Detail City Rule: To Link or not to Link?

[Bill D]

Recent events have prompted me to propose the establishment of a clear policy at Detail City: Whether or not it is acceptable to post links containing information pertaining to a thread at hand, whether it be in attempt to an answer a question or as an additional source of information about the topic.

Until today I thought it was not an issue to post links to outside websites: posts in other forums or online articles about a detailing topic, but some others members have made it known they disagree. I’m looking for a clear policy here at Detail City that states whether or not it is acceptable to provide these kinds of links , all with the intentions of being helpful to another member in a discussion about a detailing topic.

I think there is another,related topic that needs to be clarified as well. That is, as an alternative to providing an actual link,whether or not cutting and pasting all of or excerpts from such sources, ( of course with respect to authorship and copyrighted material) is permissible at Detail City.

Please consider creating a policy about this and including it under the official Detail City rules. Thank you.

[Nickc0844]

Bill you bring up a great point

My personal thought on linking to a previous thread is that 1) It uses less bandwidth than typing the same thing over and over again (especially pics) 2) Redundant questions is what drives members off.

I also think that when I refer someone to a thread that I thought was intriguing, I am doing THEM better than saying nothing at all

That's just my $.02 though :dunno

[OI812]

I completely agree with Nick. :yeah

If the link is set up to provide information or education what is the problem? If you came here to express your view and not learn, then maybe you should think about starting your own forum. I learn everytime I log onto this forum. Bill I know what link you are talking about. Personally I think THEY were wrong. I went out and read those link and recieved valuable information. If they don't like it they can leave. After all this is Detail City, not "Detailing according to me".

So if link are so bad then why do we have a sticky for PC tutorials with links everywhere. I know in the past I have seen links to Better Car Care on 4 page plus articles. Are you telling me it is better to cut and paste them to this forum or just link to it?

[The Fuzz]

I'll have to discuss this with Dwayne before we can really make a hard rule on it, but there are a couple things that I do want to comment on.

As far as bandwidth goes, Detail City has enough that we could host three sites just like it. Bandwidth is not our concern. The concern is that we don't want to direct traffic away from the site. Feel free to link to other threads within the site. That is perfectly fine and isn't going to break the bank as far as bandwidth goes.

If its not detailing related and you are linking to a funny thread on another board of any kind, then that is fine. The problem with linking to Autopia or any other detailing site when it comes to answering questions is that it gives the impression that Detail City doesn't have the answers and Newbies should go elsewhere. That wetsanding question had a couple people who were happy to answer the question without linking off site. I have a problem with the first answer being to link somone off site. Like I said, it makes DC seem like a place that doesn't have the answers. We do have the answers if some time is allowed for people to post them. I would prefer that the answer not be to direct someone to go elsewhere to read about it. That is just me. As I said before, I'm sure Dwayne will have some feedback on this, but I still don't like sending people away from DC to get answers that we can just as easily provide for them without even copying. Search on DC if you are going to link someone to the answer. I know wetsanding has been discussed before. If you don't know the answer, then just let someone else handle it. If you want to be helpful and provide a link, then search the Detail City archives and provide one to us. That would be my preference anyway.

[The Fuzz]

Originally Posted by OI812

I completely agree with Nick. :yeah

If the link is set up to provide information or education what is the problem? If you came here to express your view and not learn, then maybe you should think about starting your own forum. I learn everytime I log onto this forum. Bill I know what link you are talking about. Personally I think THEY were wrong. I went out and read those link and recieved valuable information. If they don't like it they can leave. After all this is Detail City, not "Detailing according to me".

So if link are so bad then why do we have a sticky for PC tutorials with links everywhere. I know in the past I have seen links to Better Car Care on 4 page plus articles. Are you telling me it is better to cut and paste them to this forum or just link to it?

There isn't anything wrong with linking to informative pages on the web. That is why we have to think about if there should be a policy or not. Even I have linked people to articles that better answer the question than what we have posted here. Its great to have other resources cited as well as what the members feel is the right answer, but if the first answer is to go read up on it on another board, then what kind of message does that give about Detail City? If I went to a site that didn't have any other information except for linking to other sites, then I would probably just join the site they are linking to rather than waste my time. That is the sort of thing we are trying to avoid. I'm sure you can see the concern from an adminstrative standpoint.

[OI812]

I agree with that 100% FUZZ, but what are we suppose to do when we hit a 2,3,4 or more page article. Cutting and pasting would take up allot of space. I'm sure you are not worried about space, because that doesn't sound like a problem.

I guess I look at it this way, if I tell you something, and you tell it to someone else, and they tell it to someone else, by the time it gets back to me it has changed. If we try to explain what someone else has said, what was originally meant could be change drastically. I guess thats my point.

I think you are right in the fact that you don't want to loose people because of linking, but at the same token if I open a thread and see post by allot of people that are authored by someone else what impression does that leave?

It is truly a tough call, but I am sure you and Dwayne will come up with the correct solution.

[awd330]

Just some food for thought -

It's always preferable to link to threads at DC when the information already exists. Hopefully, that will encourage people to "use the search feature" if they see that information can be readily found in the archives. On the other hand, there is sometimes a thorough discussion and explanation of a certain process (including uploaded images) that is present on other sites. It may not be feasible to cut and paste the full contents from the other place to DC. There may also be copyright issues regarding images.

We should all keep in mind that this site is provided for our use by an individual (Dwayne) with financial support from his sponsors. If we want this site to continue to grow and improve, we need to find ways to help these guys. As Dwayne expands his "How to" series on PAC, perhaps that information could be cross-posted onto DC as sticky threads. DC sponsors could also contribute content in exchange for shared links back to their commercial sites. We also have DC members that run their own informational websites. Perhaps there could be an agreement to share links between their websites and DC?

[Dwayne]

LOL, do you guys realize that Tyrell called me and woke me just to attend to this thread? Gee thanks alot guys! :angry

OK OK, I'm just kidding. I wanted to lighten the mood a bit before I address these issues. Did it work? I hope so. :dancin

I think that this issue is a matter of opinion. I see where BillD is coming from when he posts links to other articles. I see that he is being helpful and that is where he is coming from.

I also see where Blinded was coming from in that he doesn't want to be directed away from DC, he is a long time friend and one of my first members so I can see where it may annoy him to be directed elsewhere to get info.

Neither party is wrong in this situation.

Like Fuzz said, bandwidth isn't an issue. My sponsors have been very good to me and in return I have invested in servers big enough to host a site 50 times the size of Detail City. This is why DC is very reliable and very fast. We have plenty of room for pictures, articles and members, bring them on!

I am not going to instate a new rule at this point in regards to this issue because I don't want members to feel under the gun of a link sheriff. Like I have said before, we do encourage links that are helpful, unbiased and informative.

I am going to offer a suggestion that may please all parties involved. Perhaps it would be pleasing to everyone if we would copy articles to the appropriate thread at Detail City, make sure to give proper credit to the author and also post a link to where the article can be found. The internet is nothing without links, links are the webbing that create the World Wide WEB. The internet is also known as the information superhighway. If we combine the two together, both links and information, we will be realizing the full potential of the internet.

This way we can be helpful, informative and also sensitive to those that are hoping to stay at Detail City while reading through our forums.

What do you guys think?

Dwayne

[scottlee]

i like link to things within reason, like the other day the langka chip repair kit that dwayne sells was discussed, i linked to the langka site so people could watch the video, i thought it was cool to see it used

[OI812]

Does this mean we get to smoke the peace pipe now? Just kidding great soultion Dwayne, it has to be a tough call. Too many pros and cons.

[The Fuzz]

The way you avoid the disintegration of information is to only post information that you know for yourself. If I learn something through trial and error, and then I pass it on to you, it is not knowledge to you. My rule of thumb is not to pass on anything that isn't knowledge to me. You only gain information by reading threads and articles. Unless you have applied that infomation, I would suggest against sharing it with others. How can you fully endorse a particular method or process unless you have tried it? Anyway, what I'm saying is that if you know of an informative 3 page article that you want others to read as well, then I don't see a problem with posting it. If someone asks a question about what the opinion is on a certian product, then don't go over to another detailing site and link to a thread over there. Just answer the question with your opinion or suggest some other threads on Detail City that might help. We aren't without our fair share of valuable information. Detail City has thousands and thousands of threads that are just as updated as most of the other sites. We may not have threads from back in the Zaino/Klasse wars, but who cares about those. People want modern answers to their modern questions. We have the resources right here and we might as well use them. If a three page article on another site is the answer, then I don't know what the policy is going to be on linking to it, but I am confident that we have enough knowledgable people here to answer the question without having to link offsite.

[Bill D]

Wow, great discussion and I'm glad I started this thread .


I think Dwayne has an excellent idea regarding refering/copying/paraphrasing an article/thread and providing the full link for those who wish to view to whole thing.

Glad this topic's discussion is turning out well

[Raven]

I believe that Dwayne's idea should work out very well. IMHO, I don't see anything wrong with linking to other sites. As a matter of fact that's exactly how I found DC! Good information is just that regardless of what site it comes from.

[Bill D]

I couldn't agree more Raven

[kimwallace]

I think linking is great, however as I get to know people through DC, I have found that I can trust what some have to say more than others. This comes from reading and even trying what they suggest in their threads. The most useful information I recieve and the most useful information I can pass on is based on the personal experience of the poster. Many times people's posts are based on theory and not on their experience. When I see a link from another forum I find it difficult to decern if what I am reading is just someones idea or if it is based on their experience.
Experience is the best teacher. And for me I rely on posts by DC members I have learned to trust.