Tropical Fish Forum
Think Fish Website => What's going on at Thinkfish => Topic started by: Sue on September 30, 2012, 07:21:18 PM
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This is aimed at Peter for clarification purposes :)
Peter, can I ask what Thinkfish's policy is for giving links to other websites please.
I can think of several categories:
- General fish forums along the lines of Thinkfish. I assume you do not want the members linking to such sites as they are competition for this one.
- Specialist sites (which may or may not have forums) which have more in depth knowledge that any general site can offer. For example catfish sites, shrimp sites, snail sites.
- Sites with detailed information on plant culture.
- Sites that give basic information on fish that are not in Thinkfish's database.
- Equipment manufacturers websites, especially when they have on-line manuals.
- Sites that have in depth articles on fish diseases - I know of one with a very thorough discussion on the lifecycle and treatment options for whitespot, for example.
Most other sites I've seen discourage or ban mention of rival general fishkeeping sites, which is why I presume you feel the same. But what about other types of website?
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A general category you missed out Sue, is retail sites. Sites where there is little or no content other than the stuff they are selling. These may be specialist Aquarium sites or general sites; I suppose eBay would the prime example of the latter.
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Thanks Steve, hadn't thought of that one!
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while we are on it you could extend the point to talking about/praising/criticising shops.
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I can answer part of that on Peter's behalf.
Another forum I'm a member of closes all threads complaining about shops because of a law suit several months ago. The forum in question was not a fish forum, I think it had to do with some sort of holiday or sporting holiday company that sued the owner of a forum because some members posted criticisms.
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Hey all, just to chime in on this one with a few thoughts.
The bottom line is that overall, we don't want to have folks posting here simply to build links to other websites. They're pretty easy to spot in that they usually make a point of including a link in their very first or early topic or reply to a topic or post with a link to a competing service or commercial product elsewhere that they either have an affiliation with (affiliate link for example) or some undisclosed relationship. These in my view, should be removed without hesitation and the poster set a warning by a moderator or admin.
Personally, I'm happy for us to link to whatever resources we feel adds value to whatever conversation we might be having. If another forum or resource is citing a view that is complimentary or useful to the discussion then it makes sense to reference it, provided that we don't have a suitable reference here and that the person referencing it is a trusted user of good standing.
There will of course be edge cases and we wouldn't really want to have a situation where a poster kept on linking to the same place as that would look a little fishy 8)
As for complaints about shops or products or other businesses the general rule is that they are not really welcome, especially if they are ranty or defamatory. So in short, any posts that cross the line will most likely be edited or deleted.
Hope that helps! :)