Moderators....what website info are you allowed to post???

[micmacmissy]

Hello,

Hoping someone here can answer my question. I'm not new to this board, but I was shocked to find out that I was cited on the Restaurants board for posting a link to a Disney information website (for the unofficial guide).

Can anyone tell me what are the guidelines for directing people to other websites? For example, lots of people direct others in their posts to go to another website for information. People often refer others to allears, or tikiman, or tour guide mike websites....but why when I referred someone to the Unofficial Guide website did I receive an infraction?

I asked the moderator on the website board this question, and he replied that he cannot answer the question because he does not have that information.

????????
Can anyone help?
Thanks!

 

[lovetoscrap]

You would probably get a faster response to this question if you post it on the technical board down at the bottom of the main menu. That board is seen more by the moderators and Webmasters that can answer your question.

You can also PM the moderator that gave you the infraction and ask them to clarify the rules and reason for your infraction.

I do know that in the terms of service it says:

LINKS TO OTHER SITES: You are welcome to link to your website on our boards provided that a) you are not promoting a commercial service or for-profit venture, b) you don't post primarily to promote your site and c) that you place a prominent link back to the DIS on your website. Before posting a link to another site, we ask that you please first check to see if the same information is available on www.wdwinfo.com. We take great pride in our website. While we make the boards available for your enjoyment, our focus is Disney travel planning.

My guess is that the information you provided may have been available at this site. Also since TourGuideMike is a sponsor perhaps the Unofficial Guide site is viewed as a competitor so is not allowed?

Also most sites that are specifically NOT allowed to be linked to have been filtered to come up with ***** if you post them as a direct link. If you provided the link with spaces or in some other way to avoid the ****** from showing that can be constituted as going around the DIS filters and is not allowed. Like by saying go to "websitename dot com"

Without seeing the exact post I don't know for sure what the problem is. Usually the best way to get clarification is just to PM the mod directly that gave you the infraction and ask them very nicely to clarify.

 

[micmacmissy]

Thanks, lovetoscrap.

The first thing I did was PM the moderator and asked specifically why some websites are allowed and not others (I did think that TGM being a sponsor, they may not want people to go to Unofficial Guide). The mod PM'd me back saying he didn't know and couldn't answer the question.

A strange response, I thought, coming from a moderator!

I will post on the technical board...I really am curious now why some websites are allowed to be posted, but not others...

 

[CamColt]

Also most sites that are specifically NOT allowed to be linked to have been filtered to come up with ***** if you post them as a direct link. If you provided the link with spaces or in some other way to avoid the ****** from showing that can be constituted as going around the DIS filters and is not allowed. Like by saying go to "websitename dot com"

Exactly!

As I noted before most moderators do not have the information you requested as that is not part of our job. If you want clarification on the Dis rules, you will need to contact the webmasters at admin@wdwinfo.com

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks, lovetoscrap.

The first thing I did was PM the moderator and asked specifically why some websites are allowed and not others (I did think that TGM being a sponsor, they may not want people to go to Unofficial Guide). The mod PM'd me back saying he didn't know and couldn't answer the question.

A strange response, I thought, coming from a moderator!

I will post on the technical board...I really am curious now why some websites are allowed to be posted, but not others...

If a website is not allowed on the DIS then there are extenuating circumstances that have caused that action. These circumstances are between the owners of that site and the webmasters here on the DIS, and as a courtesy to both we do not discuss these decisions.

 

[annie1995]

If a website is not allowed on the DIS then there are extenuating circumstances that have caused that action. These circumstances are between the owners of that site and the webmasters here on the DIS, and as a courtesy to both we do not discuss these decisions.

Please don't take this as being rude or anything of the sort, I am just curious so it will not happen to me in the future. If the OP was given a infraction because the web site isn't allowed from extenuating circumstances, how would the OP know this and get cited for it? Does what I'm asking make sense?

 

[micmacmissy]

I completely understand the filter violation (now that it's been explained...I didn't know about the **** rule, but now I do!) Clear and reasonable.

What I am still confused about is what the previous poster just asked...people have posted things like "allears website has complete menus" or "if you need more pictures of the poly, go to the tikiman site" and those types of comments appear to NOT be in violation.

Just wondering about that, as you can see I have a lot of posts and have never had an infraction before! It seems like it is okay to direct people to certain websites, but not to others...for instance, would it be okay to say something like, "try the touring plans website"?? Would it be okay to suggest to people to google touring plans?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Well, as a courtesy to the DIS, I would recommend first looking at www.wdwinfo.com to see if the information is here first.

Then, if it is not, it's okay to recommend another site. However, there are some sites that are no longer welcomed to be mentioned on the DIS, and that is usually because someone who has a vested interest in that site more or less spammed the DIS promoting the other site. Believe me, these decisions are not made lightly.

Okay, so lets say that allears is a word that is asterisked out. If a person wanted to recommend that site the word would appear as *******. If the person wanted to say allears, even though it was asterisked out and put down all ears, or a!!ears, etc., then that is bypassing the filter, and that person would get an infraction.

If a site has been added to the filter, then out of respect for the DIS, I would recommend that people not try to write it in their posts.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Just wondering about that, as you can see I have a lot of posts and have never had an infraction before! It seems like it is okay to direct people to certain websites, but not to others...for instance, would it be okay to say something like, "try the touring plans website"?? Would it be okay to suggest to people to google touring plans?

A direct answer to this question would be no, it would not be okay to recommend that website as it is filtered.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Generally, not picking on a particular site, we allow the names of other sites to be posted untill they become a problem. Unfortunately we have had many sites try to "push" their site on our boards. We have seen fake user names, sites that have emailed people asking them to push their site and all manner of creative ways to push sites.
Once we see a site being "pushed" we add them to the filter and they are no longer allowed to be mentioned

 

[lovetoscrap]

Here is what I do if I am unsure if something that I am typing or recommending might not be allowed. Go ahead and type it out as it should be in a reply and then click on print preview. It will show up there as the ****. Then you know that this is a word or site that is not welcome here and it is best to just drop that line of thought or in the case of words, find a much more family friendly word to use.

As said before, don't just try to get around the ********. Don't type the word with spaces or even use a creative spelling. And don't try to filter it yourself by typing just a few letters and adding your own ****. Either type it out and let the filter do it's job or just find a new line of thought.


The other thing to remember is that infractions and points are a bummer, but they will expire so as long as you aren't blatently trying to cause problems it is really not a big deal. Just a more objective way for the moderators to apply the rules and help keep the DIS family friendly and spam free for all of us!

 

[micmacmissy]

Generally, not picking on a particular site, we allow the names of other sites to be posted untill they become a problem. Unfortunately we have had many sites try to "push" their site on our boards. We have seen fake user names, sites that have emailed people asking them to push their site and all manner of creative ways to push sites.
Once we see a site being "pushed" we add them to the filter and they are no longer allowed to be mentioned

Thank you! THIS was the information I was looking for...makes complete sense. I am wiser for it.

Thanks and have a great holiday!

 

[sha_lyn]

So it sounds like basically if a website has/is trying to use the DIS for free advertising then they will be blocked, especially if the site is a for profit business. The exception being sites that have an agreement with the DIS/Pete where that site also recommends the DIS and/or Dreams unlimited

An example would be if a travel agent not associated with DU started spaming threads and sending PMs asking people to use their business.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Any business who tries to get free advertising through the DIS without getting permission from the owner of the site will be blocked. This could go for someone selling flowers, to books, to other sites (even non-Disney affiliated), etc.