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Stemming from a thread a while back about people who plug their blogs here on dakka without posting any actual content. One such thread was started yesterday in the tutorial forum and it bugged me.

Personally, I'm not going to click on a link without at least a preview of the content being linked. Is ctrl+c then ctrl+p really that hard? When I post a tutorial or certain threads, I post them on several hobby forums and it only requires me to type and add IMG's once, then it's just copy and paste.

I'd like to see a rule enforced about posting content at least in the tutorials section. I personally love that forum but I am unwilling to click on every link that claims to have some awesome technique on how to paint something.

I don't mind if they happen to be on some blog, but it would be better to have a preview. Just the link by itself and "check out my blog guys" just seems lazy and gives the impression the tutorial may be a little too; at least in my opinion anyway.

n0t_u wrote:I don't mind if they happen to be on some blog, but it would be better to have a preview. Just the link by itself and "check out my blog guys" just seems lazy and gives the impression the tutorial may be a little too; at least in my opinion anyway.

This is pretty much how I feel. I wouldn't say they should be deleted, but a freindly nudge from a Mod to add a brief summary of the technique, or whatnot, would be worthwhile I feel.

I'm generally in favor of on-site content over links. If you want to hock your blog, toss a link in your sig line with a "But wait, there's more!" If people like the work that you post here, they'll check it out. If I'm any indicator, folks get more uppity about mediocre to poor content when they have to go off-site to see it. Feels like being tricked.

Posting nothing but a link in the tutorials board feels more like an advertisement than a contribution. Actually, I've gotten very little from self-advertised blogs. If your tutorial is really that good, someone else will link to you.

I agree with OP, it does not take much effort to at least post a small preview, if I dont see anything of note, i wont bother to click it.

I think any thread that is just an advertisement for somebody's blog or website should be deleted or locked. I just back out of them the second I see it's merely a link.

Brother SRM wrote:I think any thread that is just an advertisement for somebody's blog or website should be deleted or locked. I just back out of them the second I see it's merely a link.

This sums up my feelings on the matter quite well.

And do we really want to be he site that has a reputation for not fostering the gaming community, only allows in-house content, and pretends that other sites don't exist (y'know, a bit like how GW operates)?

I don't think we do.

Kanluwen wrote:

Brother SRM wrote:I think any thread that is just an advertisement for somebody's blog or website should be deleted or locked. I just back out of them the second I see it's merely a link.

This sums up my feelings on the matter quite well.

I agree with this.

H.B.M.C. wrote:And do we really want to be he site that has a reputation for not fostering the gaming community, only allows in-house content, and pretends that other sites don't exist (y'know, a bit like how GW operates)?

I don't think we do.

I'm not saying don't allow links. Merely that if someone claims to have a TUTORIAL for something, either post the tutorial or at least show some pics of the end result before linking to some other site, so that people can decide if it's worth the click. Twice in less than a week people have posted links with no content slogging them as tutorials on THIS SITE.

I'm aware that other sites exist, but odds are, if the term blog is anywhere in the link, I'm probably not interested.

Take videos for example. Les Bursley has a blog, yet he takes the time to create wonderful tutorial videos that he embeds here on Dakka, and THEN includes links to his youtube page and blog. Knowing what he has to offer makes the decision to go to his blog an easy one.


Moral of my rant, be more like Les Bursley when you do tutorials. I'm not saying he's the best painter around(granted a damn good one) but he has the format down perfect for how to do it.

Id rather not have to go to somone's blog for a tutorial.

Rather then getting send to an off site that could have issues and mass banners.

I feel that posts that are just links with no preview or summary of what will be found should be deleted or locked.

H.B.M.C. wrote:And do we really want to be he site that has a reputation for not fostering the gaming community, only allows in-house content, and pretends that other sites don't exist (y'know, a bit like how GW operates)?

While there's a certain amount of hyperbole there, this is pretty much why we do allow posts that just link to blogs or other sites. Dakka is all for fostering community. We don't see ourselves as 'competing' with other sites. Rather, the online network helps spread the hobby. So linking to other sites is just fine with us.


Certainly, it's polite for the post to include some sort of descriptive text. Posting just a link and nothing else should be avoided. And in the case of Tutorials, the link should be to the actual tutorial page itself, not just a link to a first page of a blog where in 3 months time people are going to have to go digging for the actual content.

insaniak wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:And do we really want to be he site that has a reputation for not fostering the gaming community, only allows in-house content, and pretends that other sites don't exist (y'know, a bit like how GW operates)?

While there's a certain amount of hyperbole there, this is pretty much why we do allow posts that just link to blogs or other sites. Dakka is all for fostering community. We don't see ourselves as 'competing' with other sites. Rather, the online network helps spread the hobby. So linking to other sites is just fine with us.


Certainly, it's polite for the post to include some sort of descriptive text. Posting just a link and nothing else should be avoided. And in the case of Tutorials, the link should be to the actual tutorial page itself, not just a link to a first page of a blog where in 3 months time people are going to have to go digging for the actual content.

So I take that as an official NO

Alas, my crusade has failed. It's all good. I'll continue to ignore links.

I personally prefer to read 100% of the content on dakka (which is virus safe is and has quality content) and am usually hesitant when clicking on a link (thinking twice before clicking is the best way to keep your PC virus free). Shamless plugging is still shameless and see nothing wrong with preventing “one line link” articles.

Informative content such as tutorials and articles should really stay advertising free as they are a step above a “run of the mil” discussion thread. That’s not to say someone shouldn’t be allowed to shamelessly advertise in a general discussion thread but definitively not in any sort of informative thread. The main problem with blog linking is that if the link becomes defunct, you essentially get a dead article. Linking to external sites (under the premises of informative content) can also open a whole can of worms, especially if the external link is of questionable nature (or is virus ridden).

I can see some validity in the other side of the argument in cases such as youtube videos and whatnot. I’d say the best compromise in cases such as these is that the author should at least provide some sort of half decent write up, with the blogs/youtube videos listed as appendices.

candy.man wrote: The main problem with blog linking is that if the link becomes defunct, you essentially get a dead article.

If you come across any of those, by all means hit the mod alert button on the thread and we'll remove it.

Linking to external sites (under the premises of informative content) can also open a whole can of worms, especially if the external link is of questionable nature (or is virus ridden).

That's a potential problem with any link anywhere on the site, and is somethign that posters simply have to consider when deciding whether or not to click a link. We can't forbid external links on the basis that some of them might be dodgy.

Yeah, I kinda ignore posts with just links, too. I don't care if people promote their blogs, but I kinda got out of the habit of clicking anonymous links a long time ago.

Although like it's been pointed out, it doesn't really matter, because even fairly popular sites can get viruses on them from ads. Some BoLS ads have done that to people before.

The thing about external links is that if the entire article revolves around one link posters are more likely than likely to click on the one link than say if it was listed as a appendix. Considering all the advertising spam that exists on free hosting sites, the chance for viruses is much higher than someone posting a new product link in the news forums or a link to the BBC in the off topic forums. A person too lazy to type up an article probably wouldn’t have good web hosting anyway.

I agree that you can’t blanket ban all external links on dakka but at the very least prevent “1 line link” articles.

This post would have been loads better if it linked to the OP's blog about the subject.

I'm disappointed.

And I could have done it, too! Dang! Missed joke opportunity!

I use forums as my blog. I don't need a following of people to update with my work. I post it here, and if people feel like commenting then they do. I post on a variety of forums to get as much input as possible.

A blog I have not, although the irony would have been funny.

I prefer in-house tutorials, but I'm okay with a link, as long as it links to a decent tutorial.

micahaphone wrote:...as long as it links to a decent tutorial.

Which you won't know until you've already clicked it. Hence the overwhelming votes for previews. I hate plain links. I won't click. Never know where a keylogger is hidden. Anyone remember back in 2nd (or 3rd) edition DakkaDakka when the mod Task was keylogged and they posted on his account?



Ghidorah

Yes, delete. It doesnt take much to copy/paste to a Dakka thread. This would prevent the possibility of the link going bad and thus being a dead end. Many smaller blogs, sites, etc come and go...but moving the text to a Dakka thread will make it much more likely to be around a long time.

I'm tired of links fishing for clicks. If I wanted that stuff I'd search google for it.

I don't mind clicking on a link. It's a small price to pay, if it means I can learn something. And if I'm also helping the person who did the tutorial, even better. Even if I'm not impressed (read, didn't pick up any useful hints or advice) doesn't mean that it's useless. Just followed a tutorial on a blog for faces, also had Blood Angels step by step - It's not like I lost more than 10 seconds clicking on links.

A preview sometimes would be good (as would a rating system like Warseer has for the painting log - though it's potentially bad for lesser painters, who won't get as much support), or at least an image preview as a thumbnail, chosen by the OP to illustrate his skill.