Not allowed to share

Quote from the Rules about Links located under the Newcomers thread:

Finally, do not post things like "PM me for more information" or "see my profile for more information" in order to circumvent the link rules. Anyone who does this, especially after having had other links removed, will have their posts removed and will be suspended for 7 days. Further instances will result in permanent banning.


EDIT: In answer to your edited version of your rant, You can post links as long as they fall into the rules of the forum.
 
because those are the rules the owners of the site decided.

For the PM thing, it is because most people who do that are trying to get people to sell them stuff or to link them to sites not allowed by the rules. We enforce this across the board for that reason.

For the link, you are allowed to link but restrictions was placed on it because people would link to diet plans and sites trying to sell e-books and junk.




If you wanted people to read the article, you could just cut and paste it to your post. You can link it as long as it doesn't violate forum rules. It's not as difficult or epic as you are trying to make it. It's not a big deal.
 
Just an update - after a recent spate of confusion about posting links, we, the Mods, clarified some of the rules with Sean (the board Admin/Owner).

Here is the scoop on the rules about links:

Links to known diet resource sites (fitday, thedailyplate, sparkpeople, and so forth); known healthcare and/or news sites (webmd, pubmed, cnn health, etc.); and legitimate fitness resources (lyle mcdonald, tom venuto, and the like) are permitted IN CONTEXT of an ongoing discussion.

The following links are NOT PERMITTED in posts or signatures:

Links to commercial sites, including those selling diet plans, nutrients, vitamins, cleanses, shoes, personal training, or any other for profit product or services.
[Exception: If you are posting in answer to someone who is looking for a resource for an item - for example, someone asks "what is your favorite protein powder" or "what kind of food scale do you use" or something along those lines. Legitimate discussions about particular diets may also have some links posted - for example, discussions about the Cohen's plan, or links to resources for those on Atkins, South Beach, WW, etc.]
Links to non-profit sites for any reason, including asking for sponsorship, promoting events, or bringing attention to national campaigns.
[Exception: You may post about events in which YOU personally are participating in your diary only; for example, if you're running in a 5k for breast cancer or something of that nature, you may post a link ONE time only.]
Links to Google searches on a particular topic. Google searches can be manipulated and used to drive traffic to particular sites. If you want to post a link to articles to support your information, please post links directly to those articles (and please make sure they meet the criteria for legitimate sites - not commercial spam sites).
Links to personal blogs, websites, twitter pages, facebook pages, and other social media sites, whether they are commercial in nature or not. This is not a place for you to promote your own sites or blogs to gain an audience, a following, or a fan club.
[Exception: You may list your website URL, your twitter page, or your Facebook link in the appropriate field in your profile, but you may not refer to it in your posts (i.e. -"see the link in my profile for more information").]
Email addresses of any kind. There is a PM and emailing feature built into the forum software and you can exchange email addresses privately with anyone who PMs you if you so choose.

Additionally, new members may not post links until they have made 10 other legitimate posts on the board. (This directive is straight from the Owner/Admin.) if you are a new member and have 10 posts or fewer, the moderators will remove links from your posts. If you post 10 garbage posts or one liners just to get to the point to be able to post a link, your posts will be removed and you will be banned.

Finally, do not post things like "PM me for more information" or "see my profile for more information" in order to circumvent the link rules. Anyone who does this, especially after having had other links removed, will have their posts removed and will be suspended for 7 days. Further instances will result in permanent banning.

Note that any link that violates these rules OR any link that the moderators feel is inappropriate will be removed at the discretion of the moderators.

If you feel that a link has been removed in error, or if you have questions as to why a link was removed, please PM a moderator and ask. If you start a thread to complain about the moderators or about the rules of the board, your membership will be suspended.

Thank you for respecting the rules of the board as you participate here.
 
Yea, we aren't the link police.....as long as a link is in refrence to a topic being discussed AND it doesnt' contain too much advertsing, we normally let it go. Do you have a link, specifically that you'd like OK'd BM????
 
I want this to be clear since she edited the original post.

This was all about the fact I removed her statement for people to PM her for the article. We don't want people telling people to PM them for the reason I said. At no time here was there a removal of a link. The warning was never about a link.
 
why did she say PM me for the article??? Is it b/c it had some kind of advertising on the sides?? I just wonder if she felt like she couldn't 'post the article for some reason?
 
It was a link to an article I read in people magazine. No diet plans. No products advertised. No self-promotion. No spam. Just words strung together in an informative article.

The irony of all of this of course are all the banners and advertising on the main page of the forum itself.... I think they need to receive infractions -- oh wait, that's how the forum is paid for no doubt.... ahhhhhh I got it now.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me to date. I have enjoyed my brief time here. I wish you all the very best with all of your weightloss goals!

bluemomma
 
This was your unedited post in this thread:

Ok so I just got a warning infraction because I asked people to PM me if they wanted additional information about an article I read. That is NOT SPAM - it's called information sharing.

So I guess we're all just supposed to sit here and write about successes and failures without posting information to help ourselves or others. I thought this was a community that wanted to share information and learn from one another? I guess not.

We are forbidden from:

1. Posting links
2. Posting PM's telling others they can PM if they want more info
3. Posting the names of diet programs
4. Promoting a program that has worked for us in the past
5. I'm guessing pasting an entire article would also be spam (?)

So..... how do ya'll plan to learn more then?

At least I found out now before I invested considerable time and effort and built many friendships on here. I'll be finding another forum that actually wants to SHARE INFORMATION and learn.

Wow..... mouth STILL hanging open......... CIAO
Click to expand...

So you admit here that you was asking people to PM you for information.


Here is your original post that started all this:

I was drinking my morning cup of joe and came across an article..... Crystal Renn.... *Plus Size* model. PLUS SIZE???? She's a size 10 for God sake! So..... that means what? You NEED to be a size 2 to be *slim*? It was just kind of a *wow* moment for me. She looks like a nice, normal, healthy young woman and they're calling her fat basically. Truly sad. And then people wonder why young women are starving themselves to death.

It was just kind of a wake up call for me to realize that if I get to size 10, that's still VERY acceptable (Crystal is 5'9" and I'm 5'4") given my height and build. I think the uber skinny models and actresses should be called *anorexic sized*.... let them wear the negative title for once! LOL

- If anyone wants the link to the article, PM me.
Click to expand...

You got WARNED on the PM aspect. I also told you in PMs after you talked to me that you could link the article as long as it follows forum rules. Hell, I posted an MSNBC article link in the forum myself. Don't try to make it look like I was some heavy handed thug removing your link for any reason. I was nice and I was polite and, as much as it pains you, I was right.
 
bluemomma said:
Why can't we post links to articles or valuable reading material?
Click to expand...

After reading through this thread, I think I know what to tell you. I'm not a moderator, so I won't give you a moderator-type response. Instead, I'll just talk to you as a member, as I have always questioned the same thing. I've always wondered why some links are allowed, but others are immediately taken down. Sometimes, it honestly doesn't make sense. Sometimes, the enforcement of the board rules can seem hypocritical and extremely contradictory. And, I have a feeling that you're in that boat right now.

Anyway, during the time that I have been a member of forums, I have realized that the answer to the question of "Why can't we post links (for whatever reason)" to be quite simple. And, instead of trying to just quote the rules and leave it at that, I'll try to explain it from a long term member's perspective...

You can't post certain links on this forum (and other forums) for a few reasons:


1) You could be trying to sell something (AKA - SPAM).

Most forums aren't designed to make money, but most of them have advertisements of their own because they need a way to pay their bills. It's not free to run a forum. There are bandwidth expenses, server expenses, tech support expenses, design expenses, moderation expenses (unless the moderators are volunteers), etc. So, in order to keep the website running, a lot of forums will have banners, ads and links to sponsors; sponsors which help cover the cost of paying the bills.

Without the help of the minimal revenue that is brought in from the authorized ads you see on this forum, somebody - more than likely the forum's owner - would have to pay the bills out of their own pocket. The advertisements are paid for by the companies which sponsor this website. They are willing to help sponsor the website (which pays the bills) because of the traffic that the advertisements bring them in return. The more traffic they get, the more money they make. So, the sponsors are more than happy to pay money for advertisements on this website...as long as they are getting traffic in return.

But, if people start posting links to SPAM (unauthorized advertisements), then people may click on the SPAM links instead of the authorized advertisements, which would lower the amount of traffic that the sponsors should be receiving in return for their generous donations. And, if the sponsors aren't getting enough traffic, they will stop advertising on this forum...which would take money away from the forum and prevent it from being able to pay the bills.

Since the forum cares about paying it's own bill more than it cares about paying yours, you're not allowed to SPAM here.

2) You could be trying to recruit members for your own forum (AKA - STEALING TRAFFIC).

Consider this very similar to recruiting in the professional world. In the professional world, it is illegal to call somebody at work and offer them a job. It's illegal because it's considered stealing, in the eyes of the law.

Similarly, forums don't want you stealing their members. Forums need members to survive. So, if you are posting links to other forums, members from this forum might visit the other forum and sign up for it. And, they might get caught up in the other forum and forget all about this forum. Meaning, this forum just lost a member, because somebody posted a link to a different forum.

Since the forum doesn't want to lose any members, you're not allowed to post links to other forums here.

3) You could be trying to direct members onto another site, in which you have a connection to (AKA - SELF PROMOTION).

This is very similar to SPAM. Most forums don't allow their members to post links to websites in which they have a personal connection to (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc) because you are not only taking traffic away from the forum itself by redirecting members off of the board, but also because you could very well have SPAM thrown all over your personal website. And, even though you aren't directly posting SPAM links on the forum, you are still trying to direct people towards your personal website in order to make money. And, as I explained before, most forums don't allow you to do this because it takes away from their authorized sponsors, whom pay the bills.

Just as before - since the forum cares about paying it's own bill more than it cares about paying yours, you're not allowed to post links to personal websites here.

4) You could be posting something that is against the law.

You can't post child pornography, beastiality, links to rape, incest, drugs, prostitution, drug-related sales, etc. The forum can get into trouble if it allows it's members to trade illegal internet traffic, so it doesn't allow it's members to do so.

Since the forum doesn't want to get into trouble, you're not allowed to post anything illegal here.

Now, with that being said, some links will get deleted based off of the POST in which you put them in. In fact, some posts might get deleted entirely if they are shady enough. Why? Because, when people say things like "PM me for the link" or "Send me an e-mail for more information" (for example), it's more than likely because they're trying to get around the board rules and SPAM you via PM/e-mail. People only say stuff like that because they are afraid to post something on the board itself, as they know it is breaking the rules. And, since that is the case more often than not, a lot of those posts just get deleted entirely.

I'm fairly certain that's what happened in your case when you wanted to share information from an article in People magazine. You worded it very suspiciously, which made the moderators take down your post/link. All you had to do is post the link and none of this would've been a problem. But, as I said, you worded it suspiciously - you asked people to PM you for the link, which is often a sign that you are trying to SPAM the forum...which is against the rules - so your post got deleted.

I don't know if that clears anything up, but I figured I would throw in my two cents on the matters, just in case it helped.
 
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Heck, I didn't even delete the post. I gave a warning, told why and removed the PM request. I was nice and easy.
 
nice post Chef ... i didn't read the details of each, but the main points are exact.

bluemomma - if you owned a store, would you allow people to put up flyers all over it advertising competition?
 
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