Page 2 - Changes to SEO forum - how and why

Apparently you did not understand it. The point was not about the links but the way seochat handled the situation. First they did not inform us about it, then they deleted threads and banned people. All was done in very bad manner with total disrespect to those who keep this forum alive

Jammer,

I never said it was "impossible", just was pointing out how it works and why sigs in particular were affected. The same code is called both from sigs AND from posts in regards to the URL BBCODE. Please re-read my post for what it is.

I certainly do not consider any of our members morons. If I did, I would certainly not care if they all left for greener pastures.

I know emotions are high, so I will ignore the personal shot.

Rich

Faremax,

Ive said it a few times, things escalated quickly out of hand on both sides. The first threads to be deleted were a) in the wrong forum, and b) contained alot of ranting and raving instead of intelligent conversation. They were quickly followed by people changing thier sigs to flamatory remarks, and logging on additional accounts just to flame. As emotions flared on both sides, the threads began to be deleted on sight and accounts banned. People then began to erase thier posts to purposely remove content from our site, which also resulted in more bannings.

Was this the best course of action? From both sides? No, it definitely wasnt. I can assure you though, that if rational discussion began before the flaming, this would have all panned out differently.

and my point wasn't the sig but a way to get [and give] a quality link... which is what everyone wants.

1000 external links from a 4000 post member is worth [at best "in terms of PR"] -- PR1 each?

with a 1000 anchors all repeating the same thing.

I would much rather have those 1000 repetitive links point internally to a profile about my site and say a PR5 page with my own link on it.

The "weight" and "relevancy" associated with that is so much more beneficial to the poster and to SEOChat.

Arranged to thread started and rated gives SEOChat what it needs "the best in SEO has to offer" and negates the rubbish.

Frankly though in my personal & professional opinion - here's a context... Google changed - didn't notified anyone and yet they still use it and SEO for it... why?

Good for business right.

It's sad that some people believe only certain businesses have any rights to make decisions about their own futures!

They left... great, happy for them... life go on.

Faremax,
Some things were not handled as well as they could have been. People make mistakes - even mods and Admins. A lot of emotions flared up unexpectadely, both those of the members and of the mods/admins, and I think things were said and done by a lot of people that would never had occured if everyone took a few breaths and had a chance to communicate more clearly. As a member of the Mod community, please accept my appology for the way this was done.

Rich is sincere in his communication about why the sigs got nofollow attached.

I hope you accept the appology and can recognise that an attempt is being made to repair any damage caused. SEO Chat has been a wonderful resource for me and many others. I hope you and the other ative members do not let a single poorly handled incident put an end to your contribution to that.

Wait, you banned people for deleting the threads they created?? WTF is that all about? You give them the power to delete their own threads, how could you be banning them for that?

Agreed... My point is that for the masses of SEO Chat members there was the flashing lights of adding links along with other priveleges after only 100 posts (albeit the sig link quality being dubious at best).

For the pros there can be quality links as you propose. The combo (sig links and true links) would be good for business.

That stinks! Ya know I really found this site to be very informative during my time here. I bookmarked many a helpful thread for later reference. I have probably lost some of that content because I relied on it being there and now some of those helpful members are gone and there excellent content with them.

Hindsight is 20/20, so I am sure you owners of SEOChat now realize how much you have blown away with your unannounced removal of a coveted feature.

It is rather ironic though. The excellent content is what got you to #1 for "SEO". Then you forgot how you got that excellent content (a well run forum), make a drastic change and it causes you to lose some of that excellent content.

Why is it that successful businesses always think that they need to change what's working to squeeze out a few more pennies only to realize all too late that it costed them dollars after they did it?

Actually, we dont give them the power to delete thier own threads. All of the content here on SEO Chat is preserved as a resource for all who may find it useful in the future.

Some users found a way around this and were trying to "sabotage" our stance on this.

I hope that explains what you are asking...

Rich

I know at least one person, that has been banned for close to a hundred thousand days, and all of their posts today have been deleted. If it was a simple banning, rather than a personal slap to the face, there would be less problems.

Rational discussions? You and/or your crew apparently decided to throw a tantrum and remove several people that have been happy members for years, simply because they didn't like what you had done.

How about saying, "if we had sucked it up and done it right to begin with, this would have all panned out differently".

My advice to you is... Fix the sigs, which should never have been affected in the first place, and people might come back.

You claim you are running a business, but yet you ALLOWED your personal emotions to get involved in your choices today. You are simply looking to keep all rankings for yourself. Greed will be your undoing.

You really let us down.

Altair... that was your post #3. Welcome to SEO Chat. Were you just lurking before?

You banned people for deleting their own posts?

And how flamatory were the remarks? Since the posts were all deleted, instead of being moved to the correct forum, we have only your word that they deserved it.



Are you agreeing then that you should have started the discussion before the changes were made?

I'm having trouble understanding the rationale going on here. SEOChat is what it is, and I'm sure makes a great revenue BECASUE of what it is, due to it's membership. It wasn't newbies that were lost, it was valuable members.

-Michael

I think SEO_AM hit the nail on the head several times.

I suppose if I were in Rich's and Jcaputo's shoes I would try and make serious amends and try and restructure input and participation.

At the same time I'd be plugging full steam ahead.

My business just lost some good and bad employees. Our heads are down and we are moving full steam ahead.

Having seen Rich's comments on seomoz and elsewhere they are more palatable than John's. Rich, I would lead the effort.

I'm still here but I suspect I'll be far less active.

I suppose if you lost lots of traffic over time....you guys better do some serious heavy work to try and build traffic...whether it ends up being w/old participants or not...only time will tell.

Dave

SEO_AM,

I have actually been working on building my business, and have not had time to post to the forums. I do try to come and read some the great information that has been posted. Unfortunately, most of the great members have gone away. They have either been banned or just left.

Anything else you would like to know?

brandall, I was participating in all threads as the situation unfolded. There was NOTING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in those threads by WeRA (and other members including DD) that would inflame any mod. The reason I came to this forum is because of people like EGOL, Rand, DD, you and many many others. Many of them will NEVER come back here because of what happened. Please understand me correctly. I come here to read and learn (and occasionally post) and not because of seochat's functionality. If the great masters leave I will leave as well even though I do like seochat.

P.S. I just hope you were not the one deleting those threads