pligg resource, ok fine?
However, if i owned the Pligg site, i wouldn't be allowed? Even though it's just as useful.

By Pligg, i mean the download.
Is that what this rule is getting at? If i not, i apologise...

Adrian

 

[DJ]

:imho:
i feel it should not be allowed, only free resources which are not located on the site of the poster. Any poster who has a free resource on his site can always post it in the advertisement section where plenty of other users can view it. I am sure that if the resource is indeed usefull another member will make a post in this section.

just my 2 cents though ...

 

[Morph]

Got comments from both sides of the issue now, thanks alot.

Anyone else?

 

[Joe]

i think that if the poster is linking to a site that they own, it should not be in the free resources section
but rather in the advertising section
because, afterall, they are gaining either hits, revenue, or anything else, out of it
kind of removes the whole point of 'finding free stuff and sharing it'

Joe

 

[lpstong]

i think that if the poster is linking to a site that they own, it should not be in the free resources section
but rather in the advertising section
because, afterall, they are gaining either hits, revenue, or anything else, out of it
kind of removes the whole point of 'finding free stuff and sharing it'

Joe

At first, I thought that maybe people who own a website offering free resources on their website should be able to post them here.

But Joe does make it a point that if they are allowed to post it here and in the advertising section as well. That would be bring in extra hits and so on.

But it should be considered case by case. Some sites are pure free resource while others provide a free resource as well as pay for items. I feel this should be the fine line on deciding if a site owner can post their items as free resources here. Because if a site has both free and paid than I would say that site does not belong here. The site should be purely a free resource.

I dont know hmmmmmmmmmmm... Just thinking thats all.

 

[Morph]

I let a user slip linking directly to a download link.

So, i feel if there are ads on the page, or anything creating profit or potential profit for the poster, should be mored to FS/A any site without ads or potential for profiting should be okay?

 

[BPmedia David]

Dunno what FS/S is... but If you mean that any page where the user makes money should be moved to advertising.... I agree.

 

[dgridley]

I would like to be in the position of offering free things once in awhile (in fact, that was originally one of the reasons I created Look What Dave Found, to post things found or discovered on the Web) and while I may derive benefit in the form of traffic or potential revenue, what doesn't make any sense at all is that "I" can't list a link to a resource on one of my sites, yet if someone else happened along and wanted to post it here, they could.. that doesn't make sense! So, on that point, I'd have to disagree with blocking site owners from posting in this section so long as they visitor derives some free benefit.. after all, this is a Free Resources section, isn't it?

 

[Morph]

I am beginning to agree with Dave here.
Will close this on SUNDAY and come to a decision.

Regards
Tom

 

[dgridley]

I when people say that..

Hey, whatever people want.. but like I say, if you're listing something people can get for free, it should go here.

I am beginning to agree with Dave here.

 

[weblord]

:imho:

i think free resources should be in fact free whether owned by thread starter or owned by another site owner. what is not allowed should be let's say the post is supposed to be free resources and it asks for a credit card or something in return ie; "free domains" and then when you open the post, it reads "free domains" only if you post on my forum, well you know what I mean, it's not free anymore. (misleading post I guess)

accepted free resources free proxy browser and it's in fact a free proxy browser then it's allowed.

 

[dgridley]

I think that's a given... the link should at least give what it says is free IMO. On the other hand, many free softwares, etc require email registration to get the free gift.. myself, as long as I don't have to pay to get something, I consider it is free.

:imho:

i think free resources should be in fact free whether owned by thread starter or owned by another site owner. what is not allowed should be let's say the post is supposed to be free resources and it asks for a credit card or something in return ie; "free domains" and then when you open the post, it reads "free domains" only if you post on my forum, well you know what I mean, it's not free anymore. (misleading post I guess)

accepted free resources free proxy browser and it's in fact a free proxy browser then it's allowed.

 

[Morph]

It's a three three draw right now.

Will keep this open one more hour, and come to my decision.
Better late than never

 

[B33R]

I say no advertising.

Although this is a bad idea for some of our contributors, like dgridley, allowing people to link to "free" sites containing their advertising will lead to people making made-for-Adsense style "free" sites just to get clicks/hits/revenue.

Unless you use an idea similar to the contests section. Where they have the approved "contest holder" this section could have an approved free stuff poster.
For people who have already made a significant and ongoing contribution to the forum, example dgridley again, they could be allowed to post links to sites containing some advertising. After all, we have a forum leader, might as well get him doing something!!

Or you could just monitor what people post, if you deem it to be over-advertising or poor-quality free stuff, then they could get a friendly warning and their post could be moved to advertising. I doubt they'll try and do it again after their first "warning". Maybe you can just run a trial period of this latter option and see what happens...

 

[dgridley]

All well and good, but as I said, what doesn't make sense about the rule is "I" can't post a link to my own site, BUT "you" could post the same link in Free Resources and I'd still derive the benefit (if any - I'm not getting rich here, folks!).. that's my point. Same link, yet the originator can't post it unless it goes in Advertising.

Re: Traffic: I get 99% of my traffic from my SIG links, here and elsewhere. I could simply place the link in my SIG and reply to posts in the Free Resources section all day and the same links would be in the Free Resources section, just not in a post... so what is the difference?

Re: MFA: I don't know about anybody else, but I'm lucky to break 25 cents per day with Adsense.. for me, Adsense reeks!

EDIT: and by the way, I don't want to be singled out particularly.. if I'm allowed to do it, anyone should be.. so long as someone does actually get something for free by visiting the link.

 

[Morph]

Alright, going by the majority vote and the logic

Advertise your own site in for sale advertising
Post sites find by you offering resources here

The guidelines will remain the same, the post has been edited slightly to re-instate this.

It was a pretty hard decision as i see logic from both sites...but the advertising board offers a place for own-site-posting.

Thanks alot for your contributions