I need to be clear on http references

[kwikphilly]

Blessings George,

  I do know that video links need approval(lol-I have been doing them long enough) and videos should be posted in the appropriate video forums

 Heres my question,Brother    I thought referencing "https links" were okay.......In one of the Forums I copied the https so that it may be copied/pasted into new tab so that others can view it off site-I did not post as a link to click on.....is that permissable or not

You know me,I do not like to be unclear on ToS in any way ,shape or form   and I'm asking you here so there is no question for anyone                    Love you,your Sis Kwik

[Michael37]

On 3/25/2020 at 10:59 PM, kwikphilly said:

Blessings George,

  I do know that video links need approval(lol-I have been doing them long enough) and videos should be posted in the appropriate video forums

 Heres my question,Brother    I thought referencing "https links" were okay.......In one of the Forums I copied the https so that it may be copied/pasted into new tab so that others can view it off site-I did not post as a link to click on.....is that permissable or not

You know me,I do not like to be unclear on ToS in any way ,shape or form   and I'm asking you here so there is no question for anyone                    Love you,your Sis Kwik

Hi kwikphilly, Whilst you wait for George to respond, I can provide the only https prohibitions mentioned in the ToS. I always use the link gadget in the toolbar to write and insert a reference to the source of other people's material, but just the bare pasted page address within the terms below seems to be allowed, if not as tidy.
 

Quote

From Worthy Christian Forum's TERMS OF SERVICE

No “spamming” allowed. Spamming is flooding the forums, mass PMs or emailing multiple members of this forum with unsolicited messages. It also includes links in posts or Sigs to sites that sell or solicits funds. No solicitation of any form will be allowed.

No Plagiarism. You must have permission to post copyrighted material. When you do have permission, all due attribution is to be posted as well. (Ex. 20:15, Lev 19:11)

 

 

[George]

Thanks Michael! 

If you link to something, just make sure it doesn't have a trail of links going to bad sites.

God bless,

George

[kwikphilly]

Thanks Brothers but thats not my question,I'm not asking about links.....I'm asking about referencing a video in a Forum other than the Video Section/Forum without PROVIDING the link itself

  I referenced where reader can go to see a video (let's say it was in the General Discussion Forum)without posting the link & was told that was not permitted?

[Omegaman 3.0]

I have to admit, I am also not clear on this. We get reports that there are html links TO videos on YouTube, etc. What I have done, when I see an embedded link (where if shows part of the page from the site - a preview) and you can play the video right inside the post, then I do not approve it, and inform the member that videos are only allowed in the video section. When there is a hyperlink that takes a reader off sire to yourtube itself (for example), I am not as clear about that. I typically let them slide. However, I do often test the link myself to see if there is anything opjectionable - solicitation of funds, or material that we would not allow on Worthy itself.

A problem in my mind, is that links can potentially take a person to a site that had malware, and I would hate for people to follow those, get some sort of infection, all because what was on a post on Worthy. Also, that is not fool proof, I don't have the time or inclination to test every link, and even if I were to do so, there is no guarantee that the link might have been fine when I looked at it, but the site that the link goes to, could change later.

One of my own sites was hacked once, such that the home page played a gay porn video. I was not pleased when I discovered that, but at least the hacker did not do any permanent harm, then did not destroy or alter any of the other files on my site, so it was just someone doing a prank, they could have done much worse.

I dod recommend that people just be cautious and don't visit sites or click links they are not sure of. play it safe if you don't know.

Still, after all that verbiage - what IS the policy about regular, html hyperlinks to videos @George in non video areas, a cleat answer would be nice, this has been a small source of confusion for years?

[Alive]

THere was a period of time for a year or more where it was crazy busy on the forum. Way-way busier than it has been lately. I suspect the stresses from Covid lockdown and the enemy taking advantage of those things, caused a lot of crazies to come out, as well as affecting behavior in others that was out of character. I spent far more time reading the forum than any other during this time and because of that, had a good feel for things and people. I would log on each day to find from 60 to over a hundred reports or MR posts not counting what would accumulate over the course of that day and evening. There were all kinds of things going on. Many links that were over the top in various ways that were not healthy. Also, many that were posted by new members, that were obviously here to promote there web site and raise money. Sometimes, I would delete the link and make a note in the post and other times, I would delete the link and send a PM explaining things. Some would thank me and others just never show up again. It happened a lot.

Of course these things made it clear why those folks joined. It is common on the web when people are monitizing sites...mining for gold, so to speak. Having run my own forums for 14 plus years, I have seen it all and know what to look for. It is what it is.

Anyway, to the point I am leading up to.

Without clear direction on video links and such, and with things being so busy trying to keep everyone happy, things rolling along for Christ's sake, it became easier to simply enforce a strict policy for all as an example.

Videos and links in the video section alone. This made sense to me, in the existing circumstances.

Things were not perfect for sure, but there were along with the messes, a great deal of profitable discussion going on and when you hit that 'show all activity' choice--what came up was mostly scripturally based discussions

I always had multiple PMs going behind the scenes. A record of all of those still exist. Many were helped and were thankful.