Question for the admins

[reefrunner]

Link Posting
Posting of other sites links will not be permitted in the forum, but will be allowed in our links page http://www.reeflounge.com/forum/links.php All other links in forums will be deleted.

Spamming
Please do not spam our forums. Our Moderators are able to ban users that are spamming to much !


Do you think it is hypocritical of you to have these rules...yet spam other sites with links to yours. I am not speaking of members, I am speaking of actual staff. There are 4 threads on my site whick have links to yours in them, the links were posted by your staff. I am sure they also put a link in the links section as well. You however do not allow any links on your site what soever. Why is it that you feel...
1) that your members are so disatisfied with your site that they would leave
2) that your site is poor in comparison to others out there?
3) that the effort put into this site is any less than the effort put into the sites that you spam?

Curious of the answers, from experience most board users will be members of many sites, disallowing links limits the effectiveness of some of the advice that may be able to be dispensed.

[michealprater]

Reefrunner, thank you for your concern. The situation with me and reeflounge has been rectified. Although I feel the actions you describe are somewhat hypocritical, rules are rules, and I will follow them. I will no longer post links of anykind to other websites. This is going to make the whole vendor forum kind of lame, but oh well.

I appologize to the members of this site for any problems I have cause. Bottom line is I just want to learn, and pass what I learn on .

I would also asked that this thread not be deleted as I feel it is benifical for your members to see this situation rectified. It will give them a better understanding of your rules and maybe this wont happen again.

Sincerely, Micheal Prater

[reefrunner]

Reefrunner, thank you for your concern. The situation with me and reeflounge has been rectified.

I am glad your situation has been rectified Mike, but this is now a situation between the Administration of a board that has been spammed by reeflounge staff, and reeflounge admin. While I respect and understand their rules, it is entirely improper for them to spam other sitesEDIT(When it is not allowed here)EDIT. The sharing of resources is one thing that has driven this hobby to where it is now as opposed to where it was 25 years ago. There has been a boom of members here at reeflounge since they spammed my site, and others I'm sure, that boom is on the backs of other peoples work and our generosity. My sites rules will not change, we will allow links to be posted as well as discussion about other boards, but I am curious as to how (or if) the reeflounge staff will answer my questions.

Edited to add the portion in italics to clarify a point.

[Irisservice]

I don't see how one post is spam!!!! And it was to check out our site!!!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=968&highlight=reeflounge

Where one of your member posted 40 items and 30 of them had links to your site thats spam!!!!

you can link stuff to useful info.

[phistio]

first of all...i was completely unaware of this situation until this morning.

it is in our best interest that we all work this out.

as a side note, i agree that the more information we have as hobbyist, the better we all will do. i have no problems in using both boards in conjunction with each other...perhaps, i (or other members) might find a solution or advice here, or any other forum. infomation is the best tool, and knowledge comes from information.

in trying not to exploit this current situation, i hope we can reach terms of understanding.

the main concern that brought this on was the graphic/link in a registered members signature. while we see no problem with text links...the graphic link; that was seen as unapproved advertisement.

we have no problems posting link to other sites in a "links" page. the posting of links in a public forum should be used with discretion.

as a member said:

why would McDonalds advertise a Whopper?

i value the inputs from both boards members...and i would hate if one board alienated another. i'm a firm believer in networking! hopefully we can resolve this with benefecial outcomes for both sites! :wink: :D

[reefrunner]

I don't see how one post is spam!!!! And it was to check out our site!!!

Hmmm, there is a link to reeflounge in every post that Pineapple house posted in. Not once was he linking to "useful nformation" or pertinent threads here.

Were one of your member posted 40 items and 30 of them had links to your site thats spam!!!!

Did he link to threads that were pertinant to the discussion? Kinda gives the poster a couple more options to look at, I would think, at least that is our feeling, and why we do not dsiscourage such linking.

Now that I have defended that (and it wasn't the point), perhaps you could tell me why it is OK for you to do it on other sites, but it isn't OK to do it here. Again, I can undestand your rules, I can respect it (I have not mentioned my forums name), but I do not see how you justify going to other sites and posting just what you linked to and do not allow it here. I do not frequent your board, I have never sent anyone over here to post links, niether have any of my staff.

[reefrunner]

Let me put this another way (and yes ther is a link in my sig pic, it is on every site I am on), in the link that was posted by Irisservise, was what is commonly referred to as spam. Plain and simple, he advertised this board on mine. Would the same post (linking to my site) be allowed here? From your rules, it is clearly a violation. That is hypocritical. I am not trying to make you change your rules, I don't have a problem with your rules, I want you to be aware that if you don't allow it here, you shouldn't do it there.