Posted by catch on August 7, 2008 at 9:54pm
Jump to:
| Project: | Drupal.org webmasters |
| Component: | Content moderation |
| Category: | support request |
| Priority: | normal |
| Assigned: | Unassigned |
| Status: | closed (fixed) |
Issue Summary
I just removed a link to an external site from the 'Getting started' handbook page after it was flagged on #drupal. I'm fairly opposed to external links in the handbook - unless they're to very in-depth resources which couldn't be adequately housed in the handbook (or supplementary material like screencasts etc.). Since this one was makes quite prominent use of adsense, and the link was pretty self-promotional it seemed like a no-brainer.
However I've just had an e-mail via my contact form from heebie asking why I removed the link, so here's an issue so it can be discussed transparently.
Comments
#1
I flagged this link on IRC during my daily patrol of the handbooks. Fully agree with the action taken. While the user heebiejeebieclub may have good intentions at heart, if every Drupal contributor followed suit we'll be left with nothing but external links on the handbooks.
I am all for improving the handbooks to be the first and best resource anybody can read on Drupal and rightfully, they should stay at Drupal.org
Please contribute back rather than fork it.
#2
I completely agree with BioAlien and Catch.
Heebie - your site is great and it's obvious that you've got a talent for writing. I hope you'll consider adding more content to the handbook.
#3
First of all, thank you all so much for dealing with the matter openly and maturely.
I have to disagree with you on some of the matters raised, however.
Similar sites, which presumably have the same problem, are Joomla! Docs and Wikipedia.
As you can see from Joomla's Getting Started Guide they positively embrace external links, and as a result the handbook is very good overall, with lots of links for further reading.
Wikipedia, of course, have to deal with thousands of external links being added every day - and they haven't completely disallowed them due to fears of being flooded. Their external link handbook page has their policy in a nutshell:
My site doesn't violate any of those. Drupal needs to embrace third party Drupal sites at the risk of disrupting the community. DrupalModules.com was criticized by many but has turned out to be a useful and popular site. I believe my site is too, and would like Drupal.org somewhere to link to it.
The short of it is that the end user is being disadvantaged by the removal of useful external links. If Wikipedia can successfully manage external links, then why can't Drupal.org?
#4
Wikipedia is an information portal. It's only as good as the content that feeds it. These external links you mention typically exist as references to sources. Conversely, Drupal is a community that revolves around a single open source software.
If you wish to showcase your article/site/product/service, you are more than welcome to include a link via your signature space at the bottom of every forum post. You can access this by editing your account: http://drupal.org/user/55174/edit
There is nothing stopping you from writing unique content related to Drupal and benefiting financially from it. We already have many people doing this, but through the appropriate channels. We request that you don't use the handbooks but instead release a Drupal book or contribute this content directly to the handbooks. This moots the idea of the "end user is being disadvantaged" and forced to seek out external links.
If you are a serious contributor to the Drupal community you will automatically reap the rewards as your name (and profile which includes your site/products/services etc) will be listed here, here and here. If that's not your name in lights, I don't know what is :)
#5
OK. I don't think I'm going to win this one. Thanks for your time and patience.