Noob Question - About xda-developers.com

As a new user, I'm glad I found this section and the main rules. Just one question; are we allowed to post referral links to other sites on here? Sorry, I just don't want to be doing anything that could get me into trouble. Thanks a bunch!

Depends...
Not the official word from higher ups, but imo it all depends on the context and motive of posting such links...
If its some referral to a warez site, or something else against the rules - then a strict "no"
If its something like the dropbox referral links, where you get more storage for the number of people you invite - then maybe yes, provided you don't post it in places where it doesn't belong
If by referral you mean those a.d.f.l.y links which place you through a barrage of ads to get to a download link - then no, as xda is not to be used as a means to earn money
As I said, depends...
"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you, Man and Knife"

Related

XDA forum seems very slow with lots of double posts...

Hi Folks,
I am finding the forum very useful, but very slow....
Also I am finding that quite a number of my posts repeat so I have to edit them to remove the second with a "Double Post due to system" comment. I cannot find a way of deleting the extra posts.
Sam
The forum is slowing down, probably due to the high number of users and volume of traffic.
I'm sure they could do with the extra funding to help up the bandwidth, no matter how small it is.
Personally I think all new user accounts should have to make a minimum donation before being allowed to post. It would help keep the site going and also prevent the spammers from the advertising posts on all the forums.
Come on everyone, spare a few pennies and help XDA Devs by making a donation.
The link for donations is in the centre at the top of every page.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/donations.php
When you make a donation you also get a nice lttle star next to your username
Cheers,
Beasty
Beasty,
OK.... Consider it done...
Sam
Double post due to system
must admit this is one of the slowest forums i've come across.
Is it hosted on a dedicated or using some kind of shared server? VB doesn't play well with shared of any kind, even VPS's are a nightmare.
I just shelled out a donation Someone has to pay for the traffic and this site is well worth it.
Well done Kork.
I have done the same this morning...!!!
Sam
Well some maintence has been done and it seems quicker to me.
The normal discussion for site performance issues is in the "About xda-developers.com" forum : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=531944
Thread Closed.
Ta
Dave

Want to be an Author on my blog?

Ok well I'm looking for some good quality authors who can bring some good stuff to my blog.
**Link removed**
It's mostly about Android but I'd like to make it do with everything technology related. From product reviews all the way to interesting graphical work.
I need someone who will be dedicated and who can help get more and more visitors on my blog.
I've had my blog for only a month now and already got over 70000 views, a lot of the visitors on my blog are from this forum but I need visitors to come from all over the internet and from a lot of different forums.
If you think you could help me get my blog out there or would like to become an author email me and let me know.
[email protected]
Am I right in thinking that any link on that site generates revenue for you?
Please confirm.
WB
Nope not any link.
Only the ads.
Thread closed as the soliciting for paid work on the external site and the nature of the site itself constitutes advertising a commercial site/service which breaches XDA rule 11.
WB

Use of Viglink on the forum

I noticed today when copying/pasting a link that the link all of a sudden became huge.
Going from: http://jumbofiles.com/uyaktf1oq6f5
to this: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...b-REL.tar.md5 - xda-developers&txt=D700_Odin3
I have seen Viglink before and it is an affiliate link creator that changes all links to affiliate links so XDA (or whatever forum) can make money from clicks. After a quick search, I did not see anything on the site about selling my information nor was there a notice about the affiliate links being used. This is a requirement per the Viglink website that states:
Will my users notice? Should I disclose it?
Most users do not notice on their own although we highly recommend you disclose it. VigLink does not change the user experience one bit. No links are inserted or removed on the page, there are no double-underlines or pop-ups, and mousing over a link looks "clean."
The US Federal Trade Commission requires that you disclose use of affiliate links. More information and tools are available.
Even if you are not subject to FTC jurisdiction, we strongly recommend you disclose. Our customers have found that readers are completely understanding if they are informed and can be upset if they are surprised. Informing your users will give those who desire it the opportunity to permanently opt-out. Although VigLink is unobtrusive, it is easily detectable by savvy users.
To go along with this, I checked the Rules page to see if it was modified to allow this. Still in the rules is this line:
Commercial advertising, advertising referral links, pay per click links and other income generating methods are forbidden. Do not use xda-developers as a means to make money.
Was this just a test to see if it would pay off or were you hoping no one would notice?
If any users want to opt out, please add *.viglink.com to your ad blocker or you can use their opt out page here: http://www.viglink.com/static/support/optout
bickman2k said:
I noticed today when copying/pasting a link that the link all of a sudden became huge.
Going from: http://jumbofiles.com/uyaktf1oq6f5
to this: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1359&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D1599752&v=1&libid=1334789891440&out=http%3A%2F%2Fjumbofiles.com%2Fuyaktf1oq6f5&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D716&title=*OFFICIAL*%20SPH-D700-FC19-8Gb-REL.tar.md5%20-%20xda-developers&txt=D700_Odin3
I have seen Viglink before and it is an affiliate link creator that changes all links to affiliate links so XDA (or whatever forum) can make money from clicks. After a quick search, I did not see anything on the site about selling my information nor was there a notice about the affiliate links being used. This is a requirement per the Viglink website that states:
Will my users notice? Should I disclose it?
Most users do not notice on their own although we highly recommend you disclose it. VigLink does not change the user experience one bit. No links are inserted or removed on the page, there are no double-underlines or pop-ups, and mousing over a link looks "clean."
The US Federal Trade Commission requires that you disclose use of affiliate links. More information and tools are available.
Even if you are not subject to FTC jurisdiction, we strongly recommend you disclose. Our customers have found that readers are completely understanding if they are informed and can be upset if they are surprised. Informing your users will give those who desire it the opportunity to permanently opt-out. Although VigLink is unobtrusive, it is easily detectable by savvy users.
To go along with this, I checked the Rules page to see if it was modified to allow this. Still in the rules is this line:
Commercial advertising, advertising referral links, pay per click links and other income generating methods are forbidden. Do not use xda-developers as a means to make money.
Was this just a test to see if it would pay off or were you hoping no one would notice?
If any users want to opt out, please add *.viglink.com to your ad blocker or you can use their opt out page here: http://www.viglink.com/static/support/optout
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps it's a test to see if people read our Privacy Policy?
Excerpt
Use of VigLink
Please note that xda-developers.com makes use of a system called VigLink in order to change links to certain online retailers being displayed on the site to include an affiliate marketing tag. This tag permits those online retailers to know that a user clicking those links has been referred by our site so that we may receive a commission on certain sales. VigLink and other online referral software programs are commonly used across the Internet, though if you have a problem with this practice, we urge you to turn off VigLink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But in general, there are considerable costs associated with running a site with 4 million members and 30 to 40000 online at any one time. We meet these costs via donations, advertising and a small percentage via VigLink. It should be realised that Forum sites of our size, might seem to generate huge income, but in truth very very small numbers of Members ever click the adverts (typical of forum sites), so we do need to generate additional support funding via the likes of VigLink. As you see, this is no secret, and the privacy policy is linked to on our main portal page.
Thanks. I wasn't sure where the Privacy Policy was and I can understand the costs for running a site like this. This was just the first time I have noticed the Viglink-created links and there was a huge uproar after some forum admins on another site installed it and did not notify its' users. I wanted to make sure that this wasn't also happening here.
bickman2k said:
Thanks. I wasn't sure where the Privacy Policy was and I can understand the costs for running a site like this. This was just the first time I have noticed the Viglink-created links and there was a huge uproar after some forum admins on another site installed it and did not notify its' users. I wanted to make sure that this wasn't also happening here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fair comment and I'm sure we'd all rather not have any advertising at all TBH.
The problem for me is that all these crappy links are blocked with adaway...
Envoyé de ma Nexus 7.2 depuis tapatalk
fruity101079 said:
The problem for me is that all these crappy links are blocked with adaway...
Envoyé de ma Nexus 7.2 depuis tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. The link in the privacy policy to turn off viglink is itself on viglink, so with adaway blocking viglink there's no way to turn off the forum rewriting the links
Ah, I just found something for anyone else reading this. Trying to download Magisk from this forum using my mobile, I was getting problems because of viglinks, but then on my desktop computer the links were direct ones. All you have to do is remove the /amp from the end of a URL on your mobile, and viglink disappears. It's an amp problem.

Got My First Infraction :/ :D

So I got my First Infraction. I posted too many threads in different sections from wallpaper downloads. I can understand that. But the Mod didn't mark the infraction as that they marked it has Linking/Warez The Mod thinks the links I post lead to warez when they don't. The website I run is ran by me and only me and is hosted by my OWN servers. I don't host warez. I host over 100GB and 99% of that is rom mirrors for people who don`t want to pay for file hosting and still want fast speeds and or mirrors of roms and files in case something goes down and help people out but I certainly do NOT host paid stuff or warez on there.
So anyways what does 5 points get me ? does anything change?
I emailed the Mod about it being incorrect but I don`t like it being blamed as warez I there are a TON of my links posted in threads and I don't want them removed. (Ton of my links meaning they are not all the say the links are different to different things not the same stuff lol) All my mirroring links are legit and legal.
hyelton said:
So I got my First Infraction. I posted too many threads in different sections from wallpaper downloads. I can understand that. But the Mod didn't mark the infraction as that they marked it has Linking/Warez The Mod thinks the links I post lead to warez when they don't. The website I run is ran by me and only me and is hosted by my OWN servers. I don't host warez. I host over 100GB and 99% of that is rom mirrors for people who don`t want to pay for file hosting and still want fast speeds and or mirrors of roms and files in case something goes down and help people out but I certainly do NOT host paid stuff or warez on there.
So anyways what does 5 points get me ? does anything change?
I emailed the Mod about it being incorrect but I don`t like it being blamed as warez I there are a TON of my links posted in threads and I don't want them removed. (Ton of my links meaning they are not all the say the links are different to different things not the same stuff lol) All my mirroring links are legit and legal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe mod made an error? We are only humans and sometimes we click on wrong things. If you got any questions regarding your infraction, PM a moderator and you should get a substantial reply.
5 point infraction is a subject for future account disable, which hopefully won't happen in your case
However, we do not allow discussing mod actions in public, that is why I'm closing this thread.

does this site offer paid tech services?

no one seems to be answering any of my posts and it is very frustrating. is it possible to pay a moderator or a smart person to help me with my tablet problems?
scampo77 said:
no one seems to be answering any of my posts and it is very frustrating. is it possible to pay a moderator or a smart person to help me with my tablet problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[Guide] How and Where to Ask a Question on XDA
[Guide] How and Where to Ask a Question on XDA
[Guide] How and Where to Ask a Question on XDA Read the Forum Rules Announcement: Forum Rules by MikeChannon (Forum Admin) Search before asking Use the XDA search to see if your device has it's own Subforum or Enhanced Device Tag e.g...
forum.xda-developers.com
see rules 3 and 5
📚 XDA Developers Forum Rules 📚
XDA-Developers FORUM RULES List of Forum Moderators, click HERE Delete Your XDA Account HERE 1. Search before posting. Use one of our search functions before posting or creating a new thread. Whether you have a question or just something new...
forum.xda-developers.com
sd_shadow said:
see rules 3 and 5
📚 XDA Developers Forum Rules 📚
XDA-Developers FORUM RULES List of Forum Moderators, click HERE Delete Your XDA Account HERE 1. Search before posting. Use one of our search functions before posting or creating a new thread. Whether you have a question or just something new...
forum.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, it is good to know some one is still moderating these forums.
scampo77 said:
no one seems to be answering any of my posts...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a big site, 100s of threads go unanswered every day.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/find-threads/unanswered
Not much can be done about that.
Search for threads that have been active.
Most people that visit this site never post more than a few times.
Very few that do post do not watch for new threads.
You just have to describe your problem well and wait.
sd_shadow said:
This is a big site, 100s of threads go unanswered every day.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/find-threads/unanswered
Not much can be done about that.
Search for threads that have been active.
Most people that visit this site never post more than a few times.
Very few that do post do not watch for new threads.
You just have to describe your problem well and wait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know, thank you, its been a week and i have asked a ton of clear concise questions and i cant seem to get any traction.
scampo77 said:
i know, thank you, its been a week and i have asked a ton of clear concise questions and i cant seem to get any traction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, don't keep creating new threads, you are more likely to lose any interest in your issue than gain.
If you have made progress or have more details reply to the same thread to bump it up, and update title and original post (post #1)
scampo77 said:
is it possible to pay a moderator or a smart person to help me with my tablet problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In general offering a reward or payment for help is allowed, but often has little effect on getting an actual solution. You really need help from someone familiar with your device and similar issue, that may be a very small number.
scampo77 said:
no one seems to be answering any of my posts and it is very frustrating. is it possible to pay a moderator or a smart person to help me with my tablet problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And trust me we're willing to answer without you paying us (And personally I refuse to get paid).
What I think when I see a question thread:
Why does the title means nothing... next.
Alright, I have no infos in the OP, next.
Ok that one has more infos, but that's device specific. I'm going to point him the right forum so he can get an answer. Next.
That one is perfect: has a good title, infos, a general question. The thing is that problem is way too niche. Idk the answer straight away...
-->I don't know how to solve it. Let's test some things and see how it goes
-->Sorry not enough time to commit, next.
Oh my god that one didn't even searched before posting, I'd like to set the record straight, but that's a newbie, I'll pass this time...NEXT!
What! Another one that didn't search?! How complicated could it be. I'm literally gonna link him to www.google.com and he does the rest. next...
Title: "Love Mariage Specialist Baba Ki Punjab +01234567789"
Alright, it's ban hammer time !
And so on....
If you made a post in the Q'n'A section put a link to it here I'll see if I can help with that
scampo77 said:
no one seems to be answering any of my posts and it is very frustrating. is it possible to pay a moderator or a smart person to help me with my tablet problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative, XDA does not offer paid technical services!
And if someone did offer a paid service it'd be against the rules of this private platform, and actions would be taken accordingly. This does not only apply to posts on the site but also to conversations.
Reference - XDA Forum Rules (excerpt):
Spoiler: Excerpt of Forum Rules
...
7. Do not sell or trade on the forums.
If you wish to advertise a product, simply contact us. We can provide ads but you are not permitted to just post it in the forums. If you do, it will be removed and you're likely to receive a ban.
The buying, selling, trading and / or exchanging of any item is now prohibited on XDA, in any forum or via Private Messages. We now use www.swappa.com
8. Donations.
As a user, you're allowed to ask for donations in your signature as a thank you for your hard work, however donations up front are not allowed. This forum is about sharing and not about getting paid to do something... that is what your job is for.
(...)
11. Don’t post with the intention of selling something.
Don’t use XDA to advertise your product or service. Proprietors of for-pay products or services, may use XDA to get feedback, provide beta access, or a free version of their product for XDA users and to offer support, but not to post with the intention of selling. This includes promoting sites similar / substantially similar to XDA-Developers.com.
Do not post press releases, announcements, links to trial software or commercial services, unless you’re posting an exclusive release for XDA-Developers.com.
Encouraging members to participate in forum activities on other phone related sites is prohibited.
Off-site downloads are permitted if the site is non-commercial and does not require registration.
Off-site downloads from sites requiring registration are NOT encouraged but may be permitted if both of the following conditions are met:
A) The site belongs to a member of XDA-Developers with at least 1500 posts and 2 years membership, who actively maintains an XDA-Developers support thread(s) / posts, related to the download.
B) The site is a relatively small, personal website without commercial advertising / links (i.e. not a competitor forum-based site with purposes and aims similar to those of XDA-Developers.com.)
(...)
13. Advertising and Income Generation
Commercial advertising, advertising referral links, pay-per-click links, all forms of crypto-mining and other income generating methods are forbidden. Do not use XDA-Developers as a means to make money.
...

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