14 replies to this topic

[DunWeb]

Dear forum moderators:


I recently noticed that I am unable to add/delete/edit any of my status updates. Further, none of my Twitter updates are synchronized with osCommerce as I have set in my Profile preferences. I have also noticed I am unable to reply/comment to any of the updates found on the right column.


Now, I understand that some of the moderators don't like my view on the choices made by the development team about v3.x and the recently failed release and that setting the minimum requirements out of reach for most forum members that they won't be able to use v3.x for up to two years while hosting providers begin offering shared hosting with PHP 5.3, BUT to censor my posts and status updates seems to be a little harsh. I have contributed to this forum financially, within the forum and outside of this forum offering pro-bono services to those members in need and feel that I should be entitled to my opinion on this forum.


YES, I am a realist and the glass is half full. But, to censor my posts because the forum moderators don't agree with my opinion is depriving others from an alternate point of view and therefore limiting alternative views from other members.


Please explain why the forum moderators would choose to take this action so the members here can fully understand the ever changing forum policies.


Chris Dunn
Dunweb Designs

[Mark Evans]

DunWeb, on 02 April 2011, 06:44, said:

Please explain why the forum moderators would choose to take this action so the members here can fully understand the ever changing forum policies.

Your status updates were disabled quite a long time ago and have nothing to do with your option of osCommerce or the recent release but was an action due to complaints about your updates.

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

Exactly, all of your Twitter imports were of commercial nature so this has been disabled on your profile.

Kind regards,

[DunWeb]

A complaint ? I was never told of any complaint and I was never told my updates were disabled. A quick email would have been nice and perhaps a warning would have been prudent as NOT ALL of my status updates were commercial. If that is the case, I could have simply disabled the Twitter connection from this forum.





Chris

[DunWeb]

Further to that, do you think status updates like these are beneficial to the forum ? If so, how !?

Quote

agaliza Today I enter dessert and refined sugar rehab...no April fooling :-(

Quote

foxp2 My new ballpark : http://goo.gl/Xt9Ne

Quote

swoap was yesterday ^^

Quote

burt Eddie Stobart. Limited to 56. RIP

Those updates and MOST others have nothing to do with osCommerce or it's community and further to that, there were a lot of posts not even in English ! Again, if the forum policies have changed, perhaps you can use the News Line at the top of the page to inform members so they can review the changes ?



Chris

[multimixer]

Well, this one is related to osCommerce

Quote

foxp2 My new ballpark : http://goo.gl/Xt9Ne

and I think it was also a bit useful, because sort of a "bug" could be identified, story is in the comments.

[multimixer]

And Chris, lets be honest, if not all, so many of your status imports were of commercial nature.

I can remember status updates like "blogged: secure your site" and the link went straight to your store where you sell some security services, no sign of a blogpost. Or some others like "20% discount for new domains hurry", or "the sping is comming" sending people to a template you want to sell.

I'm sorry, but this is the truth.

I think nobody would have a problem if your posts would be a bit more "sensitive", for example, you could write an article about security, promote this via twitter at the status updates, and have a very decent link somewhere at your blog to your commercial store

[DunWeb]

George,

True, when I first began using Twitter most all were commercial posts, and to be honest I do use Twitter as an advertising media. However, if a moderator had asked me to disconnect my Twitter account from osCommerce forums because I post to many commercial updates, I would have certainly done that, in fact I have already done that.

The fact is, I don't do much advertising at all and I am not a vulture as another member suggested, I offer what I think is a reasonable amount of FREE support here in the forums and if a forum member wishes professional services outside of this forum, they are welcome to contact me. A moderator was actually editing my posts to remove the 'PM me for additional help' because another forum member said I was being a vulture, when in fact on many occasions I offered FREE support to members with hacker issues. Not all PM's ended up being PAID work.

This forum seems to have double standards, however it is their forum so I will just do what I do and comply with the rules. But make no mistake, I am a website developer by trade and feed my family by offering online services, I won't apologize for providing professional services to those who ask for them.


Chris


ps. If corporate sponsorship wasn't so much, I would go that route too.

Edited by DunWeb, 02 April 2011, 15:02.

[multimixer]

Chris, my comment was just about the status updates. I didn't follow them in detail to know if it was the beginning or the end, I just posted what I saw.

I think that what you do here in the forum is great, helping many people, and if, after all this, also some commercial cases jump out, there is nothing to say against

[Biancoblu]

DunWeb, on 02 April 2011, 14:24, said:

Those updates and MOST others have nothing to do with osCommerce or it's community and further to that, there were a lot of posts not even in English ! Again, if the forum policies have changed, perhaps you can use the News Line at the top of the page to inform members so they can review the changes ?



Chris

I have never understood why you seemingly feel so threatened by status updates that are not in English, a lot of members and moderators here are not English native speakers, and frankly I don't see how a mere status update would be beneficial (or not) to the forum. The beneficial parts are in posts and those are always in English.
Like George pointed out, your updates often were geared towards gathering business, and so were a lot of your posts, personally I don't care and have never complained about anybody's posts or updates, but obviously this bothered HPDL and he owns this place.
Having said so, you should have been informed of the complaints and been given a chance to rectify the matter yourself.
You might want to know that I too got some updates censored and never knew why.
On a side note, what I'd like to see censored is some posters trying to look smart by insulting others with foreign language phrases that, incidentally, make absolutely no sense as they were obviously run through google translate, or those so called experts that plain belittle or bash those that know less than they do (and I'm not talking about you here but I won't name names).

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

DunWeb, on 02 April 2011, 15:01, said:

True, when I first began using Twitter most all were commercial posts...

When you first began using Twitter? In the sense that you haven't recently? Have a look at your own profile - most of your recent updates are commercial!

You got caught. We fixed it. End of story.

[DunWeb]

Harald Ponce de Leon, on 02 April 2011, 16:09, said:

When you first began using Twitter? In the sense that you haven't recently? Have a look at your own profile - most of your recent updates are commercial!You got caught. We fixed it. End of story.

Yes, I do still advertise on Twitter, absolutely ! But, I would have disassociated the accounts sooner had someone said something. Perhaps.....a PM or EMAIL from a site moderator would have corrected the issue a lot sooner. Just revoking privileges without notice is childish and unjustified. I believe a level playing field is required as well, if you are going to penalize me, you should stop the others from doing it as well. Although they hide their advertising in 'blogs' and other banter, it is still advertising. At least I wasn't trying to mask my intentions.

PLEASE revise this forums policies to include ALL OF THE RULES so others aren't penalized unfairly in the future.

As I stated earlier, it is YOUR forum, not mine so do as you wish, all I am asking is you try to treat all of your members fairly.



Chris

[DunWeb]

Biancoblu, on 02 April 2011, 16:09, said:

I have never understood why you seemingly feel so threatened by status updates that are not in English, a lot of members and moderators here are not English native speakers, and frankly I don't see how a mere status update would be beneficial (or not) to the forum. The beneficial parts are in posts and those are always in English.Like George pointed out, your updates often were geared towards gathering business, and so were a lot of your posts, personally I don't care and have never complained about anybody's posts or updates, but obviously this bothered HPDL and he owns this place.Having said so, you should have been informed of the complaints and been given a chance to rectify the matter yourself.You might want to know that I too got some updates censored and never knew why.On a side note, what I'd like to see censored is some posters trying to look smart by insulting others with foreign language phrases that, incidentally, make absolutely no sense as they were obviously run through google translate, or those so called experts that plain belittle or bash those that know less than they do (and I'm not talking about you here but I won't name names).

Not threatened at all ! This is the ENGLISH osCommerce forum. I do believe there are osCommerce forums in other languages available for those who are fluent in that language and therefore they should use that language. Yes, there may be members here that are fluent in several languages but on the whole, this forum is ENGLISH. To avoid confusion and frustration from those who don't post in English who feel their post is being ignored or that members simply don't know the answer isn't fair to that member. The question could be a very simple one, but nobody online at that time can read the question so the question goes without a reply. Had that member posted the question on the oscommerce forum of their language, they would more than likely receive a prompt reply.

I read a post not too long ago about adding links to this forum to the other language forums to better serve the membership, but to my knowledge there was no reply and obviously that idea was never developed. If this site had a 'universal translator' then the language used wouldn't matter, but it doesn't.



Chris

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

Chris, you knew perfectly well that your Twitter status updates were coming through. You knew perfectly well that they were being deleted. I'm not here to compromise with you, and I'm definitely not here to tell you how you should be using your Twitter account.

I disabled your ability to post status updates as the only ones posted were coming from Twitter, nor have I seen a comment from you to one of the status updates here.

Thank you for disassociating your Twitter status synchronization and for showing interest in posting normal status updates on the forum. The ability to do so has been re-enabled.

Kind regards,

[DunWeb]

Harald Ponce de Leon, on 02 April 2011, 19:25, said:

Chris, you knew perfectly well that your Twitter status updates were coming through. You knew perfectly well that they were being deleted. I'm not here to compromise with you, and I'm definitely not here to tell you how you should be using your Twitter account.I disabled your ability to post status updates as the only ones posted were coming from Twitter, nor have I seen a comment from you to one of the status updates here.Thank you for disassociating your Twitter status synchronization and for showing interest in posting normal status updates on the forum. The ability to do so has been re-enabled.Kind regards,

Yes, I knew my status was being imported from Twitter and I deleted MANY of those from the status update column when I seen some of the other member posts about it. I didn't think that having them on MY profile page was a problem, but then realized they were being deleted from there as well. As I stated, a simple PM or email from a moderator would have corrected the situation immediately. Instead, we have this long drawn out thread about it.

Thank you for reinstating those privileges, I will be sure to only post non-relevant material on the right column.




Chris