There's been some major changes to SEOChat, the forum where I moderate and spend most of my online forum time. The owners, DevShed and Jon Caputo, have decided to enforce strict "nofollow" tags on all outbound links in signatures, causing a mass exodus of many members, including many moderators and banning of many more members who started angry threads on the subject.
I know that many folks are emailing me and asking for my position - I'm going to reserve judgement entirely for now and invite folks from SEOChat who are angry to please air their concerns in the comments below. Hopefully this can be a place where you can safely post without fear of having your comments deleted, but I do ask that you remain civil and logical, despite the high emotions.
UPDATE: I have made a decision about what to do regarding this. I will be leaving SEOChat permanently.
There is a disturbing pattern from the administrative team running the site that I have been warned about by some folks who will remain on as moderators there. I'll be getting tidbits of information from them. I've saved some of my favorite posts from the site and will be re-printing them here at SEOmoz in article format. I'll also be removing all of my links to SEOChat.
I don't feel that adding rel=nofollow is a big deal. What is a big deal is the manner of how this was done - without opinion or input form the community or even a fair explanation and a chance for members to complain and air their issues. I simply disagree with their policies and don't want to contribute so much of my time and energy to an organization that places so little value in the people who create so much value for them - the members.
I plan to encourage many, many members to move to a different forum - www.cre8asiteforums.com, where Kim Krause, Ammon Johns, Bill Slawski and many others have made the forum one of the most open and welcoming on the net. It's also small enough to where an exodus of members from SEOChat will have a big impact on the community and can have their voices heard. I'm a fan of Digitalpoint as well, but it's so big and crowded that single voices are rarely heard.
So... Please continue to leave comments below - I'll see you all at cre8asite.
UPDATE 2: New welcome thread at cre8asite for former SEOChatters.
Wow. I wouldn't expect such an uproar. The nofollow is a completely valid move, and I have no problem with you guys doing it here. You're an SEO company so you have to keep your rank high.
Fair comment Jason, but I think Rand was mad for other reasons--not the no-follow business.
also. while i'm heated.
sig links ARE discounted by Google (even though they show up w/the link: command), but (as donna said also) MSN & Y! continue to eat them up. they are a good way to get new sites spidered and provide at least a little help with rankings...
Faremax doesn't sound too fare, does he max?
I remember that thread... Why is that coming out now?
Politics... I hate those things - politics and religion... how many dead loved ones?
Stop it!!!
For an idiot I have a number of SES/WMW speakers as clients. Must be doing something right all this time.
You still trying to push faremax.com? :)
William C has provided a lot of us with a lot of invaluable information. DOn't forget that...
MCS
x
Rand, no worries mate. Argue with you on cre8asite :)
mini, no politics, just money. I am sorry but I can't forget and forgive people who steal them from me. But its ok, let him enjoy it, maybe he can buy another bottle of colt 45 with it (he does look like a red neck to me). Anyway, sorry to hijack this thread. lets get back to seochat.
POST THE LINK TO THAT THREAD WHERE YOU OFFER ME REFUND
I think this blog thread has turned into a nice little forum all by it's self. :)
Cre8asite is the forum most folks are joining Doug. See you there. William - appreciate you offering other alternatives, people are certainly free to make their own choices.
I'm not editing much in this thread, but I would appreciate a certain level of professionalism. If you have to swear, please don't direct it to someone, but rather at something (i.e. that @#$%, rather than you @#$%). Thanks!
Sanity, I don't mean any disrespect at all, none, not in the least (honest, cross my heart, hope to...)
You know as well as I that it is very , very difficult to find your place in a new community.
Personally, I find yours very warm and interesting, but I wonder if I have the strength and the energy to go through "all that" again.
I'm not a dead serious SEO expert / professional, etc. I just enjoy it but what keeps me going is the humor around me.
I make lots of controvertial statements which may - or may not - be well founded. This, in itself, brings me hostility from my closest friends ;) But, in a new community (with scary people like Ruud) I don't know if I can survive - I'm 96 years old, you know (ok, just joking)
I became comfortable. Mistake. Now I don't know what to do.
I'd really like this thing to spawn a new community.
I think that's what I'd like.
But I really, REALLY have no disrespect for G8doofer-woofer.com - I'll keep dropping by, dipping my toe in - annoying peope (probably - that's why people put up with me, I give them a platform to prove their expertise ;) )
It's late, I'm sad and I'm lost...
2moro :)
MCS x
Faremax try again :)
I still have the thread saved from seochat where you were offered a full refund and refused, wanting nothing more than to spread innuendo and lies. :)
So have at it :)
I dont sell anything to the general public at all, and my list of contracted clients are not going anywhere and you dont hear any of them saying anything here or anywhere else :)
Oh and anthonycea was never a client, he just likes reading posts with no merit and attacking people :)
Can you post a link to that thread? No wonder you are known as an idiot in SEO community
P.S. Oh, any y the way, you don;t need to offer you NEEC TO DO IT. THIEF
For an idiot I have a number of SES/WMW speakers as clients. Must be doing something right all this time.
You still trying to push faremax.com? :)
Everyone should beware of WillimC and Phil Craven, they highjack forums to pull scams on webmasters, I went on their shitty forum (Phil Craven's) and Phil straight off censored most comments and William Cross jumped in with his idiotic comments and the cowards banned me because they are frauds!
In addition Phil Craven and William pulled the same shit on SEW and voted me into a negative reputation and threads were censored there too!
Some forums like to censor and think that the truth about members of this community will be hidden, but it all comes out in the wash!
BigDoug - glad to see your real avatar again ;)
https://www.cre8asiteforums.com/
MCS x
actually no, forums delete people for posting unsubstantiated lies :)
(had to re-register with a different nickname - I guess your old database is clashing with the new one Rand.... Hope you don't do me in for sockpuppeteering LOL)
>> SEO Chat would be fine today if they would have not censored comments and banned members! Censorship and banning members for posting the truth will kill any forum!
anthony is probably right (there; dunno about the rest)
About the riot....
I'm sorry if I opened the can of worms, but since there was a can, and I had a can opener, and the worms were already inside. Well... what can you do if you feel strongly about worms!?
PS: I am not banned from SC and I'm still a mod. I don't plan to delete any one of my posts, or wreak havoc on the forum. I "grew up" there. Of course, I did return the nofollow favour. Fair is fair. (I remember a post about people benefitting from outbound links, giving nowt in return, which IMO was a cr*p comment. If anything, my sig link caused a very local penalty on the one page I linked out to...)
Haven't checked into c8s (yet). I was actually AFK right after I left...
Nice to see a lot of people I like and respect being actively NOT-active on SC now. Of course, lots of us are curious enough to lurk. I guess most of us grew up there (or know a lot of fine people who did). Anyway. Lessee where this all goes eh?
Is it just me, or I am I the only truly pist-off person today. Man I suck, but I can't get over how pist off I am.........................
Big d
And yeah, I'm also p***ed off...
mcs - I knew you we're being disrespectful - was just trying to make you feel welcome. :-)
I do understand how you feel about loosing your community. Take care.
Don't know yet if I am going to survive at cre8asite. Guess it's a bit too nice for me... I will hang around a bit and see what happens.
On the other hand I am pretty much fed up with seochat, this fanthom guy is hanging out my throth, just can't stand him.
For the time being I think I'll return to 'Holland' and maybe set up a community of my own in the future. It has always been the thought to take Designhulp international and this may just be the right time. I do still hope that we can find ourselves some place new to settle cause I really enjoyed all you guys and girls over at SC
Everyone chill here. We are all together on here and it will all work out. Peace and love to all men (women too). There is no point anybody bickering. Everyone on this blog and on that forum will be able to find whereever we settle. I wont be hanging around cre8asite too much becuse its just not my scene but i will always come and check in on my friends from the now defunked seochat.
I totally agree with Sorvoja. Haven't been banned yet, but guess I will be soon.
If you wan't to loose business, make both your customers and suppliers angry. I must say SEOChat have succeded well in that case...
The sig doesn't mean shit, but I have also left SEOChat. See you another place.
William Cross will never give up until they throw him in jail, anyone can go to V7 or vbWebmaster and run a search on William Cross and Phil Craven and you will find threads on the Bill and Phil Show!
SEO Chat would be fine today if they would have not censored comments and banned members!
Censorship and banning members for posting the truth will kill any forum!
Rand fix your refresh problem... please.
LOL, looks like WilliamC is exposed again. Hope you can spend my $450 you stole form me to buy yourself a SH**load of medications.
The volume of comments from many former mods, who felt that there were problems over at seochat has certainly swayed my perspective. I've also been monitoring and being a bit interactive there with the current change thread....and reading from those that remain.
Guess there were lots of problems there and it really manifested itself today.
William Cross will never give up until they throw him in jail, anyone can go to V7 or vbWebmaster and run a search on William Cross and Phil Craven and you will find threads on the Bill and Phil Show!
SEO Chat would be fine today if they would have not censored comments and banned members!
Censorship and banning members for posting the truth will kill any forum!
OK, here is the deal. If you want my profound thoughts it will only be found here at SEOmoz. I will work hard at my input, and if Randfish gives me a direct address where I can add (submit) articles of interest I will. I have written 7 books in my life, but prefer the subtle conversation of professionals, in an objective to find life’s Water free. If Rand gives me a personal address to send bodies of interest, I will. Other than that, I will not work hard for forums any more. I think Randfish is outstanding, and is disserving of my hard work and input.
D
Mini, lets look at it this way. A criminal rapes a few girls in town and then activeley participates in the same town's activites and becomes a well respected memeber of a community. I guess it makes it ok
On a side note, as I wont be attending seochat until the air clears at least, all beta testers that read this have a forum on the submission site to use for the time being.
Like I said before, UNDELETE ALL THE POSTS, otherwise, nice people like jrothra will only be able to speculate.
I'm not afraid rich...are you?
I think a gesture of good faith on your part would have been to at least unban us. As of now, I'm still banned.
From what I've read so far, it appears the problem from SEOChat's side was a lone person: JCaputo. If that's the case, I think SEOChat may wish to reconsider his access to site features.
This does not dismiss the bad behavior of SEOChat members, though. Any members who cussed out or verbally attacked the mods/admins personally... they were flat wrong. Those members who simply offered disagreement and were polite did nothing wrong.
I think there was bad behavior from the side of some members and some admins/mods. Who exactly I don't know. While members can't regulate other members much, SEOChat can regulate it's people... and if SEOChat employees abuse members or abuse their power as admin/mods, they should be dealt with, also.
That's my two cents.
Jon is the owner of the forums. My understanding is that he bought them from Darrin Ward several years ago and merged them with DevShed.
Thus, I'm guessing that Jon will not be losing access.
As a moderator, and someone who has lots of contact with folks active in SEOChat, I can say without reservation that this single incident is indicative of a trend at the DevShed properties that's been leaving a bad taste in my mouth. They're not bad folks, but their motivations differ from my own, as do their feelings about the community at large. We'll have to wait and see if these are reconcilable differences.
I do appreciate you posting here Rich. It can be tough to take criticism and I respect you for that.
Gr8... speculation is what I do best. he he. J/K BTW... who are you? I'm sure I know you, but by your old SEOC name.
Anyway... Rand, from what I've read from you over the past months, I believe your motives are pure and honorable. You've always wanted to promote SEO and help others learn about it. That is why I joined SEOC back in March... and why I've used them since.
Grabbed lunch today came back and all hell had broken loose! Looks like I missed most of the excitement, and while I'm about to run out the door for dinner and haven't finished reading the above posts yet, just wanted to throw out my support.
Not only did they lose the majority of their experts with this lunacy, they also lost their FUTURE experts as well (not that that includes me, I'm just along for the ride LOL) People go there to learn and to learn you have to build trust. I was starting to build and earn it as are many other new members...bottom line is that as long as there's football picks and haikus in the new forum, I'm there with the best :-)
-SG
Gr8... speculation is what I do best. he he. J/K BTW... who are you? I'm sure I know you, but by your old SEOC name.
Anyway... Rand, from what I've read from you over the past months, I believe your motives are pure and honorable. You've always wanted to promote SEO and help others learn about it. That is why I joined SEOC back in March... and why I've used them since.
I second that, Gr8ted3s
rich, I guess my comments could have been seen as flaming etc but if you or jcaputo had read any of my other posts shouts etc they would know that it is pretty much my style.
EDIT: Also, just because it is critical does not mean it is off base or unwarranted. You deserved a lot of the crap that was being flung in your direction today. While some was over the line (I personally try to stay away from swearing excessively)the thoughtful questioning comments far outnumbered the bad.
Back to my point: I goof around and like to have fun and didnt at all think this was a big deal until I began to see the responses ("nofollow stays. its non-negotiable") So yeah when I or another respected member of the forum gets that sort of "Because I said so" response I do get aggravated. If it had been addressed AT ALL, things wouldnt have gotten this far. All Jcaputo had to do was open up one thread to discuss the topic.. and then on all the others that he deleted say.. go discuss this here. But no...The only responses we received were "it is this way and its staying this way" and then bannings. Even had the threads been deleted, a PM of a verbal warning or even a warning level of 5 would have been better. Instead I was banned without further consideration. That is unacceptable and your defense of this has once again gotten me aggravated. I am more certain now that I will not be returning to SEOChat.
Hey Mick, if you were not such a smart ass and cry baby you would have never had any problems with me, I am the most fair guy on the forum circuit until someone pushes me!
Everyone knows that too man!
I have some problems with administrators and moderators that think censorship and banning members is the answer and will expose those that continue this s***!
McC can be had at his email address to be found at 14thc.com.
He's away for the weekend - what a shock he's gonna get... Poor guy
mcs x
HEY RICH!
Don't get all cocky because your half hearted damage control was met with luke warm reception.
We (me included) attempted to get to the heart of it and were met with bans. I never cursed, I simply shared my opinion. And when I was banned I added a post in a different name in the CORRECT PLACE...which was promptly deleted and the new account banned.
Since I've already made a commitment at another forum (cre8asite), and since I try to maintain some form of integrity, I will continue to post there. I for one might be persuaded to occasionally post back over at seochat if:
1) The bans (all of them made today) are lifted 2) All the posts are undeleted (moved would be acceptable) 3) And JCaputo (who has steadily become more rude and dictator like) is removed from all dealings with seochat.com. If you want to keep such a loose cannon on your payroll fine, just keep him away from seochat.com.
But at any rate, I'm at cre8asite now, who knows it may prove not to be a good fit, but at least on the surface it seems to be a pretty nice place.
Its ok anthony. I understand. Keep the faith man. I have found god since we clashed so i am more tolerent of those that suffer and abuse people. Keep the faith and dont let the man grind you down.
rich,
one correction there. there was a post started by a mod in the feedback section asking for feedback/testing on the new things added to the site. As soon as things focused on the whole rel=nofollow tag issue, it was quickly deleted, in whole.
I was a witness to almost EVERY post made there this morning and there were many times where we simply backed off and asked for a simple expination. Just like the one you came here to give.
Many times at SEOchat, someone says something as if they "know" the unknown and they act as if it is truth. Almost everytime this happens, that person gets called out. and we sit around and wait for their response. basically, back it up or back off!
Its as simple as that. no one gets special treatment.
For the record, I only came back to sling sh*t once. got banned again and the next 2 accounts i made (StopBanningMe & BannedAgain)did nothing wrong. I contributed my ideas to the topic of the thread and said my peice. that was when you banned my IP.
Rich, if this were a first-time deal, it would be different. However, changes were made several times while I was a mod, where no one was notified ahead of time - not even the mods! Each time, mass confusion ensued as people tried to figure out what happened. The mods were as clueless as anyone else. Each time, we, the mods, complained that we should at least have been notified of the coming change, so that we would be prepared to deal with the inevitable barrage of questions and complaints. Each time, we were told, "gee I'm sorry, you're right, we'll do that next time" (or some words to that effect). Yet, here, once again, a change was made (a huge change at that), and no one (apparently, including the mods) were notified ahead of time. Imagine if the mods had known...they could have dampened the fires immediately. The point I am making is that SEO Chat continues to make mistakes but never learns from them.
Note to Rand: Been trying to post a comment for about half an hour now and it just never loaded the page. Finally, tried IE and it worked fine. For a while, I thought you had banned me! ;)
Hey Mick, you came on strong when we first met man, you kept the s**t going, SEO Chat got what they had coming, you seen your last attack coming from this direction man unless you slander me again!
Good one Mick!
> gr8thingy-doofer.com
mcs - we don't bite. Honest. And we like all types.
hrmm rand why is this thing double posting?
Anthony, the nicest thing about that forum is that you were among only 4 people phil craven has banned from there in 2 years :)
Quit talking about yourself as a thing WillimC, I refer to you as an idiot most of the time, get with the program and quit promoting your scams on the webmaster community!
Phil Craven is the biggest fraud ever and you are his puppet!
Thats okay anthony, everyone here knows you cant help the way you are as mick said above :)
The funny thing is, I dont have to insult people in a vain attempt to make myself look better. :)
You have a wonderful day mate :)
I dont know if anyone remembers that "project" that I was talking to a few people about on our old home...but I dont see why a bunch of us dont band together and make our own SEO driven forums. We all have the resources and know how to do so. We could some some revenue sharing and go from there.
Great plug for a shitty forum William, maybe you can scam more webmasters on some link scams if they join Dr. Phil's bullshit forum!
LOL dude!!
Holy cow, talk about fast change. This sucks to say the least. I don't blame you forleaving in the least Rand.
Anyone interested will always have a home at the webworkshop.net/seoforum forums.
Boy have I learned a lot today.
Reminds me, my old partner is invested in a business that suffered significant theft via financial employees over several years. Very big bucks.
When he told me about it, he prefaced the description by starting and saying (paraphrasing)..."I have learned a lot about theft and how it works."
A positive spin and an excellent answer for his future efforts.
Forums are easy places to join and leave. Seo Chat has had significant losses over time. This one though is unprecedented.
Heavy handed actions don't fly where participants/customers/activity can vote with their feet. It is so easy to get active in other forums. So many of the angry people are already active elsewhere.
1. People vote w/their feet. 2. If it is easy to lose customers/forum participants treat them well 3. Get them involved so they care more. 4. Encourage critiques and work w/them. People accept being turned down on their suggestions if they feel as if they are involved. 5. Follow the patterns of winners ie the forums w/lots of traffic (if traffic is the goal) 6. Don't dis people (that goes for forum operators and forum participants.) 7. Learn from your mistakes. 8. Experiment w/new things first...don't change 100% all at once.
And lots of others.
I'm one that didn't give a big deal about the no follow rule...but the response was definitely rude, heavy handed and out of whack. I'm still a member of SEO chat...but if it doesn't attract quality posts it is worthless to me.
Im my period there I found someone like Randfish to be a gift at the forum. He went from a learner to someone who became an authority and still participated in Seo chat enriching the forum...when there are so many alternatives...including his own.
Or retaining long time participants like Donna who helps out so many people...and of course so many others.
The search for knowledge and fellowship is strong. Ruining it...is a pity.
I'm reserving judgement and membership...but it looks to me that seo chat has been dramatically reduced as a quality forum for the time being and like others I'll end up voting with my feet.
Treat people well...I guess that works on both sides of the forums.
Dave
Wow. What a freakin day.
I am really bummed to see so many people leave SEO Chat. I read many SEO forums, but it is the only one I really participate in. If all of you are gone, it will definitely not be the same.
I hope you will give SEO Chat another chance. I was out (well, doing my "real" work) while most of the sh*t hit the fan, and came back to see the aftermath. A whole lot of upset to go around.
I will take Rand's advice and check out cre8asite, but I plan to stick around SEO Chat and rebuild as well. I have received a great deal from that forum and tried my best to contribute where I can. I see no reason to walk away because of one bad string of events made in the heat of emotion.
I think a couple people in power messed up today. I think they made a small mistake without realizing the impact it would have and were then overwhelmed and unprepared for the backlash. Because it hit so hard, fast and unexpectedly, I think their emotions got the best of them and some bigger, poor decisions were made.
Still, I know I've made equally bad (OK, far worse) decisions myself at times, and I would bet that anyone here having such a strong reaction to what went down has also made equally poor judgement calls in your past.
Assuming sigs are allowed, appologies are offered where appropriate and reasonable discussion between those involved can be restored, I hope you'll reconsider and return to SEO Chat. It would be a shame to see such a valuable resource go away or lose its value over this.
Either way, I'm sure I will see you all around.
Brandall - You're one of my favorite folks. I'm looking forward to seeing you at cre8asite and I'll certainly think about participation at SEOChat in the next few months.
Dave - I think Donna's comments are a good fit. This was a lesson that was repeatedly NOT learned. The actions taken today were unfortunate, but they are sadly indicative of the powers that be at Devshed.
I pretty much saw this coming...The last straw for me was a personal one which was a threat. But I had been unhappy with the direction of things for some months. Until this happened I had a little hope that things could be turned around but it seems to be the nail in the coffin. I believed Mods like Rand, Egol, Donna, and Alan believed in what SEOChat could be (or more accurately return to). The fact that none are moderators anymore sadly speaks volumes.
> one bad string of events made in the heat of emotion.
Brandall, to be fair, there were two strings in quick succession.
There may be a third around the corner - it'd be fun making plaits with them ;)
Personally, I'm devastated. I felt safe at seochat - because of the people around me. But if they're no longer there... Well, why not meet new people elsewhere?
I don't know - I get a little frightened amongst people I'm not sure of... I like to shout, sing and dance. To twirl and babble.
I don't know if that's what they want at gr8thingy-doofer.com
I didn't know if that's what they wanted at seochat, to start with. But, given time, I kind of fitted in - found my place.
I think - really - the best solution would be to trash seochat and the previous members create a NEW forum.
But it won't happen, will it?
I'd be keen on the idea - I think that with the collective knowledge and experience of the ex-SC experts, it couldn't fail to succeed.
Provided that we have a shout box - or at least a shout forum ;)
Sometimes I think there is a mark which, if overstepped, shouldn't be revisitted.
I don't know what to do without seochat - the only thing would be if the experts formed a goup and aunched a new forum.
Believe me, it would be successful.
New.
I want new combined with familiar.
I can't sleep...
:(
mcs x
(I'm not babbling)
Can someone give me the adresssssssssssssss t the new forum?
On the other hand I am pretty much fed up with seochat, this fanthom guy is hanging out my throth, just can't stand him.
In the words of the great NFFC... "oh how I love this game!" :-)
I was going to respond to you Fathom but Rand did just fine.
He could have taken advantage of this issue, but true to form, he did not. He instead chose to increase the value of another already valuable forum.
I applaude Rand and his efforts and boo your attempt at subterfuge.
One last thing, in haste and in anger on this blog I indicated the following: "I only wish I had realized that they were going to start banning people. I too would have deleted my posts. "
I would not have and came to that decision a moment after I wrote it. I have no desire to contribute to the lunacy that transpired.
No hard feelings at all... merely noting a ball can spin dependent of the 'pitch'. I didn't actually read the opening post until this morning when I caught the change to "permanent there".
For the record: you are not banned nor will you be... and also - when I "do" leave under "good, bad, or indifferent circumstances" my last official mod act will be to ban Jon just to say I did it! :-)
Oops! Sorry? :-)
Any bets?
hmmmm... wantta make some money... business is business!
Fathom - Unless someone revoked it, I believe I'm still banned. I haven't been back to check, but I do have a nasty email sitting in my inbox from SEOChat, noting that I'm banned for 999999 days :)
Not to worry; even if the ban were lifted, I don't believe I have any reason to return. My decision wasn't made hastily, nor was it made without considerable input from people whose judgement I respect. It sounds like, from your last few statements in your post, you know exactly what I'm talking about ;)
Rand, To my knowlegde all bans placed in the emotionally fuled haste of Firday have been lifted, including yours. I for one, hope you change your mind and return to SEO Chat.
I had nothing to do with the no foloow decision, the flaming or the banning that occured afterwards. I am saddened by the whole experience, but having read most of the populat SEO forums out there, I have found SEO Chat by far the most valuable for me personally. I have been looking for another forum with another perspective (and WMW and DP do not provide anything of interest to me). So I will be spending some time at cre8, but I will continue to participate at SEO Chat and do my best to make sure it remains one of the best places online to learn and discuss SEO. I hope I see you and some of the others i have learned so much from there again after the dust settles.
Ok. The bans are off. Seems like a business decision to me.
After all what is a forum without its members. ;)
Regards merlinvicki
Originally banned were awarded to comply with this:
Why Cant I delete my own posts? Posted: August 8th, 2005, 04:21 PM
...and you were the first. However, I discussed with DevShed provided all my rational and it was reversed about 15 minutes after it occurred. Unfortunately, at that time and since I wasn't directly involved I had no idea that anyone else was banned for deletions until much later.
DevShed asked for my opinion thereafter... but since I was in effect the only mod at the time... I informed them to let it stand. I had no ability to control a heated situation on my own against 40 potential plus members.
Time to cool off IMHO.
When Rich came back... all bans were lifted If any were missed an oversight.
It sounds like, from your last few statements in your post, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
It matters not. Any acknowledgement you can grab from the last few lines in my last post you can gain the same insight in the previous post.
Here's something: Gr8ted3s denotes: "Moderators apparently have precious little influence on the decisions made, often times not even beeing warned that a change is coming (that is second hand as all I can go on is what the mods tell me)."
Ballzy guy... not even a mod and attempting to discuss mod issues with admin in public... I would think if mods have issues with admin they would discuss with admin... not like the opportunity didn't come along eh?
Anyway... this specific case is over... on with better stuff.
Interesting new post you got there about trademarks - will be reading tonight.
Later
Fathom - you and I have a lot of mutual respect for one another, but I do want to take issue with some of your comments.
To suggest that I did this for reasons of gain to SEOmoz is not accurate. SEOChat brought me a lot of consulting clients, and my banning there will not be of material help to my business. Furthermore, I deliberately did NOT want to set up SEOmoz as an alternative - which could have been a profitable and attention-worthy endeavor. I instead pointed folks to cre8asite - a forum that doesn't run ads and doesn't offer links.
What cre8asite does have is an ownership that mods and posts on a daily basis - they're in the trenches with the membership and they have both great heart and great wisdom. I know many folks there on a personal and a business level, so I can feel comfortable about the operations therein.
I don't want to mince words, despite the need to maintain privacy. SEOChat's owners, in my opinion (which has many more influences than just these public events), do not value their mods, their members or their community in a way that would make me comfortable contributing. It is not a difference of opinion or style so much as a difference in ethics, and I therefore feel justified in calling them out publicly for those actions.
As I mentioned in my other post, there will be some private discussions held on Monday and I'll do a last post on the subject here at SEOmoz.
Fathom - no hard feelings, we've had differences of opinion in the past with no adverse effect :)
What ever Fathom!
Do you ever post anything that makes sense to the readers or is it all BS?
Mini - I don't believe I am right... I only open the doors to alternative thinking: The following comments may or may not be true: it suggests things may not always be as they appear. Business is business... a parallel occurrence. I have a great deal of respect for Rand [SEOMOZ] - I believe he is a great leader and business entrepreneur. IMHO at the onset of this situation Rand "was" brilliant - took out what he wanted of his own from SEOChat, graciously step down, posted in his blog, contacted everyone he wanted... his blog has everyone’s email but a few… ...and allowed the chips fall as they may [but argumentatively stirred a hornet's nest quite graciously... for SEOMOZ gains? He "did" take disadvantage and created competitive advantage in a "business is business like manner". Case in points: "The owners, DevShed and John Caputo, have decided to enforce strict "nofollow" tags on all outbound links" Well - did you actually research this or did you simply "assume". A good SEO investigator as yourself "never assumes"... so? There is a disturbing pattern from the administrative team running the site that I have been warned about by some folks who will remain on as moderators there. That's a great newsworthy public comment... so are you saying private discussions "WILL" be reported on? Remaining a nameless mod that will continue to be a SEOChat mod kinda narrows the field of possibilities - who is left mod’ing? Does the nameless person [or people] only remain namely as long as they remain in your good grace? Obviously with negative occurrences you report the truth... thus if I were one of those remaining mods I would be pretty leery about saying anything private to you or always give you an opportunity for you to weigh in on your opinions [pretty stupid not to – will be tomorrows headlines]. Clearly SEO DIRT is always news [no news there] - and by your public non-discloser comments [which are not so non-disclosed anymore] I would suspect fair is fair "it's just business" or rather "it's just news". I'll be getting tidbits of information from them. Rand is that actually responsible reporting? Professionaly I believe it is your achilles heel. I mean by saying this: There is a disturbing pattern from the administrative team What is as disturbing [since you concede DevShed simply "acts without warning" and if truth] I assume you know you sealed all existing mods fate to be demod'ed or banned to protect DevShed. Personally I don't believe that is true... but you can't really have the story both ways - they either develop "only for DevShed benefits " or not... and if not your reporting is bogus. What I do believe is true is this: You just GUARANTEED that DevShed cannot trust existing mods so that we can be kepted in the loop... and you are certainly proof of that... THANKS for the help. Myself - I have placed myself in the line of fire - ensuring existing mods have their respect intact with DevShed and the membership so they do not need to publicly take sides... and you turned this into a big newsworthy joke THANKS again for the help. So your policy isn't "what's said in private stays in private... that is truly good to know". I'll also be removing all of my links to SEOChat. Why? Not a SEO resource worthy of anything? So all the comments made by all members [past & present] are 100% SEO worthless right? This makes good logical SEO reporting. I don't feel that adding rel=nofollow is a big deal. That’s why you commented earlier about how strict it was. What is a big deal is the manner of how this was done - without opinion or input form the community or even a fair explanation and a chance for members to complain and air their issues. I simply disagree with their policies and don't want to contribute so much of my time and energy to an organization that places so little value in the people who create so much value for them - the members. Yup lots happened... and you also contributed to the hellish weekend as well - your premeditated actions [which were a calculated bit of risk management] served its purpose... created additional exposure, additional trust, additional loyalty, all for SEOMOZ, and all based on 3 things: 1. No Research - mere assumptions 2. A bias to better promote yourself 3. Underhandedness... using trusted relationships to spin the facts [sensationalizing the story is better for exposure] To what end? Business is just business...? If indeed DevShed is in the wrong - you did join their ranks of responsible business management. Please note again: I simply disagree with their policies and don't want to contribute so much of my time and energy to an organization that places so little value in the “people" ...and yet you placed so little a value on the nameless mods that "will remain as mods at SEOChat" for which you just implicated all of them... congratulations! How thoughtful... and trustworthy aren’t we... oh sorry... it's just news! Anyway... not a rant... just pointing out - things are not always as they appear.
I would like to take a brief opportunity here to thank a few people that made my time at seochat incredible, I hope we can move as a family.
Rand, Wit, Egol, Mick, GMan, Toddig, WeRa, Sufy, Bruno, RMC, MCS, PK, Scottfish, Hexed, Mvandemar, Bigdoug, Jrotha, Sorovja, Jammer, and more.
I have learned so much from all of you.
- SuccessGuru
Fathom, I think you are one of the problems, as you were at WPW where you and that idiot CBP were moderators that censored the record there!
CBP banned me and censored my comments and removed threads there and I got a few warnings there from you too, I think I was banned maybe 5 times there and twice from SEO Chat!
I can tell you that I hate NAZI's that censor the record and ban members because they are babies without a debate and can't win one for the Gipper, so they ban a poster and a member because they can't respond and win, then they hide the thread and ban folks! Screw the moderators mafia man, I will come after those that are corrupt dude!
This has been a pattern with some of you moderators and you think you can get the last word by censorship and banning folks!
I think Rand did the right thing, I will join his forum if he starts one here, I am not going to sit back and let propagandists talk shit man!
That includes you, CBP or any other censors or con men on the forum circuit, I will expose any of them if they lie and promote propaganda of any type or censor the record and ban members out of spite!
I always have done this and always will Fathom!
Fathom this one is for you-
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint it goes like this: What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life? Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions: If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then: H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98% !
and K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But, A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
And, B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103% AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118% So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Bullshit and Ass kissing that will put you over the top!
heehee! I think most existing forums will agree... he's is welcome to take ya. hmmm... that might be "all" forum by now! ;-) Thanks for the chuckle though.
SEOChat will likely survive. And with the forums going stale, maybe the newbies and guests will start clicking on ads out of boredom.
Problem is that it's crap now I don't post anymore LOL (just kidding of course)
And... I can discuss mod issues, especially since there's no rule or even a kind request asking me not to. Basically Gr8ted3s is right. I - being an (ex-)mod - have asked more than one question (aimed at the admins) that didn't get a reply. Maybe they were busy, I don't know...
At the end, I wish everyone who decided to stay at SEOChat all the best. I hope they'll find everything they need, and that their blind eyes and/or thick skin will serve them well. I'd like to thank everyone at SEOChat - regulars, mods, admins and newbies - for all the fun I've had there in the past, practising my SEO hobby and learning on the job.
It's been a real treat, but now I have evolved. Along with lots of others. Then again, we can't all be amphibians. There have to be a couple of trilobites (and sharks) to stay in the sea.
Wit, I quit many large forums before because of different reasons, it has not stopped me, it will not stop you guys either!
Just because you do not post on a forum does not mean your voice will not be heard on the forum circuit!
Take my word on that one, I don't miss the forums I quit posting on a bit!
I don't even miss reading the forums who have banned me!
There are plenty of forums out there that are happy to have you guys as members, just remember that, plus there are new forums out everyday!
Just my two cents quickly. I had wondered why seochat seemed very barren of useful information as of late and none of the real information powerhouses seemed to be around.
I have great respect for some of you who have been willing to help us newbies along. The information you have given freely is actually worth quite alot monetarily and I feel that the actions taken by seoC show a deep lack of respect for the professional knowledge of many members they may have chased off.
I hope they realize for certain what really made seochat arguably the best forum for search engine optimization. It's not like they actually paid search engine optimization professionals to hang around writing quality content and helping new users along and giving them a reason to hang around and link to seochat as well.
Most gave their advice and content freely with only respect and friendship in return. Without that quality content there won't be near as many people hanging around to click ads.
I hope to see you all around.
~adam
Hey trigger, the only thing that seems to have packed up is your internet connection :) works fine here...
Jonny come lately here.
I saw a link to this page just today, so now I know.
This is sad to me, to see what was once a great place disintergrate like it did. Having a nofollow seems kind of a petty reason to me to jump ship. On the other hand, banning folks that helped make them succsessful is downright revolting.
I too would like to see a forum started here. Ya know you wouldn't be hard-up for help mr. randfish. More than enough experienced mods posting comments right here on this page.
I'm amazed how long it took members to finally realise that things are not going to get any better over there.
Rand Fishkin, I suggest that you re-read Todd's comments and take the suggestion. Start your own forum!
Where has it gone? I've been trying to log on to SEO chat for a few days now but I keep getting a 401 error? Has it actually packed up?
Hey guys,
Has everybody gone over to cre8asiteforums.com ? Kind of a strange domain name and hard to remember when typing it but hey! It also looks like their sig links are redirected which is the same as a nofollow and they have no reputation which was extremely fun part to seochat.
Good to see everybody here at one place!
skitzzo started his own forum. I think it would be a good place to start. We cna make it work: https://www.seorefugee.com/forums
Everyone is welcome at https://www.vbwebmaster.com a great forum for forum owners!
You guys should start your own boards and move on!
I have just been browsing seochat and the advice that is been given to the newbies is shocking. Its not just misleading but truly bad. I guess we have all moved on already and my chouce of forums now is Syndk8, Seorefugee and Cr8asite
Better and nicer/
Dang I was blind. I noticed the tumbleweeds were starting to blow through many of the threads and the quality of content was starting to dissapear. The only thing I did'nt realise until now was Rand Dazzlin' Gr8ted3s Gr8ted3s and a few other were MIA. Let us know if and when you start a forum.
Well my ass has been well and truly banned from seochat. Guess they are making sure there is no real seo`s left on the thing now. Lol........ funny
Dear mini, I'd give you a big hug if I could.
I'm really sorry if I seem to have f***ed up the SC atmosphere, but IMO it was already FU to begin with. The cover-ups and poor efforts to solve things show that.
JC has shown that it is *his* forum, and the way I see things are (not) progressing, he can have it to himself.
Wow, what a turn of events. :)
Thank you
BD you're starting to sound like JoeBob ;)
That "fanthom guy" got his nose up so far in seochat's derriere that even he does not know where his nose ends and their a** begins. He is simply disgusting. I don't understand who would want to make such a person a mod!!! Only at seochat.
I've been a member of SC since the very early days, and most likely will be in the future if they don't go utterly mad with rules (compare to WMW)... This is not the first, and most likely not the last mass flee of great members, and everytime something like this happens is a pity. But life goes on...
I think there was a lot of a knee jerk reaction here and a lot of people left without a good reason. From what i see, people were a bit bored and looking for a bit of trouble anyway. One for all and all for one i think the motto is. It will all come out in the wash though.
Rand, it’s, in fact, shocking what happened at SC last night.
I couldn’t share my 2 cents due to the time zone variation. Well, from what I’ve been able to know by reading through all the related threads / posts, things should have been dealt with a little differently.
The decision about the addition of ‘no follow’ attribute to the signature links MUST have been discussed (at least with the moderators) before implementation. It is NOT this change that brought up all this chaos but how it was made.
I joined Cre8asite forums earlier this year. But I haven’t been able to make a single post. I know I will find many good names there such as Rusty and Scottie as well as ProjectPHP whom I know from HighRankings forums.
Moreover, I will stick to SC as it is where I learned a whole lot about SEO. Hope you will re-think about your decision to leave SC permanently when they request you to.
Anyways, you have got my highest respect and it would be great to keep in touch with you guyz.
Thanks.
Some of our friends at SEO are selling us out, and pretending nothing is going on. Google lovers, who say nothing is wrong. It is sickening to watch them grovel in their self-medicated wisdom and ignore reality. Say anything in the way of constructive criticism of Google and watch you’re a** hang. When did SEO-Chat become a bunch of Google lovers? I am sick of the ones who follow Google blindly, without reservation, and without a normal critical eye. So many are sucking up to Google lately, that I swear they work for them.
D
lol...do your worst...but this page is plenty long enough already.
Don't love yourself too much or you might end up with some form of MPD.
Mcs,
Rich (me) is the CTO of Developer Shed.
jasontnyc, great to see you man...I've been wondering what happened to you!
Anthony...listen, I like to rant myself, but this isn't the time or the place....a word to the wise: If it's always someone elses fault you may want to look in the mirror.
I am not against a forum of our own. With the number of programmers, technicians, marketers, spammers, and of course wit we could have a prett intresting place....it would take quite a while to build up though.
But wouldn't it be great to knock seochat off the top?
On the other hand I am pretty much fed up with seochat, this fanthom guy is hanging out my throth, just can't stand him.
In the words of the great NFFC... "oh how I love this game!" :-)
So G83, what the hell time and place is it man?
Are you now going to moderate this thread so I can attack you next?
Give me a break man, all this stuff happened because of dummies running forums, don't tell me not to talk about it man!
That "fanthom guy" got his nose up so far in seochat's derriere that even he does not know where his nose ends and their a** begins.
If a "butt" of a joke appeases you well ok it's quite inexpensive so I'm glad to be of service.
I have a great deal of respect for you all. Wish you all success and lots of great discussions. For me... clients come in the door better than any other forum 'by design' you don't even need to do "anything" but post your daily thoughts.
Rand keep in touch.
>> knee jerk reaction
Heh, as long as some good comes out of this. I don't like to be toyed with by my kids. Why should I take it from SC then...? I'd lock 'em in the cellar LOL*
>> water under the bridge
Hmm, I don't know, fathom ;)
* nah, I'd never do that
There has been no appology on SEOC other than what Rich has posted here. JCap has not said anything about it other than "its been sorted out." I'm not goin back to do anything other than copy my favorite posts. Might shout once or twice for the fun of it. It looks to me like Jcap is too proud to eat some crow and instead just had Rich do it for him. I dont dig that kind of person and dont want to put myself in a position of being subject to him again. Yesterday was the boiling over of everyone's frustrations. I dont think I swore at all but was probably disrespectful. If anyone was bothered by that I am sorry, but I give respect to people who earn it and he hadnt earned it. I've got a guy workin on moving my forum over and will post the url when I can. It wont be nearly as good as SEOC was but with your guys help it will get there. I think it will probably end up being a non for profit place or perhaps do some revenue sharing of some sorts like Scottfish mentioned. As always if interested and I havent contacted you yet, email me at [email protected]. I just want to say that I do not want to detract from cre8asite. This will be in addition to or an alternative for people who dont feel like its a match for them. That is a great place and if you want to learn SEO, that is where I would suggest you go, especially now. If this other one gets up and running and takes off that might change but no matter what, those people there know their stuff and they have been nothing but nice and helpful to us SEOC refugees...
Perhaps they are in a good mood and will unban me to :)
I spent a lot of time last night / this morning arguing with a guy called Fathom at SeoChat. He doesn't listen and convinces himself that all he says is right. (I'll do that sometimes too :) )
I went back this morning to check that I hadn't gone over the top - the thread was gone!
Hide it and it's like ti didn't happen.
I'm trying to get used to not having what SC was available anymore... I liked it.
How sad is it?
Very... !
It's very sad.
:(
WeRas...no doubt!
I stated 3 conditions for me to consider coming back to seo chat, one was FINALLY met, but I don't see the deleted posts back so it's a no go for me.
JCaputo quite plainly is an arrogant business man with no regard for his customers/suppliers.
Out of the ashes the phoenix will rise again. I hope to see seo chat knocked out of first place for SEO and SEO Forums.
This is really funny how people are treating this blog comment system like a forum page. I wonder how long it will be before the page refuses to load completely becuse it is starting to slow for me. Sooner or later the sock will time out as someone is commenting but i think that is about 30 good comments away.
Cheers m8, checking out all this stuff at the mo :)
It's just that the wife really appreciates my being practically "AFK" for a (long) while. And I definitely see the benefits in *that* LOL
Wit, don't worry about it man, you guys are all welcome at https://www.vbwebmaster.com.
A great forum if you are looking for some great people!
I enjoyed you over at the old joint Wit, we had a few conflicts but that is over now!
We all should set all this rancor aside. I will still be a SEO Chat member (no longer a mod). I don't know where I will spend my forum time. DP is good, but very crowded and unfocused. I like to do a "new post" search and find mostly SEO related subjects. At DP you find almost anything and everything. Maybe it is time to take a short break and lurk on some of them to see where I am going to go.
wit - what's there to know... you were likely one of the most active members at SEOChat - there will be others. Water flows down the path of least resistance... and the current carries people with it.
Here are some conciliatory words posted by Jon Caputo on the ShoutBox at SEO Chat this morning:
1. good morning all ;) 2. just want to say sorry about yesterdays chaos but I believe we have it all straightened out now 3. all were unbanned, no follows are back on for sigs now, and on monday we will get to work allowing the first link in a sig to follow
It would appear that the general strike at SEO Chat had its effect. The biggest problem will take time, i.e. the bad taste in everyones mouth on how this was handled by the SEO Chat ownership.
As said before, I am still a member of SEO Chat. How active of a member remains to be seen.
Thanks for the update AM. I've mostly observed, read, and then formed opinions. SEO chat has evidently been too heavy handed for a long time...and this week it manifested itself in an ugly way.
While still a member there I'll be spending more current time in cre8asite and dp (though my personal feelings on dp are like yours...a bit too unseo focused for my tastes). I'm open to following the majority of seo chatters who have reappeared here. (its like the temporary meeting place for the group whose meeting house was torn down).
Time will tell.
>> no follows are back on for sigs now
I don't know what he meant by that, but certainly NOT that the "nofollow" attributes have been removed from the sigs.
PS: my mod status at Seochat has just been removed. Guess I was too open before (even though nobody noticed - until now maybe; please don't comment). On the plus side, that's one or two hours a day I can now spend with my family again, so the loss is limited on my part...
I'd also like to thank Rand for suggesting Cre8. It appeared to be a bit on the soft side, but it's fast and diverse and busy enough at second glance. In short, it rox :)
C8 is a great forum, I quit because I was asked to change my posting style, but they are some great people, maybe a bit too many rules to live by to be a place that folks feel like hanging around, but I really enjoyed my time there!
It always seems that when a forum is over moderated and over managed that they end up destroying themselves and members will leave!
That is great for the new forums out there because the great posters move on and we have more forums out there for webmasters!
I know that moderators can make or break a forum, CBP broke WPW and I hate moderators that censor the record!
One final point I would like to make before going home for the evening:
If the first responses to the changes had been rational discussion, this whole day would have gone down differently.
The first responses were flaming and confrontational. This is not the kind of content for the general forums (not in feedback). Plus, as things progressed, emotions rose on both sides. Threads were erased a little more quickly, and bans imposed as the emotions on both sides escalated. People were logging on additional handles, just to sling more insults. I can tell you that Jon loves these forums, and its members. When someone flames the forums or anyone involved, it hurts him personally. Could things have been handled better? Yes, certainly they could have been. My only point is that goes for both sides of things.
I hope this isn't going to send everyone in different directions. I really wish there could be a new forum started.
At any rate, I deleted the last post I wrote from SEOchat. It took me almost an hour to write. I was trying to help. Im posting it on seologs if anyone cares.
It feels like they hired someone to optimize the site for google. Add a sitemap, change the urls, block outgoing links with nofollow. without any concern for the members.
Its a shame. Now they are going to capitalize on everyones great content.
I just did that - didn't delete ALL my posts, but I did remove those that I felt were of special content (or have been linked to in the SEO industry). I'll be re-posting them as articles here at SEOmoz.
hmmm... business is business & I am sure when the time is right [at your new posting homes] you won't get any say, the "man" [or woman] will make the call and you'll jump ship again.
SEOChat has been great for business... that's where the money is... and a repetitive link ain't worth a nickle.
Anyway Rand, great working with ya, I'll keep you informed.
Rand, you got my highest respect as well. Its been ape-sh*t on SEOchat this week. Between member riots and everything else. Ekk.
(why are my posts duplicating themselves??)
Yeah, I JUST found that haiku thread and was WAITING for todya to play along :( well, all good things come to an end. just dont let the good times end with 'em
can some one go get all the haiku's? That, the football thread and all the threads that I had bookmarked will be sorely missed. I will be creating a new forum, not in competition with cre8asite but in addition to. Mine will probably be a little less business, a little more fun stuff. We will see how it all goes. I am glad to see that the community(most of us anyway) has remained intact despite this crap. It really does remind me of the book 1984
do it but quietly or they will ban you
Would it be childish to go back and delete every single one of my posts? Might take me an hour, but I will no longer give them any more free content.
we'll all be ok - i look forward to seeing you guys at cre8asite, and if anyone starts up another forum i'd be happy to participate.
i guess we'll never find out who will win this week's pickem pool for football... and that's too bad about the haikus... i liked those too.
Cre8asite is really a diamond in the rough. But digitalpoint is more for the typical seo chat member. You're call.
Rand, you got my highest respect as well. Its been ape-sh*t on SEOchat this week. Between member riots and everything else. Ekk.
well i feel for all you guys. I had some trouble the other day and it was not nice.
I cant create a white hat forum becuse it conflicts with my black hat one but rand,, remember the question i asked you a while ago.
I wait announcements of the new foruma member an ex member creates. I will help in any way i can
You all have become my SEO parents... I couldnt go on without y'all *tears* lol. I agree that DP is quite a bit crowded. So if its cre8asite, i'll gladly tag along.
WeRASkitzzo, just delete your cookies and go get em.
I only wish I had realized that they were going to start banning people. I too would have deleted my posts.
Phoenix, I'd sure like to see you around...hope I do!
Where's Wit?
I might as well add some comments here as SEOCHAT has been my home since the beginning....
It's upsetting to see SEOCHAT do anything with the board that takes away from it's members, because the members make it what it is today, but to be very honest, it's upsetting to see so many people upset with them at the same time...
I guess it's not like the old days when Darrin was on board communicating and helping everyone..
It has changed and I guess became more commercialized, but I'm starting to get used to it with alot of things these days....
I have been working on my own forum for a few months now, and it has driven me away from seochat a bit...
I really do hope many of you here stop by Searchen Networks forum: https://www.searchen.com/forum/index.php
Although there is a nofollow attribute, it is stripped from you at your 50th post.
yay! i have been banned... sweet.
Dear toddieg,We are sorry to inform you, that you have received enough warning points, to be banned from SEO Chat Forums Forums Site.This is a permanent ban and will last for ever reply back if you have a dispute.----------------SEO Chat Forums Team
Im pretty much a newb but i spend about 3-4 hours a day at SEOchat... so i know who you all are. and i was in the midst of everything as it happened.
the cool thing is, if you reply to that email, it bounces back to you...lol
yeah, i replied back to that email addy just to congratulate them on such a display... it bounced. the email from Jcaputo did not, however... maybe whe will respond :)
is anyone able to get to SEOchat right now?
So are we all leaving then? Whats the concensus?
Hey, maybe a hacker got hold of JCaputo's account....Naw, probably not, he's always been a bit of a jerk.
(why does that keep happening)
I am apparently dup posting too... I am copying off the threads I like as we speak. I have some other opinions to post but I've had enough drama today... I'm too tired...
hmmm... business is business & I am sure when the time is right [at your new posting homes] you won't get any say, the "man" [or woman] will make the call and you'll jump ship again.
Rod - I would argue with you there - cre8asite is not that type of community. I have a close relationship with the folks who run the site and I can say with certainty that Kim and her team share my ethics and standards and that if a "call" is made that I disagree with, I know they'll always be room for dissent, opinion and argument.
It's really not the links but the manner in which it's being done. And besides, we're full up on clients :)
ROFL...Mick, stop hitting refresh!
something seems to be wrong with the servers over there now... hmmmm....
:(
Is it over?
:(
I'll go back behind my tree then... (who's jason_sot?)
I'm already a member of DP, but it is pretty crowded there. I've just signed up at cre8asite (i always have a hard time spelling it tho), and hope that it can become my new home. But of course, only time will tell which forum I end up being most comfortable with. They all have their own style, and I have a need to "fit in". I will miss SEO Chat, as I felt very comfortable there, and I've been there a long time. Funny tho, my life has changed dramatically in the last few months (hurricane, dad dying, etc.), so this is just another link in the chain of changes for me. I guess it's fate. :)
Yeah banned. I even created more profiles just to get back in - two were quickly banned for running my mouth. The third (StopBanningMe)i used and even posted on topic in the broswer poll i had started and mentioned how FF would show up all the rel=nofollow links and how it sucked and two minutes later... banned. it was the most childish and pathetic thing I had ever seen. I have to admit, i was in awe and laughing hysterically at the same time!!
mcs, the threads got deleted so quickly, you likely missed a lot. definitely more than 2 leaving. quite a few i think.
Quote:
causing a mass exodus of many members, including many moderators and banning of many more members who started angry threads on the subject.
Unquote
I may have missed a lot in the five minutes I spent brushing my hair, but I only saw two members posting that they'll leave.
One of them is a very well respected moderator. He shouldn't leave.
But the quoted text above seems to be an extreme exageration...
I can only guess that the write would like to contribute to the downfall of seochat.com.
That's what surprises me...
mcs (they don't come dumber...)
I left for lunch, come back and I am banned... no warning, no reson given... Jcap can't handle any criticism. An SEOChat alternative is in the works as I speak... Rand, if you or someone more experienced want to start up a different forum I will gladly jump on board with that. Currently though I have a vbulletin license just sitting there doing nothing so I think I will switch it over. If anyone wants details or wants to talk to me email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. Thanks!
It's simple mini...nobody can post about it without being banned.
Now Jcaputo is over at seo chat saying that the only reason the threads were deleted were because they were off-topic...what an ***.
they banned you too Skitzz... goddamn (pardon the language)
yes and that's also what angered me.
i took about 5 min creating a nice post for that thread outlining the pros/cons of this move, but when i clicked submit - GONE (thread had been moved)
I like Searchen.com and I am a moderator over their. John Clasione is a great guy who owns Searchen. New people have a NO=follow but those with over a 50 posts get free linking. PR 6 site. And live links in body text are allowed.
https://www.searchen.com/forum/index.php
I'd come too rand...
yeah, what toddieg said... LOL.
When I was a mod, it was brought up a few times to do this, and I always begged them not to. I warned them that it would cause a huge problem with the members. I do believe it is a reward, and should not have been taken away. But then, when Jcaputo went gestapo on everyone with the deletion of threads and banning of members, it was just too much. Time to move on, and yes, Rand, a forum here would be awesome!
i was going to email you about this rand (as i saw you wern't online) but knew you'd be blogging about it sooner or later :)
my opinion is mixed at the moment. because of the strict rules (90 days, 100 posts) to just GET a sig link, i feel like it should at least be a 'real' link. not to mention the fact that they only display the sigs once per page, not on every post.
as donna said, it's almost like a small reward for those 'loyal' members of the forum who actually take the time to answer questions, give advice and provide content for DevShed to advertise on.
it upsets me that everyone is leaving - that is my main problem.
SUGGESTION (and capitalization idea for RAND) - start a new forum at seomoz, and we will follow. i promise.
as long as you allow live links :)
Guys, a lot of people like SEO Chat as it was very helpful for all of us, I think the most experienced SEO guys were giving tips on that forum. Please let us know where you'll all be going ( I heard Digital Point, please confirm)
I've been banned due to posting an "angry" thread. I was able to save three pages of the first two deleted threads.
I can't believe the absolute betrayal...deleting forum posts! BAH!
I'm certain it was simply to stop the hemmoraging.
This past week has thrown me for an seochat loop. First there was stuff with regard to members/mods/banning and warnings and now this no follow deal.
What threw me is how it was presented, how it was mentioned as "non-negotiable" and how people were whisked off without any understanding or commentary.
It seems like ugly treatment to me.
I'm also reserving judgement...probably for reasons of inertia...but it smells ugly and it pushes me toward spending my forum time elsewhere. Any suggestions on where all want to congregate?
Where Skitzo goes I go, same for you Rand. You too Todd.
I'm making an amendment to the post above regarding what my personal actions will be. Thanks for all the support and goodwill.
I left for lunch, come back and I am banned... no warning, no reson given... Jcap can't handle any criticism. An SEOChat alternative is in the works as I speak... Rand, if you or someone more experienced want to start up a different forum I will gladly jump on board with that. Currently though I have a vbulletin license just sitting there doing nothing so I think I will switch it over. If anyone wants details or wants to talk to me email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. Thanks!
I pm'd jcaputo suggesting he articulate what is going on. He responded saying he would post in the suggestion thread. What an ugly day. I was indifferent on the no follow issue, but as sorvoja posted the treatment is very unappealing to me.
I was in the midst of pm ing a response to skitz...when he was banned.
Too fast, too controlling, not conducive to an open forum.
I'm leaning to go elsewhere...and would rather follow the crowd.
Dave
Sorry if I escalated things guys. As many others have mentioned, I didnt much care about the nofollow but the we do it because we can attitude. The shout by rustybrick of "Thats not the way things work here" simply sums it up. I gurantee you they never knew what they were starting... I'm glad you guys feel the same way and I hope we can start something up that will fill the void for us. Rand, if you start up a forum, thats where I'll go. Maybe email me and let me know what you're planning so I dont do a bunch of work in vain?
They are just solidifying my decision by not letting the members even discuss what is going on. What is this, some kind of dictatorship? I just saw a post in the suggestions and feedback, but by the time I clicked it, it was gone.
This is rediculous. This whole week has been rediculous.
Just joined cre8asite and am already a member of dp and seo-guy and the mcdar forum. I'd like to stay abreast of you guys.
I'm leaving because of all of it.
New members can't shout and posts about it get deleted as soon as they are created EVEN IF POSTED IN THE CORRECT SECTION!
Never have I known anyone to be banned for posting in the wrong place.
Jason_Sot is out now - banned Faremax left
I need a drink, this is for my 806 post and I will never make it to 1,000. Dang, their goes my rep
I missed the whole thing too. I was in the middle of a 1 hour post trying to help some guy with a work problem.
This week has been so psycho.
I know I hate the forums at night when its slow, so I know it would be super boring if any of you guys left.
I'm sorry, it seems I was wrong. A guy called JCautos has confirmed that there were three bans.
I'll retract part of my previous comment, if I may?
The world's gone mad!
I only went to brush my hair...
DD, I'm sorry to have missed it. I thought I was "up to date..."
I'll go with the others. They're my friends.
:(
sad day
The only real asset for any forum is the member base and the content they write. So when the owner of the forum decides to steamroll the community it might not be a good business decision. I am not leaving because of the rel"=nofollow", but because I do not approve of the way things were done.
Totally respect ya man!
Who left and why are they Banning members?
yeah, sot i can get there with no problem.
IMO SEO Chat is is really willing to kick everyone's ass on the SEO Authority sites. They are now number 1 on the main search engines, thanks to the help of the posts of everyone that created TONS of content to their sites. You can tell they have been doing some changes for an eventual higher rankings, all the sub pages are now formed with keywords like https://forums.seochat.com/google-optimization-7/while it was something like https://forums.seochat.com/f7before... I dont think it's a bad idea to leave this forum, the goal of a forum is to help people understand the SEO World and not use the users as helping factors for your rankings
Wow this is pretty amazing - Im really shocked that such a drastic change was made at SEOchat. I really don't think these changes should be made by a higher power without finding out the impact on the community. It looks like the "attempt to rank better for SEO chat" may go down the tube when no one posts any thing about SEO any more. You can do all the optimzing that you want, but with out the community of content, (content IS king), good luck with the rankings.
I want to offer any support for any new forums, maybe here on SEOmoz. I started learning SEO on SEOchat, and it looks like we're all moving somewhere else, I think SEOmoz.org is the place! (Rand - here is your big break! :) )
Anyone can feel free to contact me if they would like help setting something up, or even need a good mod.
-Scott Fish (The other fish on the forums)
BTW... upon everyone's advice, I put a Buffalo Bills helment on my Kermit. HE HE HE!
BTW... upon everyone's advice, I put a Buffalo Bills helment on my Kermit. HE HE HE!
First of all to answer jason, yes a few ips were banned.
As far as the thread deletions, it is my understanding that threads that were:
1) In the wrong forum (most of the complaints were in the google optimization forum, not in the suggestions and feedback where they should have been).
2) Contained inflamatory remarks
3) Contained plain outright cursing
Were deleted. Should some of them been moved instead of deleted? Yes, probably. I can also tell you that anyone who was deleting thier posts or continually logging in new accounts to flame us (such as SeoChatHater, for example) were IP Banned as well.
In retrospect, yes, Seo Chat being an SEO Forum, we should have at a minimum informed the Moderators of our intended changes before rolling them into production. I will personally take the blame for that, and offer my apologies.
But I understand it is too late for that. I wish I had something magically and reverant that I could say or promise that would make things better here, but I dont.
I will however, do whatever I can to correct what I can of the situation, so that those of you who would consider coming back to us would feel comfortable doing so.
Please to not hesitate to contact me at rich at developershed.com with any suggestions or comments. I cannot promise to be up to date on any more posts on this blog (its getting quite lengthy), but I will certainly read each and every email sent to me.
You guys, I'll be the first to admit that my posts were not ones that I figured would just be left to discuss. I KNEW they would draw the attention of the higher ups and figured that it would make them realize the error of their ways. All it did apparently was step on the toes of someone who enjoys using his power. SEO Chat forgot that it was no bigger than its membership and today it was reminded of that fact. If they weren't worried about the life of their forum, they would not be posting here. That being said, we as the members need to decide as a group if we would like to go back. I feel that there needs to be public discourse about this issue and the other that arose earlier this week. I do not think the two issues are entirely separate. The arbitrary "because I can" use of power must stop. There needs to be an open discussion where issues are addressed as equals, not as a ruler speaking to his subjects.
On a different note, I don't like the gaudy commercialization that I am starting to see at SEOChat. I know it is a business but having been forced to sit back and look at things, I am not sure that I wouldn't enjoy it more somewhere else. Rand appears to have something up his sleeve and I am also going to be working on my own forum (will probably do this no matter what... just a forum with a little shop talk and probably as much shootin the breeze). Anyway, as others have said, I am not sure I will be returning to SEOChat unless I am blown away by their response to this issue...
I must concur with Doug, Scott, Todd, RAS, and others on this one. The problem is not what was done, but HOW it was done. To see the emotive tone of Doug says something, too.
I personally like the idea SEOMoz becoming the new forum place... how about it Rand?
RICH... I think you'll find to fix this problem requires more than just saying "we'll unban you" and "here's our side of it." To fix this requires time, EARNING trust back, and probably a full blown apology for the mistreatment people experienced (even if you don't think they were mistreated, they believe they were and that's important). The token fixes of unbanning and such don't address the problem... only the symptom. The symptom was being banned... the problem was an improper attitude leading to disrespectful behavior and heavy-handedness.
Wow this is pretty amazing - Im really shocked that such a drastic change was made at SEOchat. I really don't think these changes should be made by a higher power without finding out the impact on the community. It looks like the "attempt to rank better for SEO chat" may go down the tube when no one posts any thing about SEO any more. You can do all the optimzing that you want, but with out the community of content, (content IS king), good luck with the rankings.
I want to offer any support for any new forums, maybe here on SEOmoz. I started learning SEO on SEOchat, and it looks like we're all moving somewhere else, I think SEOmoz.org is the place! (Rand - here is your big break! :) )
Anyone can feel free to contact me if they would like help setting something up, or even need a good mod.
-Scott Fish (The other fish on the forums)
Rich, did you ban any IP's?
Rich are you Fuc**** kidding me? SEO chat is number one for the KWD SEO! SEO-Chat is the most stingiest site when it comes to out-bounds.
I love the people there, such as EGOL, RMC, Toddieg, Skitzo, Wit, Mini, Ranfish, Clasione, Scottfish, DD, PK, Tom S, Mick, Earl the big Pearl who is right about everything, Brandall, Sorvoja, William C, Longcall, MV, Pteam, and a hell of a lot more people. People who post 600 word count post to help newbie’s, apprentices and Journeymen.
You fuc*** up today and did not care how we would feel. I personally could care less about the no=follow, but you handled it like a bully on a Timeshare floor. We all know that content builds sites and these friends of SEO-Chat build the content for your profit and not their own.
I have made 3 million dollars in sales over the last 6 years, and make no mistake about it, when you fuc* the salesman, your business dies. You deleted my friend’s threads, when we (they)have shown a great respect for your site, others, and the community.
This is the demise of stupid planning, arrogance, and a total lack of respect for the ones who spent countless hours in free debate. Any right-minded business manager would fire the instigator of such stupidity. Who the Fuc* is at this wheel. Time for retirement for that one!
D
something is definitely wrong when doug needs to drop the Fbomb 4 times in one post :) he does bring up good points though.
Wow this is pretty amazing - Im really shocked that such a drastic change was made at SEOchat. I really don't think these changes should be made by a higher power without finding out the impact on the community. It looks like the "attempt to rank better for SEO chat" may go down the tube when no one posts any thing about SEO any more. You can do all the optimzing that you want, but with out the community of content, (content IS king), good luck with the rankings.
I want to offer any support for any new forums, maybe here on SEOmoz. I started learning SEO on SEOchat, and it looks like we're all moving somewhere else, I think SEOmoz.org is the place! (Rand - here is your big break! :) )
Anyone can feel free to contact me if they would like help setting something up, or even need a good mod.
-Scott Fish (The other fish on the forums)
(i cant make the dups stop each time i refresh lol)
Well said, RAS. I agree... the best way to impact SEOChat is to cost them something: our content. The only way to do this is to work as a group.
Please Rand gather all the good folks and build a SEO Moz forum!!!
WHo is "Rich" anyway? ow did he get a "reputation" of 10? What does reputation mean? ... wait, I'va got an old dictionary here someplace....
;)
Poor old SeoChat - they followed one with another, didn't they?
It's sad - I was so at home there. But Gr8 looks good - it'll take 12 months to get them to put up with my sideways on approach, but it'll be worth it...
Its obvious that there is no longer a quick and clean answer. As soon as I saw the changes that had been made without any warning or input I knew it was going to be a big deal. I think I too will take a bit of time off. I probably have some work that I should get caught up on anyway since I havent done much today. Anyway I suggest we all think about things over the weekend and decide what we want to do.
Hey anthonysea I dont think that rand will delete your comments and i dont mind you having a go at me all the time. I have been briefed on your history and why you attack people a lot in forums and i understand. Feel free to use me as a beating post when you want becuse i feel for ya man and realy do feel sorry for you now i know what happened. Keep the faith Antonycea and dont let them grind you down.
I thought I made a pretty good shot at a ban but I missed. I am usually pretty good in getting people pissed though... You must have really hit those guys hard over there :-)
my curiousity it killing me.... i just want my IP released so i can see their pathetic attempt at an apology. Its almost enough to call it a day at work and run home so i can see it all!! lol
I think I love BigDoug ;)
But, Rich - posts in the wrong forums should be *moved* not *deleted*.
tsk, tsk
I blame it on the parents ;)
mcs
x
-
Please Rand gather all the good folks and build a SEO Moz forum!!!
Rich -
I've made plenty of mistakes in my past. I think it would be hypocritical of me to hold this one against you - I want you to know that I don't.
However, I'm going to take some time off and think on the issue - possibly over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. In the meantime, I'll be on www.cre8asiteforums.com and reachable via email (as always).
As for my recommendations - I think that the folks here from SEOChat are a very, very smart bunch. We should each reach our own conclusions about what we want to do moving forward. While SEOChat was the place that nursed my SEO growth for years, I do have issues with how many things have been handled and the attitude in general of admins and ownership. For now, I feel much more comfortable in a place where I have a personal relationship with the people who own and run the site - and they themselves are active in the forums.
PK - If RZ would return (anywhere), I'd be thrilled. Drop me a line if you get a bead on anything solid.
SEO Chat has sucked for years, you guys know my history there since you guys banned me twice for no reason other than being honest, now you see the light way after the fact!
Rex Zoolander is an idiot and so were some of the moderators at SEO Chat who defended idiots like CBP the moderator at WPW, this guy is one of the biggest frauds on the internet!
Mick Sawyer was one of the reasons I got banned at SEO Chat, members like Sorvoja cried like babies to the moderators to get me banned, so the members there get a lot of the blame for the forum going down too!
You guys all got what you deserved for your censorship and hiding the truth, now we will see what Rand is made of right now and see if he will delete this comment and ban me here!
anthonycea - Thanks for your kind words- it looks like no matter where you go, SEO chat or here, you always have valuable input.
On other notes, I think that if ranfish sets up a forum o n here, it might be a smart idea to do a revenuesharing forum much like DPs. -At least for moderators/ etc. I think that would solve a lot of the mod problems that seochat had. Just an idea.
"or continually logging in new accounts to flame us (such as SeoChatHater, for example) were IP Banned as well."
Funny that you feel that a continual action just to "flame" someone is cause for ban.
Ya know, I agree... continually banning me just to flame me is definitely cause for me to ban your @ss
BTW... ever need to contact me, please feel free at [email protected]
Rich, did you ban any IP's?
I think it is a damn shame what has happened at SeoChat. It was great for quite a while; going down hill ever since they axed RZ. I don't know where I will spend most of my time now.
I think it is a damn shame what has happened at SeoChat. It was great for quite a while; going down hill ever since they axed RZ. I don't know where I will spend most of my time now.
Nothing is really happening on SEO Chat right now, even the last few days were very quiet, is that the beginning of the end? I checked out DP but it's crowded overthere, and it looks like the SEO threads are less interesting than SEO Chat, sad :(
Seo_Am I think there is something in the pipeline. I think everything will be ok.
This feels like leaving college and feeling that you may never see these people again ;(
Crazy how tight knit this group became... You guys are all top notch in my book... It would be GREAT to get RZ back with us... I feel like I missed out so much not being around when he was posting...
LOL: That reminds me. Could be time to let RZ know what is going on...he did make a recent appearance at seo chat...all lips and all.
Did you guys see the new intellitxt that they have now? They are turning words in posts into links to specific pages. This is a tactic I read about earlier this week... Have they lost their minds!! What the hell is wrong with them? Surely SEOChat as we knew it is dead.
Holy shit Todd, WTF did you do, you monkey Fu**. Turn your back on SEO-Chat, what did you expect? Oh crap now I am Banned, you bastard....
Love https://www.westcoastsurfing.com No way did you create that great site...
D
Rand. Thanks for the info about Gre8 I only hope Wit makes it over there too...
Talk about turning things upside down :(
"is anyone able to get to SEOchat right now?"
I am... if for whatever reason you were banned and wish something specific removed so you can retain your ownership rights... email me at rod @ spheri dot ca. I'll respect your rights to do as you please with your own text.
Hello all
Just in case they decide to do something drastic (like lock down the forums or something), I printed into PDF all my favorite posts and threads. (If you want to know how you can do that for free, instructions are on my website in my profile.)
Now onto my personal comment. I was just starting to get the hang of SEOChat, and now it seems it's going downhill very fast. I knew things were not right this past week, but couldn't exactly pin it. Now I know. Oh well.
Hope to see you around on Cre8 and others.
CRAP! I saved those threads and made a noob mistake. The threads that were deleted are lost I fear....
I'm still over there too.
BTW I just joined and posted an intro at cre8asite.
Once again I'll follow DD's wise ways. Think I'll read a lot before opening my posting mouth over there. LOL
If you guys want to email Jon here is his email: [email protected]
haha, don't tell him I gave it to you.
RZ had such a following... he should have set up his own board at the height of his popularity. The RZ persona sure made sparks fly.
WeRASkitzzo,
If we can work things out yes, bans will be lifted, mods re-instated, etc. As far as the second part of your message, do you have any suggestions?
hmmm.... the phase "too little, to late" comes to mind.
Rich, maybe you can explain why Gustopo over there acted and treated his loyal members the way he did. That is what was the most upsetting. An explination like you gave above would have ended this hours ago. But the sudden deletino of posts and banning of members was ridiculous.
Im sorry. I will email you (along with many others). No need to carry this on here.
I think Sorvoja is right on target. Its not the matter of the tag (I personally never used sig links until recently when I needed my new site spidered faster) but its the way they handled the whole thing. Deleting threads, banning people, rude answers. Who in the world they think they are? I am in desparate need of a new home (forum)!!!
I think Sorvoja is right on target. Its not the matter of the tag (I personally never used sig links until recently when I needed my new site spidered faster) but its the way they handled the whole thing. Deleting threads, banning people, rude answers. Who in the world they think they are? I am in desparate need of a new home (forum)!!!
A forum, to me, is a community of individuals. Agreement and disagreement are aspects and realities (and healthy) in a community. One of the rules, though, of a healthy community is being respectful.
When community leaders begin arbitrarily punishing those who politely and respectfully disagree, the community is abolished and a monarchy or oligarchy is created. Those unwilling to consider, or even permit, polite dissention are opposed to communities.
While site owners maintain full rights to do with their site as they please, the also have an obligation to do two things: - Consider their market and support structure - Uphold the values they promote
If a site is a free-to-use forum which depends on people visiting the site, using it, and is build upon regular visitors as its base, it should assist those users. Otherwise, if the base leaves and others begin not visiting, the site becomes useless or, if still used by passers-by, trivial and not respected.
If a site is a free-to-use forum which promotes the idea of a community, the owners of that site should also promote community rather than monarchy.
All this being said, while I have not been able to read all the details of what has happend at SEOChat... it appears certain decisions were made arbitrarily (which is the owner's right). But, when dissention appeared, a discussion did not ensue, but a slash-and-burn tactic of "my way or the highway" was employed. Therefore, it seems, to this point, SEOChat owners have failed to do the two things listed above.
Therefore, while I was looking forward to joining the ranks of the blue belts and light-green blob groups... I shall join my friends and leave SEOChat. Should the owners decide to return to the community atmosphere they once promoted and have seemed to abandon, I may consider returning.
Besides, I didn't like the new design of the section just below the red bar area. It made me have to scroll right to read it all! Yuck!
Rich - although i am just a PEON in the grand scheme of things it's too late.
there ARE hard feelings, and it's done now.
i'm out and i'll probably never say a nice thing about SEOchat to anyone ever again...
i hope you milk the great content we gave you for all it's worth.
Rich, that is a very good explanation and I wish that it had been given to us BEFORE the changes were made. I appreciate your response and all the information you gave us. Are the bans going to be lifted? Also, I would be interested in knowing what if anything will be done about the situation that occurred today. As unfortunate as it may have been, actions were taken that have caused a rift and will be very tough to repair. The iron fisted mentality that was exhibited today did not seem to be in keeping with the spirit of SEOChat and that was really the issue, not the links. If that is addressed then I am sure that it would make a smoother transition to try and get us back to normal around there.
"is anyone able to get to SEOchat right now?"
I am... if for whatever reason you were banned and wish something specific removed so you can retain your ownership rights... email me at rod @ spheri dot ca. I'll respect your rights to do as you please with your own text.
Hi guys, Rich from Developer Shed here. I just wanted to take a moment and post an explanation to why things changed on our forum today. Here is a message I posted on SEO Chat:
(btw, the intellitext links someone mentioned are new, but only appear to non-members. if you are logged in, you will not see the intellitext links)
==== snip ========================
Hey guys,
I'd like to take a quick moment and explain how this came about. I think its important that you folks understand how and why this happened.
First of all, all of the modifications (including the nofollows) were not done explicitly for the SEO Chat forums. As you know, we own several forums and they all run off the same exact codebase. What this means, is the code is the same for all of the forums. This way, when we make a change, all forums receive that same change. So, in essence, nothing that has changed here was designed or targetted at the SEO Chat forum, or its users.
Secondly, we've been making some extensive changes to our forums to help our rankings in the search engines. Im sure youve noticed the new URLS and the sitemaps on the homepages just to name a couple. We have done extensive research and are slowly converting all of our forums to encompass all we have learned.
One of the things we have been trying to fix is the number of links going out that are followed. There are literally TONS of posts across our forums that have links in them. In order to catch all of these, I made a modification to the "URL BBCODE" to automatically nofollow any links.
Sigs, it seems, are became an unfortunate casualty of this. The same bbcode logic is used inside posts AND inside sigs.
Anyways, thats pretty much what brought us to the point of where we are now. Ive been doing some thinking on this, and I think I would be able to code it where we could allow 1 or 2 links in a sig to allow following (and hence give backlinks). It would take me a bit of work, but I'm sure I could make this work. We might be able to come to some common ground on this. (For those people with a bunch of links in thier sigs, Im sorry). I'm sure if this would bring back some of our members and even mods, it would be incentive enough for it to be done.
Anyways, I wanted to make sure you all understood why and how this all happened, and get your thoughts on my suggestion.
Email me at rich at developershed.com with any comments or questions
Thanks...
Rich
Nothing is really happening on SEO Chat right now, even the last few days were very quiet, is that the beginning of the end? I checked out DP but it's crowded overthere, and it looks like the SEO threads are less interesting than SEO Chat, sad :(
Ooops, I do want to add that I want to apologize that things managed to get to where they did today so quickly. I'd love to see all of our members and mods come back, no hard feelings. Please feel free to email me!
Rich
sorry if this is a stupid question but it is beyond my knowledge....
I still cant get to SEOchat at all. I can get everywhere else just fine. could they (would they) have banned IPs even?? I went back and created a few new profiles just to get back on there (and yes, ranted just a bit). Would they just can me all together to prevent that?
New SEOChat post offers to fix things:
https://forums.seochat.com/suggestions...
Wow, thank god I went to Paris for a break this week.
This seems to be incredibly out of control.
I haven't commented on this subject for obvious reasons, but feel like now is a good time.
For everyone bastardizing seochat...shame on you. I post 98% of my comments there. I learned of THIS blog THERE.
Many of the same members here are, or have been members there.
All of this "throwing stones" is a little immature.
If you don't like their decisions, its a fairly easy decision...delete the cookie, cancel your account and stfu.
My time is spent a little more productively rather than creating turmoil attempting to alienate people.
Sorry guys. Their are a ton of people here I respect, and others I watch very closely.
Let's put this baby to sleep and get on with it.
Again I must say I've been out of town for the past few days, but these comments are very disturbing.
GaryTheScubaGuy
ps. The entire reason for this post is the creation of the nofollow tag on seochat? I'm looking at the exact thing below this box as I type. Am I missing something?