Question - Linking Other's People's Sites

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

First, I thank you for your very kind words regarding my site. I've said the same about yours and JJ's both. They are beautiful and very welcoming.

I actually had to see which theme was my default ~ I have so many. Too many members with various tastes! Today's is "Black Lagoon".

As far as that member and her pilfering, how awful. I addressed that issue in one of my posts. That is COMPLETELY wrong. It's an utter disgrace. But some will do that on board's that have restricted viewing. But I believe in karma, @christine1966. 

I've never had a custom code made and if one was designed for "x" and the coder didn't make it available to all of us, I would never use it. That wouldn't be right.

I was speaking about plug-ins that are offered to all of us on PB and we ask the creators to tweak them for us. These wonderful folks usually only say "no" to a tweak if it isn't feasible or possible. As a matter of fact, I have a tweak being done right now for me ~ but the upgrade with the feature I requested will be available for everyone. 

[JJ]

Luv, I think all of us benefit from the threads here when help is asked for because it helps us or inspires us. I think it a treat to find something that is exactly like what I would like to have. Asking for a tweak to an existing plugin and getting it isn't really the same as asking to get a code someone else is using on their website. Things created here at Proboards by coders and staff and offered for all are a blessing. I have spent many hours perusing the code database over the years and have asked for tweaks. I do not claim any ownership of those codes.

I was very fortunate in that a coder joined my site when I first got started in 2005. She and I became friends and she knew I was clueless where coding was concerned. She would ask me what did I want to do/accomplish and I would tell her, and she would write a code for me; so I am one of the X's that Christine is talking about. Soon, I had a pretty fancy website. It wasn't anytime at all before people started linking my site to code support places wanting to duplicate my "look" and functionality. My friend's codes were hijacked right out of my source codes. The support forum staff that hosted my site did tell a number of seekers to back off and deleted the links to my site. Even though the codes said "Code made for JJ by X (My friend), do not copy and do not repost," it didn't stop. Actually, some of the codes that I requested all those many years ago are almost standards now.

Rather than posting a link to a site that appeals to a person in appearance, I would think taking screenshots of the various things that one would like to achieve would be more polite than posting a link. It seems to me that posting a link is indicative of our current technology that has gone beyond speaking in full sentences, and using texting with no vowels instead, whatever is quickest and gets the fastest result seems the norm, a quick fix.

Similar to Christine, I had my entire recipe section hijacked, right down to the names of the boards, and posted on another site. The names of the original posters at my place were removed, of course, as well as most of the links to the original source from which the recipe came. Now, you'd have to see my recipe section to know that this took the thief hours to achieve, yet she did it. But she managed to get a year or more worth of contributions from my members and create a whole new Category for her site.

After a number of marauding experiences, I closed my site so that people can view most of the topics available, but cannot see the contents. I also had to remove the info center from viewing by guests because I had some stalkers coming from other sites bothering my members, and also closed Profiles to guests... all done with codes, most of them from here at Proboards, in the database.

Am I paranoid? I don't think so. I just like to protect the privacy of my members, as well as my own privacy where my website is concerned. Linking to a website without permission makes me feel like a website is just something on the menu at Pizza Hut or Arby's and a person can order one from column A and one from column B. Do I link to my site? Absolutely, when I am asking for help here, that is the only way to get help. But I don't consider that an invitation for others to use that link.

[Former Member]

Here are my thoughts:-

I decided to compare posting a site link to posting a link to see a picture of my house and giving my address.  I wouldn't mind if someone posted a picture of my house without showing my address or giving my location, if the purpose was because they wanted to show an example of what they'd like done to their house. The same thing can be said for posting a site link. It is giving the address and shouldn't be done.  It's the home owner & site owner's decision to post their address, not someone else. It's a privacy issue.  

If someone posts a link to a site because they want a code or plugin to have something they've seen & liked at a particular site, they can post a screenshot of what they like, minus the site's name or can just describe what they like.  It's then up to the coder or admin. to decide if the info requested can be given or if it's off limits because it's copywritten.