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Site Rules & Design Submission Guidelines (Last Updated: 25 May 2008)

(391 posts)
  • Started 5 years ago by LobsterMan
  • Latest reply from jelontok

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  1. yugnats
    Member

    the way i read the rule right now it seems these things are not allowed: - excessive repeat posts of the same nature - promotion or services and sites that are not web design related - personal sites or projects of the posting member so maybe we should clarify it further?:bakie:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  2. Sean
    Founding Member

    @yugnats: i agree, it's a little confusing. lets have the other admins and moderators chime in to get some ideas on how to clear this up.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  3. Matt
    Member

    Posted By: yugnatspersonal sites or projects of the posting member will also be considered spam.
    I don't exactly get that part... Omit it?
    Posted 4 years ago #
  4. Sean
    Founding Member

    just a heads up to the moderators, do not edit the rules in the beginning of this thread until we all discuss it and the other two admins chime in as well.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  5. bakercad
    Moderator

    always willing to give my input.:bakie: Maybe allow each member to have ONE thread (discussion) in the "Self Promotion" category to show whatever they wish, within reason, of course. No offensive/questionable sites. This will give them a chance to show other member's their current projects, show off...etc. I'm very interested in seeing what others are working on. Now a little self promotion within other threads is tolerable. If someone asks for help and you have something that can help them, I don't think it hurts to post it. Obviously...attackr.com gets a lot of play around here. But if it's constant self promotion, it can be considered spam. If a person is constantly promoting themselves they can always contact the "member-in-need" via the e-mail form and leave a note in thread for the "m-i-n" to check their e-mail.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  6. LobsterMan
    Key Master

    Posted By: yugnats
    Posted By: LobsterMan4.Promotion or services and sites that are not web design related, personal sites or projects of the posting member will also be considered spam..
    there, i'll quote the whole rule. the first sentence clearly says self promotion is allowed but the second says personal sites and projects will also be considered spam. sorry but to me it sounds confusing. so, are personal projects allowed to be promoted? what if they are non-design related?
    Read it carefully. It states that it is spam if its not web design relates or a personal site, then it will be considered spam.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  7. Christopher
    Moderator

    It makes complete sense to me... 4.While self promotion is allowed, excessive repeat posts of the same nature will be considered spam and shall not be tolerated. Promotion or services and sites that are not web design related, personal sites or projects of the posting member will also be considered spam. The definition of spam will be left to the decision of the site staff, if you are not sure, please ask first. So... lets break it down step by step (and no, i'm not being sarcastic lol) i. Self promotion is allowed, but, excessive repeat posts of the same nature isn't allowed. ii. Promotion, services and sites that are not web design related / are not personal sites / are not projects of the posting member, is also spam. iii. Overal decision of what is spam and what is not spam is the choice of the site staff. iv. unsure? ask first! I'm pretty sure it makes sense, but hey, it obviously didn't to others!
    Posted 4 years ago #
  8. Matt
    Member

    Ah, my bad lobsterman. I get it now. I guess the rule just needed clarification.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  9. yugnats
    Member

    ii. Promotion, services and sites that are not web design related / are not personal sites / are not projects of the posting member, is also spam.
    thats clearer adding the 'are not' in there. i'm assuming the forward slash means 'or'?
    Posted 4 years ago #
  10. yugnats
    Member

    you know, now that i read it again it seems clearer. anyways, i got it now so i guess its fine unless someone else doesn't get it :)
    Posted 4 years ago #
  11. yugnats
    Member

    RULE 7 FOR MODS: Do not edit posts for small grammatical errors. Who ever is doing this(you know who you are) please stop it or i think your mod status should be removed.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  12. I am sorry, but I am unable to find a link to upload my design ? :)
    Posted 4 years ago #
  13. Christopher
    Moderator

    Hey Karan, if you're logged in you have a section up at the top which is similar to this: Welcome Back Christopher! · Logout · Admin If you click the Admin link you'll be presented with some more options in your Dashboard including links on the second level navigation in the top half of the page. The two main links you'll want to use are Submit a Design which allows you to fill out the form and submit your design for approval. If it meets the design submission rules and guidelines which are outlined within the first post of this thread, then you can expect your design to be approved within three to seven days, if it fails to meet one, or many, of the rules and guidelines it will be rejected from the queue and you shall receive a brief email explaining why it was rejected so you know what to do before resubmitting it. The other link you'll no doubt notice, is labelled My Designs which allows you to see all of the designs of which you have submitted. It also provides quick links to enable you to edit the design if you need to, if you edit a design it will be submitted into the design queue to be checked over, if the edit is fine it will be approved within a day or so, if the edit however invalidates one, or many, of the rules or submission guidelines, it will be removed and once again you'll receive an email explaining why. In this section you can also check on the status of your submitted designs, they will either show as Pending or Approved, if a design is rejected it is removed from both the site and your My Designs page. Any more questions just ask :smile:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  14. soyrosa
    Member

    What can I do when my design is rejected for the second time? The first time I didn't recieve an e-mail, but I found out why it was rejected, and the second time (I just found out it's rejected) I didn't recieve an e-mail either :) I would love to know why my design is not approved.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  15. Christopher
    Moderator

    I rejected it because there was no index.html file (well, it didn't contain any html files actually). It was just images and the stylesheet in the folder, now if it was a problem with the zip you uploaded not containing that file, or if it just didn't upload / unzip properly server side I'm not sure, so I asked (sent an email via this site's contact form to your registered [roosje at kabelfoon dot net] email address) if you could check the zip contains the file and try submitting it again (sorry, I know it's annoying having to resubmit). By the way I've just sent you another email through the contact form on your user page, let me know (reply here or email me, whichever you prefer) if you get it, also check your spam folder as I just sent myself an email through this site, and it went straight into my spam folder which can't be good...
    Posted 4 years ago #
  16. Roshan
    Member

    I am also having some problem with this zip thingy.. 4 of my designs got rejected. :(
    Posted 4 years ago #
  17. soyrosa
    Member

    @ramblingsoul: Yes, it appears my ZIP files don't contain an index.html :) Strange! But we don't give up ;)
    Posted 4 years ago #
  18. Syuk
    Member

    Anyone notice this? Name gTheme Header is 'For Your Fu**ing Information'. Is that a good idea to allow such language? Not trying to be prudish, I don't care about swearing just wondered if anyone else did. Cheers
    Posted 4 years ago #
  19. Shaun Kester
    Member

    Thanks for bringing it up Syuk. I wanted to also, but wasn't sure how to. I don't think it's okay in this setting. There is a time and a place for such things, and this isn't one of them IMO.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  20. yugnats
    Member

    syuk, this has been brought up before about another and nothing was done about the offending template. since mods have no control over template submission's i doubt this one will be removed either because the admins (and community overall, apparently) don't seem to mind this kinda of stuff being put in templates. it doesn't bother me personally but i don't think that kind of language belongs on a community site thats supposed to be for all ages and it certainly shouldn't be encouraged.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  21. Christopher
    Moderator

    I'm not trying to defend the submission and use of such language in templates which are aimed at a general audience regardless of age, but, if you were to check the template authors site (FYFI) of the design in question (gTheme) then you'd notice that it is specific to the template authors site name and slogan, not necessarily to the design. So should we restrict all submission sent by that specific template author, as you wouldn't like the linkback to a site with such language on? How far should we go to silence people from using such language? I'm not trying to be picky or anything, I'm genuinely curious as to what people would like to see done about it. If there is input from the majority of people saying that they would prefer not to see such informal language in templates then I'm pretty sure a rule can be added stating that no such words are allowed, and designs would be rejected for it. Reason I say "informal language" is because the word fucking is generally seen as a colloquial intensifier, so in this example of use in the template and authors site, instead of just saying "for your information" it's made much stronger (and even slightly abusive to some people) and with a deeper tone of voice. @yugnats - I cannot remember the template you're referring to, could you refresh my memory. Also whilst you may say "mods have no control over template submission's" please think about this, do admins have absolute control? Simple answer, no. The control admins have regarding what design will be accepted or rejected is based upon the rules and guidelines listed above, which will obviously be updated as and when needed if people think of, and others agree, any new rules or guidelines that should be in place. Can an admin reject a design because it contain's a word which they don't think suits the site though? No, because the rules are put in place by the community, that's the whole objective of the site, being community run, not just 1 or 2 people deciding what goes and what doesn't. If an admin were to reject a design based on their personal judgement, then people would complain that admins are abusing what power they have, it's about sticking to the rules and guidelines that are put in place by the community as a whole, if its an issue and people think something needs adding / changing then speak up and something will be done about. It's no good people saying they're not sure how to bring it up, as nothing would ever get done that way! Yes I'm very upfront about this, but I hope others are too. Voice your opinion and things can be done, keeping it to yourselves won't solve anything. // end rant and long post :tongue:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  22. yugnats
    Member

    Posted By: ChristopherI cannot remember the template you're referring to, could you refresh my memory.
    Hmm, i can't seem to find the thread or design either- maybe it was on the old OWD forum that got deleted. i believe it was a template that had a bunch of religious things in it and a few people mentioned it in the forum but it wasn't removed (i assume it was because it didn't break the rules).
    Posted By: ChristopherVoice your opinion and things can be done, keeping it to yourselves won't solve anything.
    That's exactly what I did and I might add there are very few who are willing to question things here for some reason. Not trying to start trouble or anything but sometimes it takes these threads to get action (which is what we are getting now, thank you). :bigsmile:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  23. Christopher
    Moderator

    "i believe it was a template that had a bunch of religious things in it" - Ooh that just sparked something and I remember that, it was to do with a specific religion and people thought it may be intruding beyond personal beliefs and that people should just simply stick to Lorem ipsum for dummy text (or something along those lines anyway) but yeah, that thread certainly rings a bell :smile: "That's exactly what I did and I might add there are very few who are willing to question things here for some reason." - :neutral: <- The blank face sums it up rather well in my opinion... I don't know why people won't speak their minds, I guess not much can be done to change that though which makes it worse in some respects. So shall we both just sit here and wait for others to speak up about their thoughts, or... ummm yeah, input guys and girls, input! p.s. No trouble / offense / anything of that sort taken or implied :wink:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  24. Gnome
    Moderator

    <rant> I feel that such informal language should not be permitted in templates or forum posts. I feel that such language should be censored with Astrixes( *), and that we use an identical policy in the forum. The other (censorship) option is to delete any offending posts or designs. With forum posts, there is a third option of replacing the content of the post with /* removed for language */. I would prefer to simply make conservative use of the Asterix. In the rule, there should be a given set of words which will be censored if used inappropriately. Everything has its place, even bold, red blinking curses, but I don't believe that the forum or templates here is the right place. </rant>
    Posted 4 years ago #
  25. Syuk
    Member

    Personally it does not bother me at all, and I am sure that 99% of people are familiar with the language, and it is a very common phrase here in the UK. But just imagine if FYFI had titled his / her template 'for your f*ing information' (not Gtheme) and then that string appeared on all the sites who are using the OD RSS feed. I am just speaking my mind, and don't want to target FYFI. It is a good template (and site) and I also don't want to recommend a tactic that could ultimately 'silence' people either, but maybe some board decision on profanity would be useful, indeed it is possibly legally required for this website. What would the consensus be if a very good designer posted a template and linked to a overtly racist / homophobic / religous zealotry homepage? My own sensibilities were not offended by looking at the template in question , but as Gnome says there is a place for everything. Peace :bakie:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  26. Jan
    Member

    Well, I think there is a context for almost everything -- just like tables! In case of the submitted design (gTheme), that particular word doesn't add anything to it. It's not like it matches with the theme in some way or with the content. In fact, the designs is called gTheme, but I can't figure out why! That it's been submitted here at OD means it's in the the hope that someone might download and use it. Depending on what sort of audience you envisage for your templates, you should do all you can to not alienate them in any way. Unless of course, that's the whole idea in the first place! Yes, I know I'm digressing slightly from the subject at hand, which is to understand what to do in this sort of situation in the future! sorry!
    Posted 4 years ago #
  27. graystatic
    Member

    As a Christian I was bothered/offended by the language. I agree with gnome that such language should not be permitted in templates or the forum. I think that if someone comes to this site and sees such language they are more likely not to come back. I don't, however necessarily think that censoring the links on a template should be done.
    Posted 4 years ago #
  28. zanzibar
    Member

    Hi All, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello to everyone. I think there is some fantastic talent on this site and enjoy reading all your comments. I just submitted my first design and hope it will be approved. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!
    Posted 4 years ago #
  29. Dreamckr
    Member

    Hi! I have been taking the time to read the posts of this community and find it a well put together community. I like the controversy that FYFI has made. I have read the opinions and find myself asking this question, "Is this not an OpenDesign area?" I personally don't hold any negativity towards FYFI template. I think its creative, inventive, and imaginative. The template itself is sound and clean. I can understand where people may get their feathers ruffled but at the same time think about this... The author's own website is FYFI. They created their own blog in the same manner and is just sharing it with others who may share the same attitude. I think it was wise of the author to name it (gtheme). I consider FYFI just as their logo. So maybe it shouldn't be on all the templates but ultimately people are going to wide up at FYFI home page showing the offensive language and its their design and logo so is it really offensive language? Do you really want to have put restrictions on author's sites as well? :bakie: Anyway I am eager to submit my own design soon and hope that it will be approved. See ya :bigsmile:
    Posted 4 years ago #
  30. zanzibar
    Member

    Question about buttons 4. Buttons (e.g. W3C) are not allowed in designs.. I presume this to mean that we cannot put W3C buttons on a template but that navigation buttons are fine?
    Posted 4 years ago #

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